The first mention of the word Kremlin appears in the Resurrection Chronicle in 1331, when it was still light wooden walls. In 1339, Ivan Kalita changed them to new wooden walls made of solid oak, and in 1367, Prince Dmitry Donskoy erected impregnable white stone walls in place of the old walls.
(The walls of the Moscow Kremlin under Ivan III at the end of the 15th century. Painting by A. Vasnetsov)
In 1485, Italian architects Mark Fryazin, Anton Fryazin, Aloiso di Carcano began the long work of erecting the walls of the Moscow Kremlin after the construction of the first tower - Tainitskaya. The work took five years, during which a wall was built on the most threatened south side, and seven towers were erected. Then the walls began to be built from the side of the square, the current Red. Then Ivan III, by order, demolished all the buildings near the old walls of the Kremlin for the convenient construction of new ones. Then, over the next 30 years, all the other Kremlin towers were built along with the walls.
We can see these walls of red brick even now. They beautifully adorn the slopes of Borovitsky Hill in red from brick chips with graceful architectural towers.
Characteristics of the Kremlin walls:
The length of the entire wall is 2235 meters;
Thickness from 3.5 to 6.5 meters;
Height from 5 to 19 meters.
The structure of the Kremlin wall:
The inside of the wall consists of cobblestone and white stone, they are filled with lime mortar.
A fighting move was made at the top of the wall, it is fenced off from the defended side with sharp two-angled teeth, in total there are 1045 teeth.
The towers blended not only with the architectural ensemble of the Kremlin, but also performed a military-defensive mission, making the fortress one of the most impregnable in Europe.
There are 18 towers in the Kremlin wall. Three of them: Vodovzvodnaya, Beklemishevskaya and Arsenalnaya went beyond the walls, thus, defensively holding back the attack. Six more, powerful, well equipped from a military point of view, are travel passes for defensive purposes.
In the middle of the 17th century, four towers were decorated with imperial two-headed eagles, which were replaced in the 30s of Soviet times by red stars with a ruby \u200b\u200bcoating. Then the stars were placed not on four, but on five towers, adding a fifth star on Vodovzvodnaya tower.
In contact with
Kremlin Wall - A brick wall that surrounds the Moscow Kremlin.
The total length of the walls is 2235 m, the height is from 5 to 19 m, the thickness is from 3.5 to 6.5 m. In the plan, the walls form an irregular triangle.
According to the Lombard tradition, the top of the wall is decorated with teeth in the form of a dovetail, in total there are 1045 teeth along the top of the wall. Most of the teeth have slot-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 building.
Construction
Under Ivan III and his successor Vasily III, the construction of the Kremlin walls was headed by architects Anton Fryazin, Marko Fryazin, Pietro Antonio Solari and Aleviz Fryazin Stary.
Brick walls were placed along the line of white-stone ones, with a slight retreat outward. Starting from the Spasskaya Tower, the territory of the Kremlin was enlarged in an eastward direction.
Lilya Dal (Biryukova), CC BY-SA 3.0Approximately 20 years after the construction of the Kremlin wall, the Kitaygorodskaya wall was added to it, embracing the entire Kitai-Gorod.
Bricks
For the construction of walls and towers, large (30x14x17 cm or 31x15x9 cm) brick weighing up to 8 kg each was used.
The front walls were laid out of bricks, which were filled with white stone. The highest walls were erected along Red Square, where there was no natural water barrier.
Passages and caches
Initially, there was a through passage through all the towers inside the wall, covered with cylindrical vaults.
Benoist et Aubrun, Public Domain Over time, most of the passage was covered with construction waste; the section between the Konstantino-Eleninskaya and Nabatnaya towers has been preserved.
There were also caches and passages under the walls, in some cases extending far beyond the line of fortifications.
Wall in the XVIII – XX centuries.
In 1702–36. for the construction of the arsenal building, part of the wall was dismantled, later restored.
In 1771-73. For the construction of the Kremlin Palace according to the project of V.I.Bazhenov, part of the southern wall between the Annunciation towers was also dismantled, which was later restored. The bombing of the Kremlin by the French (1812) inflicted heavy damage on the walls, especially the walls along Neglinnaya. Repair and restoration of the fortifications were carried out from 1817 to 1822.
In 1866-70. the restoration of the walls and towers of the Kremlin was carried out 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 with inaccurate copies.
Heidas, CC BY-SA 3.0 Examination and partial restoration of the walls were carried out in 1931–36. The next restoration of the Kremlin walls and towers took place in 1946–53. In 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
Kremlin Wall Towers
Along the walls there are 20. 3 towers, standing in the corners of the triangle, have a circular cross-section, the rest are square.
