Which Russian cities have the Kremlin? ​12 Kremlins of modern Russia A story about a city with a Kremlin

The first thing that comes to mind when the word “Kremlin” is mentioned is, of course, the red stone giant located in the very heart of the Russian capital. Perhaps everyone is familiar with the main symbol of Moscow. But only a few remember that there is not only one Kremlin in the vastness of Russia - in Ancient Rus', this was the name of all fortifications designed to protect citizens from enemy attacks. And only those settlements that had such structures received the right to be called a city. Let's remember which Kremlins besides the Moscow one have survived to this day.

Astrakhan Kremlin

The creation of the southernmost of Russian Kremlins took about 40 years. For the construction, bricks were used that remained from the ruined city of Old Saray, the capital of the Golden Horde. Initially, the fortress was decorated with 8 towers, 7 of which have survived to this day. In addition to the breathtaking panorama opening from the observation deck, the Astrakhan Kremlin boasts two luxurious cathedrals - Trinity and Assumption, as well as a unique 80-meter bell tower, which has become a symbol of the city. Over the years of its existence, it was rebuilt several times. The first belfry, erected at the beginning of the 18th century, settled down and became covered with cracks, after which it had to be dismantled. In the 19th century, a new bell tower appeared in its place, which after a few years began to resemble the Leaning Tower of Pisa, tilting to the side. And only the third belfry has been standing for more than a century, although it too has suffered ground subsidence due to its considerable weight.

Kazan Kremlin

The Kazan Kremlin, which became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2000, combines two completely different cultures. Islam and Christianity, East and West coexist peacefully on its territory. The oldest building in the Kremlin is the Annunciation Cathedral. The temple, crowned with sky-colored domes, appeared back in 1562. But the construction of the main Kazan Cathedral Mosque, Kul-Sharif, opened for the 1000th anniversary of the city, was completed in 2005.

Zaraisky Kremlin

Unlike other fortresses, the Zaraisky Kremlin has survived to this day in its original form. Due to its small size, it looks like a toy against the background of its stone brothers. Despite this, the Zaraisk Kremlin became a participant in many historical battles. Dmitry Pozharsky served as governor here, and here he gathered the people’s militia to liberate Moscow from the Poles.

Kolomna Kremlin

The powerful Kolomna Kremlin, which served as a defender of the southern borders of Moscow, was founded in 1525. Its appearance is reminiscent of the castles of medieval Europe. It’s not for nothing that they call it the younger brother of the Moscow Kremlin - there are many similar details present in the design of their multi-tiered towers and stone walls. Experts agree that the Italian architect Aleviz Fryazin took part in the creation of both fortresses. One of the Kremlin towers is called Marinkina. According to legend, it was here that the famous prisoner of Kolomna, Marina Mnishek, spent her last years. Although rumors circulated among local residents for a long time that the famous troublemaker deceived the guards and, turning into a black crow, slipped out of the tower window.

Novgorod Kremlin

The first wooden fortress on the site of the Kremlin appeared in the middle of the 10th century, but a strong fire that engulfed the entire city wiped it off the face of the earth. New stone walls were built already in the 15th century. The heart of the Kremlin is considered to be the St. Sophia Cathedral, one of the oldest churches in Russia, the construction of which was completed in 1045. The Kremlin houses the miraculous icon of Our Lady of the Sign, which, according to legend, saved the people of Novgorod during the siege of the city by the troops of Andrei Bogolyubsky.

Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin

It is not for nothing that the Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin is considered a unique structure of its time: due to the complex terrain, its parts were built at different heights. There were rumors that during the Soviet years they wanted to demolish the fortress and build a road to the Volga in its place. Fortunately, these plans were not destined to come true. There is a legend according to which, in the catacombs of the Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin, Tsar Ivan the Terrible hid a unique Byzantine library, which he inherited from his grandmother Sophia Paleologus. One way or another, due to the peculiarities of the construction and turbulent underground waters, it has still not been possible to find it.

Pskov Kremlin

The Pskov Kremlin is one of the oldest Russian fortresses - wooden structures in its place arose in the 8th century. In the 13th century they were replaced by buildings made of stone. In the very heart of the Kremlin stands the Trinity Cathedral, famous for its unique belfry with ancient bells that still ring today. At one time, the Pskov Kremlin was known as one of the most impregnable: it withstood 26 sieges, protecting the city from foreign invaders.

