Moscow Kremlin: towers and cathedrals. History and architecture of the Kremlin

The Moscow Kremlin is not only a symbol of Russia, but also the largest active fortress in Eastern Europe. It is with the Kremlin (the only historical site where the word "Kremlin" is capitalized) that Moscow is associated with Russians and foreigners. This is a historical monument and the current residence of the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin. Therefore, it has the status of a semi-regime object.

For a long time, no one knew what was happening outside the walls of the Moscow Kremlin. Only 40 years ago, the Trinity Gates were opened to visitors. Currently, a well-restored nature reserve, the Armory, the Kremlin Diamond Fund, the Tsar Bell, the Tsar Cannon and much more are located on its territory.

History of the Kremlin

Archaeologists do not know exactly when the first settlements appeared on the site of the Moscow Kremlin. Probably four thousand years ago. In the XII century, the fortified courtyard of Prince Dolgoruky was built. From 1326, the area began to be built up with stone temples, the first fortress walls appeared.

The Kremlin began to acquire its modern look in the second half of the 15th century, when Italian architects got down to business.

Their names are well known to us: Pietro Solari, Aristotle Fiorovanti and others. At that time, the Kremlin was a complex medieval city: divided into Cathedral Square and the Patriarch's Court. Orthodox churches, rich estates of the nobility and boyars were built in each quarter. Each of the buildings adjoined the other very tightly; there was no space that we see now. Until the end of the 19th century, the Kremlin fortress in Moscow was made of white stone.

The Kremlin without the Palace of Congresses. 1920s

The Moscow Kremlin ceased to be the seat of government in 1713; the authorities returned there only in 1918. The entrance inside was closed to ordinary people, only in the mid-40s of the last century the government made a slight indulgence: the Spassky Gates were opened, slides and skating rinks for children in the Tainitsky Garden were flooded. Now, on the territory of the museum-reserve, the procedures have become much stricter, the buffet has closed, photo and video filming is only partially allowed, you can get inside the Armory only by sessions.

The Moscow Kremlin has 20 different towers, no two are the same. Each tower has its own history and its own name.

Kremlin sights

As mentioned above, the appearance of the Kremlin has changed significantly over the centuries of its glorious history. The only building that reminds us of the glorious times of the medieval city is the Amusing Palace, built at the beginning of the 17th century. The main operating museums of the Moscow Kremlin, open to the public: the Armory, the Patriarchal Palace, the Architectural Ensemble of the Cathedral Square, the Ivan the Great Bell Tower, the Diamond Fund.

Quite strict rules apply on the territory of the Moscow Kremlin Museum-Reserve: personal belongings are searched. Anything that you are not allowed to take with you can be left in the storage room.

Photography is allowed only on the street, in museums and cathedrals it is not allowed to take pictures or take pictures.

In the Museum of the Armory, you will see things that belonged personally to the monarchs (including the famous Monomakh's hat): scepters, crowns, barms. Two dozen richly decorated royal carriages, items made of gold, silver and precious stones.

Until 1935, the spiers of the Kremlin towers were decorated with heraldic double-headed eagles.

Please note that you may not be allowed inside if your clothing does not comply with the norms adopted in public places.

Helpful information

The territory of the Moscow Kremlin Museum-Reserve is open daily from 9:30 to 16:30.

Tickets to the Armory are the most expensive in the entire museum - 700 rubles for adults. But it's worth it.
Tickets are sold strictly for the time (10:00, 12:00, 14:30 and 16:30), the box office opens 45 minutes before the start of the session.

All relevant information, exhibitions, ticket prices can be found on the official website of the Moscow Kremlin.

In the very center of Moscow, on a high hill above the Moskva River, stands the Moscow Kremlin. This is the oldest part of the capital of Russia, which has great historical and cultural significance. The Kremlin is a large complex of various buildings - these are palaces and cathedrals, ancient bells and cannons, museums and the residence of the President of Russia.

A bit of history

The history of the Moscow Kremlin dates back to the 12th century, when a small wooden fortress was built on Borovitsky Hill by order of Yuri Dolgoruky. It was located at the confluence of the Moscow River and the Neglinka, and was surrounded on all sides by a dense forest.

The main task of the fortress and the settlement located around it was to protect the path to the city of Vladimir. The place for the construction of the Kremlin was not chosen by chance: a high hill made it possible to survey the local environs and protect the mouths of two important navigable rivers - Vskhodni and Yauza. In addition to wooden walls, the ancient Kremlin was protected by earthen ramparts and deep ditches.

