Did you know?

Here're 5 facts about Moscow.

• Happy Birthday, Moscow: a paradox of Soviet times
  
  (The picture belongs to Wikimedia Commons' user Danila2332)

Now the city’s birthday is celebrated in the beginning of September. However, that’s illogical because in historical records the town was first mentioned on the 4-th of April (1147). According to Stalin’s order, in 1947 the capital’s birthday was celebrated on the 7-th of September, and later it became a tradition.

• Stalin's sisters: how many are there?
  
  Seven.
  Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Moscow State University, “Hilton Moscow Leningradskaya” hotel (former “Leningradskaya” hotel), “Radisson Royal Hotel Moscow “ (former “Ukraina” hotel) and three living buildings.

• Amazing Moscow metro
  
  (This photo belongs to Denghu at English Wikipedia)

Some stations are famous.
The deepest station is “Park Pobedy”. Its depth is 84 m.
The longest platform is at “Vorobyovy Gory” station. You need to walk 284 m to get from one end to the other one.
The longest ride is from “Krylatskoe” station to “Strogino” station – the train goes approximately 7 minutes. The distance between the stations is 6625 meters!
You can find more interesting facts about Moscow underground on http://www.alexeygoncharov.com/index6-eng.html

• Colour of the Kremlin
  
  "The heyday of the Kremlin. All Saints Bridge and the Kremlin at the end of the 17 century", Russian painter Apollinary Vasnetsov.
  
  "Red Square in the second half of the XVII Century", A. Vasnetsov.

The walls of the Kremlin were not always red. In the past, wooden walls were replaced by local white stone. The town even got the name “Moskva belokamennaya”, which means “Moscow made from white stone”. In the XV-th century during the reconstruction of the Kremlin Italian sculptors built walls from red brick, nevertheless, the walls were painted white. When Napoleon came to Moscow, he saw white Kremlin walls. During the II World War the Kremlin was painted as a usual part of the city so that it was hidden from the bombs. It was in 1947 when the Kremlin became red.

• How many people live in Moscow?
  
  (This picture was taken from Pixabay)

According to official statistics, about 12 million. Unofficially, the population of the city may reach 18 million (2016).