What is behind the Kremlin wall. Walls and towers of the Kremlin

His Majesty - Moscow Kremlin. Part 13. Walls and towers

The Kremlin Wall is a brick wall surrounding the Moscow Kremlin. It was erected on the site of the white stone wall of Dmitry Donskoy in 1485-1516 by Italian (“Fryazhsky”) architects. The total length of the walls is 2235 m, height from 5 to 19 m, thickness - from 3.5 to 6.5 m. In plan, the walls form an irregular triangle.

The top of the wall, according to the Lombard tradition, is decorated with battlements in the shape of a swallowtail; the total number of battlements along the top of the wall is 1045. Most of the battlements have slit-like loopholes. The walls have wide embrasures covered with arches. On the outside the walls are smooth, on the inside they are decorated with arched niches - a traditional technique designed to lighten and strengthen the structure of the structure.

The existing walls and towers were built in 1485-1516. The total length of the walls is 2235 m, height from 5 to 19 m, thickness - from 3.5 to 6.5 m.

In plan, the walls form an irregular triangle. The top of the wall is decorated with battlements in the shape of a swallowtail; the total number of battlements along the top of the wall is 1045. Most of the battlements have slit-like loopholes. The walls have wide embrasures covered with arches. On the outside the walls are smooth, on the inside they are decorated with arched niches - a traditional technique designed to lighten and strengthen the structure of the structure.

Kivshenko Alexey d. (1851-96). Ivan the Great

Under Ivan III and his successor Vasily III, the construction of the Kremlin walls was led by the architects Anton Fryazin, Marco Fryazin, Pietro Antonio Solari and Aleviz Fryazin the Old.

Moscow Kremlin at the beginning of the 17th century.

Brick walls were placed along the line of white stone ones, with a small retreat out. Starting from the Spasskaya Tower, the Kremlin territory was expanded eastward. Approximately 20 years after construction Kremlin wall The Kitai-Gorod wall was attached to it, hugging the entire Kitai-Gorod.

For the construction of walls and towers, large (30x14x17 cm or 31x15x9 cm) bricks weighing up to 8 kg each were used. The front walls were made of brick and filled with white stone. The highest walls were erected along Red Square, where there was no natural water barrier

Fedor Alekseev. View of the Kremlin at the Spassky Gate. Around 1800
Initially, there was a through passage inside the wall through all the towers, covered with cylindrical vaults. Most of the passage was eventually covered with construction debris; the area between the Konstantino-Eleninskaya and Nabatnaya towers was preserved. There were also hiding places and passages under the walls, in some cases extending far beyond the line of fortifications

View of Zamoskvorechye from behind the wall in 1848

At the beginning of the 18th century, the Neglinnaya River was diverted further from the western wall, along which it originally flowed.

At the same time, the originally existing plank roofs of the walls burned down. In 1702-1736, for the construction of the arsenal building, part of the wall was dismantled and later restored.

Modern chimes were made by brothers Nikolai and Ivan Budenop in 1851-1852 and installed on 8-10 tiers of the Spasskaya Tower. From that time on, the chimes played the “March of the Preobrazhensky Regiment” at 12 and 6 o’clock, and at 3 and 9 o’clock the hymn “How Glorious is Our Lord in Zion” by Dmitry Bortnyansky, which sounded over Red Square until 1917. Initially, they wanted to play the Russian anthem “God Save the Tsar” on the playing shaft of the chimes, but Nicholas I did not allow this, stating that “the chimes can play any songs except the anthem.”

In 1771-1773, for the construction of the Kremlin Palace according to the design of V.I. Bazhenov, part of the southern wall between the Beklemishevskaya and Annunciation towers was also dismantled, which was later restored. The bombing of the Kremlin by the French (1812) caused heavy damage to the walls, the walls along Neglinnaya were especially damaged. Repairs and restoration of the fortifications were carried out from 1817 to 1822.

In 1866-1870, the walls and towers of the Kremlin were restored by architects N. A. Shokhin, P. A. Gerasimov, F. F. Richter, who sought to give the buildings their original appearance. However, many authentic details were then lost and replaced by inaccurate copies.

A survey and partial restoration of the walls was carried out in 1931-1936. The next restoration of the walls and towers of the Kremlin took place in 1946-1953. During its course, the walls were cleaned and repaired, loopholes and parapets were restored. The restoration commission included prominent scientists and restorers: I. E. Grabar, V. N. Lazarev, M. V. Alpatov, P. D. Korin, D. P. Sukhov and others

"Inconsistency" of the Kremlin wall. 2012

“Inconsistency” of the Kremlin wall between the Blagoveshchenskaya (far) and Tainitskaya (near) towers. 2012

The Kremlin wall between the Annunciation and Tainitskaya towers has a vertical ledge and a reduced pitch of two teeth, as if during construction from different sides there was a mistake in joining. This “error” divides the wall between the towers in an approximate ratio of 1 to 2, counting from Blagoveshchenskaya.

The north-eastern section of the wall facing northern part Red Square, serves as a columbarium for urns with the ashes of figures of the communist movement and the Soviet state. Many of them are also buried in the ground along this section of the wall. In the post-Soviet period, the question of the need to move the necropolis to another location was repeatedly raised for political, religious and other reasons.

The Moscow Kremlin has 20 towers. Three towers (Beklemishevskaya, Vodovzvodnaya and Corner Arsenalnaya), standing in the corners of the triangle, have a circular cross-section, the rest are square.
Most of the towers are made in a single architectural style, given to them in the second half of the 17th century. The Nikolskaya Tower stands out from the general ensemble, which was rebuilt in the Gothic style at the beginning of the 19th century.

The list is compiled starting from the south-eastern corner of the Kremlin wall, counterclockwise.
3 towers standing in the corners of the triangle have a circular cross-section, the rest are square. The tallest tower is Trinity, it has a height of 79.3 m.
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For the construction of walls and towers, large (30x14x17 cm or 31x15x9 cm) bricks weighing up to 8 kg each were used. The front walls were made of brick and filled with white stone. The highest walls were erected along Red Square, where there was no natural water barrier

The walls had access to the Spasskaya, Nabatnaya, Konstantino-Eleninskaya, Troitskaya, Borovitskaya, Blagoveshchenskaya and Petrovskaya towers. Initially, there was a through passage inside the wall through all the towers, covered with cylindrical vaults. Most of the passage was eventually covered with construction debris; the area between the Konstantino-Eleninskaya and Nabatnaya towers was preserved. There were also hiding places and passages under the walls, in some cases extending far beyond the line of fortifications.

At the beginning of the 18th century, Neglinnaya was moved further away from the walls. To install new cannons, loopholes were cut out on the towers. At the same time, the original plank roofs of the walls burned down.

In 1702-1736, part of the wall was dismantled for the construction of the Arsenal and later restored. In 1771-1773, for the construction of the Kremlin Palace according to the design of V.I. Bazhenov, part of the southern wall between the Beklemishevskaya and Annunciation towers was also dismantled, which was later restored.

