Kitay-gorod

In the 13th century there already was a trading quarter outside the city walls. It was situated to the east of the citadel, at the bottom of the Kremlin Hill, in the low-lying city district. This trading quarter played a very important part in the city life, that’s why Moscow prince Ivan Kalita moved his palace closer to this district and made the new main gates in the eastern part of the Kremlin wall. In the beginning of the 16th century Elena Glinskaya, mother of the first Russian tsar Ivan the Terrible, ordered to wall in and moat in the trading area. That’s how a new part of Moscow, Kitay-gorod, was formed. Roads from all sides of Russia led to this centre of brisk and lively trade. Very soon Kitay-gorod became not only a trading area, but also a centre of industry, education and culture.