Along with such phrases as "Moscow - 3rd Rome", "Moscow - a city on 7 hills", you can hear "Moscow - the port of five seas". To understand the meaning of this expression, you need to delve deeper into history.
Why Moscow is called a port of 5 seas
The answer is very simple: through a network of water channels that penetrate the capital, you can go exactly to the five seas - the Azov, Baltic, White, Caspian and Black. It is believed that the author of the expression is none other than I.V. Stalin himself.
The leader of the Soviet people used this phrase on the very day when she really had the right to characterize Moscow - 06/14/1936. It was on this date that the Volga-Moscow channel was inaugurated, which would later be renamed the channel named after the capital. It is the reason why Moscow is a port of 5 seas, because after the construction of the canal, the city got access to these water areas through it.
Channel "Volga-Moscow"
The canal named after the capital is a navigable artery that connects the Moscow River with the great Volga. And through it from the capital, access to the Belomorkanal (White Sea-Baltic), the Volga-Baltic and Volga-Don canals is already possible.
Historically, the idea of building such a waterway belonged to Peter I. And the tsarist government intended to implement this project in the 19th century, but sent it to a long box because of the prohibitive cost. That is why - Moscow is a port of 5 seas, starting only in the thirties of the XX century.