The hem of the Moscow Kremlin in the 17th century Painting by Sergei Glushkov

In 1802-1805, a major overhaul of the towers was carried out, during which almost all of the outlet arches were dismantled. The War of 1812 caused heavy damage to the walls, especially the Nikolskaya Tower, towers and walls along Neglinnaya. Repair and restoration of the fortifications were carried out from 1817 to 1822. During the renovation work, pseudo-Gothic decorative details were added to the external appearance of the Borovitskaya and Vodovzvodnaya towers

In 1866-1870, the walls and towers of the Kremlin were restored by architects N.A. Shokhin, P.A. Gerasimov, F.F. Richter, who sought to give the buildings their original appearance. During the restoration process, pseudo-Gothic decorative details disappeared from the Borovitskaya Tower, but many elements of the original details of the walls and towers of the Kremlin were lost and replaced with inaccurate copies. Damage to the towers and walls was caused during alterations in the second half of the 19th century during the adaptation of their premises for economic needs

The Nikolskaya and Beklemishevskaya towers, damaged during the revolution, were repaired in 1918. A survey and partial restoration of the walls was carried out in 1931-1936. In 1935-1937, ruby ​​five-pointed stars were installed on five towers.

This is approximately how Napoleon found the Kremlin

The next restoration of the walls and towers of the Kremlin was carried out in 1946-1953, during which the walls were cleaned and repaired, loopholes and parapets were restored, details on a number of towers were revealed, the tops of the Spasskaya, Trinity and Nikolskaya towers were upholstered in sheet copper. The restoration commission included prominent scientists and restorers: I. E. Grabar, V. N. Lazarev, M. V. Alpatov, P. D. Korin, D. P. Sukhov and others.

Beklimishevskaya

It is also known as Moskvoretskaya - a tower of the wall of the Moscow Kremlin. Located in the southeastern corner of the Kremlin triangle, near the Moskva River and Moskvoretsky Bridge. The name comes from the courtyard of boyar I.N. Beklemishev, which was located inside the Kremlin near the tower. After the execution of Beklemishev by Vasily III, the courtyard along with the tower was used as a prison for disgraced boyars. Located near the junction of the Moscow River with a moat, the tower performed an important defensive function, covering, among other things, the ford and crossing of the Moscow River.

The tall round tower was built in 1487-1488 according to the design of the Italian architect Marco Ruffo. The main cylinder is located on a white stone base with a semicircular roller at the joint.

The tower has four tiers with the possibility of all-round firing: three tiers of round vaulted rooms and the upper tier, where the machicolations and combat platform are located. A well and a secret hiding place were installed in the tower to prevent undermining. In 1680, an octagon with a narrow tent and two rows of dormer was built over the main cylinder. The tower tent has no internal coverings.

Under Peter I in 1707, the tower was converted for defense against the Swedes. In particular, the loopholes of the tower were cut to accommodate more powerful guns (restored to their original form during restoration in 1949).

View of the Beklemishevskaya (Moskvoretskaya) tower 1890-1900

The Beklemishevskaya Tower is one of the few Kremlin towers that have practically not been rebuilt. After Napoleon's invasion, the Beklemishevskaya tower was repaired. Also, during the storming of the Kremlin by the Bolsheviks in 1917, the upper tent was hit by a shell (in 1920 it was restored by the architect I.V. Rylsky).
Eastern Wall The Eastern Wall of the Kremlin runs along Red Square

Konstantino-Eleninskaya Tower

Previously, Timofeevskaya was a tower of the wall of the Moscow Kremlin. Located on the eastern side of the Kremlin, above the Beklemishevskaya Tower.

The tower was built in 1490 by the Italian architect Pietro Antonio Solari (Petr Fryazin) on the site of the Timofeevsky Gate of the white stone Kremlin of Dmitry Donskoy. The tower received its modern name after the Church of Constantine and Helen was built nearby in the Kremlin in the 17th century (the church was dismantled in 1928).

Moscow dungeon. The end of the 16th century (Konstantin-Eleninsky gate of the Moscow dungeon at the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries)

The tower was intended to protect the entrances to the pier on the Moskva River and the nearby streets of Veliky Posad, going towards Zaryadye: Vsekhsvyatskaya (now Varvarka) and Velikaya (later became Mokrinsky Lane, and has now completely disappeared). Initially, the Konstantino-Eleninskaya Tower was a passageway, with a drawbridge across the moat and a diversion arrow (an additional tower connected to the main bridge). After 1508, the second diversion arrow was completed.

In the 1680s, an arched quadrangle with a slender hipped roof was built over the main square quadrangle. After Velikaya Street lost its significance at the end of the 17th century, the gates were closed, and the outlet archway and the lower tier of the tower were turned into a prison. In 1707, the loopholes of the Konstantino-Eleninskaya tower were cut out for more powerful cannons. In the 18th century, the diversion arrows and the bridge were demolished.

Konstantino-Eleninskaya Tower 1882-1996 photographer Barshchevsky I.F.

The arch of the blocked gate, partially covered by later layers, is still clearly visible on the facade of the tower from the side of Vasilyevsky Descent, as well as the recess for the gate icon and traces of vertical slots for the levers of the drawbridge.

On the upper platform of the main quadrangle there are machicolations; inside it is divided into two tiers, covered with brick vaults. The first tier was previously used for travel, and the second was used for office space. The ascent to the upper platform of the tower is via a narrow staircase located deep in the wall.

Konstantino-Eleninskaya Tower from the Kremlin wall

The tower was restored in the 1950s and 1970s.
Through the Timofeevsky Gate, located in ancient times on the site of the Konstantin-Eleninskaya Tower, Dmitry Donskoy

Alarm tower

The Alarm Tower is a tower on the wall of the Moscow Kremlin. Located on the slope of the Kremlin hill opposite St. Basil's Cathedral. The name comes from the Spassky alarm bell hanging on it, which served as a fire alarm.

This tower, which has preserved its ancient forms, was built in 1495. The main quadrangle ends with machicolations with a parapet. Its interior consists of two tiers: the lower one with a flat ceiling and numerous rooms, with stairs and openings providing access to the walls, and the upper one with a closed vault.

Alarm tower of the Moscow Kremlin. 1882-1896

In 1680, an upper arched quadrangle and a tent with an observation tower were added to the tower. The quadrangle is open into the cavity of the tent. The details and decoration of the upper quadrangle and tent (brick semi-columns of the quadrangle and observation tower with white stone capitals and belts) are reminiscent of the completion of the Arsenal Tower.
In total, there were three alarm bells in the Kremlin: Spassky (on the Alarm Tower), Troitsky and Tainitsky.

By decree of Alexei Mikhailovich in 1668, alarm signals were regulated:
. in the event of a fire in the Kremlin, “ring all three alarm bells in both directions, quickly”
. in the event of a fire in Kitai-Gorod, “to ring the Spassky alarm bell in one direction, soon”
. in the event of a fire in the White City - “sound the Spassky alarm at both ends and sound the alarm, which is quieter at both ends on the Trinity Bridge”
. In the event of a fire in Zemlyanoy Gorod, it is a “quiet custom” to sound the alarm on the Tainitskaya Tower
In 1771, during the Plague Riot, the rebels sounded the Spassky alarm and thus gathered Muscovites to the Kremlin. At the end of the riot, Catherine II ordered the removal of the tongue from the bell. For over 30 years the bell hung on the tower without a tongue. In 1803, the bell was moved to the Arsenal, and in 1821 - to the Armory, where it still hangs in the lobby.
The inscriptions on the bell say: “On the 6th day of July 1714, this alarm bell poured out from the old alarm bell which broke the Kremlin of the city to the Spassky Gate. It weighs 150 poods”, “The master Ivan Motorin ran this bell”.
In the 1970s, the Alarm Tower began to tilt due to the loss of soil density and a cracked foundation. After bracing the base of the tower with metal hoops and strengthening the soil, the tilt was stopped. However, the tower still deviates from the vertical by one meter.
Tsar's Tower

The Tsar's Tower is the youngest and smallest tower of the Moscow Kremlin, built in 1680.
Strictly speaking, this is not a tower, but a stone tower, a tent placed on the wall. Once upon a time there was a small wooden tower from which, according to legend, Tsar Ivan IV (the Terrible) loved to watch the events taking place on Red Square - hence the name of the tower.
White stone belts on the pillars, high pyramids in the corners with gilded flags, a tent ending with a gilded elegant weather vane - all this gives the tower the appearance of a fairy-tale mansion

A small turret was placed directly on the wall in the 80s of the 17th century (that is, almost two centuries later than the other towers) between the Spasskaya and Nabatnaya towers of the Kremlin. Its octagonal tent on jug-shaped pillars resembles the porch lockers of stone residential mansions that were common at that time.

