The history of Moscow began in 1147, and since then Moscow has always had a leading position in the life of the whole country. It is the political, cultural, scientific centre of Russia.Coming to Moscow for the first time, many tourists start sightseeing with Red Square. In Red Square they visit St. Basil's Cathedral, a masterpiece of ancient Russian architecture. It was built in memory of the victory over Kazan in 1552 The monument standing in front of St. Basil's Cathedral tells us of the people's victory over Polish invaders in 1612. On the monument you can read the following words: "To citizen Minin and Prince Pozharsky from grateful Russia".On the territory of the Kremlin we can see the Bell Tower of Ivan the Great built in the 15th century. At its foot there is another ancient monument - the Tsar Bell weighing 200 tons. Opposite the Cathedral is the Museum of History.If you are interested in arts you'd better visit the Tretyakov Art Gallery which contains fantastic Russian icons, monumental paintings and historical themes performed by Peredvizhniki, Repin, Surikov, Levitan and other great artists. If you visit the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts you'll admire the magnificent display of West-European paintings of the 13th-20th centuries.Moscow has over 60 historical, art, natural science and literary museums, memorial houses and flats, exhibition halls. Moscow is a city of world-famous theatres. The Bolshoi Theatre was opened in 1825. Its repertoire includes more then 50 operas and ballets. The Maly Drama theatre, the Moscow Art Theatre, the Obraztsov Central Puppet Theatre enjoy great popularity.Moscow has excellent sports facilities. The Lenin stadium and the Moscow Sports Complex "Olympijski" are the largest sports complexes in my country.Moscow is a city of science. It has hundreds of scientific institutions and higher education establishments, among which is Moscow Power Engineering Institute.
