German Quarter
Suburban valleys of the Yauza also flourished under the early Romanovs. Tsar Mikhail of Russia (reigned 1613-1645) established his country palace in Rubtsovo () and his former rival Prince Dmitry Pozharsky (1577-1642) lived further out, in Medvedkovo on the Yauza (). Alexis I of Russia (reigned 1645-1676) established a chain of country residencies in Preobrazhenskoye and Alekseevskoye () on the Yauza, and Izmaylovo Estate on its Serebryanka tributary. In 1653 Alexis yielded to the pressure of Orthodox clergy and expelled Catholics and Protestants from Moscow; they resettled in the German Quarter on the eastern bank of the Yauza, isolated from the city by the marshes around the Kokuy and Chechora streams.