The name of the tower is associated with a legend according to which it served as a kind of canopy over the royal throne, from where the sovereign of all Rus' could observe the events taking place on Red Square from the walls of the Kremlin (hence the name of the tower).

Senate Tower

The Senate Tower is one of the towers of the Moscow Kremlin wall. Located on the eastern side of the Kremlin between the Spasskaya and Nikolskaya towers.

Built in 1491 by the architect Pietro Antonio Solari. The tower received its name after the construction of the Senate Palace on the Kremlin territory was completed in 1787. Until that time it had no special name. In 1680, a stone tent was built over the tower, ending with a golden weather vane. Inside the tower has three tiers of vaulted rooms. Tower height 34 meters

In 1918, a plaque “To those who fell for peace and brotherhood of peoples”, made by sculptor S. T. Konenkov, was installed on the tower. In the 1920s, the board was removed and moved to the Russian Museum. In 1924, the Lenin Mausoleum was built in front of the tower on Red Square. In 1948, a passage was made from the tower to the Mausoleum so that members of the CPSU Central Committee could enter the stands directly from the Kremlin, bypassing Red Square.
NIKOLSKAYA TOWER

Gate icon of St. Nicholas of Mozhaisk

Built in 1491 according to the design of the Italian architect Pietro Antonio Solari. It is most likely that the tower received its name from the icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, which was located on the eastern facade. A number of researchers believe that the tower was named after the monastery of St. Nicholas the Old, located nearby on ancient Nikolskaya Street.

Nikolsky Gate of the Kremlin and Alevizov Row. Alekseev, students. 1800s.

In 1612, it was through the gates of the Nikolskaya and Spasskaya towers that the people's militia, led by Prince Dmitry Pozharsky and Kuzma Minin, solemnly entered the Kremlin on November 1 (an agreement on the surrender of the Polish garrison was signed on October 27). In ancient times, a clock was placed on the tower, the last mention of which dates back to 1614.

In the fire of 1737, the Nikolskaya Tower burned down and after restoration under the leadership of I. F. Michurin acquired a baroque decor, like the original design of the Arsenal. By 1780 the tower was built on. I. Blank round top with a low tent.

In 1805-1806, the tower was completely rebuilt by the architect A. I. Ruska, together with A. N. Bakarev: the previous superstructure over the quadrangle was replaced by a Gothic octagonal top with a high white-stone tent and openwork decorations. The Gothic appearance is the main difference between the Nikolskaya Tower and other Kremlin towers.

In 1812, the Nikolskaya Tower was damaged in the explosion of the Arsenal by the French leaving Moscow: the tent collapsed, part of the passage gate was damaged, but part of the quadrangle with the gate icon of St. Nicholas of Mozhaisky was not touched

Nikolskaya Tower, 1883

News of the miracle soon reached the emperor. Arriving in Moscow, Alexander I personally became convinced of the safety of the icon and ordered, first of all, to restore the tower, and hang a marble plaque under the icon, the words for which he himself wrote: “In 1812, during the enemy invasion, this stronghold was almost all destroyed by the enemy’s explosion; but by the miraculous power of God St. The image of the great saint of God, St. Nicholas, here inscribed on the stone itself, and not only the image itself, but also the glass itself that covered it, the lantern with the candle remained unharmed. Who is God as great as our God! You are God, work miracles: God is marvelous in His saints.”

The tower was restored in 1816-1819 according to the design of the architect Osip Ivanovich Bove. During the restoration, some changes were made to both the design and architecture of the tower.
At the suggestion of the architect F.K. Sokolov, the white-stone tent was replaced with an iron one on a frame, and four white-stone phial towers were installed at the corners of the quadrangle to complement the Gothic appearance. The architect V. A. Bakarev participated in the restoration of the tower. The tower was painted white.

Near the St. Nicholas Gate there were single-domed chapels. On the left was the chapel of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, on the right was the chapel of Alexander Nevsky. Initially wooden, then stone chapels were rebuilt several times, most recently in 1883. The chapels belonged to the Kazan Cathedral.

Destruction of the Kremlin in 1812. Nikolskaya Tower, Arsenal ruins, Arsenal Tower

The duties of the rectors of the chapels included caring for the unquenchable lamp at the gate icon of St. Nicholas of Mozhaisk. Above the entrances to the chapels there was an image of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God. Both chapels were demolished in 1925.

Watercolor.I.A.Weiss. 1852

At the end of October 1917, the tower and gates were heavily damaged as a result of artillery shelling; they were restored in 1918 by the architect N.V. Markovnikov. During the restoration in 1918, it was repainted from white to the common brick color of the Kremlin wall.

The marble plaque with the words of Alexander I was dismantled. On October 26, 1935, a semi-precious star was installed above the tent of the Nikolskaya Tower instead of a double-headed eagle. In 1937, the gem star was replaced with the modern ruby ​​star. The star of the Nikolskaya Tower has the largest number of faces per ray - 12.

Nikolsky Gate, November 1917

During the restoration of the tower in 1919, the gate image was renovated to the oldest design and the traces of bullets and shrapnel were repaired. In 1920-1922, on the initiative of the Restoration Department, the later paintings of angels on the sides of the central image were eliminated; the fresco of Nikolai Mozhaisky, as stated in 1925 in one of the documents, “is only partially preserved”

Until 2010, the gate icon was considered lost
.
On May 11, 2010, the chairman of the St. Andrew the First-Called Foundation, Vladimir Yakunin, reported the discovery of ancient icons on the Spasskaya and Nikolskaya towers of the Kremlin, hidden by plaster in their icon cases during Soviet times

On July 5, 2010, restoration work began on the Nikolskaya Tower. In the future, to protect the gate icon from rain, snow and other negative influences, it is planned to install glazing with a natural ventilation system or icon cases.
On October 28, 2010, restoration work was finally completed.

Corner Arsenal Tower

Corner Arsenal Tower (Sobakina) is the most powerful tower of the Moscow Kremlin. It completed the defense line from Red Square and controlled the crossing of the Neglinnaya River to Torg

Built in 1492 by the Italian architect Pietro Antonio Solari (circa 1450-1493). From the moment of its construction, for a long time the tower was called Sobakina after the neighboring courtyard of the Sobakin boyars; It received its modern name after the construction of the Arsenal building in the 18th century. Initially, the Sobakina Tower was the tallest tower in the Kremlin

In the past, it performed not only defense functions. There was a well dug in the tower, which the fortress garrison could use in the event of a siege. From the Corner Arsenal Tower there was a secret passage to the Neglinnaya River, and its sixteen-sided volume had seven rows of loopholes; the passage and loopholes were probably laid in the 1670s-1680s during the construction of a base widening downward, attached in a semicircle to the original wall

In 1672-1686, an octagonal tent was erected above the tower on a stepped base, which ended in an openwork octagon with a tent and a weather vane. In 1707, Peter I, in the course of preparing Moscow for defense against the Swedes, gave the order to clear away the remaining five tiers of tower loopholes to install artillery.

