Red Square how to get inside. Moscow Kremlin - all the towers of the Kremlin, the history of construction. How to get into the Diamond Fund of the Moscow Kremlin
Hello! The site project welcomes its users and invites you to take another walking tour of Moscow.
Today we will visit one of the most important sights of the capital, which is called the "heart of Moscow" - the Moscow Kremlin.
As part of a walk around the Kremlin, we will see the Kremlin walls and towers, Kremlin cathedrals and museums. We will see the Tsar Bell and the Tsar Cannon, explore the inner streets and squares of the Kremlin.
Our walk starts from the Sokolnicheskaya line. Leaving the metro, in the underground passage we carefully follow the signs and look for the one that says "To the ticket office of the Palace of Congresses, to the Alexander Garden and to Manezhnaya Street":
If you saw this inscription, then you are in the right place.
We go outside. We are located in, which is adjacent to the western part of the Kremlin wall.
To the left of us, in which the entrance to is located.
To a person who has found himself in the Kremlin for the first time and has not studied its history, it may seem surprising that there is a bridge in the absence of any water formations. Therefore, it is worth making a small, literally in a couple of sentences, historical digression here.
The first Kremlin, then still white stone, was built on Borovitsky Hill at the confluence of two rivers: here it flowed into. This location of the fortress was very convenient from a defensive position: the rivers were an additional barrier for enemies attacking the Kremlin, making it difficult to approach the fortress walls.
The Neglinnaya River flowed along the western wall of the Kremlin, that is, exactly where the Alexander Garden is now located. The Trinity Bridge was a crossing over it, and the Kutafya Tower was located on the other side. Such towers were called bridge towers.
The Kutafya Tower, surrounded on one side by the Neglinnaya River and on the other by a deep artificial moat, served as a reliable defense for the second most important Kremlin tower, Troitskaya. A drawbridge was thrown across the moat, which was removed at the slightest danger and tightly closed the only entrance to the tower.
Over the years, the defensive function of the fortress disappeared, and by the XVIII-XIX centuries. it turned from a defensive fortification into a place of residence for the royal family. In 1813, after the destructive Patriotic War for the city, Alexander I issued a decree on large-scale improvement of the central part of the city. As part of this program, the Neglinnaya River was enclosed in an underground collector, and the Alexander Garden, which became one of the favorite places for Muscovites, was laid out near the western wall.
The Alexander Garden and its many sights are described in detail in our walks and, but today we have a different route.
As noted above, the entrance to the Kremlin is through the Kutafya Tower, however, since it is paid, you must first purchase a ticket. The glass pavilion of the box office is located a little further, on the right hand from us.
Having purchased tickets, we return to the entrance and go to the Kutafya tower.
This is the only one of the Kremlin towers, inside which you can be. Of course, in the old days it looked different, but, nevertheless, a certain breath of antiquity can be felt here.
We pass along the Trinity Bridge to the Trinity Tower.
Troitskaya Tower is the tallest of the Kremlin towers, its height is 80 meters. The tower has repeatedly changed its name: Epiphany, Rizopolozhencheskaya, Znamenskaya, Karetnaya. In the middle of the 17th century, it received its current name from the nearby Trinity Monastery.
Passing by the Guard of Honor, we enter the territory of the Kremlin.
After the death of Miloslavsky, the chambers went to the royal treasury. The building was equipped for "fun" - the first theatrical performances in Rus', held for members of the royal family. Therefore, the palace was called "Amusing".
Currently, the building is occupied by the Commandant's Office of the Kremlin, so the passage along Palace Street is closed, we can only admire the Poteshny Palace from afar.
We follow straight along Troitskaya Square.
On the right hand, the domes of the famous Kremlin cathedrals are already visible, but we have yet to reach them. For now, let's look to the left. Immediately behind the Arsenal building there is a square (it bears the name), and is visible in the distance. This area is also closed.
And right behind the square and a small square - the building that gave the name of the square,.
