For more than eight and a half centuries, Moscow has been growing and becoming more beautiful, with the first mention of it in Russian chronicles dating back to 1147. The Tver Chronicle contains the following message: "The Grand Prince Yuri Volodimerich founded the city of Moscow on the banks of the Neglinnaya River, above the Auza River." However, for a long time, Moscow remained a small town on the outskirts of the Vladimir-Suzdal region.

The first Moscow prince, Daniil Alexandrovich, the youngest son of the holy protector of Russia, Alexander Yaroslavich Nevsky, laid the foundation for the rise of Moscow. It was to him, who fully embraced and adopted his father's Christian piety, that fate assigned the lofty mission of building a powerful empire. Although the process of becoming the "Third Rome" was quite long and arduous, Daniel's sons, having become independent rulers, proudly referred to themselves as Grand Princes, and the Moscow high priest eventually became the Patriarch of All Russia.

The Russian Orthodox Church has appreciated Daniel's contribution to the formation of Russian statehood. For over three hundred years, every year on March 4, according to the old calendar, it commemorates the memory of Prince Daniel of Moscow, who, as the prominent Russian historian and author of "The History of the Russian State" Nikolay Mikhailovich Karamzin figuratively put it, "prepared Moscow to take the place of Vladimir."

The youngest of Alexander Nevsky's four sons, Daniel, named after the Holy Monk Daniel the Stylite, was born in November or December 1261. This information is preserved in one of the oldest Russian chronicles, the Laurentian Chronicle. In the year 6769 (1261), we read: "Alexander's son was born, and his name was Daniel." The young prince was barely two years old when his father, Grand Prince Alexander Yaroslavich Nevsky, died in Gorodets Radilov on the Volga River, on his way from the Horde to Russia. Moscow, along with its surrounding territories, was apparently bequeathed to Daniel by his father. This is evidenced in the Stepennaya Kniga, a unique literary and historical monument from the 16th century. The author and compiler of the book, Metropolitan Athanasius, writes that Daniel inherited Moscow from his father, where he grew up. This information, which was written in the time of Ivan the Terrible, has not been confirmed by other sources. It may be an echo of later legends and speculations about Daniel and 13th-century Moscow. There is another explanation. It is known that Metropolitan Athanasius used a wide range of chronicles and other sources when preparing his book, many of which have probably not survived to this day.

It is clear that a two-year-old infant could not rule a principality. Almost no information has survived about Daniel's childhood, where he was raised, or how he acquired his wisdom. A letter dated 1408 from Ivan Mikhailovich of Tver to Vasily Dmitrievich of Moscow provides some insight into the fate of the Moscow principality and its first ruler. It follows that the young Daniil was raised for seven years at the court of Alexander Nevsky's younger brother Yaroslav Yaroslavich of Tver, who became Grand Prince of Vladimir in 1264. At the same time, the Grand Prince's stewards (tituns) also managed the Moscow appanage intended for Daniil.

History does not tell us what happened to Daniel after Yaroslav Yaroslavich's death in 1271. It can be assumed that when he reached the age of majority, which was considered to be between 12 and 14 years old at the time, Prince Daniel began to rule Moscow on his own. However, this did not happen before 1273.

The prince grew up and matured during a sad time for Russia. After the terrible devastation caused by Batu Khan, Russia, which Alexander Nevsky had left to his children, was once again on the brink of survival. The long-lasting internecine struggle for the Grand Prince's throne in Vladimir between his eldest sons, Dmitry of Pereyaslavl and Andrey of Gorodets, which involved all the principalities of North-Eastern Russia and Novgorod, significantly weakened the Russian land. The princes were divided into two camps, each supporting its own candidate. All means were used in the fierce "kotor" of the princes, including the help of the Horde regiments.

Difficult times usually develop characters remarkable for their energy, perseverance in achieving their goals, cunning, and resourcefulness. This is how Prince Daniil Alexandrovich is remembered in Russian history, as his reign marked the beginning of the continuous and relatively rapid rise of the Moscow Principality above all others.

The first appearance of the Grand Prince of Moscow in the political arena as an independent ruler was in 1282. Under this year, the Novgorod Chronicle reports on one of the episodes of the long-lasting internecine struggle for the Grand Principality. The supporters of Andrey Gorodetsky, Svyatoslav Yaroslavich of Tver and Daniil Alexandrovich of Moscow, led their armies to the aid of Novgorod, which was under attack by Dmitry Alexandrovich of Pereyaslavl. The chronicle provides a brief account:

"Danilo Aleksandrovich of Moscow and the Muscovites." There was no bloodshed that time. Both sides had persuasive words to negotiate a truce.

