The Kremlin is oldest part of Moscow,
dating back to the city’s foundation in 1147, and situated at the very heart of
the city on top of a hill. It is a fortress surrounded by a thick red wall
interspersed with 20 towers. The fortress complex consists of a number of
glittring, golden-domed churches and palaces, museums, residences, offices,
assembly halls and monuments. It was a royal residence during Tsarist rule and
from 1918 to 1991, the seat of the Communist government.
Cathedral Square is the religious center of Moscow,
the historic heart of the Kremlin, and is home to a number of churches. The
Annunciation Cathedral was set aside for the private use of the Tsar and his
family and contains beautifully painted murals and icons on the interior walls.
It also has nine, glittering copper-gilt domes.
The throne of Ivan the Terrible can be found in the Cathedral of the
Assumption, which was used for the coronation of Tsars. Most of the leaders of
the Russian Orthodox Church were buried here and their tombs line the walls of
the spacious, richly colored interior. The zakomary or
arched gables are a visual extension of the vaulting within the cathedral.
The Belfry of Ivan the Great is the tallest structure within
the Kremlin walls and a visible city landmark. At its foot lies the world’s
biggest bell, at 200 tons, broken in a fall from its bell tower in 1701, and
nearby is the world’s largest cannon, at 40 tons, the Tsar Cannon. Neither object has ever been used for its
intended purpose.
Also within the Kremlin is the Armory Palace, the richest
and oldest museum housing a fantastic collection of treasures gathered over the
years by the church and Russian state, including jewel-studded coronation
capes, thrones encrusted with diamonds, royal coaches and sleighs and the
renowned jeweled Fabergé Easter eggs, each containing an exquisitely detailed
miniature object of precious metal inside. The Diamond Fund Exhibition in the
same building contains the 180-carat diamond given to Catherine the Great by
Count Orlov.