Since ancient times, the Russian state has been characterized by an abundance of cities. In Kievan Rus and during the period of feudal fragmentation, there were about 160,000 of them . In the Muscovite state in the XVI-XVII centuries, a large number of cities were built again (in the XVI century - about 702 and about the same number in the XVII century). Thus, almost half of all Russian cities were built in the XVI-XVII centuries.
The Russian city consisted of a fortress, a posad, and a settlement. He owned large arable and pasture land plots surrounding him, as well as" museums", that is, fishing grounds, hunting grounds, and beekeeping. The fortress housed administrative buildings: the voivodeship court, the sovereign's treasury, a green cellar, a sliding hut, storerooms, barns and granaries; it housed the privileged population and part of the army guarding the city. Posad, as a rule, was inhabited by artisan people, and it was located gostiny dvors. In the city there were both settlements in which service people and artisans lived, and settlements that usually belonged to individuals or monasteries.
Cities were built according to urban planning standards that came to Russia in the IX century. from Byzantium. There are three documents that show that in Kievan Rus cities were built according to certain rules. This is the "Law of Gradsky", which is part of the earliest legal documents of Kievan Rus - the "Measure of the Righteous" of the IX century.and the "Helmsman's Books"of the 4th XII-XIII centuries. In the Moscow state, the Gradsky Law was again translated from Greek into Slavic and was widely used. Two other legal provisions - "The rank and succession of the foundation of the city" and "The rank and blessing of a newly built stone or wooden city" were found by the author of this article in the breviary of Peter the Grave, published by him in Kiev in 1646.5Of particular interest is the "Rank and ascension of the foundation of the city", since this document allo ...
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