Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Compelled by Mikhail Lomonosov and Minister of Education Ivan Shuvalov, Empress
Elizabeth establishes Moscow State University, the first university in Russia.
1756
The country's first newspaper - the Moscow News (Moskovskiye Vedemosti)- is pub-
lished at the new university, coming out on a weekly basis.
1770-80
The bubonic plague breaks out in Moscow, killing as many as 50,000 people. By the
end of the decade, the population of St Petersburg surpasses that of Moscow.
1810-12
Russia defies its treaty with France, provoking Napoleon and his Grand Army to invade
Russia. According to some, Muscovites burn down their own city in anticipation of the
invasion.
1824
The Bolshoi Theatre and the Maly Theatre are built on the aptly named Theatre
Square, with the inauguration of the historic venues taking place the following year.
1839-60
To celebrate the heroic victory over France in the Napoleonic Wars, the Cathedral of
Christ the Saviour is built on the banks of the Moscow River.
1861
The 'liberator tsar' Alexander II enacts the Emancipation Reform, which liberates the
serfs. Moscow's population surges as thousands of peasants descend on the big city.
1862
Ivan Turgenev's novel Fathers and Sonskicks off the nihilist movement, an early fore-
runner of populism, anarchism and eventually Bolshevism.
1905
Upon institution of the new position of 'city governor', the tsar appoints Alexander
Adrianov as the first Mayor of Moscow.
1905