The external modesty of the architecture and size of the building is more than deceptive: if you look at the satellite image of the Kremlin, we will see that the Senate is made in the form of a quadrangle, more like a triangle. The shortest of the four facades of the building overlooks Troitskaya Square. Of the remaining three, two, unfortunately, are closed from the eyes of visitors to the Kremlin, while the third, the front one, overlooks Red Square, towering over and. If you have already been to, you have seen how majestic the Senate looks from the front side, if not, then you have yet to see it.
The Senate was built in the second half of the 18th century by decree of Catherine II as the seat of the Governing Senate (hence the name), the highest state body subordinated personally to the emperor.
During its existence, the walls of the Senate have seen many statesmen and state authorities of the highest level: until 1917, the servants of the tsar were located here, during the Soviet era - the office of V.I. Lenin, later - the Council of Ministers of the USSR. Now the Senate Palace is the working residence of the President of the Russian Federation. Therefore, the approaches to it are closed.
The temple was erected in 1329 during the reign of Ivan Kalita. One of the oldest white-stone cathedrals that has survived to this day, only older than it, located here, nearby, we will soon reach it.
Ivan the Great became the first bell tower in the city, its belfry was common to all the Kremlin cathedrals.
The cathedral was repeatedly rebuilt and completed, as a result, in 1600, during the reign of Boris Godunov, after the addition of the next tier, its height reached 81 meters. After that, the bell tower received another unofficial name, Godunov Pillar.
For many years, and to be precise, until 1883, when construction was completed, the belfry of John of the Ladder was the tallest building in Moscow. Except one case.
It was believed that it was forbidden to build higher than Ivan the Great, but officially there was no such ban. And so, at the beginning of the 17th century, Prince Alexander Menshikov, an associate of Peter I, ordered to build in his possessions on Chistye Prudy, the only temple-tower in Moscow. Together with the spire and the figure of an angel crowning it, the height of the Menshikov Tower (as the temple was dubbed by the people) was 84.3 meters, that is, one and a half sazhens higher than the Kremlin belfry.
In 1723, lightning struck the spire of the tower, completely destroying the entire upper part of the temple.
Perhaps the rumor that it was impossible to build buildings higher than Ivan the Great arose precisely after this incident, or maybe it existed before, but Menshikov did not attach any importance to this, considering it superstition (or maybe he went for it deliberately, considering Peter The Great, and therefore yourself along with him, is higher and more significant than all the kings who ruled before?) Now it’s hard to say. However, for more than a century and a half after that, no one else dared to build tall buildings in Moscow.
An outstanding work of Russian weapon craftsmanship. The cannon was cast in 1586, even its author, gunsmith Andrey Chokhov, is known. The cannon was placed on the outskirts of the Kremlin from the south side, but most historians are inclined to believe that she never had a chance to shoot.
In the 19th century, the Tsar Cannon was moved inside the Kremlin and installed next to other guns near the walls of the old Armory. As we wrote above, after the demolition of the chamber, all the guns were moved to the Arsenal. All but one. The Tsar Cannon was destined for a special fate. It was decided to install it separately from the others, on the border of Ivanovskaya and Cathedral squares.
To approach it, you need to walk along the wall of the bell tower of John of the Ladder to the end.
In 1701, during a fire, a bell fell from the Kremlin belfry and broke, which at that time was the largest in the world, its weight was 196 tons.
In 1730, Empress Anna Ioannovna issued a decree ordering the bell to be cast using fragments of the broken one and new materials, and that it would certainly be larger than the previous one.
The bell was made by 1735, its weight was about 200 tons. Chasing work began. All this time, the bell was located here, on Ivanovskaya Square, in a ten-meter pit.
In 1737, the infamous Trinity Fire took place. Burning wooden structures began to fall into the pit where the bell was located, the people who came running began to fill them with ice water. And since the chasing work took place with a large heating of the material, the bell was in a red-hot state all this time. As a result, the metal could not withstand a sharp temperature drop and cracked. A piece of the bell fell off.
True, there is a more prosaic version, which says that the bell cracked due to technological errors, and the fire became a convenient excuse to write off these errors. But is it really that important today?
