Kremlin walls history. Kremlin walls

The Moscow Kremlin is the center of Russia and the citadel of power. For more than 5 centuries, these walls reliably hide state secrets and protect their main carriers. The Kremlin is shown on Russian and world channels several times a day. This medieval fortress, unlike anything else, has long become a symbol of Russia.

Only now the frames we are provided with are basically the same. The Kremlin is a strictly guarded operating residence of the President of our country. There are no trifles in security, which is why all Kremlin filming is so strictly regulated. By the way, don't forget to visit the Kremlin excursion.

To see another Kremlin, try to imagine its towers without tents, limit the height to only a wide, non-tapering part and you will immediately see a completely different Moscow Kremlin - a powerful, squat, medieval, European fortress.

This is how it was built at the end of the 15th century on the site of the old white-stone Kremlin by the Italians - Pietro Fryazin, Anton Fryazin and Alois Fryazin. They all received the same surname, although they were not relatives. "Fryazin" means a foreigner in Old Slavonic.

They built the fortress in accordance with all the latest achievements of fortification and military science of that time. A battle platform with a width of 2 to 4.5 meters runs along the battlements of the walls.

Each prong has a loophole, which can only be reached by standing on something else. The view is limited. The height of each prong is 2-2.5 meters, the distance between them during the battle was covered with wooden shields. There are 1145 battlements on the walls of the Moscow Kremlin.

The Moscow Kremlin is a great fortress located near the Moskva River, in the heart of Russia - in Moscow. The citadel is equipped with 20 towers, each with its own unique look and 5 passage gates. The Kremlin is like a ray of light, carried through the rich history of the formation of Russia.

These ancient walls are witnesses of all those numerous events that happened to the state, starting from the moment of its construction. The fortress begins its journey in 1331, although the word "Kremlin" was mentioned earlier.

Moscow Kremlin, infographics. Source: www.kultura.rf. For a detailed view, open the picture in a new browser tab.

Moscow Kremlin under different rulers

Moscow Kremlin under Ivan Kalita

In 1339-1340. Moscow prince Ivan Danilovich, nicknamed Kalita ("money bag"), built an imposing citadel of oak on Borovitsky Hill, walls from 2 to 6 m thick, and no less than 7 m high. Ivan Kalita made a powerful fortress with a formidable look, but it stood less three decades and burned down during a terrible fire in the summer of 1365.

Moscow Kremlin under Dmitry Donskoy

The tasks of the defense of Moscow urgently demanded the creation of a more reliable fortress: the Moscow principality was threatened by the Golden Horde, Lithuania and the rival Russian principalities - Tver and Ryazan. The then reigning 16-year-old grandson of Ivan Kalita Dmitry (aka Dmitry Donskoy) decided to build a fortress of stone - the Kremlin.

The construction of the stone fortress began in 1367, and the stone was mined nearby, in the village of Myachkovo. We completed the construction in a short time - in just one year. Dmitry Donskoy made the Kremlin a white-stone fortress, which the enemies tried to storm more than once, but they could not.

What does the word "Kremlin" mean?

One of the first mentions of the word "Kremlin" appears in the Resurrection Chronicle in a message about the fire of 1331. According to historians, it could have arisen from the Old Russian word "kremnik", which meant a fortress built of oak. According to another point of view, it is based on the word "krom" or "kroma", which means a boundary, a border.

The first victory of the Moscow Kremlin

Almost immediately after the erection of the Moscow Kremlin, Moscow was besieged by the Lithuanian prince Olgerd in 1368, and then in 1370 Lithuanians stood at the white-stone walls for three days and three nights, but the fortifications turned out to be impregnable. This instilled confidence in the young Moscow ruler and allowed him to later challenge the powerful Golden Horde Khan Mamai.

In 1380, feeling a reliable rear behind their backs, the Russian army under the leadership of Prince Dmitry ventured into a decisive operation. Having left their hometown far to the south, to the upper reaches of the Don, they met with the army of Mamai and defeated it at the Kulikovo field.

So for the first time chrome became a stronghold not only of the Moscow principality, but of all of Russia. And Dmitry received the nickname Donskoy. For 100 years after the Battle of Kulikovo, the white-stone citadel united the Russian lands, becoming the main center of Russia.

Moscow Kremlin under Ivan 3

The current dark red appearance of the Moscow Kremlin owes its birth to Prince Ivan III Vasilyevich. Started by him in 1485-1495. the grandiose construction was not a simple reconstruction of Dmitry Donskoy's dilapidated defensive fortifications. The white-stone fortress is replaced by a red brick fortress.

Outside the towers are pushed out in order to fire along the walls. To quickly move the defenders, a system of secret underground passages was created. Completing the system of impregnable defense, the Kremlin was generally made an island. On both sides, it already had natural barriers - the Moscow and Neglinnaya rivers.