The highest tower is Troitskaya, it has a height of 79.3 m. Most of the towers are from the second half of the 17th century. are 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 leaders 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 for political, religious and other reasons was repeatedly raised.
- The Kremlin wall between the Blagoveshchenskaya and Taynitskaya towers has a vertical ledge and a reduced step of two teeth, as if during construction from different sides they made a mistake in joining. This "mistake" divides the wall between the towers in an approximate ratio of 1 to 2, counting from the Annunciation.
The Kremlin wall was built in 1485-1495. from red brick. Its length is 2,235 meters. The wall, as if following the outline of the Kremlin hill, becomes higher and lower. The thickness of the Kremlin wall is 3.5-6.5 meters with a height of 5 to 19 meters. There are 20 towers of various heights, shapes and styles.
Today we will make walk along the Kremlin wall and climb the inaccessible towers.
It was probably one of the most difficult shootings I ever made. It took more than one month to approve it - I had to collect many signatures, write a list of desired points and get a dozen permits. At some point I had already forgotten about the Kremlin, when suddenly the shooting was taken and allowed!
The list of desired points was severely cut - they did not allow shooting from the roofs of buildings, they were not allowed to climb some towers, but most importantly, they left the Kremlin wall. Walking along the Kremlin walls, climbing inaccessible towers was my old dream, and now it has come true!
Such a staircase leads to the Spasskaya Tower. There are two platforms on the tower, one under the clock, the second above it:
Trees grow on the Spasskaya tower! From almost every side behind the clock, it is not visible from Red Square, but they are there:
Bricks on the floor of the Spasskaya Tower:
View of Red Square from the Spasskaya Tower:
View of the Historical Museum and the Mausoleum from the Spasskaya Tower:
Kremlin Wall. View from Konstantino-Eleninskaya tower:
Beyond the Wall, everything is not as beautiful as in the tourist areas. for example behind the Beklemishevskaya tower some rubbish is stacked. On the left you can see the mount for the Kremlin tree:
There are spotlights on the Kremlin wall. It's difficult to walk freely there:
A staircase in one of the towers. Most of the towers empty inside, there are electrical equipment and communications:
Despite the large number of sensors and cameras, city lunatics sometimes try to take the wall by storm.
Near the Kremlin wall, between the Komendatskaya and Troitskaya towers, there is an interesting civil structure from the mid-17th century. - the so-called Amusement Palace:
In the XIX century. the commandant of Moscow lived in the Amusement Palace; in the 20th century, the first Kremlin apartment of I.V. Stalin (until 1932). The Amusing Palace is the only surviving architectural monument of boyar housing in the Kremlin.
Commandant Tower:
View from the observation deck of the Borovitskaya tower to the Armory and the BKD:
Kremlin wall, view from the tower:
Behind the wall are these crow traps... It happens that up to 200 birds are stuffed into a cage. Their further fate is not known. What do you think then do with the crows? An FSO officer denied information that I was making cutlets from crows in the Kremlin canteen 😉
Bench in the Taynitsky Garden. The president sat on it:
Some towers have a special communication telephone:
The walls inside some towers are no different from the entrances of houses in disadvantaged areas. This refutes the theory of some scientists that they shit and shit where it is dirty. The Kremlin is very clean, but cattle crap even on the centuries-old Kremlin walls:
Surprisingly, there is a gate on the wall. Here they are needed so that the musicians of the Presidential Orchestra located in the Troitskaya Tower cannot escape ежать
There are many pipes running along the Kremlin wall:
And this is a greenhouse that grows plants that decorate the interiors of the Kremlin premises:
Eternal flame of glory at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier:
Grotto "Ruins" in the Alexander Garden:
The doors in the tower are old:
And this Tsar tower... A small turret was erected directly on the wall in the 80s of the 17th century between the Kremlin's Spasskaya and Nabatnaya towers. Its octagonal tent on pitcher-shaped pillars resembles the common porch lockers of stone dwelling 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 Russia could observe the events taking place on Red Square from the walls of the Kremlin.
And this is the sunset from the Spasskaya Tower:
The Moscow Kremlin is the main attraction of the capital of Russia, of 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 Moskva River. On one side there is Red Square, on the other - Alexandrovsky Garden.
Read about how to get to the Moscow Kremlin, which Kremlin sights to see first, how to buy entrance tickets, about opening hours, excursions and much more in this article.
History of the Moscow Kremlin
The first to settle on the territory of the modern Kremlin were the Finno-Ugric tribes 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 moat.
Until the middle of the 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 guidance of Italian craftsmen, in 1485-1516, new powerful fortifications of fired bricks were erected - towers and battlements from three to six and a half meters thick, which we have the opportunity to admire today.