The Tsar Bell was taken out of the foundry pit after almost a hundred years, in 1836. They installed it on a bronze pedestal, the broken piece was placed nearby.
The church was erected under Patriarch Nikon in 1635-1656. It was the home church of the patriarchs. Adjacent to it from the western side is itself, the estate of the patriarchs. To see it, we will pass between the bell tower of Ivan the Great and the Church of the Twelve Apostles.
In the XVIII century, Peter I abolished the institution of the patriarchy, and the Synod became the main church body. Since the capital had already been transferred from Moscow to St. Petersburg by that time, the Synod was located in the new capital, and the Moscow office of the Synod occupied the Patriarchal Palace.
Let's start our tour from the Assumption Cathedral closest to us.
It was built in the 15th century, 1485. Before the construction of the Church of the Twelve Apostles, it served as the home church of the metropolitans, and then the patriarchs. Later it was transferred to the Grand Duke's Palace.
Above the Church of the Deposition of the Robe rises a complex of golden domes similar to each other.
The cathedral, as well as the Terem churches, served as the home church of Russian tsars and royal families. Terem churches had a more intimate character, the Cathedral of the Annunciation - more official.
Next to the Annunciation is the Archangel Cathedral or.
The building of the cathedral, which has survived to this day, was built at the beginning of the 15th century (1505-1508), and the first cathedral, consecrated in the name of the Archangel Michael, appeared on this site in 1333, during the reign of Ivan Kalita. When the prince died, he was buried under the walls of the temple. Since then, the Archangel Cathedral served as the burial place of all Russian princes, and later tsars. This continued until the transfer of the capital by Peter I from Moscow to St. Petersburg. Then the main royal tomb became the Peter and Paul Cathedral in the new capital. The exceptions are the burials of Peter II, who died in Moscow in 1730, and John VI Antonovich.
In addition to the rulers of the state, there are other burial places in the necropolis of the Archangel Cathedral. Of undoubted interest are the tombs of Prince Dmitry Donskoy, the winner of the Battle of Kulikovo, and the shrine with the relics of Tsarevich Dmitry, transferred to the Kremlin from Uglich.
This completes the inspection of the Cathedral Square. Through the passage between the Annunciation and the Archangel Cathedrals we exit to.
The street runs along the southern wall of the Kremlin, which is located on the embankment of the Moskva River. Crossing the road, we find ourselves on a kind of observation deck. From here you have a beautiful view of the Kremlin towers, the Moscow River and the one located on the opposite bank.
Since the Moskva River was a rather powerful barrier for opponents, the towers of the southern wall are not as high and powerful as on other walls.
Immediately opposite the pedestrian crossing is located. It had a secret exit to the river, hence the name.
Let's go along Borovitskaya street to the right. The tall yellow building on our right is .
Looking at him, one cannot help but recall the phrase "Big is seen at a distance." The palace is perfectly visible from afar (from embankments, bridges, etc.), towering over the Kremlin wall, and it is quite difficult to see it up close.
The BKD was built during the reign of Nicholas I (1838-1849). Today, the main residence of the President of the Russian Federation is located here. All ceremonial events of the highest level are held here.
Opposite the palace is located, even smaller in size than Taynitskaya.
In the gap between the trees, a view of the corner tower of the Kremlin opens up.
This tower is closer than others to the river, therefore, water was brought to the Kremlin through its gates. Hence the origin of the name.
Let's turn in the opposite direction, we will reach the Tainitskaya tower, from which we started moving along Borovitskaya street.
The street goes to the left, straight to the Tsar Bell.
We will follow right along the fence. Thus, we get into . It got its name, as you might guess, from the Tainitskaya tower.
The two towers following Tainitskaya bear uncomplicated names: and. The names speak for themselves: two small, unremarkable turrets.
Much more attention deserves the view of the church, located on the opposite bank of the river, Sofia or. A tent church, there are very few of them in Moscow. located in the southeastern part of the Kremlin. Let's delve into it.
There are a lot of green spaces, flower beds, and long-awaited benches (during the entire part of the walk described above, you will not find a single one). Here you can relax and once again, through the crowns of trees, admire the temples of the Cathedral Square.