They dug a ditch on the third side, where Red Square is now, about 30-35 meters wide and 12 meters deep. Contemporaries called the Moscow Kremlin an outstanding military engineering structure. Moreover, the Kremlin is the only European fortress that has never been taken by storm.

The special role of the Moscow Kremlin as a new grand-ducal residence and the main fortress of the state determined the nature of its engineering and technical appearance. Built of red brick, it retained the features of the layout of the Old Russian Detinets, and in its outlines - the already formed shape of an irregular triangle.

At the same time, the Italians made it extremely functional and very similar to many fortresses in Europe. What Muscovites came up with in the 17th century turned the Kremlin into a unique architectural monument. The Russians just built on stone tents, which turned the fortress into a lightweight structure directed towards the sky, which has no equal in the world, and the corner towers took on such an appearance as if our ancestors knew that it was Russia that would send the first man into space.

Moscow Kremlin architects

The construction was supervised by Italian architects. Memorial plaques installed on the Spasskaya Tower of the Moscow Kremlin testify that it was built in the "30th summer" of the reign of Ivan Vasilyevich. The Grand Duke celebrated the anniversary of his state activity by erecting the most powerful entrance front tower. In particular, Spasskaya and Borovitskaya were designed by Pietro Solari.

In 1485, under the leadership of Antonio Gilardi, the powerful Taynitskaya Tower was built. In 1487, another Italian architect, Marco Ruffo, began to build Beklemishevskaya, and later Sviblova (Vodovzvodnaya) appeared on the opposite side. These three structures set the direction and rhythm for all subsequent construction.

The Italian origin of the main architects of the Moscow Kremlin is not accidental. At that time, it was Italy that came to the fore in the theory and practice of fortification construction. The design features testify to the familiarity of its creators with the engineering ideas of such outstanding representatives of the Italian Renaissance as Leonardo da Vinci, Leon Battista Alberti, Filippo Brunelleschi. In addition, it was the Italian architectural school that "presented" the Stalinist skyscrapers in Moscow.

By the beginning of the 1490s, four more blind towers appeared (Blagoveshchenskaya, 1st and 2nd Unnamed and Petrovskaya). All of them, as a rule, repeated the line of the old fortifications. The work was carried out gradually, so that there would be no open areas in the fortress through which the enemy could suddenly attack.

In the 1490s, the construction was supervised by the Italian Pietro Solari (aka Pyotr Fryazin), with whom his compatriots Antonio Gilardi (aka Anton Fryazin) and Aloisio da Carcano (Aleviz Fryazin) worked. 1490-1495 The Moscow Kremlin was replenished with the following towers: Konstantino-Yeleninskaya, Spasskaya, Nikolskaya, Senatskaya, Uglovaya Arsenalnaya and Nabatnaya.

Secret passages in the Moscow Kremlin

In case of danger, the defender of the Kremlin was able to quickly move along secret underground passages. In addition, internal passages were made in the walls, connecting all the towers. The defenders of the Kremlin could thus concentrate, if necessary, on a dangerous sector of the front, or retreat in the event of an enemy's superiority.

Long underground tunnels were also dug, thanks to which it was possible to observe the enemy in the event of a siege, as well as to make unexpected attacks on the enemy. Several underground tunnels went beyond the Kremlin.

Some towers had more than just a defensive function. For example, Taynitskaya hid a secret passage from the fortress to the Moscow River. Wells were made in Beklemishevskaya, Vodovzvodnaya and Arsenalnaya, with the help of which it was possible to deliver water if the city was in a state of siege. The well in Arsenalnaya has survived to this day.

Within two years of the fortress, Kolymazhnaya (Commandantskaya) and Granenaya (Srednaya Arsenalnaya) rose in a slender line, and in 1495 the construction of Troitskaya began. The construction was supervised by Aleviz Fryazin.

Chronology of events

Of the year	Event
1156	The first citadel made of wood was erected on Borovitsky Hill
1238	Khan Batu's troops marched across Moscow, as a result, most of the buildings were burned. In 1293 the city was once again ravaged by the Mongol-Tatar troops of Duden
1339-1340	Ivan Kalita erected mighty oak walls around the Kremlin. 2 to 6 m in thickness and up to 7 m in height
1367-1368	Dmitry Donskoy built a white-stone fortress. The white-stone Kremlin has been shining for over 100 years. Since that time, Moscow began to be called "white stone"
1485-1495	Ivan III the Great erected a red brick citadel. The Moscow Kremlin is equipped with 17 towers, the height of the walls of which is 5-19 m, and the thickness is 3.5-6.5 m
1534-1538	A new ring of defensive walls was built, which was named Kitai-gorod. From the south, the walls of Kitai-Gorod adjoined the walls of the Kremlin at the Beklemishevskaya Tower, from the north - to the Corner Arsenalnaya
1586-1587	Boris Godunov surrounded Moscow with two more rows of fortress walls, which received the name Tsar-Gorod, later - the White City. They covered the area between the modern central squares and the Boulevard Ring.
1591	Around Moscow, another 14-verst ring of fortifications has been built, covering the area between the Boulevard and Garden rings. The construction was carried out within one year. The new fortress was named Skorodoma. So Moscow was taken into four rings of walls, which had a total of 120 towers