Rostov Kremlin

Unlike other Kremlins that served as outposts, the Rostov Fortress never performed a defensive function. At first, the residence of the Metropolitan was located here, which was then replaced by a number of museums. The first to appear within the Kremlin walls was the Museum of Church Antiquities, which was replaced after the revolution by the Museum of State Antiquities, and later by the Museum of Local Lore. Also, the Rostov Kremlin forever inscribed itself in the history of Soviet cinema, becoming the film set for the wonderful comedy “Ivan Vasilyevich Changes His Profession.”

Tula Kremlin

Built at the beginning of the 15th century, the Tula Kremlin differs from its counterparts in its amazing location: it was built not on a high hill, but in a swampy lowland on the left bank of the Upa River. Two cathedrals have been preserved on the territory of the Kremlin: the Assumption and the Epiphany. Here you can also get acquainted with some of the exhibitions of the Tula Armory Museum. According to the decree of the President of the Russian Federation, in 2020 there will be a large-scale celebration of the 500th anniversary of the main fortress of Tula.

Tobolsk Kremlin

The only Kremlin in the Siberian expanses, built of durable stone, appeared at the turn of the 17th-18th centuries. The white-stone fortress, the appearance of which combines the features of Baroque and Renaissance, is a unique example of ancient Russian architecture. The Kremlin ensemble includes 32 buildings, including one of the oldest Siberian churches - the Sophia-Uspensky Cathedral, as well as Gostiny Dvor and a number of museums. The Tobolsk Kremlin is often captured by tourists. Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev was no exception: the photograph he took was sold at a charity auction for $1.7 million, becoming one of the most expensive in the world.

Ryazan Kremlin

The Ryazan Open Air Museum collected on its territory 18 historical and architectural monuments, the construction of which lasted from the 11th to the 19th centuries. The main symbol of the Kremlin is the Assumption Cathedral, the restoration of which was completed in 1995 for the 900th anniversary of the city. But the defensive walls of the fortress themselves, unfortunately, did not survive: they were demolished due to their disrepair as soon as the city lost its status as an outpost of the southern border. Today tourists can only see the ditch that protected the Ryazan edge and a fragment of the rampart.


Which Russian cities have the Kremlin?

In the form in which we are most accustomed to seeing them. Their brief history and photos
Included in the World Heritage List: - Moscow Kremlin

a large architectural complex, a fortress, the geographical and historical center of Moscow, located on the left bank of the Moscow River, on Borovitsky Hill, the most ancient part of the city, currently the residence of the highest government bodies of Russia and one of the main historical and artistic complexes of the country. Administratively located in the Central Administrative District, it is designated as an independent administrative unit. - Kazan Kremlin (Tat. Kazan kirməne, Qazan kirməne)

citadel of Kazan. Today serving as a center of self-government, it is the southernmost example of the Pskov architectural style in Russia. The Kremlin is located on the cape of a high terrace on the left bank of the Kazanka River.
Extant: - Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin

a fortress in Nizhny Novgorod, the historical center of the city, a stone belt covering the top of a mountainous cape and lying in ledges on the Volga slopes. - Pskov Krom (Kremlin)

historical and architectural center of Pskov. Located on a narrow and high cape at the confluence of the river. Pskov in the river Great. Covers an area of ​​3 hectares. The initial settlement in the cape part of the settlement dates back to the middle of the first millennium. - Smolensk fortress wall (often called the Smolensk Kremlin)

a defensive structure built in 1595-1602 during the reign of Tsars Fyodor Ioannovich and Boris Godunov. Architectural monument. Architect - Fyodor Kon. The length of the walls is 6.5 km (less than half of the walls and towers have survived). It had enormous defensive significance in the Russian state.
Kolomensky
Astrakhan
Tobolsk
Tula
Rostovsky
Alexandrovsky
Vladimirsky

Vologda Without walls:
Volokolamsky, Dmitrovsky, Ryazansky, Yaroslavsky In the ruins:
Gdovsky, Izborsky, Porkhovsky, Serpukhovsky, Velikoluksky Only marks from the walls:
Belozersky, Borovsky, Opochkinsky, Starodubsky, Tverskoy, Khlynovsky Ostrovsky, Torzhoksky

In Ancient Rus', any large city had a fortified territory - the Kremlin. Consequently, Kremlin is the name of city fortifications in Ancient Rus'. Currently, there are 12 Kremlins left in Russia, well preserved over the centuries, and which have not changed their urban status.

