Around the Kremlin; or, Pictures of life in Moscow

Chapter I

Charms of Moscow — Growth and Progress of the City — Hostile Invasions— Successful Defence of Moscow — St. Petersburg a Town of Yesterday — The Invasion of 1812 — Impressions on entering the old Muscovite Capital — Its Position — The Moskwa — The Sparrow Hills —Parties of Pleasure — View of the City — The Battle of Borodino — Who were the Victors ? — A Proud Moment for Napoleon — Wilna — Energy of the Russian Defence — Napoleon in the Palace of Peterhoff — Remarkable Contrast — Humiliation of the Invaders — Retreat of the French — Dispersion and Destruction of the Grand Army — Moscow Avenged . . . . . . . 1

Chapter II

Extent of Moscow — The Kremlin — The Kitai Gorod, or Chinese Town — Streets and Boulevards — Moscow contrasted with other Great Cities — A City of Cottages — House of a Russian Nobleman — The Peasant's Cottage — General Appearance of the City — Walk from the Palanka Square — Broad and Noisy Thoroughfare — Country Life in the City — Quiet Streets — Pleasant Houses and their Tenants — A Professional Musician — Russian Churches — Novel and Picturesque Appearance of the Streets — Scenes of Russian Life — Beautiful Little Church — Aristocratic Street — Change in Russian Society — New Quarter of the Noblesse 11

CHAPTER m.

The Kremlin— The External Wall and Towers — The Moskwa— Fine Esplanade, and View from it — An Historical Question — The Nicholsky Gate — Inscription by the Emperor Alexander — Russian Superstition— The Arsenal — New Law Courts and Government Offices — Trophies of the Campaign of 1812 — Unnecessary Precaution — The . "Tzar" — The Imperial Palace — The Sacred Gateway — The Towers and Bells of Ivan Veliki — The " Czar Kolokol" — Panoramic View of the City — Great Number of Churches and Cupolas — Old Residence of the Romanoffs — Ancient Palace of the Ruriks — National Pride of the Russians ' . 24

Chapter IV

The Present Emperor — The Emperor Nicholas — Entrance into Moscow by the St. Petersburg Road — The Emperor's Route — Chapel of the Virgin — Famous Picture of the Iberian Mother — Bonds of Sympathy between the Emperor and the People of Moscow — His Orthodox Piety — His Appreciation of Kalatsch — The Palace of the Empress — Devotion to the " Iberian Mother" — Daily Scenes at her Shrine — Sum annually collected by Voluntary Offerings — Visits of the Holy Mother — The Benefit of a Common Religious Sentiment — An Act of Sacrilege — The Criminal and her Punishment 36 vi

CONTENTS.

Chapter V

A Walk in Moscow and its Environs— Church of St. Sauveur — Curious Little Chapel — Cavalry Barracks — Inconvenient Position of the Horses in the Stables — Something like a Personal Affront — Cultivation of a small Gourd used by the Russians — Women at Work — A Russian Gardener and his Subordinates — The Devitchei Convent —The External Wall and Towers— The Church, Bell Tower, fee- Burial Places — The Congregation and Service — The " Queteuse" — Dispersion of the Congregation — " Une Affaire Tenebreuse" — The Papa 53

Chapter VI

The Cow of Northern Russia — Cattle let out to Pasture — A Cow on its way Home — Climate and Productions of Little or Southern Russia— The Extent of Moscow— The Thief Market— The Police of Moscow — Robberies and Burglaries — Purchasers of Stolen Goods — Scenes of Real Life in Russia — Men of the Market— Speculating in Old Clothes— Ingenious Thieves and Ingenuous Yictims — Sale of Stolen Goods — Not for the Market — Russian Character — A Hardwon Victory 69

Chapter VII

Beds in Hotels — Rapid Improvement — Russian Noblemen on their Travels in Former Days — Change produced by Railways — M. Dusaux's Hotel and Cuisine — Interior of a Russian Hotel — View from my Window on the Boulevard — Carriages — The Public Rooms — Russian Waiters — Devotional Character of the People- Scene at Wilna — National Costume — Property held by Serfs — A Cossack Chief — Peasants on their way to Market — Riding and Driving — A Carriage of Primitive Construction — Adventure with a "Spider" . . 86

chapter vm.

