Although archaeological evidence indicates that the site has
been occupied since Neolithic times, the village of Moscow was
first mentioned in the Russian chronicles in 1147. In 1271
Moscow became the seat of the grand dukes of Vladimir-Suzdal,
who later assumed the title of grand dukes of Moscow (see
Moscow, grand duchy of ). During the rule of Dmitry Donskoi in
1367 the first stone walls of the Kremlin were built. Moscow, or
Muscovy, achieved dominance through its location at the
crossroads of trade routes, its leadership in the struggle
against and defeat of the Tatars, and its gathering of
neighbouring principalities under Muscovite suzerainty. By the
XVth century Moscow had become the capital of the Russian
national state, and in 1547 Grand Duke Ivan IV the Terrible
became the first to assume the title of tsar. Moscow was also
the seat of the Metropolitan (later Patriarch) of the Russian
Orthodox Church from the early XIVth century. It has been an
important commercial centre since the Middle Ages and the