The modern walls and towers of the Moscow Kremlin were built in 1482 - 1495 by Italian architects from red brick, in place of white stone ones; they were completed in the 17th century. Number of surviving towers: 20, number of gates - 4, wall height: from 5 to 19 meters, wall thickness - from 3.5 to 6.5 meters. In the Moscow Kremlin there are the Assumption, Archangel, Annunciation Cathedrals, several churches, patriarchal chambers, the Terem Palace, the Garnet Chamber, the Ivan the Great bell tower and other buildings. The Moscow Kremlin has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1990.

2. Rostov Kremlin

The Kremlin complex was built by Rostov Metropolitan Jona Sysoevich as a bishop's house on the shores of Lake Nero in 1670-1683. The fortress walls have 11 surviving towers, including four entrance towers. The Kremlin houses the 5-domed Assumption Cathedral, built at the end of the 16th century, the cathedral belfry with the famous 13 Rostov bells, as well as several beautiful churches and chambers. The Kremlin is a unique architectural complex of the late 17th century. It has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1998.

3. Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin

The Kremlin walls with 12 surviving towers (originally 13) were built in 1508 - 1515, probably by the Italian architect Pyotr Fryazin. The number of gates is 5, the height of the walls is from 12 to 22 meters, the thickness of the walls is from 3.5 to 4.5 meters. The Kremlin contains the Archangel Michael Cathedral, built in 1631 in honor of the victory of the militia in 1612, where Kuzma Minin is now buried, several civilian buildings, and a monument to Minin and Pozharsky.

4. Tula Kremlin

Brick walls and towers were built in 1514 - 1520 as a defensive fortress on the southern borders of the country. Number of surviving towers: 9, number of gates - 4, height of walls: from 12.7 meters, thickness of walls - from 2.8 to 3.2 meters. The Kremlin withstood the siege of the Crimean Khan Devlet-Girey in 1552, and in 1608 the rebels of I. Bolotnikov withstood the siege of the tsarist troops in the Kremlin for four months. The Kremlin houses the five-domed Assumption Cathedral, built in 1762 - 1764, the Epiphany Cathedral (1855 - 1863), and a monument to Peter 1.

5. Novgorod Kremlin

Modern fortress walls and towers were built in 1484 -1490 on the foundations of old walls from the beginning of the 14th century. (Detinets itself has existed on the territory of the modern Kremlin since the 10th century). Nine of the towers have survived to this day, including the 30-meter Kokuy Tower, built at the end of the 17th century. The number of gates is 3, the height of the walls is from 8 to 15 meters, the thickness of the walls is from 3.6 to 6.55 meters. The Kremlin houses the Novgorod St. Sophia Cathedral of the mid-11th century, the oldest stone structure in Russia, the Chamber of Facets and other buildings. In 1862, the monument “Millennium of Russia” was inaugurated in the Kremlin. The Novgorod Kremlin has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1992.

6. Kazan Kremlin

This Kremlin was built in the 10th-16th centuries by Postnik Yakovlev and Ivan Shiray in the Pskov architectural style. Number of surviving towers: 8, number of gates - 2, height of walls - from 8 to 12 meters. The walls and towers were reconstructed in the 17th and 19th centuries. On the territory of the Kremlin there are the Annunciation Cathedral, built in 1562, the Syuyumbeki watchtower (buildings of unknown date), and also built in the 1990s. Kul Sharif Mosque. The Kremlin withstood the siege of Pugachev's troops in 1774. The Kazan Kremlin has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2000.

7. Astrakhan Kremlin.

Located on a high hill on the banks of the Volga. It was built in 1562 - 1589 by Mikhail Velyaminov and Dey Gubasty. Number of surviving towers: 7, number of gates - 2, height of walls - from 3 to 8 meters, thickness of walls - from 5 to 12 meters. The white stone walls of the Kremlin include seven towers - three travel towers and four blind ones. On the territory of the Kremlin there are the Trinity and Assumption Cathedrals, the Cyril Chapel, and the bishop's house. The Prechistensky Gate is crowned with a tower with a bell tower and a clock (height 80 m).

