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The Story of Moscow
All rights reserved
Ikon of the Holy Virgin of Vladimir
The Story of MOSCOW
by Wirt Gerrare Illustr-
rated by Helen M. James
London: J. M. Dent & Co.
Aldine House, 29 and 30 Bedford Street
Covent Garden W.C. 
1900
PREFACE
READERS of the modern histories of Russia may wonder by what rightMoscow is included among MEDIÆVAL TOWNS, for it is the fashion of recentwriters to ignore the history of the mighty Euro-Asian empire prior tothe eighteenth century and the reign of Peter the Great. It is at thatperiod this story of the old Muscovite capital ends. To many, then, thisaccount of the town and its vicissitudes during the preceding fivecenturies may have the charm of novelty; perchance to others, who havewrongly concluded that the old buildings were all destroyed duringNapoleon’s invasion, the few typical antiquities chosen for illustrationout of many like, will attract to a closer acquaintance with memorialsof a past that was but little influenced by the art of the west.
Moscow, where the east merges with the west but remains distinct andunconquered, has a fascinati