In 1812, during the explosion of the Arsenal by French troops, cracks formed in the walls of the tower and the watchtower collapsed.

Soon the tower was restored to its previous forms by the architect O. I. Bove. In 1894, the tower was repaired, the interiors were remodeled and it was adapted to house the Moscow provincial archive. In the 1948-1950s, during the restoration of the tower, the embrasures located in six levels were restored to their original forms

Middle Arsenal Tower

The Middle Arsenal Tower is a tower of the Moscow Kremlin, located on the northwestern side of the Kremlin wall, stretching along the Alexander Garden.

The tower was built in 1493-1495 on the northwestern side of the Kremlin wall, on the site of the corner tower of the time of Dmitry Donskoy. In the 15th-16th centuries there were dams near the tower on the Neglinnaya River. In the 1680s, it was completed - an open quadrangle with a tetrahedral tent, completed with a through watchtower with a tent.

The tower received its current name during the construction of the Arsenal building at the beginning of the 18th century. Previously, it was called Granena - from the facade dissected on the edge. In 1821, when laying out the Alexander Garden, a pleasure grotto was built at the foot of the tower according to the design of O. I. Bove.

Kremlin in the morning
2007

Photos used by Ilya Varlamov “Walking along the Kremlin Wall”, Wikimedia
(To be continued)

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The Kremlin Wall is a brick wall surrounding the Moscow Kremlin.

The total length of the walls is 2235 m, height from 5 to 19 m, thickness - from 3.5 to 6.5 m. In plan, the walls form an irregular triangle.

The top of the wall, according to the Lombard tradition, is decorated with battlements in the shape of a swallowtail; the total number of battlements along the top of the wall is 1045. Most of the battlements have slit-like loopholes. The walls have wide embrasures covered with arches.

On the outside the walls are smooth, on the inside they are decorated with arched niches - a traditional technique designed to lighten and strengthen the structure of the structure.

Construction

Under Ivan III and his successor Vasily III, the construction of the Kremlin walls was led by the architects Anton Fryazin, Marco Fryazin, Pietro Antonio Solari and Aleviz Fryazin the Old.

The brick walls were placed along the line of the white stone ones, with a slight retreat outward. Starting from the Spasskaya Tower, the Kremlin territory was expanded eastward.

Lilya Dal (Biryukova), CC BY-SA 3.0

About 20 years after the construction of the Kremlin wall, the Kitay-Gorod wall was added to it, hugging the entire Kitay-Gorod.

Bricks

For the construction of walls and towers, large (30x14x17 cm or 31x15x9 cm) bricks weighing up to 8 kg each were used.

The front walls were made of brick and filled with white stone. The highest walls were erected along Red Square, where there was no natural water barrier.

Passages and hiding places

Initially, there was a through passage inside the wall through all the towers, covered with cylindrical vaults.

Benoist et Aubrun, Public Domain

Most of the passage was eventually covered with construction debris; the area between the Konstantino-Eleninskaya and Nabatnaya towers was preserved.

There were also hiding places and passages under the walls, in some cases extending far beyond the line of fortifications.

Wall in the 18th–20th centuries.

In 1702–36 To build the arsenal building, part of the wall was dismantled and later restored.

In 1771–73 For the construction of the Kremlin Palace according to the design of V.I. Bazhenov, part of the southern wall between the Annunciation Tower and the Annunciation Tower was also dismantled, which was later restored. The bombing of the Kremlin by the French (1812) caused heavy damage to the walls, especially the walls along Neglinnaya. Repairs and restoration of the fortifications were carried out from 1817 to 1822.

In 1866–70 The walls and towers of the Kremlin were restored by architects N.A. Shokhin, P.A. Gerasimov, F.F. Richter, who sought to give the buildings their original appearance. However, many authentic details were then lost and replaced by inaccurate copies.

Heidas, CC BY-SA 3.0

A survey and partial restoration of the walls was carried out in 1931–36. The next restoration of the Kremlin walls and towers took place in 1946–53. During its course, the walls were cleaned and repaired, loopholes and parapets were restored. The restoration commission included prominent scientists and restorers: I. E. Grabar, V. N. Lazarev, M. V. Alpatov, P. D. Korin, D. P. Sukhov and others.

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Moscow Kremlin

Towers of the Kremlin wall

There are 20 located along the walls. 3 towers standing in the corners of the triangle have a circular cross-section, the rest are square.

The tallest tower is Trinity, it has a height of 79.3 m. Most of the towers are from the second half of the 17th century. designed in the same architectural style.

Necropolis

The northeastern section of the wall, facing the northern part of Red Square, serves as a columbarium for urns with the ashes of figures of the communist movement and the Soviet state. Many of them are also buried in the ground along this section of the wall.

In the post-Soviet period, the question of the need to move the necropolis to another location was repeatedly raised for political, religious and other reasons.

• The Kremlin wall between the Annunciation and Tainitskaya towers has a vertical ledge and a reduced pitch of two teeth, as if during construction from different sides there was a mistake in joining. This “error” divides the wall between the towers in an approximate ratio of 1 to 2, counting from Blagoveshchenskaya.

Dolgoruky's Kremlin was tiny: it fit between the modern Tainitskaya, Troitskaya and Borovitskaya towers. It was surrounded by a wooden wall 1,200 meters long.

At first this fortress was called a city, and the lands around it were called a suburb. When it appeared, the fortress was renamed Old city. And only after construction in 1331 the fortress was called the Kremlin, which meant “fortress in the center of the city.”

The word "comes from the Old Russian "krom" or "kremnos" (solid) - this was the name of the central part of ancient cities. Kremlin fortress walls and towers were usually placed at the highest places.

The word “Kremlin” could also come from the so-called “kremlin” (strong) wood from which city walls were built. And in 1873, researcher A.M. Kubarev suggested that this toponym could come from the Greek language, where “kremnos” means “steepness, a steep mountain above a bank or ravine.” The Moscow Kremlin really stands on a mountain on a steep river bank, and the words “kremn” and “kremnos” may have entered Russian speech with the Greek clergy who arrived in Moscow in the late 1320s along with Metropolitan Theognostus.

Guide to Architectural Styles

The Moscow Kremlin stands on Borovitsky Hill, at the confluence of the Moscow River and. Behind the walls of the fortress with an area of ​​9 hectares, residents of the surrounding villages could hide from danger.

Over time, the plantings grew. The fortress grew with them. In the 14th century, under Ivan Kalita, new walls of the Moscow Kremlin were built: wooden outside, coated with clay, stone inside. Since 1240, Rus' was under the Tatar-Mongol yoke, and the Moscow princes managed to build new fortresses in the center of the captured country!

The Kremlin under Dmitry Donskoy (after the fire of 1365) was built from white stone. Then the walls were almost 2 kilometers long - 200 meters shorter than today.

Fires and an earthquake in 1446 damaged the fortress, and under Ivan III at the end of the 15th century the Moscow Kremlin was rebuilt. For this purpose, Italian architects - specialists in fortification - Aristotle Fiorovanti, Pietro Antonio Solari, Marco Ruffo were invited. They built not just a fortress, but a holy city. The legendary Constantinople was laid out in three corners on all sides, seven miles apart, so the Italian craftsmen placed 7 red-brick towers (together with the corner ones) on each side of the Moscow Kremlin and tried to maintain the same distance from the center - . In this form and within such boundaries, the Moscow Kremlin has survived to this day.