Sights of the Great Kremlin Square:
This, in fact, is not a tower, but just a technical structure on the Kremlin wall, stylized as a tower. In ancient times, there was a belief that the royal throne was carried out here, and the sovereign was watching everything that happened on Red Square. Hence the name "Royal". However, this is nothing more than a beautiful legend, in fact, the fire service bells were located here.
And right in front of us, the main tower of the Kremlin,.
From time immemorial, the gates of the Spasskaya Tower were considered holy, it was forbidden to pass through them on horseback, men, passing through them, took off their hats. From here, Russian troops left for the battlefields and returned back here, foreign ambassadors and other honored guests were met here.
And the chimes of the Spasskaya Tower to this day are the main clock not only in Moscow, but throughout the country.
In fairness, it is worth saying that now the exit is carried out, after all, not through the front gate of the tower, but through a small passage in the wall to the left of it, but is this the most important thing? The main thing is that it is convenient.
If you are not tired, then you can immediately go to. With one clarification: you will have to slightly adjust the route, i.e. start it not from the beginning, from the metro, but from the middle.
And the walk around the Kremlin is over. The nearest entrance to the metro is right behind the Resurrection Gate. Thank you for your attention and see you soon on new walks, which will definitely appear soon!
The Moscow Kremlin is the main attraction of the city. Getting to it is easy enough. There are several metro stations, leaving which you can walk to the Kremlin. The Alexandrovsky Garden station will take you, as you can easily guess, straight to the Alexander Garden. There you will already see the Kutafya Tower, where they sell tickets to the Kremlin and the Armory. You can also go to the metro station. Library them. IN AND. Lenin. In this case, the Kutafya tower will be visible across the road. The stations Ploshchad Revolyutsii and Kitay-gorod will take you to Red Square, only from different sides. The first is from the side of the State Historical Museum, the second is from the side. You can also get off at Okhotny Ryad - if you want to take a walk along the shopping row of the same name. Just be prepared for unusual prices)).
About prices in the Kremlin museums. Visiting the Kremlin is not a cheap pleasure. An hour and a half visit to - will cost 700 rubles, - 500 rubles, a walk around with an inspection - 500 rubles. For more information about museums and some of the nuances about visiting them, which you should know, see the links.
The Kremlin is called not only walls with towers, as some people think, but everything that is located inside it. Outside the walls, on the ground of the Moscow Kremlin, there are cathedrals and squares, palaces and museums. This summer, the Kremlin Regiment shows its skills on Cathedral Square every Saturday at 12:00. If I manage to escape to the Kremlin, I will write about it.
History of the Moscow Kremlin.
The word "Kremlin" is very ancient. The Kremlin or citadel in Rus' was called the fortified part in the center of the city, in other words, the fortress. Times were different in the old days. It happened that Russian cities were attacked by countless enemy forces. It was then that the inhabitants of the city gathered under the protection of their Kremlin. Old and young hid behind its powerful walls, and those who could hold weapons in their hands defended themselves from enemies from the walls of the Kremlin.
The first settlement on the site of the Kremlin appeared about 4,000 years ago. This has been established by archaeologists. Fragments of clay pots, stone axes and flint arrowheads were found here. These things were once used by ancient settlers.
The place where the Kremlin was built was not chosen by chance. The Kremlin was built on a high hill, surrounded on both sides by rivers: the Moskva River and the Neglinnaya. The high location of the Kremlin made it possible to notice enemies from a greater distance, and the rivers served as a natural barrier in their path.
Initially, the Kremlin was wooden. An earthen rampart was poured around its walls for greater reliability. The remains of these fortifications were discovered during construction work in our time.
It is known that the first wooden walls on the site of the Kremlin were built in 1156 by order of Prince Yuri Dolgoruky. These data are preserved in ancient chronicles. At the beginning of the 14th century, Ivan Kalita began to rule the city. Kalita in ancient Rus' was called a bag for money. The prince was so nicknamed because he accumulated great wealth and always carried a small bag of money with him. Prince Kalita decided to decorate and fortify his city. He ordered the Kremlin to build new walls. They were cut down from strong oak trunks, so thick that they could not be wrapped around with hands.
