City Expansion

The city grew rapidly over the next two centures. For while when Peter the Great ruled, the capitol of Russia was moved to St. Petersburg. However, that did not stop Moscow from continuing to grow. The last wall was built in the late 1700s. Napolean Bonaparte attempted to invade the city in 1812, but failed because the Moscow countrymen burned their fields so the advancing army had no supplies. The harsh Moscow winter was upon them, so the French had no choice but to retreat all the way back to Western Europe, as the Russian army chased them.

In 1796 the first boulevard, Tverskoy, was laid out running from the Kremlin south.

In 1825 the buildings around the Theatre Square were built, making it a hot spot for entertainment. The square was then built up and the road between the Theatre and downtown was widened.

The first railroad station was built in 1851, and was set outside of the city walls. More medieval buildings in the Old City were torn down to make way for the neo-classical and romantic buildings. In the process, the streets were straigheted and widened. However, the organic nature of the city remained unchanged. There was no attempt to 'grid out' the city. The Kremlin remained the center of the city.

Public transportation in the form of Tram lines and hose-drawn trollies appeared just before the turn of century. Following the close of World War I, Moscow was established as the center of the United Soviet Socialist Republics, aka the Soviet Union.