''Sorok'' (russian: cорóк) was a historical subdivision of
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...
in terms of
parish
A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one o ...
es, used during 17-19th centuries. In the Russian language the word may beconfused with "cóрок" (with the first syllable
stress
Stress may refer to:
Science and medicine
* Stress (biology), an organism's response to a stressor such as an environmental condition
* Stress (linguistics), relative emphasis or prominence given to a syllable in a word, or to a word in a phrase ...
ed), which means "forty".
By a decision of the
Stoglavy Sobor of 1551, Moscow was subdivided into 6 ''soroks'':
*
Nikitsky SorokНикитский сорок
*
Sretensky Sorok, Сретенский сорок (named after
Sretenka)
*
Prechistensky SorokПречистенский сорок(after
Prechistenka)
*
Ivanovsky Sorok, Ивановский сорок
*
Zamoskvoretsky Sorok, Замоскворецкий сорок (after
Zamoskvorechye
Zamoskvorechye District (russian: райо́н Замоскворе́чье) is a district of Central Administrative Okrug of the federal city of Moscow, Russia. Population:
The district contains the eastern half of historical Zamoskvorechye ...
)
*
Kitaisky Sorok, Китайский сорок (after
Kitai-gorod
Kitay-gorod ( rus, Китай-город, p=kʲɪˈtaj ˈɡorət), also referred to as the Great Possad () in the 16th and 17th centuries, is a cultural and historical area within the central part of Moscow in Russia, defined by the remnants ...
)
On average, at these times each ''sorok'' encompassed 45
parochial churches.
The term gave rise to a Russian
saying
A saying is any concisely written or spoken expression that is especially memorable because of its meaning or style. Sayings are categorized as follows:
* Aphorism: a general, observational truth; "a pithy expression of wisdom or truth".
** Adag ...
(recorded e.g., by
Vladimir Dahl
Vladimir Ivanovich Dal ( rus, Влади́мир Ива́нович Даль, p=vlɐˈdʲimʲɪr ɨˈvanəvʲɪdʑ ˈdalʲ; November 22, 1801 – October 4, 1872) was a noted Russian-language lexicographer, polyglot, Turkologist, and founding ...
in his ''Sayings and Bywords of Russian People'') "There are ''sorok sorokov'' of churches in Moscow" (meaning "multitudes of churches in Moscow"). It is sometimes mistakenly interpreted as 40 times 40, i.e., 1600 churches in Moscow, which is an exaggeration: in 1917 there were "only" 441 parochial churches and slightly over 200
home churches in Moscow.
At present, the Russian Orthodox realm is subdivided into
eparchies
Eparchy ( gr, ἐπαρχία, la, eparchía / ''overlordship'') is an ecclesiastical unit in Eastern Christianity, that is equivalent to a diocese in Western Christianity. Eparchy is governed by an ''eparch'', who is a bishop. Depending on the ...
, further subdivided into ''
blagochiniyes'' (''blagochinny okrugs'', благочиние, благочинный округ).
{{Slavic terms for country subdivisions
History of Moscow
!
Types of administrative division