All towers of the Moscow Kremlin

The Moscow Kremlin is located. The history of our Motherland is reflected in each of its buildings. These are ancient cannons and bells, cathedrals and palaces, museums and the residence of the President of Russia. High walls and loopholes tell us that this powerful and majestic structure is a fortress. At the same time, this structure also reflects the spiritual life of Russia. The Kremlin in Moscow is an all-Russian national shrine, a symbol of Russia.

The Kremlin ensemble in Moscow includes the fortress itself with its powerful walls and towers, as well as temples and chambers, stately palaces and ceremonial administrative buildings. These are ensembles of squares - Cathedral and Ivanovskaya, Senatskaya and Dvortsovaya, Troitskaya, as well as streets - Spasskaya, Borovitskaya and Dvortsovaya.

Moscow Kremlin towers

The walls of the Moscow Kremlin have 20 towers, none of which are alike. The history of Moscow began at the Borovitsky Gate. Here is one of the south-western towers of the Kremlin wall - Borovitskaya. It overlooks the Alexander Garden and Borovitskaya Square. According to legend, her name comes from the pine forest that covered one of the seven hills on which Moscow stands.

Cathedrals of the Moscow Kremlin

The architectural ensemble of the Moscow Kremlin includes eight cathedrals. One of the main temples of the Russian state - Uspensky... It hosted the coronation of emperors, the wedding to the kingdom, the election of the heads of the Russian Orthodox Church and the burial of metropolitans and patriarchs. Now you can see the place of prayer of Ivan the Terrible, especially valuable icons, a necropolis and a majestic iconostasis.

Blagoveshchensky cathedral served as a personal temple of the great dukes and kings of Moscow. It is believed that some of the icons of the temple were created by Andrei Rublev and Theophanes the Greek.

Cathedral of the Archangel was the ancestral tomb of the great princes and kings. It contains 47 tombstones and 2 crayfish. The great princes Ivan Kalita and Dmitry Donskoy, Ivan III and Ivan the Terrible, Tsarevich Dmitry and Tsars Mikhail and Alexei Romanovs are buried here. The image of "Archangel Michael with deeds" created during the Battle of Kulikovo can be seen in the iconostasis of the church.

House church of Russian metropolitans and patriarchs - small Church of the Deposition of the Robe... It presents in a single ensemble a four-tier iconostasis in a silver frame and wall paintings.

To the north of the Assumption Church and the Ivan the Great Bell Tower are Patriarchal Chambers and small five-domed temple of the Twelve Apostles built by Russian craftsmen Antip Konstantinov and Bazhen Ogurtsov.

Ten-headed St. Basil's Cathedral has been in danger of being demolished many times. Napoleon in 1812 dreamed of taking it to Paris, and later wanted to blow it up. In Soviet times, the cathedral interfered with the passage of demonstrations and they also wanted to destroy it.

To the east of the Terem Palace there are four house churches: St. Catherine and the Verkhospassky Cathedral, the Church of the Crucifixion of Christ and the Church of the Resurrection of the Word.

Moscow Kremlin - history and architecture

The first mention of Moscow is found in the annals and dates back to 1147. In 1156, the first wooden walls were built on the banks of the Moskva River and the mouth of the Neglinnaya River. Russia at that time was divided into separate principalities, therefore, in 1238, it could not resist the invasion of the Tatar-Mongol yoke. Moscow was devastated and the Kremlin burned down.

During the reign of Ivan Kalita, the Moscow principality was fortified and the Kremlin was rebuilt. Stone churches, cathedrals and strong oak walls were built. By the decree of Prince Dimitry Donskoy, grandson of Ivan Kalita, white stone walls and towers were erected in 1367. Moscow began to be called white-stone. Under Grand Duke Ivan III, the territory of the Kremlin expanded, a moat was dug around the walls. Together with foreign architects, the Assumption and Annunciation churches, the Faceted Chamber and the Ivan the Great bell tower (watch tower) are being built. The Archangel Church was founded. With the flourishing of culture and architecture in the 17th century, the buildings of the Kremlin were also transformed. Tall brick tents with tiled coverings and gilded weather vane appeared on the Kremlin towers.