The Kremlin walls turned out so good that no one has ever taken possession of them.

How to read facades: a cheat sheet on architectural elements

Two water lines and the slopes of Borovitsky Hill already gave the fortress a strategic advantage, and in the 16th century the Kremlin turned into an island: a canal was dug along the northeastern wall that connected the Neglinnaya and Moscow rivers. The southern wall of the fortress was built first, since it faced the river and was of great strategic importance - merchant ships arriving along the Moscow River moored here. Therefore, Ivan III ordered the removal of all buildings south of the Kremlin walls - since that time nothing has been built here except earthen ramparts and bastions.

In plan, the Kremlin walls form an irregular triangle with an area of ​​about 28 hectares. On the outside they are made of red brick, but inside they are built from the white stone of the old walls of the Kremlin of Dmitry Donskoy, and for greater strength they are filled with lime. They were built from half-pound bricks (weighing 8 kg). In proportions it resembled a large loaf of black bread. It was also called two-handed, because it could only be lifted with two hands. At the same time, brick was an innovation in Rus' at that time: they used to build from white stone and plinth (something in between brick and tile).

The height of the Kremlin walls ranges from 5 to 19 meters (depending on the topography), and in some places reaches the height of a six-story building. Along the perimeter of the walls there is a continuous passage 2 meters wide, but from the outside it is hidden by 1,045 merlon battlements. These M-shaped battlements are a typical feature of Italian fortification architecture (they were used to mark fortresses by supporters of imperial power in Italy). In everyday life they are called “swallowtail”. From below, the teeth seem small, but their height reaches 2.5 meters and their thickness is 65-70 centimeters. Each battlement is made of 600 half-pound bricks, and almost all the battlements have loopholes. During the battle, the archers covered the gaps between the battlements with wooden shields and fired through the cracks. Every prong is a sagittarius, people said.

The walls of the Moscow Kremlin were surrounded by rumors of underground wars. They defended the fortress from undermining. There was also a system of secret underground passages under the walls. In 1894, archaeologist N.S. Shcherbatov discovered them under almost all the towers. But his photographs disappeared in the 1920s.

Dungeons and secret passages of Moscow

There are 20 towers in the Moscow Kremlin. They played a key role in monitoring the approaches to the fortress and in defense. Many of the towers were drive-through, with gates. But now three are open for travel to the Kremlin: Spasskaya, Troitskaya and Borovitskaya.

The corner towers have a round or multifaceted shape and contain secret passages and wells inside to supply the fortress with water, while the remaining towers are quadrangular. This is understandable: the corner towers were supposed to “look” in all external directions, and the rest - forward, since they were covered from the sides by the neighboring ones. Also, the passage towers were additionally protected by diversion towers. Of these, only Kutafya has survived.

In general, in the Middle Ages, the towers of the Moscow Kremlin looked different - they did not have hipped tops, but there were wooden watchtowers. Then the fortress had a more severe and impregnable character. Now the walls and towers have lost their defensive significance. The gable roof also did not survive: it burned down in the 18th century.

By the 16th century, the Kremlin in Moscow acquired the appearance of a formidable and impregnable fortress. Foreigners called it a “castle” on Borovitsky Hill.

The Kremlin has been at the center of political and historical events. Russian tsars were crowned here and foreign ambassadors were received here. The Polish interventionists and the boyars who opened the gates for them took refuge here. The Kremlin tried to blow up Napoleon fleeing from Moscow. The Kremlin was going to be rebuilt according to Bazhenov’s grandiose project...

What can be compared with this Kremlin, which, surrounded by battlements, flaunting the golden domes of cathedrals, reclines on high mountain, How crown of sovereignty on the brow of a formidable ruler?.. He is the altar of Russia, on it many sacrifices worthy of the fatherland should be and are already being performed... No, it is impossible to describe neither the Kremlin, nor its battlements, nor its dark passages, nor its magnificent palaces... You have to see, see... you have to feel everything that they say to the heart and imagination!..

During Soviet times, the Moscow Kremlin housed the government. Access to the territory was closed, and the dissatisfied ones were “calmed down” by the chairman of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee Ya. Sverdlov.

Undoubtedly, the bourgeoisie and the philistines will raise a howl - the Bolsheviks, they say, are desecrating holy places, but this should least of all bother us. The interests of the proletarian revolution are higher than prejudices.

During the reign of Soviet power architectural ensemble The Moscow Kremlin suffered more than in its entire history. At the beginning of the 20th century, there were 54 structures inside the Kremlin walls. Less than half have survived. For example, in 1918, on the personal instructions of V.I. Lenin's monument to Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich was demolished (he was killed in February 1905), and at the same time the monument to Alexander II was destroyed (a monument to Lenin was later erected on its pedestal). And in 1922, more than 300 pounds of silver and 2 pounds of gold, more than 1,000 precious stones, and even the shrine of Patriarch Hermogenes were taken from the cathedrals of the Moscow Kremlin.

Congresses of the Soviets were held, a kitchen was set up in the Golden Chamber, and a dining room was set up in Granovita. The Small Nicholas Palace turned into a club for workers of Soviet institutions, a gym was opened in the Catherine Church of the Ascension Monastery, and a Kremlin hospital was opened in the Chudov Monastery. In the 1930s, the monasteries and the Small Nicholas Palace were demolished, and the entire eastern part of the Kremlin turned into ruins.

The Kremlin: a mini-guide to the territory

During the Great Patriotic War, the Kremlin was one of the main targets of aerial bombardment of Moscow. But thanks to camouflage, the fortress “disappeared.”

The red brick walls were repainted, and windows and doors were painted on them to imitate individual buildings. The battlements on top of the walls and the stars of the Kremlin towers were covered with plywood roofs, and the green roofs were painted to look rusty.

The camouflage made it difficult for German pilots to find the Kremlin, but did not save them from bombing. In Soviet times, they said that not a single bomb fell on the Kremlin. In fact, 15 high-explosive and 150 small incendiary bombs fell. And a bomb weighing a ton hit, and part of the building collapsed. British Prime Minister Churchill, who later arrived in the Kremlin, even stopped and took off his hat as he passed by the gap.

In 1955, the Moscow Kremlin was partially opened to the public - it turned into an open-air museum. At the same time, residence in the Kremlin was prohibited (the last residents left in 1961).

In 1990, the Kremlin ensemble was included in the list of world objects cultural heritage UNESCO. At the same time, the Kremlin became a government residence, but retained its museum functions. Therefore, there are uniformed employees on the territory who quickly guide lost tourists “on the right path.” But every year more and more corners of the Kremlin become open for walks.

The Kremlin is also often filmed for film. And in the film “The Third Meshchanskaya” you can even see the Moscow Kremlin before the demolition of the Chudov and Ascension monasteries.