8.Zaraisky Kremlin

Built in 1528 - 1531 by order of Vasily III. Number of surviving towers: 7, number of gates - 4. Being a border city, part of the line of fortifications on the southern border of the Russian state, Zaraysk was subjected to repeated attacks by the Horde, and in 1608 it was captured by Polish troops. In 1610, the governor of Zaraysk was Prince D.M. Pozharsky. The brick Kremlin is lined with white stone on the outside. Of the 7 towers, three are travel. The Kremlin houses St. Nicholas Cathedral and the late Church of John the Baptist.

9. Tobolsk Kremlin

This is the only stone Kremlin in Siberia. Construction time: 1683-1799. Number of surviving towers: 7. Built by G. Sharypin and G. Tyurin: stone walls and towers so-called. Sophia Court and the five-domed Sophia-Assumption Cathedral (1681 - 1686) - the oldest stone structure in Siberia. In 1700 - 1717, Semyon Remezov built the secular part of the Kremlin - the Small or Voznesensky city. The cathedral bell tower (height 75 m) was built at the end of the 18th century, the Intercession Cathedral in the 1740s. Other structures of the Kremlin were built in the 18th - 19th centuries. Under Boris Godunov, the famous Uglich bell was “exiled” to Tobolsk, for which a special stone belfry was built in the Kremlin.

10. Kolomna Kremlin

Built in 1525 - 1531. under Vasily III on the site of a wooden Kremlin destroyed by the Tatars. The walls and towers have been partially preserved. Number of surviving towers: 7, number of gates - 6, height of walls - from 18 to 21 meters, thickness of walls - from 3 to 4.5 meters. Of the towers, the “Marinka Tower” stands out especially, in which, according to legend, Marina Mniszech was imprisoned. The Kremlin houses the Assumption Cathedral (late 17th century), Resurrection Church (rebuilt in the 18th century), Trinity Church (late 17th century) and other buildings.

11. Pskov Kremlin

The time of construction of this Kremlin: the end of the 11th - beginning of the 12th centuries. Towers - 7, Gates - 1 (through the zahab), wall height: from 6 to 8 meters, wall thickness - from 2.5 to 6 meters. The Pskov Kremlin is called “Krom”. It is located at the confluence of the Velikaya and Pskov rivers. The walls and towers were built in the 12th century. made of limestone and are the oldest Kremlin fortifications preserved in Russia. The five-domed Trinity Cathedral of the late 17th century is located on the territory of Krom. and a seven-sided bell tower of the same time, built at the beginning of the 19th century.

12. Ryazan Kremlin

This Kremlin was built in the 15th century. And at the end of the 17th century, the walls and towers of the Kremlin were demolished due to dilapidation and the lack of need to defend the borders. Only the rampart and ditch have survived. The Ryazan Kremlin is a complex of historical and architectural monuments located on the territory of the original Pereyaslavl-Ryazan fortress, located between the Trubezh and Lybid rivers. The structures are surrounded by an earthen defensive rampart of the 12th -17th centuries. On the territory of the Kremlin there is the Assumption Cathedral, built at the end of the 17th century. in the style of “Naryshkin Baroque” by Y. Bukhvostov, a four-tiered bell tower (late 18th - early 19th centuries), the Nativity and Archangel (16th centuries) cathedrals, bishops' chambers (17th - 19th centuries) - the so-called. the chambers of Prince Oleg, other churches and civil buildings.

Varganova Inna Sergeevna

One of the oldest fortresses in Rus', which still retains the name “Detinets”, is located on the left bank of the Volkhov River. The first chronicle mention of the Novgorod Detinets dates back to 1044. A radical restructuring of Detinets took place in 1478 under Ivan III, when Novgorod entered the Moscow state. The Novgorod Detinets, as part of the historical center of Veliky Novgorod, is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.

One of the main symbols of Russia stands on the high left bank of the Moscow River - Borovitsky Hill, at the confluence of the Neglinnaya River. On an irregular triangle with an area of ​​27.7 hectares, there are four palaces and four cathedrals, surrounded by a wall with towers. The first stone Kremlin, white-walled, was built in the 14th century under Dmitry Donskoy. And under Ivan III in the 15th century, the fortifications were rebuilt by Italian architects and lined with red brick.

