Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1884-05-17
NrosKwA.
Formerly the Imperial City and p...
For the Gazette.

" NV NuAtttt.
ny s. w. q,
Having spent nearly four mon,h. !.
MOSCOW IN the year 1880. / b.ra -
cideo TO give the readers of Tur ~.
zErrE a brief description Of IN. he. ~
full city. 'eau''-
Moscow is more like Constantiro,,,.
than any other place that read e
with towers in lieu of minare,s n,,,a'
much superiority in golden domeH Inn,
win only the small river Mosl,wa
which finds its way to the Vo,"a
and the Caspian sea, instead ~ ~
beautiful Bosphorus, which ren, .ne
Constantinople superior To aI, ~ yrs
effect upon the beholder. Tha c;tu L ,ss
ooo,Ooo people, and about 500 churches
whose exteriors resemble mosques
put whose interiors resemble The
roman churches-I did not see the
latter, but read description Of them
with scarce even an image. bnt nj,
their saints painted and emblazonad
upon Hat surfaces. Like tha
M ohammedans, they eschew images
ihelr domes are so varlad
in style, shape and design. as
TO render them quite attractive. the
cathedral of st. Basil alone HAVING
eleven domes, each different In color
and design from the others, and each
covering a beautiful chapel. Thesa
churches contain such great wealth in
silver and gold, sbrines and saints
bas-reliefs with the most costly gems
For instance, the cathedral of the As.
sumption, in which all the czars have
been crowned, has shrines of departed
saints covering the entire wall OF the
church over the altar, TO the ceilino
which are of silver, gllded and spark,
ling with large diamonds and other
precious stones of great value. A mic.
ture of the holy virgin of Vladimir
said to have been painted by st. Luke
which came from ConstanUinople In
the eleventh century, is adorned with
jewels valued at 10000 roubles one
emerald being valued at 100000 ron.
bles. The Temple of the Saviour.n is
the largest and perhaps the newest of
all the churches. 1t Is said to be rich
in malachite columns and
other precious materials, which
WIN ~ alIlOSb GuUAl
to st. Isaac's, the great cathedral
of st. Petersburg. Many of these
churches were founded in the thir.
tenth and fourteenth centuries. With
the exception of the great metropoli-
tan, who is selected, from the monas.
teries, all the priests of the great
church are required TO marry before
being ordained.
The Kremlin Is nearly q triangular
fortress of about one and two miles In
circumference, situated upon an emf
hence which overlooks the whole city.
1T has four large towers at the four
corners, peculiar, picturesque and
oriental. and several lesser ones along
the different sides. There are five
grand gateways-the redeemer gate,
over which is picture of the redeemer
of Smolensk, and under which no
person is allowed to pass without I'M
covering the head, the emperor him.
self observing that custom; the
FroitZAy, or Trinity gate, through
which the French entered and evacu-
ated the Iiremlin: the Nikslsky or
Nicholas gate, and the BoHwllzky
gate. Each il surmounted by q beau
tiful tower. Within the walls are the
palace of the ear and treasury, or
museum of the magnificent proper
ties of the crown, the arsenal,
tribunal tower of Ivan the
Great. and several churches, appertain- |
ing to or especially used on great
state occasions. The palace is OF vast
proportions, with magnificent halls OF
reception, whose walls are covered
with battle scenes and rich decorations
of gold. L feel that my pen is too weak
to describe correctly the beauties OF the
palace. The arsenal contains the can
non taken during the retreat Of tne
French-three hundred and sixty-ive
pieces-and hundreds of Others cap
tured in the wars. The tower OF Ivan
the Great, about 1875 feet In height,
erected in 1900, is very picturesque,
and is surmounted by gilded dome.
II contains thirty.siX bells, which ar. are
frequently rung. Near the foot Oh Tue
tower is the great bell of MOSCOW
"Caar Colokoll," or king OF the
Bells.u 1t was first cast early III .ne
seventeenth century and recast IN i.oi.
During fire, it fell and buried i,seli
into the ground, a piece being broken
out of the side, in 1877. 1t 1888 IL was
raised upon pedestal, where ~ nov oso
remains. 1t is said to weigh 44t.v s,5
pounds; height twenty-six ana i na
feet. circumference siXty-eight iee'i