Under the next ruler of Moscow, Dmitry Donskoy, the Kremlin was built other walls - stone. From all over the district, stone craftsmen were gathered to Moscow. And in 1367. they set to work. People worked without interruption, and soon Borovitsky Hill was surrounded by a powerful stone wall, 2 or even 3 meters thick. It was built from limestone, which was mined in quarries near Moscow near the village of Myachkovo. The Kremlin so impressed contemporaries with the beauty of its white walls that since then Moscow has been called white stone.
Prince Dmitry was a very brave man. He always fought in the forefront and it was he who led the fight against the conquerors from the Golden Horde. In 1380, his army completely defeated the army of Khan Mamai on the Kulikovo field, which is not far from the Don River. This battle was nicknamed Kulikovo, and the prince has since received the nickname Donskoy.
The white-stone Kremlin stood for more than 100 years. During this time, a lot has changed. Russian lands united into one strong state. Moscow became its capital. It happened under the Moscow Prince Ivan III. Since then, he began to be called the Grand Duke of All Rus', and historians call him "the collector of the Russian land."
Ivan III gathered the best Russian masters and invited Aristotle Fearovanti, Antonio Solario and other famous architects from distant Italy. And now, under the guidance of Italian architects, new construction began on Borovitsky Hill. In order not to leave the city without a fortress, the builders erected a new Kremlin in parts: they dismantled a section of the old white stone wall and in its place quickly built a new one - of brick. There was quite a lot of clay suitable for its manufacture in the vicinity of Moscow. However, clay is a soft material. To make the brick hard, it was fired in special furnaces.
During the years of construction, Russian masters stopped treating Italian architects as strangers, and even their names were remade in the Russian way. So Antonio became Anton, and the nickname Fryazin replaced the complex Italian surname. Our ancestors called overseas lands Fryazhsky, and those who came from there - Fryazins.
They built the new Kremlin for 10 years. The fortress was protected from two sides by rivers, and at the beginning of the 16th century. a wide ditch was dug on the third side of the Kremlin. He connected two rivers. Now the Kremlin was protected from all sides by water barriers. erected one after another, equipped with their diversion archers for greater defense. Along with the renewal of the fortress walls, the construction of such well-known ones as Uspensky, Arkhangelsk and Blagoveshchensky took place.
After the crowning of the Romanovs, the construction of the Kremlin went at an accelerated pace. The Filaret belfry was built next to the bell tower of Ivan the Great, Teremnaya, Poteshny palaces, the Patriarch's chambers and the Cathedral of the Twelve Apostles. Under Peter I, the building of the Arsenal was erected. But after the transfer of the capital to St. Petersburg, they stopped building new buildings.
During the reign of Catherine II, a number of ancient buildings and part of the southern wall were demolished for the construction of a new palace. But soon the work was canceled, according to the official version due to lack of funding, according to the unofficial version - because of the negative opinion of the public. In 1776-87. Senate building was built
During the invasion of Napoleon, the Kremlin suffered enormous damage. Churches were desecrated, looted, and part of the walls, towers and buildings were blown up during the retreat. In 1816-19. restoration work was carried out in the Kremlin. By 1917 There were 31 temples in the Kremlin.
During the October Revolution, the Kremlin is bombed. In 1918, the government of the RSFSR moved to the Senate building. Under Soviet rule, the Kremlin Palace of Congresses was built on the territory of the Kremlin, stars were installed on the towers, placed on pedestals, and the walls and structures of the Kremlin were repeatedly restored.
I already wrote about the Moscow Kremlin, as well as about its famous museums and cathedrals in the section. But I decided that it would not be right if the section on Moscow museums did not contain a story about the museums of the Moscow Kremlin. Suddenly, someone will go to this section in search of the same Armory or the Diamond Fund and, not finding them here, will surely be very disappointed. Therefore, I decided to briefly tell on this page about all the cathedrals and museums of the Moscow Kremlin, to collect the most basic information that a person who is going to visit the Kremlin for the first time may need.