Under Ivan III, Nizhny Novgorod played the role of a guard city, so the fortifications were of particular importance. The construction of the huge stone Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin began in 1500 with the construction of the Ivanovo Tower in the coastal part of the city, but the main work began in 1508 and by 1515 the grandiose construction was completed. The main work on the construction of the Kremlin was carried out under the leadership of the Italian architect Pietro Francesco (Peter Fryazin) sent from Moscow.

The white stone Kremlin, which in Pskov has always been called “Krom”. It includes the city of Dovmont, associated with the name of the holy prince Dovmont-Timothy. During the period of the Pskov Republic (14th - early 16th centuries), the Kremlin with its cathedral, veche square and Krom cells was the spiritual, legal and administrative center of the Pskov land.

“All the houses of this city are wooden, but there is a large and strong fortress with stone walls; it contains a very significant number of warriors who hold posts at night - just like in Spain, Italy and Flanders.” This is how Oruj-bek, secretary of the Persian embassy to Boris Godunov, described the Kazan Kremlin. During the capture of Kazan by Ivan the Terrible in 1552, the oak walls of the Khan's fortress were severely damaged. To build a new white-stone Kremlin, the Tsar called on the Pskov architects Postnik Yakovlev and Ivan Shirai (builders of St. Basil's Cathedral in Moscow). The fortress was significantly expanded, 6 towers (out of 13) were built of stone (five were travel towers), but only at the beginning of the 17th century the wooden defensive structures of the Kazan Kremlin were finally replaced with stone ones.

One of the largest and most powerful fortresses of its time, built under Vasily III in 1525-1531. The destruction of Kolomna by the Crimean Khan Mehmed I Giray in 1521 accelerated the replacement of wooden city fortifications with stone ones. But in the 18th and early 19th centuries, the Kremlin, impregnable to enemies, was slowly dismantled for building material by local residents. Only the decree of Nicholas I in 1826 put an end to this.

In 1514, inside the oak fortress, following the example of the Moscow Kremlin, Vasily III ordered the foundation of a “stone city”, built by 1520 (1521). Perhaps it was built by Italian architects after the completion of the Moscow Kremlin at the end of the 15th century. In 1608, Tsar Vasily Shuisky besieged the rebels Ivan Bolotnikov and Ileika Muromets (“Tsarevich Peter”) in the Tula Kremlin. The Kremlin withstood a very long siege, but the Tsar ordered a dam to be built and water from the river flooded the Kremlin, forcing the besieged to surrender.

The Moscow Kremlin is located in the very center of Moscow, on the high bank of the Moscow 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 sky,” says the old proverb. The Kremlin is the most ancient part of Moscow, currently the residence of the highest government bodies of 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, to the north is Red Square, and to the north-west is the Alexander Garden. In the 14th century, cathedrals and monasteries were already built here; the Kremlin was the center of the Russian Orthodox Church. Three gigantic cathedrals were built in the 15th and 16th centuries. There's a lot 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 of the Kremlin - the Tsar Bell; The Armory houses a wide variety of treasures, including royal crowns. In addition, here is the Amusement Palace, the Senate, in the premises of which the President’s office is located.

The most famous building on Red Square is St. Basil's Cathedral, its fabulous multi-colored domes are topped with golden crosses, and a gilded dome rises above the main tower. Near the Kremlin wall there is the Mausoleum of V.I. Lenin, and people still line up to walk past his embalmed body. The space of Red Square, colorful churches and palaces, and the Kremlin walls will be remembered for a long time.

Initially, the Kremlin served as a fortification for 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, 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 20th century, the double-headed eagles that crowned the main towers of the Kremlin: Spasskaya, Nikolskaya, Troitskaya, Borovitskaya and Vodovzvodnaya, were replaced with ruby ​​stars with a diameter of 3-4 m. In 1941-1942, 167 German air 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 short and initially nondescript appearance: “kutafya” in Dahl’s dictionary is a clumsy, ugly dressed woman.

Behind the bridge is the mighty Trinity Tower. Having passed through it, we find ourselves on a bridgehead open to all the winds, surrounded by the spacious buildings of the Arsenal, the Senate and the Palace of Congresses.