The Foundling Hospital — Extent and Purpose of the Establishment — Crown Governesses — Russian Capacity for Governing — A Sunday Visit to the Hospital — The Buildings and Grounds — Internal Arrangements— Courtesy of an Official — The Chapel — The Pupils in Uniform — The Service — The Priest — The Responses — The Nurseries — Costume of the Nurses — The Superintendents — Messengers, Servants, and Attendants — The Nurses at Dinner — Number of Orphans received daily — Another Visit to the Chapel — The Choir — The Papa — Theatrical Manner of the Russo-Greek Priests — The Gallery of Paintings — The Play Room • 105

CHAPTER IX. Count L His Proficiency in the English Language — Invited to

visit his Estate — J ourney in a Tarantass — Social Courtesy — Agriculture in Russia — Russian Villages — The Cottages of the Peasantry — Family Party — The Law of Inheritance — Large Families — The Subdivision of Property — Reduced Nobles — The Abolition of Serfdom— Russian Soldiers— Nobles and Serfs — Abuse of Power — Arrangement of the House — Grooms and Horses v. Wife and Children — South Downs — Horses and Cattle — Rotation of Crops— Extensive Gardens — Reminiscences of the Count — The Family Roof-tree — Impromptu Dinner in the Wood 129

CONTENTS.

vii

Chapter X

Return to Moscow — The Count's Tarantass and Three Mares — The Coachman — Effect of Freedom on the Russian Peasantry — Unsettled State of the Country — A Nobleman's Mansion — Appearance of the Country — High-roads — Free and Easy Bathing — A Russian Inn — Passion for Tea — Domestic Arrangements — The Great House Stove — " Gone to Bed" — Vodka — Curious Illustration of Russian Police Law — Law of Trover — Piety and Pilfering — The Difficulties of Driving — Safe on the Pave . . . . . . 156

Chapter XI

The Twerskaia — The Palace of Count Rostopchin — The Great Radiating Streets of Moscow — The St. Petersburg Gateway — The Promenade — The Carriage Drivers — The "West End" of Moscow — ACompanion at my al fresco Luncheon — Russian Children of the Upper Classes — Life of Young Gentlemen — The Petrofski Palace — The Main Edifice and Detached Buildings — The Baffled Conqueror — An Officer and his Wife — Military Exercises — Russian Soldiers and Officers — The Moscow World in the Petrofski Park — Tea under the Elms 173

CHAPTER XH.

The Paving of Moscow — Trial of Wood and of Stone Flags — Ornamental Villas — Houses erected by Government — Road-making in Russia — The Agricultural College — The Officer appointed to conduct me over the Establishment — The Cow Stables — Dutch and Swiss Cattle — Steam Engines and Machinery — Farm Horses — The Farm — Museum, Library, and Lecture Rooms — How the Property was acquired by Government — An Apothecary who made a good job of it — Russian Employes — Church of the College — A Russian Refreshment— Restaurant on the Kitai Boulevard — Change in the Education of Young Nobles 193

Chapter XIII

The Convent Simonoff — Extent and Wealth of the Establishment in Former Times — Day of St. Sergius, and Fair at the Convent — Superb Bell- tower — Varieties of Costume — Young Gamblers — Interior of the Simonoff — The Superior — His Reception by the Crowd — " Devoured with Kisses" — The Church — Earnest Devotion of a Youth — View from the Bell-tower — Disappearance of my " Murray" — Distribution of Beer — The Fete proper — Tea-drinking Booths — Sale of Melons and Honey — Beggars — Organ-Grinders — Female Shop-keepers of Moscow — Chorus-singing . . 210

Chapter XIV

The Kitai Gorod — The Bazaars — Their Great Extent — The Shop-keepers — Playing at Draughts — Commerce in " the Rows" — Jewish Money-dealers — The Balance of Trade — Drain and Hoarding of the Precious Metals — Exhaustion produced by the Crimean War — Com^ parative Value of Silver and Paper Roubles — Prevalence of Forgery — Curiosities of Russian Finance — Objections to War on the Part of Russia — Madness of the War Party and Fanaticism of the Religious Party — Questionable Practices .... 231

CHAPTER XV. Visit to Nijni Novgorod — Travelling in Russia in Old Times —Carriages

Vlll

CONTENTS.