The Moscow Kremlin is the largest fortress in Europe, which was able to survive in its original form. It has a semi-regime status. This is explained by the fact that the Kremlin is not only a monument of ancient architecture, but also the official residence of the President of Russia. The Moscow Kremlin is of great historical importance, due to which it was included in the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage List.

Rice. 1. Moscow Kremlin.

In 1339, by order of the Grand Duke Ivan Kalita, the Kremlin was reliably fortified with powerful oak walls. Subsequently, on the site of a small wooden fortress, a monumental stone building was erected, which became the residence of Russian princes. Over time, the territory of the Moscow Kremlin expanded due to the construction of new chambers, bell towers, churches, cathedrals, many of which have survived to this day.

Sights of the Moscow Kremlin

The walls of the Kremlin were erected in the form of an irregular triangle, and their total length is more than 2000 m, and their height is 19 m. The southern side of the "triangle" faces the Moscow River, the eastern side faces Red Square, and the northwestern side faces the Alexander Garden.

The history of the creation and formation of the Moscow Kremlin

In ancient Rus', the Kremlin was considered a fortified city center with a fortress wall and towers. In the middle of the 12th century, a few years after the first mention of Moscow, a standard for that time fortress was built on Borovitsky Hill by decree. It was surrounded by an earthen rampart, a palisade and a deep ditch.

For two centuries the Kremlin was completely wooden. Already under the Grand Duke, who would later be called Donskoy, the walls and towers of the Kremlin became white stone. From that moment on, Moscow began to be called that way. And at the end of the 15th century, with the assistance of Italian masters, new strong fortifications appeared in the form of towers and walls, which had a thickness of 3 to 6 meters. The top of the walls was crowned with battlements in the form of a dovetail, in the likeness of the battlements of Italian castles. Such fortifications, made of baked bricks, can be admired in our time. Inside the territory of the Kremlin, the Assumption and Annunciation churches, the Faceted Chamber appear.

Under Peter I, the building of the Arsenal was laid on the territory of the Moscow Kremlin. However, by his own decision in 1712 the capital of the state was moved to St. Petersburg, and the symbol of Russia was in an abandoned state. All wooden Kremlin buildings were destroyed by fires, and such structures were no longer built by decree of the tsar.

Only in the middle of the 18th century did the further construction of the Kremlin continue. The building of the Senate and the first complex of the Armory are under construction. However, it almost ruined the complex. Leaving briefly captured Moscow, Napoleon gave the order to blow up the Kremlin. Fortunately, thanks to the courage of the Muscovites, most of the explosions were prevented, and the damage did not become fatal. The restoration of the damaged buildings did not take long.

The October uprising of 1917 in Moscow ended with the capture of the Kremlin, which was guarded by several detachments of junkers. The walls of the complex were seriously damaged as a result of artillery shelling, the Spasskaya Tower was damaged along with the clock, the Small Nikolaev Palace. In March 1918, with the return of the capital to Moscow, the Soviet government moved to the Kremlin for permanent work. Soon, free access to the territory of the Kremlin for ordinary citizens was limited. Currently, the residence of the President of the Russian Federation is located in the Moscow Kremlin.

The main attractions of the Kremlin

Over the centuries, the territory of the Moscow Kremlin has housed many objects known far beyond the borders of Russia:

Spasskaya Tower;
Cathedrals: Assumption, Annunciation, Arkhangelsk;
Faceted and Armory Chambers;
Arsenal;
Tsar Cannon;
The Tsar Bell.

Unfortunately, in the post-revolutionary years, the Kremlin lost forever about three dozen buildings, which, due to their religious or ideological characteristics, did not suit the new government. Despite this circumstance, in 1990 the Moscow Kremlin was included in the list of world heritage sites.

In ancient times, the first settlement of the future Moscow appeared at the confluence of the Neglinnaya River with the Moscow River on the Borovitsky Cape. In 1147, Prince Yuri Dolgoruky gave his feast here. This chronicle mention went down in history as the year of foundation of our capital.

Already at that time the settlement was surrounded by ramparts and wooden walls. In this place, Yuri Dolgoruky in 1156 equips a fortress that has become the famous Moscow Kremlin.

Fires in Moscow at that time were not uncommon. In 1337, almost the entire city burned down, so by 1340 the Kremlin was surrounded by new oak walls.

Another fire in 1354 again destroys the Kremlin. A repeat event occurs in another 10 years. The rulers of the city were in dire need of solving this problem.