Mini-guide to the Kremlin walls and towers

They say that......The Kremlin walls were built by Ivan the Terrible (Ivan III was also called “The Terrible”). He called 20,000 village men and ordered:
- So that everything will be ready in a month!
They paid little - 15 kopecks a day. Therefore, many died of hunger. Many were beaten to death. New workers were brought in to take their place. And a month later the Kremlin walls were completed. That's why they say that the Kremlin is standing on its bones.
...in the lower tiers of the bell tower the shadow of Ivan IV often wanders. Even the memories of Nicholas II have been preserved, how on the eve of the coronation the spirit of Ivan the Terrible appeared to him and Empress Alexandra Feodorovna.
And when False Dmitry was killed in the Moscow Kremlin, Muscovites sometimes began to see the outlines of the Pretender’s figure flashing in the twilight between the battlements of the walls. He was also seen on the August night of 1991 - before the coup attempt.
And one evening, the watchman on duty in the building next to the Patriarchal Chambers (there was housing there under Stalin) raised the alarm. One of the apartments on the second floor was occupied by the People's Commissar of the NKVD Yezhov, and the duty officer's post was located in the hallway of the former Yezhov apartments. Around midnight, the watchman heard footsteps on the stairs, then the jingling of a key in the lock, and the creak of a door opening and closing. He realized that someone had left the building and tried to apprehend the intruder. The duty officer jumped out onto the porch and saw, a few meters from the house, a small figure in a long overcoat and cap, well known from old photographs. But the ghost of the security officer melted into thin air. We saw Yezhov several more times.
The spirit of Stalin did not appear in the Moscow Kremlin, but the ghost of Lenin is a frequent guest. The spirit of the leader made his first visit during his lifetime - on October 18, 1923. According to eyewitnesses, the terminally ill Lenin unexpectedly arrived from Gorki to the Kremlin. Alone, without security, he went to his office and walked around the Kremlin, where he was greeted by a detachment of cadets from the All-Russian Central Executive Committee. The head of security was at first taken aback, and then rushed to call Gorki to find out why Vladimir Ilyich was unaccompanied. Then he learned that Lenin had not gone anywhere. After this incident, real devilry began in the leader’s Kremlin apartment: the sounds of moving furniture, the crackling of a telephone, the creaking of floorboards and even voices were heard. This continued until Ilyich’s apartment with all his belongings was transported to Gorki. But until now, security and Kremlin employees sometimes see on frosty January evenings

The Moscow Kremlin is the main attraction of the Russian capital, having great historical, architectural and socio-political value.

The Kremlin is located in the very center of the city on the high Borovitsky Hill near the Moscow River. On one side is Red Square, on the other - Alexander Garden.

Read about how to get to the Moscow Kremlin, which Kremlin attractions to see first, how to buy entrance tickets, opening hours, excursions and much more in this article.

History of the Moscow Kremlin

Finno-Ugric tribes were the first to settle on the territory of the modern Kremlin back in the Bronze Age. In the 10th century, Borovitsky Hill, located at the intersection of important trade routes, was occupied by the Vyatichi, and in 1156, by the will of Prince Yuri Dolgoruky, a typical Russian fortress was built here with defensive fortifications - earthen ramparts with palisades, surrounded by a deep ditch.

Until the mid-14th century, the Moscow Kremlin was made of wood. Under Grand Duke Dmitry Donskoy, its walls and towers were replaced with white stone ones, which served until the end of the 15th century.

Under the leadership of Italian craftsmen, in 1485-1516, new powerful fortifications were erected from baked bricks - towers and battlements with a thickness of three to six and a half meters, which we can admire today.

Architectural ensemble

The architectural ensemble of the Moscow Kremlin consists of the golden-domed Annunciation, Archangel and Assumption Cathedrals, the Patriarchal Chambers, the Church of the Deposition of the Robe, the Faceted Chamber, and the Ivan the Great Bell Tower. It was built in the 17th century Terem Palace, around the same time the Kremlin towers acquired their modern appearance. In the 18th century, the Arsenal, the Senate, the Grand Kremlin Palace and the Armory appeared.

Unfortunately, not preserved ancient cathedral Savior on Bor, built in 1330 and destroyed in 1933, Chudov Monastery, founded in 1365 and demolished in 1929, Ascension Monastery, Small Nicholas Palace and many other buildings. In total, during the years of Soviet power, out of 54 Kremlin buildings, only 26 remained “alive”.

However, in 1990 the Kremlin was included in the list world heritage UNESCO.

Photo - tour of the territory

The entrance to the territory is through the Kutafya tower, crowned with a beautiful openwork “crown”.

Before entering the Kremlin, you must buy tickets in the dark glass pavilion, which is located nearby in the Alexander Garden, go through a metal detector and have your personal belongings searched. Large bags, suitcases and backpacks will have to be checked into a storage room.

The Kutafya Tower, previously surrounded by a river and a ditch, protected the approaches to the Trinity Tower.

Having crossed the Trinity Bridge, we will look at the multi-tiered Trinity Tower from the other side. Its height is 80 meters, it is the tallest tower of the Kremlin.

On the right in the photo is the Arsenal, built by order of Peter the Great. It was assumed that the building would be used as a military warehouse and trophy storage. Nowadays, the administrative services of the Kremlin Commandant's Office and the barracks of the Presidential Regiment are stationed here.

On the left is the State Kremlin Palace (formerly the Palace of Congresses), built in 1961. The country's main New Year's Eve party is held here, as well as concerts and ballet performances.

Historical guns are located near the walls of the Arsenal - collections of ancient Russian and foreign cannons, military trophies of the Patriotic War of 1812.

Now let's go to Senate Square.

The Senate building, designed by architect M.F. Kazakova, has the shape of a triangle. During the Soviet years, V.I.’s office and apartment were located here. Lenin, work rooms of I.V. Stalin, L.I. Brezhnev, M.S. Gorbachev. Nowadays, the Senate is the official residence of the President of the Russian Federation.

View from approximately the same point in the other direction - to Trinity Square and the Kremlin cathedrals.

The Tsar Cannon, which is a must-see, stands near Trinity Square and the Patriarchal Chambers with the Church of the Twelve Apostles.

The powerful weapon was made in 1586. This is the largest cannon in the world, an outstanding example of Russian weapons art. Its caliber is 890 mm, weight is 40 tons.

At the foot of the bell tower there is another giant - the Tsar Bell, cast in the 18th century. Its weight is 202 tons, diameter is 6.6 meters. The Tsar Bell was cast right there, on the territory of Ivanovskaya Square. A piece of the bell broke off during a big fire in the Kremlin.

On the southern side, Ivanovskaya Square is adjacent to the Big Kremlin Square and Tainitsky Garden.

Unfortunately, you cannot walk around the entire garden - this is a sensitive facility. But you can still see some interesting things: for example, an aviary for peregrine falcons, goshawks and an eagle owl, which are kept specifically to chase crows and pigeons. Or here is a helipad for the president and prime minister, equipped not so long ago.

View from the park to the ensemble of the Ivan the Great Bell Tower. The most tall building The Kremlin bell tower came into being in Moscow under Boris Godunov, who ordered it to be built in 1600 to a height of 81 m. You can go up in the summer by purchasing a separate ticket.

From April to October, on Saturdays at 12-00, the cavalry and foot parade of the Presidential Regiment takes place on Cathedral Square. Viewing the ceremony is included in the price of a single ticket to visit the Kremlin and the cathedral-museums of Cathedral Square.

The Assumption Cathedral, built according to the design of the Italian architect Aristotle Fioravanti, was the main temple of Russia for four centuries - Ivan the Terrible and other tsars were crowned here, and emperors were crowned. Many patriarchs and metropolitans are buried in the Assumption Cathedral.

In the photo - the Archangel Cathedral, erected in 1505-1508 in honor of the Archangel Michael by the Venetian Aleviz Novy.

Entrance to the Archangel Cathedral. In the temple-royal tomb there are 54 burials of saints, princes, kings and their wives, including the holy Tsarevich Dmitry of Uglich, Moscow princes Vasily the Dark, Dmitry Donskoy, Ivan Kalita, Tsars Ivan the Terrible and Alexei Mikhailovich.

The Annunciation Cathedral is one of the oldest on the Kremlin territory, built by Pskov craftsmen in 1484-1489. The small-sized temple was used as a home church for Russian sovereigns.

