Welcome to Moscow, Russia

Hello and Welcome to my site, 

I have been to Moscow many times, stayed in everything from private flats to dorms to Five Star hotels to Hostels over the years since I first visited in 1998.

I have imported items, exported items, dealt with office staff in Russia and joint ventured with local business on several occasions over the years. I have done fiancee visas, adopted a daughter and traced my relatives back into Russia's history. I currently have friends and trusted professionals in legal, travel, antiques, visas and almost anything else related if you are looking to do any of the above. 

Feel free to contact me at bernie@primesite1.com for any help you may need.

A little history

Moscow (Russian: Москва́, romanised: Moskva, IPA:see also other names) is the capital and the largest city of the Russian Federation. It is also the largest city in Europe, with the Moscow metropolitan area ranking among the largest urban areas in the world. Moscow is a major political, economic, cultural, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the world.


It is located on the Moskva River in the Central Federal District, in the European part of Russia. Historically, it was the capital of the former Soviet Union, Russian Empire, Tsardom of Russia and the Grand Duchy of Moscow. It is the site of the Moscow Kremlin, which serves as the residence of the President of Russia. Russian parliament (Gosudarstvennaya Duma and Sovet Federacii) and Government of Russia are meeting also in Moscow.


Moscow is a major economic centre and is home to the largest number of billionaires in the world;[1] in 2008 Moscow was named the world's most expensive city for foreign employees for the third year in a row.[2]


It is home to many scientific and educational institutions, as well as numerous sport facilities. It possesses a complex transport system, that includes 3 international airports, 9 railroad terminals, and one of the world’s busiest metro systems which is famous for its architecture and artwork.


A person from Moscow is called a Muscovite.


The city is named after the river (old Russian: гра́д Моско́в, literally "the city by the Moskva River"). The origin of the name is unknown, although several theories exist.[3] One theory suggests that the source of the name is an ancient Finnic language, in which it means “dark” and “turbid”. The first Russian reference to Moscow dates from 1147 when Yuri Dolgoruki called upon the prince of the Novgorod Republic to “come to me, brother, to Moscow

Location


Moscow is situated on the banks of the Moskva River, which flows for just over 500 km through the East European Plain in central Russia. 49 bridges span the river and its canals within the city's limits.


Moscow's road system is centered roughly around the Kremlin at the heart of the city. From there, roads generally radiate outwards to intersect with a sequence of circular roads (“rings”).


The first and innermost major ring, Bulvarnoye Koltso (Boulevard Ring), was built at the former location of the sixteenth century city wall around that used to be called Bely Gorod (White Town).[6] The Bulvarnoye Koltso is technically not a ring; it does not form a complete circle, but instead a horseshoe-like arc that goes from the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour to the Yauza River. In addition, the Boulevard Ring changes street names numerous times throughout its journey across the city.


The second primary ring, located outside the Boulevard Ring, is the Sadovoye Koltso (Garden Ring). Like the Boulevard Ring, the Garden Ring follows the path of a sixteenth century wall that used to encompass part of the city.[6] The third ring, the Third Transport Ring, was completed in 2003 as a high-speed freeway.


The Fourth Transport Ring, another freeway, is under construction to further reduce traffic congestion. The outermost ring within Moscow is the Moscow Automobile Ring Road (often called the MKAD from the Russian Московская Кольцевая Автомобильная Дорога), which forms the approximate boundary of the city. Outside the city, some of the roads encompassing the city continue to follow this circular pattern seen inside city limits.


Climate

See also: Climate of Moscow


Moscow has a humid continental climate climate (Köppen climate classification Dfb) with warm, somewhat humid summers and long, cold winters. Typical high temperatures in the warm months of June, July and August are around 23 °C (73 °F), but during heat waves, that can occur anytime from may to September, daytime temperature highs often top 30 °C (86 °F) for sometimes 1 or 2 weeks; in the winter, temperatures normally drop to approximately −9 °C (15.8 °F), though there can be periods of warmth with temperatures rising above 0 °C (32 °F). The highest temperature ever recorded was 36.7 °C (98.1 °F)[11] in August 1936, and the lowest ever recorded was −42.2 °C (−44 °F) in January 1940.


Snow cover (averaging 3-5 months in year) is formed at the end of November and melts in mid-March, but in recent years snow cover has lasted shorter than usual; for example, in the winter of 2006-2007 the snow cover formed only at the end of January and melted at the beginning of March; in 2007-2008, the snow cover melted at the end of February, and in the 2008-2009 winter snow cover was formed only at the end of December, which is one month later than usual.


Monthly rainfall totals vary minimally throughout the year, although the precipitation levels tend to be higher during the summer than during the winter. Due to the significant variation in temperature between the winter and summer months as well as the limited fluctuation in precipitation levels during the summer, Moscow is considered to be within a continental climate zone.


Average annual temperature in Moscow is 6.0 °C (42.8 °F), but in last years (2007, 2008) it was higher than 7 °C (45 °F)[12]. Last summer light night frost was in first half of 20 century[12].


On average Moscow has 1731 hours of sunshine in year[13]. In 2004 - 2008 - near 1800 - 2000 hours[14]


Source-Wikipedia