Dmitry Ivanovich decides to surround the Kremlin with stone fortifications. Dense work began on the delivery of limestone, and since 1368 white stone walls have been rising in the city.

The modern view of the Kremlin was formed in 1485-1495 on the initiative of Ivan III. A huge number of the best architects of "all Rus'" were involved in the construction. Also in the construction of the walls and towers of the fortress, Italian masters in the field of construction of defensive structures were involved. The Italians at that time were building Moscow everywhere, but still the original Russian plans were not killed, the foreign influence came to naught.

The first Tainitskaya Tower in the Kremlin was built in 1485 by Anton Fryazin. Secret passages to the river and a well were provided here, providing the defenders of the fortress with water.

In 1487, the southeastern corner was occupied by the Beklemishevskaya round tower by Marco Fryazin. A little later, all the other towers of the Kremlin were built.

Clock of the Spasskaya Tower of the Moscow Kremlin

The people revered the main gate of the Frolovskaya tower. They did not pass through them on horseback and with a covered head. Later, the Frolovskaya tower was renamed Spasskaya because of the icons of the Savior of Smolensk and the Savior Not Made by Hands placed here. According to the documents, the main clock of the state in this tower appeared in 1491.

In 1625, the clock was replaced with new ones. The master was Christopher Golovey, and Kirill Samoilov cast 30 bells for them.

The next update of the clock took place under Peter I. With the transition to a single daily count of time, the Dutch clock with 12 divisions was fixed on the Spasskaya Tower. But after the fire of 1737 they also had to step down from their honorary post.

The clock of our time was installed in 1852 by the Butenope brothers.

Ruby stars of the Moscow Kremlin

In 1935, stainless steel stars lined with red gilded copper were installed on the tops of the Spasskaya, Nikolskaya, Borovitskaya and Troitskaya towers. In the center of the stars is a 2-meter hammer and sickle emblem, adorned with precious stones. To install the stars, even the towers had to be slightly rebuilt. One way or another, in two years the stones on the stars faded, and in 1937 a decision was made to install ruby stars.

The Moscow Kremlin is a symbol of the Russian Federation, is revered by its entire population and attracts foreign tourists who want to plunge into the history of our great country.

The Kremlin of Dolgoruky 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 settlement. When it appeared, the fortress was renamed the Old Town. 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 the ancient cities. The Kremlin walls and towers were usually placed on the highest place.

The word "Kremlin" could also come from the so-called "kremlin" (strong) tree, from which the 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 the shore or ravine." The Moscow Kremlin really stands on a mountain on a steep bank of the river, and the words “flint” and “kremnos” could get into Russian speech with the Greek clergy who arrived in Moscow in the late 1320s along with Metropolitan Theognost.

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, the inhabitants of the surrounding settlements could hide from danger.

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

The Kremlin under Dmitry Donskoy (after the fire of 1365) was built from white stone. Then the walls had a length of almost 2 kilometers - 200 meters shorter than the current ones.

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, Italian architects were invited - experts in fortification - Aristotle Fiorovanti, Pietro Antonio Solari, Marco Ruffo. They built not just a fortress, but a holy city. The legendary Tsargrad was laid at three corners on all sides of seven miles, so the Italian masters on each side of the Moscow Kremlin put 7 red-brick towers (along with the corner ones) and tried to keep the same distance from the center -. In this form and within such boundaries, the Moscow Kremlin has survived to this day.

The walls of the Kremlin 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, which connected the Neglinnaya and Moscow rivers. The southern wall of the fortress was built before everyone else, since it went to the river and was of great strategic importance - merchant ships that arrived along the Moscow River moored here. Therefore, Ivan III ordered to remove all buildings south of the Kremlin walls - since that time nothing has been built here, except for earthen ramparts and bastions.

In plan, the walls of the Kremlin form an irregular triangle with an area of about 28 hectares. Outside, they are built 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 a pood brick (weighing 8 kg). In proportion, it resembled a large loaf of black bread. It was also called two-handed, because it was possible to lift it with only two hands. At the same time, brick in Rus' was an innovation at that time: they used to build it from white stone and plinths (something in between brick and tile).

The height of the Kremlin walls ranges from 5 to 19 meters (depending on the terrain), 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 outside it is hidden by 1,045 merlon teeth. These M-shaped battlements are a typical feature of Italian fortification architecture (the supporters of the imperial power in Italy marked fortresses with them). In everyday life they are called "dovetail". From below, the teeth seem small, but their height reaches 2.5 meters, and the thickness is 65-70 centimeters. Each prong is made of 600 half-pood bricks, and almost all prongs have loopholes. During the battle, archers closed the gaps between the battlements with wooden shields and fired through the cracks. Whatever the tooth, then the archer, - they said among the people.