At the beginning of the 18th century, by order of Peter I, the building of the Arsenal was laid. With the transfer of the capital to St. Petersburg, the Kremlin remained in an abandoned state. Almost all wooden buildings were destroyed by fires and were not rebuilt.

Its construction began only in the second half of the 18th century. The building of the Senate is being built according to the project of the architect M.F. Kazakov. Under the leadership of the architect Ivan Yegotov, the first building for the Armory was erected. During the war of 1812, Napoleon in retreat decided to blow up the Kremlin. Only thanks to the courage of the Muscovites, he was miraculously saved. Soon all the damaged buildings were restored.

In 1917, the capture of the Kremlin completed the revolution in Moscow. The Soviet government moved here from Petrograd in March 1918. Today the residence of the President of Russia is located here.

On the territory of the Kremlin of Moscow, the State Museum Complex has been created, which includes the Armory and churches (Assumption, Arkhangelsk and Annunciation), the Church of the Deposition of the Robe and the Patriarch's Chambers with the Church of the Twelve Apostles, the ensemble of the Ivan the Great bell tower, as well as a collection of artillery pieces and bells. The complex of the Kremlin and Red Square in 1990 was included in the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage List as one of the outstanding historical monuments of the planet.

• Today's buildings were built mainly in 1485-1495 years not in the place of dilapidated white-stone walls, erected in 1366.
• Fortress with twenty towers, connected by walls, has a triangular shape.
• Three corner towers have a round shape for conducting a circular attack, the rest are square, very different from one another.
• The length of the Kremlin wall is 2335 m, height is 8-19 m, and its thickness is 3.5-6.5 m.
• The towers have inherent details Italian architecture of that time, which is not surprising, since they were built by Italian architects.
• V tower names reflects their history and the history of the place.

The towers of the Moscow Kremlin with pointed tents and walls with battlements in the form of "dovetail" are irreplaceable elements of the panorama of the capital. On the site where the Kremlin stands, the settlement has been located since ancient times. This location is very advantageous: on the high Borovitsky hill, at the confluence of two rivers - the Moskva River and the Neglinnaya. The first fortifications that appeared here were made of wood. And in 1366-1368, Prince Dmitry Donskoy built the first white-stone Moscow Kremlin. The walls and towers that appear before us now are basically fortifications built in 1485-1495. by Italian architects in place of the old dilapidated white-stone walls.

Technique for building the Kremlin and the plan of the fortress

Twenty Kremlin towers, connected by walls, form an irregular triangle with an area of ​​27.5 hectares in plan. The fortifications were built taking into account the most modern military technologies of the 15th century. Towers protrude beyond the line of the walls so that the warriors can not only fire, but also control the situation in the immediate vicinity of the walls. Round towers were erected at the corners (Vodovzvodnaya, Moskvoretskaya and Arsenalnaya) - this form was chosen both because of their greater strength and for conducting circular shelling. They also had the opportunity to arrange hidden wells with water. Most of the towers are square at the base, but quite different from each other, depending on their purpose. Passage towers (Spasskaya, Borovitskaya, Troitskaya and others), erected on the axes of the roads leading to the Kremlin, were the most powerful and well-fortified. The towers were also endowed with the symbolic meaning of protection, protection of the Kremlin from the penetration of evil, unclean forces. Therefore, icons can still be seen over the gates of some of the towers.

Most of the towers were supplemented with diversion arrows - fortifications, which were carried out beyond the fortress walls or behind the moat for additional defense. This type of fortification fully met the requirements of the end of the 15th century. Only one of the strelnitsy towers has survived - Kutafya, covering Troitskaya and in our time serving as the main entrance for tourists to the Kremlin. During the construction of the fortifications, various measures were envisaged against the attack of the enemy. This, for example, is the device of secret underground passages leading out of the walls to protect the city from mines. A through tunnel was built inside the walls to quickly move the defenders.

The length of the walls of the Moscow Kremlin is 2235 meters, the thickness of the walls ranges from 3.5 to 6.5 meters, and the height is from 8 to 19 meters. The highest walls are located on the side of Red Square, where there was no natural oh water hedge. The walls were not built immediately, their construction began from the southeastern part (from the side of the Moskva River), continued to the east and west and was completed in 1516. The oldest Kremlin tower, Taynitskaya, was also erected on the south side.