on Russian Railways — Persistent Smokers — The Passion for Tea — Convenient Arrangement — My First Impression of Nijni — Peculiarities of the Fair — Affluence of Foreign Merchants — The Chinese Row —Life of the Merchants during the Fair — Roads in Russia — Cossacks — Magnificent View from the Plateau — Vessels in the River — Former Importance of Nijni — Curious Story relating to the Sacred Bell of Nijni — En Gargon at the Fair — A Russian recherche Dinner — Visit to the Landlord's Fish -Wells — The Tea- Stores — Shops and Shopping — A Noble and his Wife — Decline of Nijni 245

Chapter XVI

Profligacy of Russian Nobles — Extenuating Circumstances — Benevolence of the Higher Orders — The Galitzin and Foundling Hospitals — Visit to Hospital founded by the Sheremaytieff Family — The Building, Apartments, and Gardens — Noble Endowment — The Dining Hall — Inmates — The Sick, Maimed, and Blind — Friendless Old Men — The Women's Apartments — Anecdotes and Portraits — Apartments for the Sick — General Hospital — The Governor's Room — Distribution of Money to Pensioners — Conversation with the Governor — Sum annually expended by the Hospital — Societe Fraternelle — Noble Side of the Russian Character 273

Chapter XVII

Visit to the Convent of Troitsa — Its Foundation, Destruction, and Reestablishment — Historical Reminiscences connected with the Convent — Napoleon's Attempt to seize the Building and its Treasures — The Patriarch Philarste's First Railway Journey — The Town, the Valley, and the Convent — Agricultural Labour done by Women — The College and Churches of Vefania — Residence of the Metropolitan Platon — Old Church — Representation of the Mount of Olives — Valuable Paintings — The Tomb of Platon — The Church of Gethsemane — An Ecclesiastical Diversion or Feint — Appearance of the Metropolitan — A Singular Monastery — Fanaticism in the Russo- Greek Church — Recluses in Underground Cells — Religion and Usefulness . 293

Chapter XVIII

A New Investment for the Money of Monks — The Walls of the Monastery—Spacious Promenade — Interesting Serving Monk — Interior of the Church — Gaudy Paintings — Restoration of Frescoes by an Enthusiastic Merchant — An Ill-advised Monk — Sale of Holy Water — The Day of St. Serge— The Baker's Shop— The Cathedral— Sale of Candles, Images, and Oil — Rich Display of Pictures, Gold, Silver, and Precious Stones — The Treasury — Dining Hall of the Monks — Primitive Hospitality — The Hospital — The Dying Monks — The Greek Monk — Differences in Monkish Life — The Bloodstained Tower — A Monk's Cell — Ecclesiastical Academy . . 313

Chapter XIX

Administration of Justice — Bribery in some cases Discountenanced — The Bureaucracy — Causes of the Low Morale of Public Officials — Insufficient Salaries — No Public Opinion — Frequenters of the Hotel Dusaux — A Sign of the Times — The Levelling Process — Language of the Upper Classes — Intolerance at the Opera — Native Literature — The Works of Lermontoff, Pouchkine, &c. — Growth of National Sentiment — Serfdom and Freedom — New State of Things — Rise of a National History, Drama, Fiction, and Music . . . 338

AROUND THE KREMLIN.

Chapter I

Charms of Moscow — Growth and Progress of the City — Hostile Invasions— Successful Defence of Moscow— St. Petersburg a Town of Yesterday — The Invasion of 1812 — Impressions on entering the old Muscovite Capital — Its Position— -The Moskwa — The Sparrow Hills ■ — Parties of Pleasure — View of the City — The Battle of Borodino —Who were the Victors ? — A Proud Moment for Napoleon — Wilna — Energy of the Russian Defence — Napoleon in the Palace of Peterhoff — Remarkable Contrast — Humiliation of the Invaders — Retreat of the French — Dispersion and Destruction of the Grand Army — -Moscow Avenged.

