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9. My native city. My Native City

My native city is Moscow, the capital of Russia, its political, economic, commercial and cultural centre. This is a huge and beautiful city. Now Moscow is one of the largest cities in Europe. Its total area is about nine hundred square kilometres (ancient Moscow occupied the territory of the present-day Kremlin). The population of the city is over 8 million.

Moscow is one of the most beautiful cities in the world. The heart of Moscow is Red Square. It has more historic associations than any other place in Moscow. The Kremlin and St Basil’s Cathedral (Vasily Blazheny) are masterpieces of ancient Russian architecture. The main Kremlin tower, the Spasskaya Tower, has become the symbol of the country. On the territory of the Kremlin you can see old cathedrals, the Bell Tower of Ivan the Great, the Palace of Congresses, the Tzar-Cannon and the Tzar-Bell, the biggest cannon and bell in the world. St Basil's Cathedral was built in the mid-16th century in memory of the victory over Kazan. There is a legend that Ivan the Terrible blinded the architects Barma and Postnik, because he didn’t want to create another masterpiece.

There are a lot of beautiful palaces, old mansions, cathedrals, churches and monuments in Moscow. Now Moscow is being reconstructed and we all hope that in a few years the city will become even more beautiful.

There are more than 80 museums in Moscow. The largest museums are the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts and the State Tretyakov Gallery. Other unique museums in Moscow include the All-Russia Museum of Folk Arts, the Andrei Rublev Museum of Early Russian Art, Alexei Bakhrushin Theatre Museum, Mikhail Glinka Museum of Musical Culture and many others.

Moscow is famous for its theatres. The best-known of them is the Bolshoi Opera House. Drama theatres and studios are also very popular. Moscow is a city of students. There are over 80 higher educational institutions in it, including several universities.

Moscow is the seat of the Russian Parliament (the Duma) and the centre of political life of the country.

The life in Moscow is fast, intense, and tough. Many people work in the center and live on the outskirts of the city. It usually takes one or two hours to get to work. Fortunately, we have the fastest transportation system called Metro. The Metro carries millions of people underground every day. There are different, interesting, beautiful metro stations made from marble.

I love my city.

10. Kirov. Kirov

Kirov is one of the oldest Russian cities. It was founded by "ushkuinics" from Novgorod in the thirteenth century during the times of Mongolian-Tatar yoke. Ushkuinics were river pirates and merchants. They were called so because "ushkui" was the name for their boats made of bear skins. Then the town was named Vyatka according to the river it stood on. Being a small town at first, Khlynov was situated on one hill only on the left bank of the Vyatka river, then 3 hills proved to be built over and now they are 7.

And the first record about this fact was made in chronicles in 1374. It is this year that is considered to be the foundation date of our city. In 1457 the town was named Khlynov. This name was given to a fortress or Kremlin built against Moscow wanting to unite the lands. Later it began to be applied to the whole town. Finally in 1489 the town was subordinated to Moscow and included into the Russian Moscow State.

When at the end of the eighteenth century the Kremlin collapsed the original name Vyatka was returned to the town. In 1784 it became the principal town of the province by order of Catherine the Second.

In 1934 the town was named after S.M.Kirov, one of the leaders of the Revolution, who was born in the small town of Urzhum not far from Vyatka. And this is still the present name of the city.

The total area of the modern city is more than 150 square km. It stretches for 25 km from north to south and for 10 km from west to east. Its population is about half a million. The city is divided into 4 districts.

Our city is a large industrial center. Its industry was formed mainly during the Great Patriotic War when 14 large enterprises were evacuated here from the west of the country. Industrial production of modern Kirov is 1000 times higher than that of old Vyatka. About 150 000 people, a quarter of the city population, are engaged in industry: at the tire plant, non-ferrous metal processing plant, biochemical plant, instrument-making plant, timber processing plant, machine-tool building plant, machine-building plant and others. Machine-building, metal-working, biochemical, tire, manufacturing industries are being developed here.

Kirov is also a scientific center of haematology and blood transfusion, forest-chemistrу, hunting and fur-farming.

Kirov is a cultural center. The Hertzen Library, one of the largest in our country, is named after its founder. The Arts Museum, one of the richest in our country, is named after the famous artists, Vasnetsovs brothers, born in the Vyatka land. The Drama theatre, the theatre for young spectators, the puppet theatre, different museums and exhibition halls are visited by the kirovites.

Kirov is a beautiful city. The real beauty of it lies not in its modern architecture but in old buildings. The oldest are the St.Triphon monastery, the Assumption cathedral, the Order House, thе Building of the Regional Court and others.

St.Triphon monastery

It is situated in the old part of the city. The Assumption monastery over there was founded by Triphon from Vyatka who, later, was ranked among the saints. The monastery then got his name. The ensemble of St.Triphon monastery is made up of the Assumption Cathedral with 5 domes, St.Nicholas Over-the-gate church, Annunciation church, Holy Trinity church, blocks of monks' cells. The first building of the monastery was made of wood in 1580. Later in 1689 it was rebuilt of stone. Now it is still being restored.

Another old building worth mentioning is the building of the regional court.

Тhе Building of the Regional Court

Тhe building of the Court was designed by architect Roslyakov and was built at the end of the 18th century. Governors of Vyatka had been living here since the beginning of the 19th century. The building can be divided into the central part and two one-storied wings. The iron balcony of artistic casting leans on thе cast-iron supports. There were the living rooms of the Governor in the central part and office in the wings, where exile clerks Hertsen and Saltykov-Shchedrin worked.

Many outstanding people lived in exile in Vyatka, and among them was a promising architect Vitberg. Some places of interest are tied with his name.

The Alexander Garden

The Alexander Garden was founded in 1835. The two famous rotundas in the Garden were designed by architect Timopheyev, while the portal and the tracery of its palisade - by Vitberg. Alexander I patronized the architect. But after his death Vitberg was unfairly accused of embezzlement and was exiled to Vyatka by Nicolas I. The portal is made in Empire style with four Doric columns. The heavy portal, in contrast to the weightless tracery of cast-iron palisade, looks magnificent. This grille is one of the top 10 in our country.

More modern architectural style is represented by the Drama theatre.

The Drama theatre

The first building of the theatre was designed bу architect Nefedyev and was built of wood in 1877. Thеге were only 10 rows of 16 chairs each then. companies from Moscow and Petersburg gave their performances here.

The well-known romantic writer Alexander Grin, who was born in 1880 in the town of Slobodskoy in the Vyatka province, being a boy earned his living here by copying parts of actors.

In 1914 the Milan Opera sang here.

In 1924 the famous American ballet-dancer Isidore Dunkan danced in our theatre.

In 1928 in this building Mayakovsky recited his poem Good devoted to the 10th anniversary of October Revolution.

It was the great Soviet poet who said "Such a small town but so pleasant".

During the war the Gorky Academic Bolshoy Theatre of Drama was evacuated here from Leningrad.

The modern building of the theatre was designed by Moscow architects Burov and Fyodorov in the classical style of Russian architecture of the second half of the 19th century and was built in 1939.

According to the tradition the facade of the building is decorated with a white stone Corinth portico consisting of a colonnade and a pediment .

Now the auditorium accommodates 800 seats.

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