Moscow is the capital and the largest city of Russia. It stands on the banks of the Moskva River. More than nine million people live in the city now. Moscow is the economic, political and cultural centre of Russia.

The prince Yuri Dolgoruky founded Moscow in 1147. The Kremlin and the Red Square are in the center of Moscow. The Kremlin has a red brick wall, up to 21 m in height with 19 towers that surrounds palaces, cathedrals, and oilier monuments. The Great Kremlin Palace, built in 1849, is the most impressive structure inside the Kremlin. Other famous Kremlin palaces are the Granovitaya Palace (built in 1491) and the Terem (built in 1636).
Among many cathedrals, now used mainly as museums, are the Cathedral of the Assumption and the Archangel Cathedral, eachwith five gilded domes, and the Cathedral of the Annunciation (built in 13th—I4th century), with nine gilded domes.
The bell tower of Ivan the Great has the height of 98 metres. On a nearby pedestal is the Tsar Bell (nearly 200 tons), one of the largest in the world. A recent addition to the Kremlin is the Palace of Congresses, completed in 1961.

St. Basil's Cathedral, a masterpiece of Russian architecture was built in 1561 to celebrate Russian victory over Kazan kingdom. It has coloured domes, stands at one end of Red Square and at the other end there is Historical Museum.

Other places of interest in Moscow include the Central Lenin Stadium and the tail Ostankino TV tower, which has a revolving restaurant. Moscow has a modern railway underground system (Metro) famous for its marble-walled stations.

Moscow is a scientific and cultural center with a lot of institutes, universities, libraries and museums. The city leads a vast cultural life. It has a lot of cinemas, clubs, concert halls, more than 40 drama and musical theatres, including the Bolshoi Theatre, the Art Theatre, the Maly Theatre, the Vakhtangov Theatre. Muscovites are proud of their museums: the Tretyakov Art Gallery, the A. S. Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts and the State Historical Museum. Crowds of people visit Tretyakov Gallery admiring beautiful pictures of Russian painters.

There arc a lot of big plants and factories in Moscow. Among the products are aircraft, high-quality steel, ball bearings, cars and other motorve-hicles, machine tools, electrical equipment, precision instruments, chemicals, textiles, shoes, paper, furniture. Food processing, printing, and the repair of rail equipment are important industries.

Ответе на вопросы:
What is known about Moscow Metro?
What is Palace of Congresses used for at present time?

1. Moscow Metro is known for its famous marble-walled stations. 2. It is used as the Kremlin where the president stays.