Irrepressible Moscow

An exuberantly corrupt city thrives on disharmony. Dave & Les Jacobs/Spaces Images/Corbis The opulent Moscow Underground Is there any big city on the planet whose reputation for decadence exceeds Moscow’s? Down through the centuries, Moscow has been known for its “thieving, murdering, fornication” (a traveler in the seventeenth century) and as the “seat of sloth” (Catherine the Great in the eighteenth).