FT1HERE is a* charm peculiar to Moscow among the J- cities of the world. It is in itself the centre of the history of a people — a people one day fated to play a great part in the drama of the future. But at present the charm of Moscow is in its past story and in its present life. The interest of the past story of the city arises out of its peculiar position as the connecting link between the East and the West. In this its situation is something analogous to that of Constantinople, standing upon the confines of two divis-

B

2 MOSCOW.

ions of the earth, and thus it has had to bear the discords of different races and to be the scene of the conflicts of opposing peoples. Moscow grew up from a collection of small villages to a town in the midst of warring and half barbarous tribes ; and thus, as it increased in concentration, and therefore in importance, it was sometimes attacked by Polish forces from the west, partly with the ambitious object of the sovereigns of Warsaw to extend their possessions eastward over the Muscovite plains; and partly out of fear of the threatening increase of strength of the populations accumulating on their exposed and eastern border. At other times the country round was invaded from the east, and Tartar hordes came up in overwhelming masses to the walls, and bursting over them devoted the unhappy place to sack and pillage. These latter were actuated by no motives such as those which led the Poles up to the gates of Moscow — motives of possession and increase of national strength. These were only lured from their tents and their wild plains on the Don by the hopes of plunder and the gratification of their instincts of destruction. But the hardy sons of Muscovy, though often beaten by the Poles, and frequently despoiled by the Tartar hordes, yet rose from their defeats in

INVASION OF 1812. 3

renewed strength, as Antseus from his mother earth, until, becoming the nucleus of a nation, they were able to beat off their enemies both on the east and on the west, and, becoming the victors in the place of the vanquished, they threw back the armies of Poland on the one side and the horsemen of the Don on the other, and following the rule of the law of the strong and the weak they forced all their former enemies to submission. It is thus in and around Moscow that the story of Russia is to be read. St. Petersburg is but the modern town of yesterday. It is as yet but the pert of Russia, an imperfect city, and bearing in all its accessories the marks of a new town. Even Peter could not make at once a capital city in all its completeness by even his iron and domineering will.

But Moscow, with all its ancient story, would have but a minor interest in our modern eyes and in our western Europe, and but a weak hold upon our regards, were it not for one great modern fact — the march of Napoleon in 1812, the burning of the city, and his retreat. This is the one event which gives Moscow its prominent place in our thoughts of to-day. You cannot separate yourself, as you look at and think of the city, from this grand and tragic circum-

b 2

4 POSITION OF MOSCOW.

stance. The grandeur of the enterprise, the amazing proportions of the undertaking, the consummate skill of the arrangement, the energy of the conduct of the plan, the sublimity of the defence, the tragic failure, and the heroism under ruin — all these are the features of the picture to which Moscow owes the renown and the glory stamped upon the modern mind.

You are at the entrance of Moscow, and accordingly, with your mind still full of the haunting story, the first thing you do is to unburthen your thoughts of that subject, to give them full swing, and to satisfy their demands by visiting at once the scenes of the drama, which are still to be distinctly recognised, before you give yourself up to the enjoyment of the place and its varied beauties. Moscow stands in the middle of a waving country, upon a succession of low hills, much the same in elevation as those on which London stands. The river Moskwa, about as broad as the Thames at Windsor, runs into it from the north-west, and forming a small loop flows out again in the direction of south-west. On this western side, at a distance of three miles from the barrier, rises a hill, or succession of hills, of no great height. These are the Sparrow Hills, and at their foot flows the Moskwa. There is a small village on the ridge, and

VIEW OF THE CITY. 5

a few private houses of gentlemen stand on it on either side of the village and look down over the river towards the city. There are some small wooden buildings along the road-side in front of the village, and these are used by people from the city — parties of pleasure who come up to the Sparrow Hills to enjoy their tea or dine, and to look out from the verandahs over their sacred and glittering Moscow. The position, the broken and green and grassy slope with trees and shrubs at intervals, puts one in mind of Richmond Hill. The height from the water to the houses is about the same in both ; but instead of running like the Thames in a straight line across the wide expanse of country below, the Moskwa comes up from the left hand with a circular sweep, passes along at the foot of the hill, and then descends again by a similar bend to the right, and continues in sight until it is concealed by the houses and bridges of the city at a distance of about three miles.

