The Russian capital of Moscow on Saturday staged grand celebrations marking its 863rd city day, Xinhua reported.
A wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in the Alexander Garden near Kremlin in the morning unveiled the grand celebrations that mainly took place in the city's major recreational places, such as Tsaritsino park, Kolomenskoye park and Victory square.
Despite a budget cut from the municipal government because of the summer heat, drought, smog and wildfires, on Sept. 4-5 the Moscow city was expected to stage 5,000 events attracting the participation of nearly three million Muscovites.
Also on Saturday, some 40,000 students from 100 Moscow colleges marched through downtown streets for the ninth consecutive year, displaying their affections toward the city.
At 8:00 p.m. Moscow time (1600 GMT), the annual military tattoo that kicked off at the Red Square was expected to woo some 35,000 people with performances from a dozen countries.
Moscow city, whose history can be traced back to 1147, was established as the capital of the Principality of Moscow in the 13th century. Later in the mid-15th century, the city was set as the capital of the unified Russia.
In 1987 upon the proposal by Boris Yeltsin, the first weekend of every September was nominated as Moscow city day by the municipal authorities.