Architectural ensemble
The architectural ensemble of the Moscow Kremlin consists of the golden-domed Annunciation, Archangel and Assumption Cathedrals, the Patriarch's Chambers, the Church of the Deposition of the Robe, the Faceted Chamber, and the Ivan the Great Bell Tower. In the 17th century, the Terem Palace was erected, at about the same time the Kremlin's towers acquired a modern look. In the 18th century, the Arsenal, the Senate, the Grand Kremlin Palace and the Armory appeared.
Unfortunately, the most ancient Cathedral of the Savior on Bor, built in 1330 and destroyed in 1933, the Chudov Monastery, founded in 1365 and demolished in 1929, the Ascension Monastery, the Small Nikolaevsky Palace and many other buildings, have not survived. During the years of Soviet power, out of 54 Kremlin buildings, only 26 survived.
However, in 1990 the Kremlin was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.
Photo - tour of the territory
The entrance to the territory is through the Kutafya tower, crowned with a beautiful openwork "crown".
Before getting to the Kremlin, you need to buy tickets in the dark glass pavilion, which is located nearby in the Alexander Garden, go through the "frame" of a metal detector and the procedure for inspecting personal belongings. Large bags, suitcases and backpacks will need to be checked into the storage room.
The Kutafya Tower, previously surrounded by a river and a moat, defended the approaches to the Trinity Tower.
After crossing the Troitsky bridge, we will look at the multi-tiered Troitskaya tower from the other side. Its height is 80 meters, it is the tallest tower in the Kremlin.
On the right in the photo is the Arsenal, built by order of Peter the Great. It was assumed that the building will be used as a military warehouse and storage of trophies. In our time, the administrative services of the Kremlin Commandant's Office and the barracks of the Presidential Regiment are stationed here.
Left - the State Kremlin Palace (formerly the Palace of Congresses), built in 1961. The main New Year tree of the country is held here, concerts and ballet performances are held.
Near the walls of the Arsenal there are historical weapons - collections of old Russian and foreign cannons, military trophies of the Patriotic War of 1812.
Now we will go out to the Senate Square.
The Senate building, designed by the architect M.F. Kazakov, has the shape of a triangle. In the Soviet years, there was V.I. Lenin, the offices 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 about the same point in the other direction - to Trinity Square and the Kremlin Cathedrals.
The Tsar Cannon, which is a must-see, stands at Trinity Square and the Patriarch's Chambers with the Church of the Twelve Apostles.
The powerful weapon was manufactured in 1586. This is the largest cannon in the world, an outstanding example of Russian arms art. Its caliber is 890 mm, weight is 40 tons.
At the foot of the bell tower 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 south side, the Big Kremlin Square and Taynitsky Garden adjoin Ivanovskaya Square.
Unfortunately, you cannot walk around the entire garden - this is a secure facility. But you can still see something interesting: for example, an aviary for peregrine falcons, goshawks and an owl, which are kept specially so that they 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 Ivan the Great Bell Tower ensemble. The Kremlin bell tower became the tallest building in Moscow under Boris Godunov, who ordered to build it up in 1600 to a height of 81 m. You can go upstairs in the summer by purchasing a separate ticket.
From April to October, on Saturdays at 12-00, the ceremony of the equestrian and foot divorce of the Presidential Regiment is held on Cathedral Square. Viewing the ceremony is included in the price of a single ticket to visit the territory of 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. The temple-royal burial vault contains 54 burials of saints, princes, kings and their wives, including the holy Tsarevich Dmitry of Uglich, Moscow princes Vasily Dark, Dmitry Donskoy, Ivan Kalita, tsars Ivan the Terrible and Alexei Mikhailovich.
The Annunciation Cathedral, one of the oldest in the Kremlin territory, was built by Pskov craftsmen in 1484-1489. The small temple was used as the home church of the Russian sovereigns.
An interesting exhibition "Treasures and Antiquities of the Moscow Kremlin" is located in the basement of the Annunciation Cathedral.
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, meetings of the Zemsky Sobor. Now it is the representative hall of the residence of the President of the Russian Federation.
The Faceted Chamber is called because it is lined with blocks having 4 edges.
In the corner of Cathedral Square are the Verkhospassky Cathedral - part of the ancient Terem Palace, the eastern facade of the Golden Tsaritsin's 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 Grand Kremlin Palace, built in the 19th century. The ensemble of the palace includes about 700 rooms, including the Georgievsky, Vladimirsky, Andreevsky, Alexandrovsky and Catherine halls, the Golden Tsaritsin's chamber, the Malachite foyer, the Cabinet and the 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 get there only 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 countless riches: old gold and silver jewelry and other items, weapons, armor, state decorations, and a collection of carriages. Here you can see the cap of Monomakh, scepters, orbs, thrones, coronation dresses and royal royal dress.