From this height the whole of Moscow lies spread out before you as a map. You can see every part of it to its extremities, can mark every rise and fall of the numerous hills, its endless pinnacles and cupolas glittering in the sun, its towers, its bright-coloured houses, and its universal gardens. With your back to

6 BATTLE OF BORODINO.

the west you look to the north, over the river to the race-course and to the plain where the white tents of the troops form a canvas town, and to the Peterhoff Palace, — over the Kremlin and its gilded towers right in front of you to the east, and over the fortress-like Convents of Simonoff and Novospaski, and the Sokolniki gardens and pine forests to the south, Behind you to the west is Borodino, — with your thoughts still full of the great tragedy of Moscow you cannot but think of Borodino. At about forty miles distance is that famous village near which Koutousoff, the Russian Commander, halted his army on a low and broken ridge of hills and fought the battle with Napoleon, in which 80,000 men are declared to have fallen on the two sides, and the result of which opened the way for the French Emperor to Moscow. It may be said here en passant that both sides claimed the victory. Napoleon, of course, did so, as he did on all occasions ; and Segur relates in detail the circumstances of the battle from the French view of it. But Ker Porter and Koutousoff claim the complete victory for the Russians, stating that Napoleon retreated some miles from the ground after the battle of the 7th September and only advanced again after receiving his reinforcements, when Koutousoff, acting on a

A PROUD MOMENT FOR NAPOLEON. 7

preconcerted plan with Rostopchin, the Commandant of Moscow, again retreated, and thus left the city open.

However this may be, the French came on in a few days, and on the 15th September their leading files came up the slope from the west to the Sparrow Hills ; and from this height they raised their shout of triumph and exultation, " Moscow ! Moscow!" at the sight of that brilliant city, the end and apparent reward of all their labours, lying at their feet. As he stood there, surrounded by his generals and his troops, it must have been a proud moment for Napoleon, for no grander or more beautiful city exists anywhere on the earth than was this now before him. The diameter of it from north to south is about six miles, and from the Sparrow Hill the whole of this extent without a break was under his eye ; and the possession of such a city, the capital of a great people, filled, as he could see, with almost unnumbered churches, and, as he would naturally suppose, with merchandize of the East and West and private possessions of the great Russian bankers and nobles, would appear to him to be a prize of almost incalculable wealth in money and money's worth, as well as a diadem of glory to France.

Standing there and gazing on that glorious scene

8 THE RUSSIAN DEFENCE.

I could not but imagine for the moment the position and the pride of the great Emperor. And then I went back over the story of the advance, the sudden passage of the Niemen by Kowno — that fatal Rubicon— and the march to Wilna — pretty Wilna, lying in its hollow among picturesque and wooded hills — when all was bright before the French leader and his usual fortune smiled on him. Then, too, the Russians had not yet begun to burn their villages and towns and lay waste their country, as they did when he advanced to Witepsk and Smolensk, and showed to him with what fierce and relentless hatred they sacrificed everything to destruction in their magnificent energy of hostility to his invasion of their country.

At about a mile distance from the northern gate on my left there was visible, at the edge of the great military plain, the Palace of Peterhoff, to which Napoleon had gone after viewing' the city from the Sparrow Hills, and where he remained for two days in vain expectation of the authorities of Moscow coming out to him, as usual in similar circumstances, with the keys of the town — a deputation of the conquered to the victor, to beg for clemency. But then how little he understood what the Russian people had resolved on ! No deputation came ; and with angry words

REMARKABLE CONTRAST. 9

upon his lips and with sad presentiments of coming evil in his heart, he entered the city and the Kremlin ; and then only he learned, by the fire bursting out almost simultaneously in many quarters, even in the Kremlin itself, under what totally new and savage circumstances his invasion was to be met by a united, and a devoted, and an infuriated nation.

As I descended the hill homewards I could not help thinking, so beautiful was the scene from that height, so peaceful in its repose and so bright and shining in the rays of the afternoon summer sun, how glad a contrast it was to that sublime but terrific spectacle on those days of September in 1812, when that same city was wrapped from end to end, here in sheets of flame, and there in rolling masses of suffocating smoke, sacrificed by its inhabitants that loved it on the altar of their country. And as I went on, I could think of nothing but the humiliation of the so lately jubilant conquerors, as they turned their backs for the last time, in their reluctant retreat, on those same Sparrow Hills, with their faces towards France, that France so dear to them, for which they had $ared so much, and which so few of them were ever to see again. The devastated city was behind them, the cry of vengeance everywhere around them, while

10 MOSCOW AVENGED.

maddened hosts on every side destroying the destroyer at every step with unsatisfied rage, until worse came upon the doomed victims, worse than the Russian swords, the icy hand of winter ; and then regiments disbanded and dispersed to meet no more, and whole divisions, in their exhaustion and despair, surrendered themselves to their conquerors, with all their spoil, — - and Moscow was avenged.

