Do you know who founded Moscow?

It would seem that the answer to this question has long been known, as well as the date of the founding of the capital of Russia. But is everything so simple and how reliable are the data on who founded Moscow?

Despite the rather different interpretations and dissimilarity of some annalistic data, which date the city was laid (it fluctuates between 1147 and 1156 years), the official reference point is considered to be the first documentary mention of this city, which dates back to 1147. According to the same generally accepted theory, the founder of Moscow is the Suzdal prince Yury Dolgoruky.

But if you approach the analysis of existing historical documents, then this harmonious and simple theory begins to literally burst at the seams. First of all, with a careful reading of the very chronicle, which tells of the invitation received by Prince Svyatoslav to come to Moscow to Yuri Dolgoruky, you can see an interesting detail. Describing the journey to the new city, the author never mentions that he is in some new place - the prince travels along a well-known road and sends his son ahead of him without fear. In addition, upon arrival Dolgoruky arranges a luxurious feast, which also suggests that the infrastructure around the settlement was developed more than well.

So who founded Moscow in reality, and what is the role of this prince in this well-known to this day?

A long time in Russia there were legends about the fabulously rich boyar, who bore the name of Stefan Ivanovich Kuchka. About him is mentioned in at least two stories telling about the birth of Russian statehood and the emergence of a city called Moscow. It was to him, according to these legends, that those same lands belonged on both banks of the Moscow River, on which the future Russian capital was later laid. And these lands are described as rich and well-equipped, with "red villages" and good roads.

In other words, Dolgoruky did not lay the city in a new place, most likely he simply developed the already existing boyar estate to the city scale, and at the same time gave him a new name. As a result, a city appeared on the map of Kievan Rus, which played a huge role in the formation and development of Russian statehood. In other words, Moscow is based on the site of several ordinary villages that have existed there for many decades.

Earlier, before coming to the northern lands of the Suzdal prince, this place was named after the boyar, Kuchkovo, who owned it. For a while it even had a peculiar "double" name and was called "Moscow rekshi Kuchkovo", that it is possible to translate "Moscow, called Kuchkovo". This, by the way, is more than a serious argument in favor of the fact that the data about who founded Moscow in fact, are approximate enough.

But in any case, even if we take into account that the present capital was not based on an empty place, but on an already sufficiently inhabited territory, this in no way diminishes the merits of Yuri Dolgoruky. He not only laid the great city, but also created the prerequisites for the formation of the state. It was thanks to his efforts that Moscow eventually managed to unite all the disparate principalities around itself and become the center of the strongest state in Europe. Being a rather powerful person, Dolgoruky was able to do what no one had ever done before-he so strengthened and enriched his Suzdal principality (which included Moscow as the westernmost point of his possessions), that it minimized the importance of the principality that was still in the lead . Since the reign of Yuri Dolgoruky, the power of the Kiev princes gradually faded away, and its importance was drawn by the western regions. Therefore, the question of who founded Moscow, you can confidently answer "Yuri Dolgoruky" - because he did not just laid the city walls, he created the basis of statehood.