If you are planning to visit Moscow Kremlin museums, then you better come to the box office early. start selling 45 minutes before the next visit session. Sessions start at 10:00, 12:00, 14:30, 16:30. A regular ticket costs 700 rubles, privileged categories of citizens - 200 rubles. There is also a special family ticket. It also costs 200 rubles. for each family member (no more than 2 adults and 2 children under the age of 16). Photo and video shooting in the Armory is prohibited.
- all Russian tsars and princes were buried here until the beginning of the reign of Peter I.
It was the home church of Russian tsars and princes, intended for family ceremonies. Here, by the way, kept the royal treasury.
- the most famous of the cathedrals of the Kremlin. Russian tsars were crowned here, bishops, metropolitans and patriarchs were elevated to the rank, royal decrees were announced, services were held in honor of victories.
- built for Patriarch Nikon. Now here on the second floor there is a museum dedicated to Russian culture of the 17th century. Quite an interesting museum, in the sense that various jewelry, precious dishes, antique furniture, etc. are presented here. Photography is not allowed there, so there are no photos from the museum, unfortunately.
If the Annunciation Cathedral was the home church of the tsars, then the Church of the Deposition of the Robe or the Church of the Laying of the Robe (robe) of the Most Holy Theotokos served as the home church of Russian metropolitans and patriarchs.
Belfry of Ivan the Great. The name "Ivan" was given to the bell tower by the name of the church of St. John the Savior of the Ladder, which was previously located on this site. The prefix "Great" was added to the bell tower for its height. Later, the Assumption Belfry and Filaret's annex were built next to the bell tower. On the first floor of the belfry there is an exhibition hall of the Moscow Kremlin Museums, where exhibits are presented, both from the Kremlin bins and from other Russian and foreign museums.
Well, and of course, no one forbids you after you go around all the museums and cathedrals to stay and take a walk around the Kremlin, take pictures with, relax in a local small park.
The cost of a single entrance ticket to visit the architectural ensemble of Cathedral Square (without discounts) is 350 rubles.
What is a single ticket - this ticket allows you to visit the Assumption, Archangel, Annunciation Cathedral, the Church of the Deposition of the Robe, the Patriarchal Palace, exhibitions in the Assumption Belfry and the One-Pillar Chamber.
The cost of a single ticket with discounts for Russian schoolchildren, students, pensioners, foreign schoolchildren and students (upon presentation of relevant documents) is 100 rubles.
On Saturdays, Sundays and holidays, parents with children are provided with a family weekend ticket to visit the architectural ensemble of the Cathedral Square.
The cost of a family ticket for each family member (no more than 2 adults and 2 children under the age of 16) is 100 rubles. You can cooperate with someone at the box office and take such a ticket.
Every day after 16:00, Russian schoolchildren, students (full-time education), pensioners visit the territory of the museum-reserve, museum-cathedrals and exhibitions for free.
Every third Monday of the month, Russian citizens under 18 visit the territory of the museum-reserve and the exhibition in the Assumption Belfry free of charge.
Disabled people of groups I and II, families with many children, conscripts, cadets of the first and second courses of military schools, veterans of the Second World War, orphans, preschoolers, museum workers, clergymen (citizens of the Russian Federation and the CIS) visit the territory of the museum-reserve, museums - cathedrals and exhibitions for free.
The number of tickets to visit the territory is not limited. That is, you can safely come and buy a ticket and walk around the territory any day. It is especially beautiful there in spring, summer and autumn, you can take a snack with you and sit there in the park.
Amateur photography and video filming is prohibited in the museum-cathedrals. It is allowed to shoot on the territory, you do not need to buy a special photo ticket.
The Moscow Kremlin is located in the very center of Moscow, on the high bank of the Moskva River. Its powerful walls and towers, golden-domed temples, ancient towers and palaces rise above the Moscow River and form a beautiful architectural ensemble.
“Above Moscow there is the Kremlin, and above the Kremlin there is only the sky,” says the old proverb. The Kremlin is the most ancient part of Moscow, currently the seat of the highest bodies of state power in Russia and one of the main historical and artistic complexes of the country.