Living by the Christian commandments, Daniel always followed the instructions of his famous ancestor, Prince Vladimir Monomakh of Kiev. Vladimir Monomakh bequeathed to his children a few simple maxims that can help them remain moral in any difficult and contradictory times. Monomakh instructed them: "Above all, do not forget the poor, ... do not allow the strong to destroy the weak," "Do not kill the righteous or the guilty, and do not command others to kill them," "For God's sake, do not be lazy, for only by doing good can you gain God's favor." Daniel also knew Monomakh's advice: "But evil is mixed with good, like wheat and chaff." Throughout his life, the Prince of Moscow strove to separate the wheat from the chaff. He could no longer support Andrey Gorodetsky, who sought to seize the Vladimir throne "not by right of inheritance" and used flattery and gifts to obtain a charter from the Khan for the Grand Principality, bypassing the legitimate heir. Therefore, Daniil Alexandrovich's transition to the camp of Dmitry of Pereyaslavl was a natural progression.

The close cooperation between the two brothers was particularly evident in 1293, when Andrei Gorodetsky, who once again traveled to Sarai, received support from the new Golden Horde Khan Tokhta, and upon his return to Russia with a Tatar army led by Tokhta's brother Tudan, he launched a new war for the Grand Principality. The army of Dyuden (as Tudan was known in Russia) marched through North-Eastern Russia, wreaking havoc and plundering 14 Russian cities.

Soon after the" Dyudenev pogrom " Dmitry Pereyaslavsky died (1294). Of the sons of Alexander Nevsky, only Andrey Gorodetsky and Daniil Moskovsky survived. During the lifetime of his older brothers, Daniel had no legitimate claim to the Grand Duchy of Vladimir - this common goal of all the most powerful princes of that time. He did not want to take power away from Andrey Alexandrovich by force, despite the fact that he illegally received the Grand duchy. Andrey was an envious and greedy man who captured cities and exterminated Christians with the help of the Tatars, shedding much innocent blood. Daniil used all his energy to expand the territory of his own Moscow principality. Through the use of weapons and skillful diplomacy, as well as his ability to navigate between the two opposing Mongol-Tatar factions (the Sarai khans and Temnik Nogai, who ruled over the western lands of the Golden Horde), he not only added new territories to his principality but also significantly increased his influence in North-Eastern Russia.

In 1296, a large Mongol-Tatar military detachment led by Nevruy was sent to the Russian lands in order to resolve the existing disagreements between the princes in favor of the Horde. A princely congress was held in Vladimir, and the participants were divided into two factions. In the presence of the khan's ambassador, Daniel of Moscow spoke together with Mikhail Yaroslavich of Tver and Ivan Dmitrievich of Pereyaslavl. He stood at the head of the princely faction that opposed Andrey Alexandrovich and his allies. The feuds at the congress turned out to be very violent. The Khan's ambassador listened to the princes, but did not understand the meaning of their argument. Those, unable to withstand the strain, were ready to grab their swords: "... and the God of bloodshed saved little, there was not enough battle." The Tartars subdued them, and they, after all, managed to agree on the division of the principalities, dispersed to their own destinies. Judging by the fact that the Prince of Moscow led a clear opposition to the Grand Prince even in the presence of the Tatars, he became a major political figure whose position immediately affected the balance of power among the princes during the feudal wars.

Subsequent events confirmed this. As early as 1297, the Novgorodians expelled Andrey Alexandrovich's governors from the city. Naturally, in order to openly break with the Grand Prince's authority, they needed to secure someone's support. Their choice fell on Daniil. According to them, the Moscow ruler was the most influential opponent of the Grand Prince. Daniil Alexandrovich accepted the invitation from Novgorod, but was unable to travel there himself, so he sent his second son, Ivan. Andrey Gorodetsky, dissatisfied with the decision of the congress of princes in Vladimir and the actions of Novgorod, hurried to Sarai to restore the previous order with the help of the Horde regiments. The Grand Prince's intentions did not take the allies by surprise. The combined army of Moscow, Tver, and Pereyaslavl was waiting for the enemy near Yuryev. Faced with such strong opposition, Andrey was forced to negotiate.

