Good afternoon, dear readers. We have already visited the Moscow metro with you and examined the most beautiful stations. Today we will continue our journey through this beautiful city.
Real treasures are often found in Moscow, including rare jewelry and tens of thousands of medieval coins. Sometimes thanks to this, it is possible to recreate the dramatic circumstances of their creation.
Great Treasury of the Kremlin
The treasure was found in 1988 at the Spassky Gate. Products were made in Russia in the XII – early XIII centuries. They were buried in 1238.
The Kremlin treasures were not found immediately. However, the collection opened in 1988 is the largest. It consists of 300 parts dating from around the 13th century. Among them are several silver jewelry and silver ingots.
The find contains rare jewels made not only in Russia, but also in Scandinavia and Persia. The treasure belonged to a Moscow prince and was hidden in 1238, when the Mongols besieged the place for three days. During this period, the city fell and was devastated, and Russia lost its sovereignty for several centuries.
Among the precious stones there are many rings, among them is gold with an inscription in Arabic: “Glory, success, strength and happiness of the owner.”
The treasure was found at a depth of 5 meters. It was originally kept in a wooden box, which turned to dust after 750 years. The find is of historical importance, as it can be interpreted as evidence that by the middle of the 13th century Moscow was at the center of the political life of Russia and played an important role in transit trade.
Ipatiev treasure
This hoard, discovered almost 30 years before the Kremlin treasure, contains a huge amount of Spanish silver coins in a copper vat. It has 3398 piastres of the 16th-17th centuries, mainly from the Spanish colonies: Mexico, Bolivia and Colombia.
The silver weighs over 70 kg and was hidden in the early 17th century. It was discovered during construction work on Ipatievskaya Street in the city center. Historians find it difficult to explain the purpose of the coins. Probably, they intended to melt them down for Russian money.
Arabian treasure
Arab dirhams of the 9th century were discovered in the 1830s during the construction of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. It is believed that this was the first money in circulation in Ancient Russia. It is said that at least 15 such treasures were found in Moscow and its environs.
When this wealth was buried, Moscow did not exist, so some people believe that the dirhams could have been hidden on the hillside by a merchant who was attacked by robbers.
Countless coins
A huge treasure was discovered in the very center of Moscow in 1996 – just a few hundred meters from the walls of the Kremlin. It contains over 300 Western European coins and 95,000 Russian silver coins. At that time, the State Historical Museum had a collection of 70,000 Russian coins.
The oldest of the discovered treasures dates back to the reign of Ivan the Terrible in the middle of the 16th century. It is believed that the owner of the treasure hid it under a wooden house that burned down in a fire, and the place has not been subsequently identified.
Another huge collection of coins was discovered just a few years ago – in 2015, during the construction of a new Zaryadye park near the Kremlin. The builders found 43,000 silver coins weighing 20 kilograms.
They were also minted during the reign of Ivan the Terrible, but were hidden in the 17th century, during the so-called Time of Troubles, a long period of internal unrest and foreign interference in Russia’s affairs.
In general, at that time it is estimated at 350-380 rubles. This money would be enough to build a luxurious mansion in Moscow. Most of the treasures on the territory of today’s capital were hidden in the 15th-16th centuries, when the political situation in Russia was far from stable and people did not feel safe.
Well, perhaps, untold riches lie under the feet of Muscovites to this day. There are legends about many of them, and we even suspect some of them.