In plan, the Kremlin is an irregular triangle. Its southern wall faces the Moscow River, Red Square is located in the north, and Alexander Garden is in the northwest. In the XIV century, cathedrals and monasteries were already built here, the Kremlin was the center of the Russian Orthodox Church. Three gigantic cathedrals were erected in the 15th and 16th centuries. There is something to see here! In the Annunciation Cathedral there are beautiful icons and an iconostasis; the bell tower of Ivan the Great with two golden domes is visible from a distance of 30 km, it rises next to the Assumption Cathedral, not far from the cathedral stands the largest bell in the Kremlin - the Tsar Bell; the Armory houses a wide variety of treasures, including royal crowns. In addition, there is the Amusement Palace, the Senate, which houses the office of the President.
The most famous building on Red Square is St. Basil's Cathedral, its fabulous multi-colored domes are crowned with golden crosses, and a gilded dome rises above the main tower. Near the Kremlin wall is the Mausoleum of V.I. Lenin, and still people line up to walk past his embalmed body. The space of Red Square, colorful temples and palaces, the Kremlin walls will be remembered for a long time.
Initially, the Kremlin served as a fortification of the village that arose on Borovitsky Hill, a cape at the confluence of the Neglinnaya River with the Moscow River. Here was the oldest Moscow church - the Cathedral of the Transfiguration of the Savior, or the Savior on Bor, built in 1330 for the millennium of Constantinople - "New Rome". The temple was destroyed in 1933. Moscow princes and princesses were buried in it until the cathedral received the status of a court temple.
In 1812, Napoleon blew up the Vodovzvodnaya, Petrovskaya and First nameless towers, the Arsenal tower was seriously damaged, and the extensions to the Ivan the Great bell tower were also destroyed. It took 20 years to restore. In the 30s of the XX century, the double-headed eagles that crowned the main towers of the Kremlin: Spasskaya, Nikolskaya, Troitskaya, Borovitskaya and Vodovzvodnaya were replaced by ruby stars with a diameter of 3-4 m. In 1941-1942, 167 German bombs fell on the Kremlin, but it almost unharmed. Since 1955, the Kremlin has been open to the public, becoming an open-air museum.
The entrance to the Kremlin is through the Kutafya Tower, which was built in 1516. The name is also associated with her low and initially nondescript appearance: “kutafya” in Dahl’s dictionary is a clumsy, ugly dressed woman.
Behind the bridge is the mighty Trinity Tower. Passing through it, we find ourselves on a bridgehead open to all winds, surrounded by the spacious buildings of the Arsenal, the Senate and the Palace of Congresses.
Previously, there was a most complexly arranged medieval city with cramped uneven streets, each quarter of which contained multiple temples and chambers, courtyards and passages. The only fragment of that incredible city is located in the passage to the right of the gate - this is the Amusing Palace of the middle of the 17th century, restored by restorers only at the beginning of this century. On its roof there is a golden-domed house church, once it was surrounded by open mounds and hanging apple orchards, laid out on high stone terraces - the entire female half of the Sovereign's Court, which occupied the site of the current Palace of Congresses, was arranged in approximately the same outlandish way.
The Patriarchal Palace, which also has its own house church and probably also had a roof garden. Through its arch you can get to the Cathedral Square. From here, the square opens up in an old-fashioned way brightly and unexpectedly: straight ahead is the bell tower of Ivan the Great, on the right is the Assumption Cathedral, one of the great Russian shrines, the main temple of Rus' from the 14th century until 1918, the tomb of ancient metropolitans and patriarchs. The current building was built in the 1470s by the Italian master Aristotle. The temple is small (in architecture textbooks, a picture is popular where the silhouette of the cathedral fits into the giant outlines of the Roman St. Peter, like the youngest matryoshka), but at the same time incredibly strong and large-scale - inside and out: the Italians knew a lot about such illusions.