The construction technique itself is also interesting. The walls were built on the foundation of the old ones, white-stone, the material was a large red brick, with which the front walls were laid, and the gaps were filled with the remnants of the collapsed walls of the time of Dmitry Donskoy. So from 1485 the walls of the Moscow Kremlin acquired a recognizable color. The towers were erected by visiting Italian architects (Fryaz, as they were then called): Pietro Antonio Solari, Marco Ruffo, Aleviz di Carcano. This explains their unusual, strange appearance for that time. The fact is that the design of the loopholes in the form of the famous "swallowtails" was a typical detail of Northern Italian architecture, typical of buildings in cities where the ruling "party" was the Ghibellines - supporters of rapprochement with the emperor (in contrast to the Guelphs, supporters of the Pope, who decorated the walls of their cities are battlements with a straight end). These barbs were not only a decoration: they fenced off the upper battlegrounds.

After another fire, the corner towers and passage towers were decorated with stone tents with weather vane in the 17th century. They served as watchtowers, and signal bells were also located there. In the second half of the 18th century. the famous Russian architect V.I. Bazhenov completed the project of the Kremlin Palace - a large-scale building in the classicist style, reminiscent of the architecture of French palaces. The project proposed to cover the hill leading to the cathedrals with turf - this place would become one of the first "gulbis" in Europe. To erect such a huge structure, it was required to demolish a third of the Kremlin walls. At one site, which is located near the Moskva River, work began to dismantle the fortifications, but soon, due to the lumpy growing costs, this project was curtailed. In the XIX century. during Napoleon's invasion of Moscow, serious damage was caused not only to the palaces and temples of the Kremlin, but also to the Kremlin walls. The architect who was involved in the restoration of the damaged Kremlin towers was O.I. Beauvais (ironically, also Italian).

Spasskaya tower and the Kremlin chimes

The most famous of all the Kremlin towers, the Spasskaya, built in 1491 by Pietro Antonio Solari, deserves special mention. Sovereigns entered the Kremlin through it and processions of the cross took place. Since the XV century. only white-stone dedicatory slabs have survived to us, which tell in Cyrillic (from the Kremlin) and Latin (from Red Square) about the order and construction of this tower. Its general appearance and decoration were then much more modest: it was almost two times smaller, and it was originally called Frolovskaya, after the church of Florus and Lavra. The Spasskaya Tower began to be called according to the icon of the Savior, known throughout Russia, which was placed over the entrance in the middle of the 17th century. It was considered lost, but in 2010 it turned out that in Soviet times it was simply plastered over with plaster. In the XVII century. the tower was one of the first to be built on with a multi-tiered elegant top. And the history of the clock on the Spasskaya Tower deserves a separate story.

The first clock on the Kremlin, still white-stone towers was installed in 1404 by Lazar Serbin. In the 17th century, the Spasskaya Tower acquired a very unusual clock thanks to a native of Scotland Christopher Galovey. They were a sun-shaped hand with a rotating dial, on which 17 o'clock was marked. The famous Kremlin chimes, which can be seen today, date back to the middle of the 19th century. They were made by watchmakers, brothers named Butenop - the founders of the company of the same name. At different times, the chimes sounded different melodies. From 1770 it was the song "Ah, my dear Augustine", from the middle of the XIX century. - “If our Lord is glorious in Zion”, after the revolution the clock began to play “Internationale”, and since 2000 you can hear the famous excerpt from Glinka’s opera “A Life for the Tsar”. Currently, the movement occupies three floors, and until 1937 this watch was wound by hand with a cast iron key.

Famous Kremlin towers and the history of their names

Let's dwell in a little more detail on the history of some of the towers. As already mentioned, the corner towers are the most important for defense and overall composition. The Vodovzvodnaya Tower was built by Anton Fryazin in 1488. In the XVII century. the tower was equipped with a water-lifting machine, which is why it got its name. Her other name - Sviblova Tower - comes from the boyar family of the Sviblovs, who had a courtyard on the territory of the Kremlin. In 1812 it was blown up by the French, after which it was restored by O.I. Beauvais. Thanks to him, its appearance is emphatically classic: rustication (horizontal lines) in the lower part, columns, decorative design of dormer windows. Decorativeness comes first, not functionality, the hand of an architect of the early 19th century is felt.

The Beklemishevskaya tower, built by Marco Ruffo in 1487, was named so because of the boyar I. Beklemishev who lived during the reign of Tsar Vasily III, who fell out of favor and was executed. From the name it becomes obvious one of the functions of this tower - a place of imprisonment of the rebels. Its other name is Moskvoretskaya, as it is located on the banks of the Moskva River and occupies a strategically important position. It was from this side that the city was most often subjected to the raids of the Tatars. A secret well was built in this tower. In 1707, the loopholes for a new type of weapon were expanded in the tower, because at that time they feared Swedish intervention. This fact indicates that the tower did not lose its defensive significance until the 18th century.

The corner round tower, located on the north side of the Kremlin buildings, was erected by Pietro Antonio Solari approx. 1492 Its other names come from the Sobakin boyars who lived nearby (Sobakin) and from the location next to Arsenal (Arsenalnaya). Thanks to the edges that form its volume, and the base expanding downwards, it gives the impression of special stability and strength. She also had a strategic secret: this is a well inside, as well as an underground passage to the Neglinnaya River.

