The Moscow Kremlin is one of the main attractions of Russia. Features of the national excursion to the Kremlin Who works in the Kremlin

this week a series of photographs, we, in turn, publish unpublished interesting details with our small historical comments.

View of Red Square " observation deck" - the seventh tier of the Spasskaya Tower.

From a very early age we were accustomed to this type of large open space, but until the early 19th century things were very different.

Since the Kremlin was built as a defensive structure, it was surrounded on all sides by water: on one side the Moscow River, on the other - the Neglinnaya River, and an artificial ditch ran along Red Square, which, however, by the end of the 18th century was no longer filled with water. but all the bridges were preserved.

It looked something like this:

And on the square itself there were always various shops and retail premises clustered together.

This is what the seventh tier looks like. Let me remind you that tiers 1-5 were built in 1491 during the reign of Ivan III by the architect Pietro Antonio Solari. And the tiers above the fifth (the entire top of the tower) were built in the Gothic style only in 1624-1625 by the English architect Christopher Galovey with the participation of the Russian master Bazhen Ogurtsov. This photograph shows flying buttresses, an architectural element of medieval Gothic cathedrals.

The chimes have existed at this location since 1625 (since the tower was built). The very first ones had no arrows at all! In 1705, by decree of Peter I, the Spassky clock was converted into a German style with a dial at 12 o'clock. In 1770, the English clock found in the Chamber of Facets was installed.

Fedor Alekseev. View of the Kremlin at the Spassky Gate. Around 1800

At the same time, initially the watch was unusual: it was not the hands that rotated, but the dial itself.

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 1918, the chimes began playing “You have fallen a victim” at 0 o’clock and “The Internationale” at 12 o’clock. In 1932, it was decided to retain only the Internationale, which was performed at noon and midnight. And since 1938, the chimes have been deprived of music, ringing only every hour and every quarter.

Metal structures with a spiral staircase to the clock inside the tower were made according to the design of the architect K. Ton in mid-19th century.

In general, almost all the towers are simply empty inside, the walls are painted white, and important and supporting structures are marked in red

Old latch on the door

The Tsar's Tower is the youngest and smallest tower, built in 1680. Strictly speaking, this is not a tower, but a stone tower, a tent placed on the wall.

This tent is called the Tsar's, guard, alarm or alarm bell because the Russian sovereigns, after their coronation, came up here to show themselves to the people gathered on Red Square, and that here once hung an alarm, or alarm, bell, which was rung in case of danger threatening the city. Such a ringing was called a flash.

Once upon a time, in its place 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.

Kings walked on these steps

Foundation of the Tsar's Tower.

If you look closely at the left edge of the frame, you can see movement at the construction site, which has been frozen for more than 10 years. Dismantling of the unfinished Tsarev Sad business center, which began construction in 1997, has begun.

The stairs in the Kremlin wall are narrow and winding

This section of the wall with towers is actually new, from the end of the 18th century. The fact is that in 1768, the architect V.I. Bazhenov created a project and a large-scale model of the future Kremlin palace. The palace was supposed to occupy the entire riverine territory of the Kremlin, rising from the bank of the Moscow River and covering the entire Borovitsky Hill and all its buildings. For these purposes, it was dismantled in 1770 Kremlin wall along the river with the Tainitsky Gate, Petrovskaya, First and Second Nameless Tower. Inside the Kremlin, the building of orders stretching from the Archangel Cathedral to the east along the edge of the hill was destroyed. On June 1, 1773, the ceremonial laying of the new palace took place. However, it soon became clear that such large-scale construction was impractical and work was stopped in 1774. Later, the fortress wall and the previously dismantled towers along the Moscow River were restored (before 1778, according to the design of M. F. Kazakov).

The Kremlin Palace of Catherine the Great should have looked something like this:

The hill behind the wall along the river looks like this:

A few centuries ago, life was bustling and noisy here:

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

It was a full-fledged residential area of ​​the city, and very densely populated.

In the foreground is the Church of Constantine and Helena, surrounded by wooden buildings of the monastery farmsteads. Behind the bell tower you can see a fragment of the Sovereign's orders with a roof covered with white stone shingles (slabs). In the background is the multi-domed Ascension Monastery, demolished during Soviet times.

It is impossible not to talk about the battlements of the Kremlin wall. One of the symbols of Moscow and Russia was borrowed from Italy. Exactly the same battlements can be seen in the castles of Milan, Verona and other cities. At that time, in Europe there was a fierce struggle between two political groups - the Guelphs and the Ghibellines. The first were for the Pope, and the second were for the Holy Roman Emperor. The first built fortresses with square battlements, and the second - with battlements in the form of a swallow's tail (or, as was then believed, in the form of open wings of an eagle). The Italian architects who came to Muscovy were either for the Ghibellines, or simply sensibly decided that the Moscow tsars were certainly not for the Pope. One way or another, the symbol of the Ghibellines settled firmly and for a long time in Moscow.

The western wall of the Kremlin and the Commandant's Tower. In the foreground on the left is the Amusing Palace.