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

Dungeons and secret passages of Moscow

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

The corner towers are round or polyhedral in shape and contain secret passages and wells inside to supply the fortress with water, while the rest of the towers are quadrangular. This is understandable: the corner towers had to "look" in all external directions, and the rest - forward, since the neighboring towers covered them from the sides. Also, travel towers were additionally protected by diversion towers-shooters. Of these, only Kutafya has survived.

In general, in the Middle Ages, the towers of the Moscow Kremlin looked different - they did not have tented ends, but there were wooden watchtowers. Then the fortress had a more severe and impregnable character. Now the walls and towers have lost their defensive value. The gable roof has not been preserved either: 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 the "castle" on Borovitsky Hill.

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

What can be compared with this Kremlin, which, surrounded by battlements, flaunting the golden domes of cathedrals, reclining on a high mountain, like a sovereign crown on the forehead of a formidable ruler? .. It is the altar of Russia, many sacrifices worthy of the fatherland should be and are already being made on it .. No, neither the Kremlin, nor its battlements, nor its dark passages, nor its magnificent palaces can be described... One must see, one must see... one must feel everything that they say to the heart and imagination!...

In Soviet times, the government was located in the Moscow Kremlin. Access to the territory was closed, and the dissatisfied 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, desecrate the shrines, but this should not worry us the least. The interests of the proletarian revolution are above prejudice.

During the reign of Soviet power, the architectural ensemble of the Moscow Kremlin suffered more than in its entire history. At the beginning of the 20th century, there were 54 buildings inside the Kremlin walls. Less than half survived. For example, in 1918, on the personal instructions of V.I. Lenin demolished a monument to Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich (he was killed in February 1905), at the same time they destroyed the monument to Alexander II (then a monument to Lenin was 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 out of the cathedrals of the Moscow Kremlin.

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

Kremlin: 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 the disguise, the fortress "disappeared".

The red-brick walls were repainted, and windows and doors painted on them to mimic 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 like rust.

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 ones fell. And a bomb weighing a ton hit it, and part of the building collapsed. British Prime Minister Churchill, who arrived later in the Kremlin, even stopped and took off his hat as he passed the gap.

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

In 1990, the Kremlin ensemble was included in the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites. At the same time, the Kremlin became a government residence, but retained museum functions. Therefore, uniformed employees are present on the territory, quickly instructing the lost tourists "on the right path." But every year more and more corners of the Kremlin become open for walking.

And the Kremlin is often filmed for cinema. And in the film "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 summoned 20,000 village peasants and ordered:
- To be ready in a month!
They paid little - 15 kopecks a day. Therefore, many died of starvation. Many were beaten to death. New employees were brought in to take their place. And a month later the Kremlin walls were completed. Therefore, they say that the Kremlin is on the bones.
...the shadow of Ivan IV often wanders in the lower tiers of the bell tower. Even the memoirs of Nicholas II have been preserved, how on the eve of the coronation, the spirit of Grozny 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 figure of the Pretender, flashing in the twilight between the battlements of the walls. They also saw him on the August night of 1991 - before the attempted coup d'état.
And one evening the watchman raised the alarm, who was on duty in the building next to the Patriarch's Chambers (under Stalin there was housing). One of the apartments on the second floor was occupied by the People's Commissar of the NKVD Yezhov, and the duty officer was in the hallway of the former Yezhov apartments. Around midnight, the watchman heard footsteps on the stairs, then the jingle of a key in the lock, the creak of a door opening and closing. He realized that someone had left the building and tried to detain 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 Chekist melted into the air. We saw Yezhov a few more times.
The spirit of Stalin did not appear in the Moscow Kremlin, but the ghost of Lenin is a frequent visitor. The spirit of the leader made the 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 guards, he went to his office and walked around the Kremlin, where he was greeted by a detachment of cadets of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee. The head of the guard was at first dumbfounded, and then rushed to call Gorki to find out why Vladimir Ilyich was unaccompanied. It was then that he learned that Lenin had not traveled anywhere. After this incident, real devilry began in the leader’s Kremlin apartment: the sounds of moving furniture, the crackle of a telephone, the creak of floorboards and even voices were heard. This continued until Ilyich's apartment with all his belongings was transferred to Gorki. But until now, the guards and employees of the Kremlin sometimes see frosty January evenings on