Eastern Europe and its capital

Though Moscow was already a town by the 12th century, it only became the centre of the independent Grand Duchy of Muscovy in 1480, when Ivan III defeated the Mongols, who had ruled the country for more than two centuries. However, between 1712 and 1918, Moscow, in Russia's interior, was replaced by the new Baltic city of St. Petersburg , as Tsar Peter the Great wanted a "window on the west."