The Borovitskaya Tower got its name from a pine forest that was on Borovitsky Hill in ancient times. The tower was built according to the design of Pietro Antonio Solari in 1490. Its design feature is the location of the arrow on the side. It is also angular, but in plan it is not round, but resembles a pyramid, which is formed from stacked fours (volumes, quadrangular at the base) and crowned with an octal (octagonal at the base). Although this tower was located off the main roads and was used for household needs, it has retained its significance to this day: it is the only permanent gateway to the Kremlin.

The Troitskaya and Kutafya towers were built by Aleviz Fryazin. Kutafya dates from 1516, Troitskaya - 1495. These towers are connected by a bridge, both were passable, and in the Kutafya tower there was only one gate, which was closed with heavy forged gratings. Today it is the main entrance to the architectural and museum complex of the Kremlin. Trinity Tower is the largest, its height reaches 76.35 meters. Its structure is complex: it consists of six floors, two of which are underground, and in the 17th and 18th centuries. it was a place of confinement for the rebels. It got its name in 1658 from the Trinity courtyard, which was located nearby.

The Taynitskaya Tower is so called because not only a secret well was built inside it, but also a secret passage to the Moscow River. This tower was built first, in 1485 - it was from this side that the Tatars usually attacked.

In the historical center of the capital there is the most recognizable architectural structure in Russia - the Moscow Kremlin. The main feature of the architectural ensemble is its strengthening complex, consisting of walls in the form of a triangle with twenty towers.

The complex was built between 1485 and 1499 and is well preserved to this day. Several times it served as a model for similar fortresses that appeared in other cities of Russia - Kazan, Tula, Rostov, Nizhny Novgorod, etc. Within the walls of the Kremlin there are numerous religious and secular buildings - cathedrals, palaces and administrative buildings of different eras. The Kremlin was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1990. Together with adjoining Red Square, which is on this list, the Kremlin is generally considered to be Moscow's main attraction.

Cathedrals of the Moscow Kremlin

The architectural ensemble is formed by three temples, located in the center. The history of the cathedral began in 1475. It is the oldest fully preserved building among all the Kremlin buildings.

Initially, construction took place in 1326-1327 under the leadership of Ivan I. After the completion of the construction, the cathedral served as the home church of the Metropolitan of Moscow, who settled in the predecessor of the current Patriarchal Palace.

By 1472, the now collapsed cathedral was destroyed, and then a new building was built in its place. However, it collapsed in May 1474, possibly due to an earthquake or due to construction errors. A new attempt at revival was made by the Grand Duke Ivan III. It was in this cathedral that prayers were held before important campaigns, kings were crowned and elevated to the dignity of patriarchs.

Dedicated to Archangel Michael, the patron saint of Russian rulers, was built in 1505 on the site of the church of the same name in 1333. It was built by the Italian architect Aloisio Lamberti da Montignana. The architectural style combines traditional Old Russian religious architecture and elements of the Italian Renaissance.

Located at the southwest corner of the square. In 1291 a wooden church was built here, but a century later it burned down and was replaced by a stone church. The white-stone cathedral has nine onion domes on its facades and is intended for family ceremonies.

Working hours of cathedrals: 10:00 to 17:00 (closed on Thursday). A single ticket for visits will cost 500 rubles for adults and 250 rubles for children.

Palaces and squares of the Moscow Kremlin

• - These are several representative secular buildings, created in different centuries and served as a home for Russian grand dukes and tsars, and in our time for presidents.
  

  

  

  

• - a five-story building, decorated with richly carved decorative frames and a tiled roof.
  

  

  

• - the building of the 17th century, has preserved the rare architectural features of civil architecture of that time. The museum exhibits jewelry, exquisite dishes, paintings, items of the royal hunt. The magnificent iconostasis of the Ascension Monastery, destroyed in 1929, has survived.
  
  
• - a three-storey building made in the early neoclassical style. Initially, the palace was supposed to serve as the residence of the Senate, but nowadays it exists as the central working representation of the President of Russia.
  

  

  

  

Among the popular places in the Moscow Kremlin, the following squares should be noted:

Moscow Kremlin towers

The walls are 2235 meters long, their maximum height is 19 meters, and the thickness reaches 6.5 meters.

There are 20 defensive towers similar in architectural style. Three corner towers have a cylindrical base, the other 17 are quadrangular.

Trinity Tower is the tallest, rising 80 meters.

Lowest - Kutafya tower(13.5 meters) located outside the wall.

Four towers have access gates:

The tops of these 4 towers, which are considered especially beautiful, are decorated with the symbolic red ruby ​​stars of the Soviet era.