In the basement of the Annunciation Cathedral there is an interesting exhibition “Treasures and Antiquities of the Moscow Kremlin”.

The Faceted Chamber, one of the oldest civil buildings in Moscow, in tsarist times served as the main ceremonial reception hall, a place for meetings of the Boyar Duma, and meetings of the Zemsky Sobor. Now this is the executive hall of the residence of the President of the Russian Federation.

The chamber is called faceted because it is lined with blocks having 4 sides.

In the corner of Cathedral Square are the Verkhospassky Cathedral - part of the ancient Terem Palace, the eastern facade of the Golden Tsarina Chamber and the Church of the Deposition of the Robe - the home church of Moscow metropolitans and patriarchs.

From Cathedral Square we move to the Great Kremlin Palace, built in the 19th century. The ensemble of the palace includes about 700 rooms, including Georgievsky, Vladimirsky, Andreevsky, Alexandrovsky and Catherine Halls, the Golden Tsarina Chamber, the Malachite Foyer, the Study and Bedroom of the Emperors, nine churches and the Terem Palace.

Since the Grand Kremlin Palace is the ceremonial residence of the President of the Russian Federation, you can only get there as part of a group from an organization upon a preliminary application submitted a month in advance.

Next to the BKD there is the Armory Chamber, a museum with untold riches: ancient gold and silver jewelry and other items, weapons, armor, state regalia, and a collection of carriages. Here you can see Monomakh's hat, scepters, orbs, thrones, coronation dresses and ceremonial royal clothes.

The same building houses the Diamond Fund - the national treasury of Russia, a repository of precious stones and nuggets, ceremonial jewelry of Russian tsars and emperors. This is where the Great Imperial Crown, made on the occasion of the coronation of Catherine II, is located. The crown is decorated with 5,000 diamonds, 75 large pearls and a very large rare dark red gem spinel.

View from the Armory to the Vodovzvodnaya, Borovitskaya towers and the Cathedral of Christ the Savior.

The amusing palace - the chambers of boyar Miloslavsky is better visible from the Alexander Garden, it is located near the Kremlin wall between Troitskaya and Commandant's towers. In 1672, fun events were held here - performances for the amusement of the kings, which gave the name to the palace. Under Peter the Great, the Police Department was located in the Poteshny Palace, and today the services of the Commandant’s Office were located.

How to get to the Kremlin

On public transport: the nearest metro stations are the Lenin Library, Aleksandrovsky Garden, Borovitskaya and Arbatskaya of the blue Arbatsko-Pokrovskaya line. The Kremlin is also easily accessible on foot from many central stations: Okhotny Ryad, Revolution Square, Teatralnaya and others.

Opening hours

The territory of the Kremlin and cathedral-museums of Cathedral Square:

• from May 16 to September 30 - daily, except Thursdays, from 9-30 to 18-00 (ticket offices are open from 9-00 to 16-30)
• from October 1 to May 15 - daily, except Thursdays, from 10-00 to 17-00 (ticket offices are open from 9-30 to 16-00)

The Armory is open for sessions from 10-00 to 18-00 every day except Thursday. Sessions start: 10-00, 12-00, 14-30, 16-30

Diamond fund - daily, except Thursdays, from 10-00 to 17-20 for sessions. Break - from 13-00 to 14-00. Session duration is 40 minutes. Ticket sales for morning sessions begin at 9:00 a.m., and for evening sessions at 1:00 p.m. Morning sessions: 10-00, 10-20, 10-40, 11-00, 11-20, 12-00, 12-20. Evening sessions: 14-00, 15-00, 15-20, 16-00, 16-20, 16-40, 17-00, 17-20.

The Diamond Fund does not work on holidays. More information about the operating hours can be found on the official website: gokhran.ru/ru/diamond-fund/contacts.phtml

It is rare, but it happens that access to the Kremlin is closed in connection with ceremonial events, meetings of heads of foreign states, receptions on the occasion of public holidays and other events.

Ticket prices

Single ticket (territory, cathedrals, exhibitions)— visit to the territory of the Kremlin, cathedral-museums of Cathedral Square, exhibition halls of the Patriarchal Chambers, the exhibition “Treasures and Antiquities of the Moscow Kremlin” in the basement of the Annunciation Cathedral, an exhibition of wooden sculpture in the Church of the Deposition of the Robe, exhibitions in the annex of the Archangel Cathedral:

• adults - 500 rubles
• Russian students and pensioners - 250 rubles, without the possibility of visiting museums (only the territory) - free
• children under 16 years of age, members of large families, disabled people of groups 1 and 2 and other preferential categories of citizens - free
• for persons under 18 years of age, the second Tuesday of every month is free
• on Cultural Heritage Days single ticket free for everyone

Single tickets are sold online on the official website of the Moscow Kreml.ru (except for free and discounted ones) and at the box office in the Alexander Garden on the day of the visit.

— visits are carried out by separate ticket, the price includes an audio guide:

• adults - 700 rubles
• Russian students and pensioners - 350 rubles
• children under 16 years of age, members of large families, disabled people of groups 1 and 2 and other preferential categories of citizens - free

Entrance tickets to the Armory Chamber are sold on the day of the visit if tickets are available at the box office in the Alexander Garden and via the Internet on the official website of the Moscow Kremlin kreml.ru (except for free and discounted tickets).

Attention! Purchasing tickets online for a specific session does not guarantee that you will receive additional free or discounted tickets for the same session on the day of your museum visit. Free and discounted tickets are issued only if they are available at the box office, on a first-come, first-served basis. The museum's capacity does not allow for an unlimited number of tickets to be allocated for each session.

Diamond fund— you can buy tickets at the box office No. 4 and No. 5 in the Alexander Garden on the day of your visit to a specific session. The ticket price includes a tour.

• adults - 500 rubles
• schoolchildren, students, pensioners, members of large families - 100 rubles
• disabled children, non-working disabled people of groups 1 and 2 and other preferential categories of citizens - free

The number of tickets for each session is limited.

If you want to visit only the Armory Chamber and/or the Diamond Fund, entry is possible through the Borovitskaya Tower.

The queue at the box office and at the entrance is least in the cold season on weekdays, most of all in the warm season on good weather on weekends, especially on Saturday in the morning - because of the opportunity to watch the changing of the guard ceremony on Cathedral Square.

Excursions

The Kremlin Excursion Center offers sightseeing and thematic excursions around the territory of the Kremlin, the Armory, cathedral-museums and museum exhibitions for organized groups and individual visitors as part of a team group.

Prices for excursions around the Moscow Kremlin, the procedure for registration and payment for excursions, see the official website: kreml.ru

Free mobile guide to the Kremlin territory - izi.travel/ru/7cce-moskva-kreml/ru

Photography

Amateur photography and video shooting in cathedral-museums, the Armory Chamber and the Diamond Fund is prohibited.

Address: Russia Moscow
Start of construction: 1482
Completion of construction: 1495
Number of towers: 20
Wall length: 2500 m.
Main attractions: Spasskaya Tower, Assumption Cathedral, Ivan the Great Bell Tower, Annunciation Cathedral, Archangel Cathedral, Faceted Chamber, Terem Palace, Arsenal, Armory Chamber, Tsar Cannon, Tsar Bell
Coordinates: 55°45"03.0"N 37°36"59.3"E
Cultural heritage site Russian Federation

Content:

Brief history of the Moscow Kremlin

In the very heart of Moscow, on Borovitsky Hill, the majestic Kremlin ensemble rises. It has long become a symbol not only of the capital, but of all of Russia. History itself decreed that an ordinary Krivichi village, located in the middle of the forest, eventually turned into the capital of a mighty Russian state.

