Sindarin for "Black Pit".
Home of durin's line of dwarves in Tolkien's middle-earth. It lies beneath the misty mountains just west of Lorien.
Founded by Durin himself, this mine/city was the only place in the world where you could find mithril. Here the dwarves of Durin's line lived until the third age, when they awoke a balrog of Morgoth who had slept underground since the Battle of the Valar. The Balrog promptly killed the Dwarven King (thus his name as "Durin's Bane") and set up shop in Moria, leaving the dwarves homeless.
Don't worry, they eventually set up home in Erebor.
Balin, son of Fundin foolishly thought to retake Moria late in the third age, but he learned a valuable lesson: don't fuck with the Balrog.