The clock on the Spasskaya Tower first appeared in the 15th century, but burned down in 1656. On December 9, 1706, the capital heard the chimes for the first time, which announced a new hour. Since then, many events have happened: wars were fought, cities were renamed, capitals changed, but the famous chimes of the Moscow Kremlin remain the main chronometer of Russia.

The bell tower (81 meters high) is the tallest building in the Kremlin ensemble. It was built between 1505 and 1508 and still serves its function for three cathedrals that do not have their own bell towers - Arkhangelsk, Assumption and Annunciation.

Nearby there is a small church of St. John, where the name of the bell tower and the square came from. It existed until the beginning of the 16th century, then collapsed and since then has significantly decayed.

The Faceted Chamber is the main banquet hall of the Moscow princes; it is the oldest surviving secular building in the city. It is currently the official ceremonial hall for the President of Russia, so it is closed for excursions.

The Armory and the Diamond Fund

The chamber was built by decree of Peter I to keep weapons obtained in wars. Construction was delayed, starting in 1702 and ending only in 1736 due to financial difficulties. In 1812 the chamber was blown up in the war against Napoleon, it was reconstructed only in 1828. Now the Armory is a museum, which can be visited any day of the week from 10:00 to 18:00, with the exception of Thursday. The ticket price for adults is 700 rubles, for children it is free.

Here are not only the exhibits of the arms trade, but also the Diamond Fund. The permanent exhibition of the State Diamond Fund first opened in the Moscow Kremlin in 1967. Unique jewelry and precious stones are especially valuable here, most of them were confiscated after the October Revolution. Opening hours - from 10:00 to 17:20 on any day except Thursday. For a ticket for adults, you will have to pay 500 rubles, for a ticket for children, it costs 100 rubles.

Two diamonds on display deserve special attention, as they belong to the most famous examples of this gem in the world:

1. It is not only the largest medieval fortress in Russia, but also the largest active fortress in all of Europe. Of course, there were more such structures, but the Moscow Kremlin is the only one that is still in use.
2. The Kremlin walls were white. The walls "acquired" their red brick at the end of the 19th century. To see the White Kremlin, look for works by 18th or 19th century artists such as Pyotr Vereshchagin or Alexei Savrasov.
3. Red Square has nothing to do with red. The name comes from the Old Russian word for "red", which means beautiful, and has nothing to do with the color of buildings that we now know were white until the end of the 19th century.
4. The stars of the Moscow Kremlin were eagles. During the time of tsarist Russia, the four Kremlin towers were crowned with double-headed eagles, which have been the Russian coat of arms since the 15th century. In 1935, the Soviet government replaced the eagles, which were melted down and replaced with the five-pointed stars that we see today. The fifth star on the Vodovzvodnaya Tower was added later.
5. The Kremlin towers have names. Of the 20 Kremlin towers, only two do not have their own names.
6. The Kremlin is densely built up. Behind the 2235-meter Kremlin walls there are 5 squares and 18 buildings, among which the most popular are the Spasskaya Tower, the Ivan the Great Bell Tower, the Assumption Cathedral, the Trinity Tower and the Terem Palace.
7. The Moscow Kremlin was practically not damaged in the Second World War. During the war, the Kremlin was carefully camouflaged to look like a residential building block. The domes of the church and the famous green towers were painted gray and brown, respectively, fake doors and windows were attached to the walls of the Kremlin, and Red Square was burdened with wooden structures.
8. The Kremlin is in the Guinness Book of Records. In the Moscow Kremlin, you can see the world's largest bell and the world's largest cannon. In 1735, a 6.14 meter bell was made from metal casting, the Tsar Cannon weighing 39.312 tons was lost in 1586 and was never used in the war.
9. The stars of the Kremlin always shine. In 80 years of its existence, the lighting of the Kremlin stars has been turned off only twice. The first time was during World War II when the Kremlin was disguised to hide it from bombers. The second time they were turned off for the movie. Oscar-winning director Nikita Mikhalkov filmed the scene for the Siberian Barber.
10. The Kremlin clock has a deep secret. The secret of the accuracy of the Kremlin clock literally lies under our feet. The clock is connected to the control clock at the Sternberg Astronomical Institute via a cable.

The oldest center of Moscow - the Moscow Kremlin- was founded as a fortification of a small settlement located on Borovitsky Hill, when its history began.

The first mentions of Moscow were found in the annals for 1147. They also say that the wooden walls of the Kremlin were erected by order of Yuri Dolgoruky. Initially, the size of the fortress was small, the length of the wall reached 1200 meters.

Versions of origin There are several words "Kremlin".