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. It is here that the Great Imperial Crown, made on the occasion of the coronation of Catherine II, is located. The crown is adorned with 5,000 diamonds, 75 large pearls and a very large rare dark red spinel gem.
View from the Armory to Vodovzvodnaya, Borovitskaya Tower and the Cathedral of Christ the Savior.
The amusing palace - the chambers of the boyar Miloslavsky is better seen from the Alexander Garden, it is located at the Kremlin wall between the Troitskaya and the Commandant towers. In 1672, entertainment was organized here - performances for the amusement of the kings, which gave the name to the palace. Under Peter the Great, the Police Order was located in the Amusement Palace, and nowadays - the services of the Commandant's Office.
How to get to the Kremlin
By public transport: the nearest metro stations are the Lenin Library, Aleksandrovsky Garden, Borovitskaya and Arbatskaya blue Arbatsko-Pokrovskaya lines. It is also easy to walk to the Kremlin from many central stations: Okhotny Ryad, Revolution Square, Teatralnaya and others.
Opening hours
The territory of the Kremlin and cathedrals-museums of Cathedral Square:
- from May 16 to September 30 - every day, except Thursday, from 9-30 to 18-00 (ticket offices work from 9-00 to 16-30)
- from October 1 to May 15 - every day, except Thursday, from 10-00 to 17-00 (ticket offices are open from 9-30 to 16-00)
The Armory works in sessions from 10-00 to 18-00 every day, except Thursday. The beginning of the sessions - 10-00, 12-00, 14-30, 16-30
Diamond Fund - every day, except Thursday, from 10-00 to 17-20 for sessions. Break - from 13-00 to 14-00. The duration of the session is 40 minutes. Ticket sales for morning sessions start at 9-00, for evening - at 13-00. 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 is closed on holidays. More information about the working hours - on the official website: gokhran.ru/ru/diamond-fund/contacts.phtml
Rarely, but it happens that access to the Kremlin is closed in connection with solemn events, meetings of heads of foreign states, receptions on the occasion of public holidays and other events.
Ticket prices
Single ticket (territory, cathedrals, exhibitions) - visiting the territory of the Kremlin, cathedral-museums of the Cathedral Square, exhibition halls of the Patriarch's Chambers, the exposition "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, expositions in the annex of the Arkhangelsk Cathedral:
- adults - 500 rubles
- russian students and pensioners - 250 rubles, without the possibility of visiting museums (only the territory) - free
- children under 16 years old, members of large families, disabled people of the 1st and 2nd groups and other preferential categories of citizens - free
- for persons under the age of 18, the second Tuesday of each month - free
- on Cultural Heritage Days one ticket is free for everyone
Single tickets are sold online on the official website of the Moscow Kremlin kreml.ru (except free and discounted tickets) and at the box office in the Alexander Garden on the day of the visit.
- the visit is carried out with a separate ticket, the price includes an audio guide:
- adults - 700 rubles
- russian students and pensioners - 350 rubles
- children under 16 years old, members of large families, disabled persons of the 1st and 2nd groups and other preferential categories of citizens - free of charge
Entrance tickets to the Armory are sold on the day of the visit, subject to the availability of tickets at the box office in the Alexander Garden and via the Internet on the official website of the Moscow Kremlin kreml.ru (except free and discounted ones).
Attention! Purchasing tickets Online for a particular session does not guarantee that you will receive additional free or reduced tickets for the same session on the day of your visit. Free and discounted tickets are issued only if available at the box office, on a first-come, first-served basis. The museum's bandwidth does not allow for an unlimited number of tickets for each session.
Diamond fund - you can buy tickets at the box office # 4 and # 5 in the Alexander Garden on the day of your visit for a certain session. A guided tour is included in the ticket price.
- adults - 500 rubles
- schoolchildren, students, pensioners, members of large families - 100 rubles
- disabled children, disabled persons of groups 1 and 2 and other privileged categories of citizens - free of charge
The number of tickets for each session is limited.
If you want to visit only the Armory and / or the Diamond Fund, you can enter through the Borovitskaya Tower.
The queue at the box office and at the entrance is least of all during the cold season on weekdays, most of all - in the warm season in good weather on weekends, especially on Saturday in the morning - because of the opportunity to watch the divorce ceremony on Cathedral Square.
Excursions
The Kremlin Excursion Center offers sightseeing and thematic excursions around the Kremlin, the Armory, cathedral-museums and museum expositions for organized groups and individual visitors as part of a combined group.
Prices for excursions around the Moscow Kremlin, the procedure for registration and payment of excursions, see the official website: kreml.ru
Free mobile guide around the Kremlin - izi.travel/ru/7cce-moskva-kreml/ru
Photography
Amateur photography and filming in cathedrals-museums, the Armory and the Diamond Fund is prohibited.