The Kremlin from a bird's eye view

The Kremlin or Detinets in ancient Rus' was the name given to the central, fortified part of the city with a fortress wall, loopholes and towers. The first Moscow Kremlin, built in 1156 by Prince Yuri Dolgoruky, was a wooden fortress surrounded by a moat and rampart.

During the reign of Ivan I, nicknamed Kalita (money bag), oak walls and towers were erected in Moscow and the first stone building was laid - the Cathedral of the Assumption of Our Lady.

View of the Kremlin walls from the Kremlin embankment

In 1367, Grand Duke Dmitry Donskoy surrounded the Kremlin with a powerful fortress wall made of white limestone. Since then, the capital has received the nickname “White Stone Moscow”. Large-scale construction began under Ivan III, who united a significant part of the Russian lands around Moscow and built a residence worthy of the “Sovereign of All Rus'” in the Kremlin.

Ivan III invited architects from Milan to build fortifications. It was in 1485 - 1495 that the walls and towers of the Kremlin that still exist today were built. The top of the walls is crowned with 1045 battlements in the shape of a “swallowtail” - they have the same appearance as the battlements of Italian castles. At the turn of the 15th - 16th centuries, the Moscow Kremlin turned into an impregnable massive fortress, lined with red brick.

View of the Kremlin from the Bolshoy Kamenny Bridge

In 1516, a moat was dug along the fortifications overlooking Red Square. After the Time of Troubles, the towers were decorated with tents, giving the Kremlin a modern look.

The miraculous return of the shrine of the Moscow Kremlin

The main one of the 20 towers of the Moscow Kremlin is rightfully considered Spasskaya, created by the Italian architect Pietro Antonio Solari. The Spassky Gate has long been the main entrance to the Kremlin, and the chimes placed in the tower's tent are known as the main clock of the country. The top of the tower is crowned with a luminous ruby ​​star, but after the collapse of the USSR there are increasingly calls to remove the star and erect a double-headed eagle in its place. The tower got its name from the icon of the Savior of Smolensk over the gate.

View of the Kremlin from the Bolshoi Moskvoretsky Bridge

The icon was revered by saints, so men, passing through the gate, in front of the image of the Savior had to take off their headdress. Legend has it that when Napoleon was passing through the Spassky Gate, a gust of wind tore the cocked hat off his head. But the bad omens did not end there: the French tried to steal the gilded robe that adorned the image of the Savior of Smolensk, but the ladder attached to the gate overturned, and the shrine remained unharmed.

During the years of Soviet power, the icon was removed from the tower. For more than 70 years, the shrine was considered lost, until in 2010, restorers discovered a metal mesh hiding the image of Christ under a layer of plaster. On August 28, 2010, on the feast of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary, Patriarch Kirill solemnly consecrated the newly found icon above the gates of the Spasskaya Tower.

Beklemishevskaya Tower

Legends and myths of the Kremlin

From time immemorial, the Moscow Kremlin was not only a symbol of the unlimited power of the sovereign, but also a place about which legends were written. Over the long history of the Kremlin churches and towers, so many legends have been created that would be enough for a whole book.

The most famous legends tell about secret dungeons and underground passages. It is believed that they were invented by Italian architects who designed and built the Kremlin walls and towers. Many underground rooms have been preserved under the former Chudov Monastery, which until the 1930s was located in the eastern part of the Kremlin Hill. These are passages, interiors of temples and long galleries. Today, some of them are flooded with groundwater.

Eternal flame at the walls of the Kremlin

There are rumors among Muscovites that previously branched underground passages led outside from each of the Kremlin towers. The same secret passages connected everything royal palaces. When builders began digging a large foundation pit for the State Kremlin Palace in the 1960s, they discovered three underground passages dating back to the 16th century. The dungeons were so wide that you could drive a cart through them.

Underground passages were found during every major reconstruction. Most often, voids, gaps and labyrinths were walled up or simply filled with concrete for safety reasons.

Spasskaya Tower

One of the secrets of the Moscow Kremlin is also connected with its dungeons. For several centuries now, historians and archaeologists have been struggling with the mystery of the disappearance of the library of Ivan IV the Terrible, which is also called Liberia. The Russian sovereign inherited a unique collection of ancient books and manuscripts from his grandmother Sophia Paleologus, who received these books as a dowry.

In historical documents there is an inventory of the library, consisting of 800 volumes, but the collection itself disappeared without a trace. Some researchers are convinced that it burned down in a fire or disappeared during the Time of Troubles. But many are sure that the library is intact and hidden in one of the Kremlin dungeons.

View of the Assumption, Annunciation Cathedrals and Cathedral Square

The discovery of books in storage facilities located underground was not an accident. When Sophia Paleologus arrived in the city in 1472, she saw the terrible consequences of the fire that raged in Moscow two years earlier. Realizing that the library she brought could easily perish in a fire, Sophia ordered a spacious basement, which was located under the Kremlin Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary, to be equipped for storage. After this, the valuable Liberia was always kept in dungeons.

View of Cathedral Square and Ivan the Great Bell Tower

Cathedrals of the Moscow Kremlin - “altars of Russia”

Today the Moscow Kremlin is both the place of work of the President of the Russian Federation and a historical and cultural museum. Historical Center The Kremlin is represented by Cathedral Square with three cathedrals - Assumption, Archangel and Annunciation. An old proverb says: “The Kremlin rises above Moscow, and above the Kremlin there is only the sky.” That is why all the people honored the tsar’s decrees, which he proclaimed in the Assumption Cathedral.

This temple can rightfully be called the “altar of Russia.” In the Assumption Cathedral of the Kremlin, kings were crowned kings, the next head of the Russian church was elected, and in the tombs of the temple the relics of Moscow saints found eternal rest. The Archangel Cathedral, from 1340 until the 18th century, served as the tomb of Moscow princes and kings.

Archangel Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin

Under its arches, tombstones are placed in strict order on white stone slabs. The Annunciation Cathedral was the personal house of prayer for the Moscow princes: here they were baptized, confessed, and got married. According to legend, the grand ducal treasury was kept in the basement of this temple. The Cathedral Square is surrounded by the Ivan the Great Bell Tower, Faceted and Patriarchal Chambers. Meetings of the Boyar Duma and Zemsky Sobors were held in the Faceted Chamber, and the office of the Holy Synod was located in the Patriarchal Palace.

Sights of the Moscow Kremlin

The younger buildings of the Kremlin include the Bolshoi Kremlin Palace, built in the mid-19th century by order of Emperor Nicholas I. Today, within its walls is the ceremonial residence of the President of Russia.

Tsar Cannon

In the palace halls, inauguration ceremonies for the President are held, state awards and credentials are presented. In one of the palace buildings the Diamond Fund of the Russian Federation and the Armory Chamber are located - a treasury of palace items. In the Kremlin, on pedestals stand the Tsar Cannon weighing 40 tons and the Tsar Bell weighing 200 tons - masterpieces of Russian foundry craftsmanship. Due to their gigantic dimensions, they are not suitable for their intended use, but they have become symbols great Russia. The Kremlin is always crowded. Guests admire the enduring beauty of architectural creations that personify Russian history. As M.Yu. wrote Lermontov in “Panorama of Moscow”, nothing can compare with this Kremlin which, “surrounded by battlements and golden domes of cathedrals, reclines on a high mountain, like a sovereign crown on the brow of a formidable ruler.”