In 1300, Tokhta, the Khan of the Golden Horde, won a decisive victory over Nogai, who was killed. The period of dual power in the Horde came to an end. The Moscow prince and his allies now had no support to rely on. In this situation, Daniil turned his attention to the Principality of Ryazan, which was not part of the system of principalities in North-Eastern Russia. In the autumn of 1300, the Moscow army defeated the Ryazan army near the walls of Pereyaslavl-Ryazansky, and the local prince, Konstantin Romanovich, was brought to Moscow by Daniil. As a result of this campaign, Kolomna, an important strategic border town of Ryazan located at the confluence of the Moskva River and the Oka River, was annexed to Moscow.

Daniil Alexandrovich's success in the Ryazan region gave him the courage to take action. When Prince Ivan Dmitrievich of Pereyaslavl died childless in May 1302, the question of who would inherit the now-vacant principality arose. Before his death, Ivan Dmitrievich bequeathed his principality to Daniil of Moscow: "Bless Daniil of Moscow to rule in Pereyaslavl."

The annexation of the Principality of Pereyaslavl to Moscow was Daniil Alexandrovich's last success. On Monday, March 4, 1303, he passed away "in his patrimony in Moscow, in monasticism and in the schema," leaving behind five sons:

Yuri, Alexander, Boris, Ivan, and Athanasius. With his death, Moscow's period of humble existence as a secondary principality came to an end, and it began to rise first as the center of North-Eastern Russia and then as the center of all of Russia.

Naturally, without economic growth, it is unlikely that all of Daniil of Moscow's campaigns and land acquisitions would have played any role in strengthening Moscow. However, after Batu Khan's invasion and subsequent Mongol-Tatar campaigns, there was a migration of people from the east and center of the Suzdal land to its more militarily secure western outskirts, particularly to Moscow. This migration contributed to the growth of these outskirts. The princes and boyars found a sufficient number of feudal taxpayers and warriors for their retinues. The result was the formation of new principalities that would play a historical role in the future. The geography of political centers in the North-East changed. The advantages of the geographical location of these centers, particularly Moscow, which were a result of the demographic changes caused by the Mongol-Tatar yoke, contributed to the fact that these centers were able to successfully claim the role of a territorial foundation around which all of North-Eastern Russia could unite in the future.

Daniil Alexandrovich's efforts to increase his own inheritance were not limited to military and diplomatic efforts. He paid a lot of attention to the economic development of Moscow, the construction of new buildings, etc. strengthening its territory. Undoubtedly, the name of this prince is associated, for example, with the construction of the first stone church in Moscow, whose fragments were found during archaeological research of the Assumption Cathedral in 1968. By order of Daniel, the Epiphany Monastery, located in the midst of a rapidly developing posad, was significantly expanded.

On the right bank of the Moskva River, which leads to Kolomenskoye and Nizhniye Kotly, a monastery was built, which served as the city's southern outpost. During the reign of Daniil Alexandrovich, the monastery with its church dedicated to Daniel the Stylite was the main monastery of the principality, and its abbot was the highest-ranking clergyman.

Later, according to the Step Book, the monastery fell into disrepair. It was only during the reign of Ivan III that an image of Daniel of Moscow appeared to a nearby boyar riding along the bank of the Moskva River, who complained that the Grand Duke had forgotten his relatives, whose deeds had given him supreme power. After this "miracle" Ivan Vasilyevich began to sing cathedral dirges in honor of his relatives. The miracles around Daniel's burial site continued. During the reign of Vasily III, Boyar Ivan Shuisky, who accompanied the Grand Prince, tried to mount a horse by stepping on a tombstone, but he almost died from the impact. He was healed by numerous prayers offered at the site. During the reign of Tsar Ivan IV the Terrible, the dying son of a Moscow merchant was finally healed at the tomb of Daniel. Surprised by this event, the tsar ordered the monastery to be reopened and a stone church was built there.

The Church's activities have always been influenced by political circumstances. Even its choice of saints was influenced by the political climate. The canonization of Daniel of Moscow is a clear example of this. The relics of the Right-Believing Prince were discovered incorruptible on August 30, 1652, and were transferred by order of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich to the Church of the Seven Ecumenical Councils in the Danilov Monastery. However, it was not until 1653 that Patriarch Nikon granted permission for the official celebration of the event, after much delay and repeated requests from the tsar himself. The canonization of the founder of the Moscow dynasty was not part of the patriarch's plans, as he was engaged in a protracted conflict with the secular authorities at the time, leading to his removal from the patriarchal throne in 1658. The canonization of the founder of the Moscow Grand Ducal dynasty, who always advocated a strong central government, was not part of Nikon's plans and was purely a local initiative.