June 21, 2014

The Great Moscow Fire


The Great Moscow Fire
June 21, 1547 is remembered as the day of the Great Moscow Fire. At the time, the city was mostly wooden, densely populated and lacked an organized fire service. Fires broke out regularly, but in June of 1547 storm-force winds drove a blaze from the Arbat street to the Kremlin, Kitai-gorod and Bolshoi Posad. 
 
Here's Karamzin's description, in The History of the Russian State:
 
The entirety of Moscow appeared as a single enormous blaze, under clouds of thick smoke. Wooden building simply disappeared; stone ones cracked and fell apart; iron parts and implements glowed red with heat, copper turned liquid. The roar of the storm, the crackle of the fire and the screams of people trapped in the blaze were repeatedly drowned out by the explosions of gunpowder that was stored in the Kremlin and other parts of the city. One ran for one's life; all possessions, whether earned virtuously or through vice, perished: the tsar's rooms, the treasury, icons, ancient scrolls, precious swords, even the remains of saints were turned to ash. The Metropolitan remained in the Cathedral of the Dormition, praying, even though he was almost unable to breathe because of the smoke. Someone forced him to leave and people wanted to lower him from a secret passage to the river bank on a rope – but he fell, was severely injured, and was taken to Novospassky Monastery, barely alive...
 
By night, the storm let up, and by about three in the morning the fire went out, but the ruins were hot and smoking for several days... People with their hair burned off, their faces blackened by the soot, wandered like shadows among the horrors of the vast decimated desert: they went looking for their children, parents, whatever was left of their home--and howled like animals when they found nothing.
Up to 2,500 people lost their lives in the fire, up to 80,000 were displaced, and fully one-third of Moscow's buildings were lost. Immediately after the fire, Tsar Ivan IV (the Terrible) issued a law that required Moscow residents to maintain barrels of water in their yards and on the roofs of their house and mandated that large cooking stoves be placed on empty lots far from residential buildings. However, it would not be until 1649 that Tsar Aleksei Mikhailovich would lay the foundations of the regular fire service in Moscow. Eighteen years earlier, in 1631, Boston's governor John Winthrop launched the American fire-fighting history when he outlawed wooden chimneys and thatched roofs.
 
Later, may would see the fire as an omen portending the horror's of Ivan the Terrible's reign.

Image: Иван IV и протопоп Сильвестр во время большого московского пожара 24 июня 1547 года (Павел Плешанов, 1856 год) ~ Ivan IV and the Archpriest Silvester during the Great Moscow fire in 1547 (Painting by Pavel Pleshanov, 1856)

You Might Also Like

St. Basil the Blessed
  • August 17, 2006

St. Basil the Blessed

St. Basil the Blessed is both a well known Moscow landmark and cherished saint. Learn about the ten pillars of the cathedral and what it means to be a 'fool for Christ.'
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

Chekhov Bilingual

Chekhov Bilingual

Some of Chekhov's most beloved stories, with English and accented Russian on facing pages throughout. 
The Latchkey Murders

The Latchkey Murders

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin is back on the case in this prequel to the popular mystery Murder at the Dacha, in which a serial killer is on the loose in Khrushchev’s Moscow...
How Russia Got That Way

How Russia Got That Way

A fast-paced crash course in Russian history, from Norsemen to Navalny, that explores the ways the Kremlin uses history to achieve its ends.
Tolstoy Bilingual

Tolstoy Bilingual

This compact, yet surprisingly broad look at the life and work of Tolstoy spans from one of his earliest stories to one of his last, looking at works that made him famous and others that made him notorious. 
Woe From Wit (bilingual)

Woe From Wit (bilingual)

One of the most famous works of Russian literature, the four-act comedy in verse Woe from Wit skewers staid, nineteenth century Russian society, and it positively teems with “winged phrases” that are essential colloquialisms for students of Russian and Russian culture.
Bears in the Caviar

Bears in the Caviar

Bears in the Caviar is a hilarious and insightful memoir by a diplomat who was “present at the creation” of US-Soviet relations. Charles Thayer headed off to Russia in 1933, calculating that if he could just learn Russian and be on the spot when the US and USSR established relations, he could make himself indispensable and start a career in the foreign service. Remarkably, he pulled it of.
The Moscow Eccentric

The Moscow Eccentric

Advance reviewers are calling this new translation "a coup" and "a remarkable achievement." This rediscovered gem of a novel by one of Russia's finest writers explores some of the thorniest issues of the early twentieth century.
Murder and the Muse