According to one of them, this name comes from the name of the central part of the ancient cities, called "Krom". Another version suggests that this word could have come from the "kremleny", a very strong tree used to build the fortress walls. There is even an assumption that the roots of this word are Greek, that is, "flint" - a steep mountain, steepness over a ravine or coast. Judging by where the fortress was built, this version has every right to exist.

But all this does not change the essence, which lies in the fact that the Moscow Kremlin is the largest surviving fortress in Europe.

And at first it was a small fortification on an area of ​​about nine hectares, where the inhabitants of the townships located outside the walls of the fortress could take refuge in the event of a threat of an enemy attack. Over time, the settlements grew, and the fortress grew along with them.

New Kremlin walls were erected during the reign of Ivan Kalita. They were stone inside, and outside they were wooden and plastered with clay.

It is noteworthy that even in the difficult years of the yoke in Russia, the Moscow princes rebuilt the existing and erected new fortresses. So, under Dmitry Donskoy, the Kremlin, damaged in a fire in 1365, was rebuilt. For the construction of the walls, the length of which became about two kilometers, and the Kremlin towers, white stone was used. Since then, in the annals, Moscow began to be called white-stone.

At the very beginning of the 18th century, Peter I ordered the removal of government offices outside the Kremlin. All dilapidated buildings are demolished, and the Arsenal building is laid. It was built from 1702 to 1736. From 1776 to 1788, the Senate building with a spectacular round hall covered with a dome was built in the Kremlin.

In the middle of the nineteenth century, the idea of ​​building the Grand Kremlin Palace appeared. There were many projects, but it was built according to the drawings of the architect K.A. Tones. The years of construction are 1839-1849.

A tangible damage was inflicted on the buildings of the Moscow Kremlin in 1812.

Napoleon, during his retreat from Moscow, ordered to blow up the Kremlin. Mines were laid under buildings, walls and towers. Some explosions were prevented thanks to Russian patriots, but, nevertheless, significant destruction nevertheless occurred. After the French emperor was expelled from the country, they began to restore the destroyed palaces, towers and walls, then they completed the Armory and the Grand Kremlin Palace. In those days, the Moscow Kremlin was accessible to the public. Visitors entered the territory through the open Spassky Gate, having previously bowed to the icon of the Savior.

Kremlin in Moscow after the 1917 revolution

In 1917, there were cadets on the territory of the Kremlin. As a result of the shelling, which was carried out by the revolutionary troops, the Moscow Kremlin was partially destroyed: the walls, the Small Nicholas Palace, almost all the cathedrals, the Beklemishevskaya, Nikolskaya and Spasskaya towers were damaged.

In 1918 V.I. Lenin and the entire government of Soviet Russia, since the capital was transferred to Moscow. Because of this, the bells in the Kremlin are silenced, churches are closed, Muscovites are deprived of free access to the territory.

The dissatisfaction of believers with the closure of cathedrals was quickly stopped by Yakov Sverdlov, who was not slow to declare the primacy of the interests of the revolution over all prejudices. In 1922, more than thirty kilograms of gold, about five hundred kilograms of silver, the shrine of Patriarch Hermogenes and more than a thousand different precious stones were seized from the religious buildings of the Moscow Kremlin.

During the Soviet era, the Kremlin architectural ensemble suffered more than in the entire previous history of its existence.

Of the 54 structures marked on the Kremlin plan at the very beginning of the last century, less than half remain. Monuments to Alexander II, Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich were demolished. Congresses of Soviets began to be held in the large Kremlin palace, a public dining room was set up in the Faceted Chamber, and a kitchen in the Golden Chamber. The Catherine Church of the Ascension Monastery was adapted into a gymnasium; the Kremlin hospital is located in the Chudov Monastery. In the thirties, the Small Nicholas Palace and all the monasteries with buildings were demolished. Almost the entire eastern part of the Moscow Kremlin has turned into ruins. The Soviet power destroyed 17 churches.

Many years passed before the restoration of the Moscow Kremlin began.

To celebrate Moscow's 800th anniversary, the towers and walls were thoroughly restored. Palekh artists in the Annunciation Cathedral opened the murals of 1508. A large amount of restoration work has been carried out in the Archangel Cathedral (wall paintings have been restored). The Assumption Cathedral has also undergone a major restoration.

The ban on living in the Kremlin was introduced in 1955, and the ancient architectural ensemble becomes a museum, partially open to the public.

In today's multifaceted Moscow, the Kremlin remains a historical place that millions of tourists strive to visit, hoping to touch the history of the white-stone capital there, to feel and understand it.

The Moscow Kremlin to this day is the main socio-political, artistic, historical and religious-spiritual center of Russia. In addition, the Moscow Kremlin is the official residence of the President of the Russian Federation.

In 1990, UNESCO included the Moscow Kremlin, whose history continues, into the list of world cultural heritage.