But now let us forget the icy march of death, and the shouts of the avenger, and go down from the hill into the lovely and laughing city.

Chapter II

Extent of Moscow — The Kremlin — The Kitai Gorod, or Chinese Town — Streets and Boulevards — Moscow contrasted with other Great Cities — A City of Cottages — House of a Russian Nobleman — The Peasant's Cottage — General Appearance of the City — Walk from the Palanka Square — Broad and Noisy Thoroughfare — Country Life in the City — Quiet Streets — Pleasant Houses and their Tenants — A Professional Musician — Russian Churches — Novel and Picturesque Appearance of the Streets — Scenes of Russian Life — Beautiful Little Church — Aristocratic Street — Change in Russian Society — New Quarter of the Noblesse.

IV TOSCO W is said to have a circuit of twenty miles. ■ The centre of this, or nearly so, is the Kremlin

Hill, on the banks of the Moskwa. There is a broad open space all round the Kremlin wall, and no buildings approach its sacred precincts. On the east side of this hill, and beyond the great market-place, is a curious small block or collection of houses and streets called the Kitai Gorod, or Chinese town. This, too, is enclosed and separated from the great city by its own battlemented wall encircling it, and outside of it is a broad boulevard laid out with trees and walks.

12 BOUND THE KREMLIN.

Across this are market-places, large buildings, open spaces, the theatres, gardens, the Foundling Hospital, Hotels and Club Houses, bending round all the way from the river Moskwa on the one side of the Kremlin to the Moskwa again on the other. From this boulevard radiate many large streets to the barriers ; but these streets are intersected at some little distance by other boulevards, running in a circular direction all through the city, also laid out with trees and walks ; and again farther on by still another, a third, boulevard similar to the others. Thus the city is divided into circles by these open spaces, which admit air and light to all parts of it. But Moscow is a city unlike any other capital. In the great cities of the world the streets are throughout composed almost entirely of large houses, and one street resembles another in the general size and character of the buildings. One street may be a little broader than its neighbour, and the houses in the larger one may be of a more ornate style than those of the smaller, a great thoroughfare more imposing than the narrower cross street, but still there is a general resemblance. But this is not the case with Moscow. This may be almost termed a city of cottages. In fact the Russian house is a cottage, on a small or a large scale according to the rank and afflu-

RUSSIAN HOUSES. 13

ence of the owner, and these form the greater part of Moscow. The noble builds his house, in town or country, on a cottage plan. He raises a low wall of stone or brick of some four feet in height, and on this he builds a wooden house of one storey. It is long and wide, and a passage or hall intersects it from one extremity to the other, and the rooms on either hand open on to this and communicate with each other. Often, too, there is a small superstructure rising from the centre of this wide basement, but this is generally only a small addition — in fact, a small cottage built in the centre of the top of a large one. Sometimes, but rarely, that upper structure is as large as the lower one and forms a complete one-storeyed house. But beyond this no truly Russian house ever rises. A broad night of steps in the centre of the front leads up to the level of the floor of the building at four feet from the ground, and a verandah, deep and shaded, runs all along this front, and sometimes this extends down the two sides to the back. As a rule, the whole building is of wood. In the villages the cottage of the peasant resembles in its essential features the house of the noble. It has the night of steps, the verandah in front, and sometimes even the miniature structure rising from the centre. These noble cottages and peasant cottages form the greater part

14 MAIN AND CROSS STREETS.

of Moscow. You should imagine a circular city the centre of which are the Kremlin and the Kitai Gorod, and that from this centre radiate a certain number of broad thoroughfares running out to the different barriers. These main streets are all from forty to fifty feet in breadth in the central parts, but widen to sixty and seventy, and even more, as they approach the barriers. The buildings on either side of these are what are always by the natives called stone houses, but are in reality invariably brick, and they are all of only one storey, with very rare exceptions, such as in the case of some public buildings. Thus the houses being of very low elevation and the streets broad, there is great brightness through the city. But when you turn out of any one of these large thoroughfares into a cross street you find yourself at once among village cottages. These cross ways, which form a network in the large spaces between one great thoroughfare and another, are the prettiest and most quiet and retired little country retreats one can imagine. They are quite unique in their repose and neatness, and their entire absence of the noise and turmoil of the great city. For instance, let us walk from the Palanka Square in the centre of everything, close outside of the wall of the Kitai Gorod, and taking the street to the Post Office,