Murder and the Muse

KGB Chief Andropov has tapped Matyushkin to solve a brazen jewel heist from Picasso’s wife at the posh Metropole Hotel. But when the case bleeds over into murder, machinations, and international intrigue, not everyone is eager to see where the clues might lead.
93 Untranslatable Russian Words

93 Untranslatable Russian Words

Every language has concepts, ideas, words and idioms that are nearly impossible to translate into another language. This book looks at nearly 100 such Russian words and offers paths to their understanding and translation by way of examples from literature and everyday life. Difficult to translate words and concepts are introduced with dictionary definitions, then elucidated with citations from literature, speech and prose, helping the student of Russian comprehend the word/concept in context.
Davai! The Russians and Their Vodka

Davai! The Russians and Their Vodka

In this comprehensive, quixotic and addictive book, Edwin Trommelen explores all facets of the Russian obsession with vodka. Peering chiefly through the lenses of history and literature, Trommelen offers up an appropriately complex, rich and bittersweet portrait, based on great respect for Russian culture.
The Little Humpbacked Horse (bilingual)

The Little Humpbacked Horse (bilingual)

A beloved Russian classic about a resourceful Russian peasant, Vanya, and his miracle-working horse, who together undergo various trials, exploits and adventures at the whim of a laughable tsar, told in rich, narrative poetry.
Dostoyevsky Bilingual

Dostoyevsky Bilingual

Bilingual series of short, lesser known, but highly significant works that show the traditional view of Dostoyevsky as a dour, intense, philosophical writer to be unnecessarily one-sided. 
Life Stories
September 01, 2009

Life Stories

The Life Stories collection is a nice introduction to contemporary Russian fiction: many of the 19 authors featured here have won major Russian literary prizes and/or become bestsellers. These are life-affirming stories of love, family, hope, rebirth, mystery and imagination, masterfully translated by some of the best Russian-English translators working today. The selections reassert the power of Russian literature to affect readers of all cultures in profound and lasting ways. Best of all, 100% of the profits from the sale of this book are going to benefit Russian hospice—not-for-profit care for fellow human beings who are nearing the end of their own life stories.

Woe From Wit (bilingual)
June 20, 2017

Woe From Wit (bilingual)

One of the most famous works of Russian literature, the four-act comedy in verse Woe from Wit skewers staid, nineteenth century Russian society, and it positively teems with “winged phrases” that are essential colloquialisms for students of Russian and Russian culture.

How Russia Got That Way
September 20, 2025

How Russia Got That Way

A fast-paced crash course in Russian history, from Norsemen to Navalny, that explores the ways the Kremlin uses history to achieve its ends.

The Little Humpbacked Horse
November 03, 2014

The Little Humpbacked Horse

A beloved Russian classic about a resourceful Russian peasant, Vanya, and his miracle-working horse, who together undergo various trials, exploits and adventures at the whim of a laughable tsar, told in rich, narrative poetry.

Faith & Humor
December 01, 2011

Faith & Humor

A book that dares to explore the humanity of priests and pilgrims, saints and sinners, Faith & Humor has been both a runaway bestseller in Russia and the focus of heated controversy – as often happens when a thoughtful writer takes on sacred cows. The stories, aphorisms, anecdotes, dialogues and adventures in this volume comprise an encyclopedia of modern Russian Orthodoxy, and thereby of Russian life.

Russian Rules
November 16, 2011

Russian Rules

From the shores of the White Sea to Moscow and the Northern Caucasus, Russian Rules is a high-speed thriller based on actual events, terrifying possibilities, and some really stupid decisions.

The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas
October 01, 2013

The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas

This exciting new trilogy by a Russian author – who has been compared to Orhan Pamuk and Umberto Eco – vividly recreates a lost world, yet its passions and characters are entirely relevant to the present day. Full of mystery, memorable characters, and non-stop adventure, The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas is a must read for lovers of historical fiction and international thrillers.

 

Related Content

Nina Shevchuk-Murray
Nina Shevchuk-Murray
Nina Shevchuk-Murray came to the US from Ukraine, where she grew up in Lviv. She earned a degree in poetry from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Her translations include Peter Aleshkovsky’s Stargorod and Fish, as well as Oksana Zabuzhko’s Museum of Abandoned Secrets. Nina’s poetry has been included in Untidy Seasons, an anthology of works by Nebraska women poets.
Read More
St. Basil the Blessed
St. Basil the Blessed

St. Basil the Blessed is both a well known Moscow landmark and cherished saint. Learn about the ten pillars of the cathedral and what it means to be a 'fool for Christ.'

Read More

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955