The Archangel Cathedral of 1505, also built by the Italians on the other side of the square, produces a completely different impression - it is close to the Assumption Cathedral in size, it is much more playful and complex from the outside, and cramped and mysterious inside. Most of its floor is occupied by tombstones of princes and kings who ruled from the 13th to the 18th century. All tombstones are of the same type, only the carved canopy over the grave of Tsarevich Dimitri stands out - one of the most tragic losses in Russian history.
On Cathedral Square, the nine-domed palace Cathedral of the Annunciation, the Church of the Deposition of the Robe with a small exposition of ancient Russian wooden sculpture, exhibition halls in the Assumption Belfry and the Patriarchal Palace are also open to the public. The archaeological exposition in the basement of the Annunciation Cathedral and the lower tier of the Ivan the Great Bell Tower receive visitors at certain sessions.
The Armory and the Diamond Fund are located in another part of the Kremlin, at the Borovitsky Gates, and you need to buy separate tickets in advance to see them. Unfortunately, the Kremlin Palace is closed to free access, although excursions are theoretically held in it, but on a very separate record and for separate money. The working population can only be content with an external view of the Palace of the Facets - the throne room of sovereigns from the end of the 15th century, as well as a fragment of residential royal choirs visible to the right of it, crowned with many-domed house churches and the heavy bulk of the Grand Palace, built in the middle of the 19th century.
The Tsar Cannon and the Tsar Bell are also located on the territory. When mentioning the square, many people remember the saying “shout at all Ivanovskaya”, believing that it was here that the royal decrees were announced. However, there is another way to decipher this saying. The Ivan the Great Bell Tower was the main Russian bell tower, it had forty bells, each with its own name. All bells were rung only on the most special occasions. So the expression "in all Ivanovskaya" means that some work must be done with all its strength and fullness.
The famous monuments of foundry art - the Tsar Bell and the Tsar Cannon are so huge that they have never been used for their intended purpose. But touching them with your hand is a good sign.
The ceremony of equestrian and foot divorce of the Presidential Regiment takes place on Saturdays at 12.00 on the Cathedral Square of the Kremlin and on the last Saturday of each month at 14.00 on Red Square.
And most importantly: do not miss the first shrine of the new time, the mystical oak "Cosmos", planted by Yuri Gagarin a day after the flight. Muscovites have long believed in its magical properties, remember you too: if someone walks around a tree three times, saying “Gagarin, Gagarin, fly with greetings, return with an answer,” his children will certainly be born great cosmonauts.
By the way, the Moscow Kremlin, the main of all Kremlins, is the only one capitalized. It is the largest active fortress in Europe. Its semi-regime status is explained by the fact that the entire complex is both a monument included in the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage List and the official residence of the President of the Russian Federation.
At the entrance to the territory of the Kremlin, personal belongings of visitors are searched. All unauthorized items will have to be handed over to the storage room located in the lower tier of the Kutafya Tower. Photo and video filming, including amateur photography, is prohibited in museum-cathedrals. Armory and Diamond Fund.
Construction history
Since the time of Dmitry Donskoy, Moscow has been decorated with a white stone Kremlin (built in 1368). Over the past century, its walls have worn out so much that foreigners, due to the abundance of gaping bald spots that were laid with logs, happened to mistake them for wooden ones. Yes, and this Kremlin was built in those years when the Italian masters in Rus' had not yet heard. Having at the court of the master Aristotle Fioravanti, Ivan III could well think about how to remake the fortress so that no one could not only take it, but even dare not approach it. However, the name of Aristotle Fioravanti has never appeared anywhere among the builders of the Moscow Kremlin. However, many historians tend to consider Aristotle the true creator of the master plan, who outlined the general line of the Kremlin walls, outlined the positions of the towers, laid secret dungeons and labyrinths, and his compatriots worked on separate sections. Work on the Moscow Kremlin was carried out in a way that no other fortress had ever been built in Rus'. On an area with a radius of 100 fathoms, not a single building was left around. Even churches that stood there for several centuries were demolished. The area behind the Moskva River opposite the future Kremlin walls was also cleared of buildings. A similar approach to construction was required by the fortification rules of those times, which came from Europe.