Previously, there was a highly complex 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 on the right hand of the gate - this is the Amusing Palace of the mid-17th century, restored by restorers only at the beginning of this century. On its roof stands a golden-domed house church; once it was surrounded by open gardens and hanging apple orchards laid out on high stone terraces - the entire female half of the Sovereign's courtyard, which occupied the site of the current Palace of Congresses, was arranged in approximately the same strange 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 Cathedral Square. From here, the square reveals itself in an ancient, bright and unexpected way: straight ahead - the bell tower of Ivan the Great, on the right - 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 size (in architecture textbooks there is a popular picture where the silhouette of the cathedral fits into the gigantic outlines of the Roman St. Peter, like a little doll), but at the same time incredibly strong and large-scale - both inside and outside: the Italians knew a lot about such illusions.

Also built by the Italians on the other side of the square, the Archangel Cathedral of 1505 produces a completely different impression - close to the Assumption Cathedral in size, on the outside it is much more playful and complex, but on the inside it is cramped and mysterious. Most of its floor is occupied by the tombstones of princes and kings who reigned from the 13th to the 18th centuries. All the tombstones are of the same type, only the carved canopy over the grave of Tsarevich Dimitri - one of the most tragic losses in Russian history - stands out.

On Cathedral Square, the nine-domed palace Annunciation Cathedral, the Church of the Deposition of the Robe with a small exhibition of ancient Russian wooden sculpture, and exhibition halls in the Assumption Belfry and the Patriarchal Palace are also open to the public. The archaeological exhibition in the basement of the Annunciation Cathedral and the lower tier of the Ivan the Great Bell Tower receive visitors for certain sessions.

The Armory Chamber and the Diamond Fund are located in another part of the Kremlin, at the Borovitsky Gate, and to view them you must buy separate tickets in advance. Unfortunately, the Kremlin Palace is closed to public access, although theoretically excursions are held there, but with a very separate appointment and for a separate fee. The working population can be content with only an external view of the Faceted Chamber - the throne room of sovereigns from the end of the 15th century, as well as a fragment of the royal residential choir visible to the right, crowned with multi-domed house churches and the ponderous bulk of the Great Palace, built in the middle of the 19th century.

The Tsar Cannon and the Tsar Bell are also located on the territory. Many people, when mentioning the square, recall the saying “shout to the entire Ivanovskaya”, believing that it was here that the Tsar’s 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 very special occasions. So the expression “to the fullest extent of Ivanovskaya” means that some task must be accomplished with all strength and completeness.

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 omen.

The ceremonial parade of the Presidential Regiment on horseback and on foot takes place on Saturdays at 12.00 on Cathedral Square of the Kremlin and on the last Saturday of every month at 14.00 on Red Square.

And the most important thing: do not miss the first shrine of modern times, the mystical oak “Cosmos”, planted by Yuri Gagarin the day after the flight. Muscovites have long believed in its magical properties, remember: if someone goes around a tree three times, saying “Gagarin, Gagarin, fly with greetings, come back with an answer,” his children will certainly be born great cosmonauts.

By the way, the Moscow Kremlin, the main one of all Kremlins, is the only one written with a capital letter. This 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.

Upon entering the Kremlin territory, visitors' personal belongings are searched. All unauthorized items will have to be handed over to the storage room located in the lower tier of the Kutafya Tower. Photography and videography, including amateur photography, is prohibited in cathedral museums. The Armory Chamber and the Diamond Fund.

History of construction

Since the time of Dmitry Donskoy, Moscow has been decorated with a white stone Kremlin (built 1368). Over the past century, its walls had become so worn out that foreigners, due to the abundance of gaping bald spots filled with logs, sometimes mistook them for wood. And this Kremlin was built in those years when they had not yet heard of Italian masters in Rus'. Having the master Aristotle Fioravanti at court, Ivan III could well have thought about how to remake the fortress so that no one would not only be able to take it, but would not even dare to approach it. However, the name of Aristotle Fioravanti never appeared anywhere among the builders of the Moscow Kremlin. However, many historians are inclined to consider Aristotle as the true creator of the master plan, who outlined the general line of the Kremlin walls, outlined the positions of the towers, laid out secret dungeons and labyrinths, and his compatriots worked on individual sections. Work on the Moscow Kremlin was carried out in a way that no fortress had ever been built in Rus'. In an area with a radius of 100 fathoms, not a single building was left around. Even churches that had stood there for several centuries were demolished. The area beyond the Moscow 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.

 

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