View of the Amusement Palace from the north. It was built in 1652 for boyar N.D. Miloslavsky - father-in-law of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich.

After the death of the owner in 1669, the palace went to the treasury; at the end of the 17th century, princesses and dowager queens lived in it, and from 1679 they were converted into a theater. Various kinds of “fun” were held here - entertainment for the royal family. And the former Miloslavsky mansion received the appropriate name - the Fun Palace.

On this side there was another wing with a high porch adjoining it, all of which was broken in the 18th century. That is, most of the current façade was originally facing the interior. On the 2nd, 3rd and 4th floors, blocked portals are visible - entrances to the once adjacent wing. The platbands that we see are Shokhin’s stylization, made in 1874-1875.

This palace is one of the most amazing Moscow buildings of the 17th century. The carving of the platbands is especially impressive.

The buildings of the Amusement Palace were rebuilt beyond recognition. It is possible that not much remains from the 17th century in this wing.

Under Peter I, the Police Order was placed in the palace, and in 1806 the building was adapted for housing and the office of the commandant of Moscow.

The yellow wing was once also richly decorated, just like the left side.

Currently, the palace houses the services of the Kremlin Commandant's Office, on whose initiative, in 2000-2004, restoration work was carried out on the monument to restore the original completion and individual facades of the Church of the Praise of the Virgin Mary and the Amusement Palace.

The restoration of the Amusement Palace was awarded the Golden Diploma of the International Architectural Festival "Zodchestvo - 2002".

From the wall you can look a little closer at the edge Terem Palace, hidden deep in a closed area.

He looks gorgeous in the painting by Giacomo Quarenghi:

Among the dense buildings, a greenhouse was discovered in which plants are grown to decorate the State Kremlin Palace.

“Nixon’s Lawn” at the Borovitsky Gate is a block demolished in 1972 for the sake of American President Nixon, who, according to our authorities, might not have liked the historical buildings, which looked somewhat shabby at that moment and required restoration. By the way, this is where in the 1930s there was the only residential area on Mokhovaya, so Vitka from the famous song “Seryozhka with Malaya Bronnaya and Vitka with Mokhovaya” lived here.

To prevent birds from spoiling the Kremlin stars, the horizontal edges are covered with barely noticeable spikes.

Fine tiles from one of the towers

There are bells under the roof of the Grand Kremlin Palace.

The Kremlin wall has been restored many times, and the bricks in it are from completely different eras, which is clearly confirmed by the marks

Brickwork with 19th century hallmarks (double frame on hallmark used from 1812 until the late 1870s). These same bricks are probably from the mid-19th century.

Similar masonry, mid-19th century.

These were clearly inserted after the revolution, apparently in the mid-twentieth century during restoration.

Brickwork with 1948 marks.

As many have already realized, the entire wall is nothing but spotlights and power cables.

The Kremlin Orchestra along the Kremlin wall leaves its rehearsal base in the Trinity Tower

Arsenal Corner

Conscript soldiers leave their messages to the future on cables and walls

Quite an unusual view of the Alexander Garden. Paradoxically, the garden named after Alexander I was never renamed. Even in Soviet times.

The Alexander Garden itself was built after the War of 1812; before that time, the Neglinnaya flowed here and there were bastions.

This is approximately how Napoleon found the Kremlin

Shooting range of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation. The Church of Constantine and Helen stood at approximately this location until the 1930s.

Other photographs can also be viewed on the website of the Tribune of the Public Chamber, thanks to which this shooting became possible.

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.

About how to get to the Moscow Kremlin, which Kremlin attractions to see first, how to buy entrance tickets Read about 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 masters, 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. In the 17th century, the Terem Palace was built, around the same time the Kremlin towers acquired 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 Nicholas Palace and many other buildings have not survived. 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 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 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. Today the Senate is located official residence President of the Russian Federation.

View from approximately the same point in the other direction - towards 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 - 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 on Cathedral Square, the ceremony of the mounted and pedestrian parade of the Presidential Regiment takes place. 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 interesting exhibition"Treasures and antiquities of the Moscow Kremlin."

The Chamber of Facets, 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 Grand Kremlin Palace, built in the 19th century. The palace ensemble includes about 700 rooms, including Georgievsky, Vladimir, Andreevsky, Alexander 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 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 Chamber to Vodovzvodnaya, Borovitskaya Tower 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 the Trinity and Commandant 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 foreign heads of state, receptions on 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
• in Days cultural heritage single ticket is 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.

— the visit requires a 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.

Part of your dream has come true - you are in Moscow, in the heart of our country. First of all, guests of our capital visit Red Square and the Kremlin. Tours are not conducted around the clock, but walk around historical places everyone wants it. The capital's Kremlin occupies a large area. To avoid getting lost and confused in historical buildings, you will need a map of the Moscow Kremlin.

How to get to the territory of the capital fortress

If you travel by metro, it is most convenient to get off at the station “Biblioteka im. Lenin". Next, head to the sign for Manezhnaya Street. Coming to the surface, you will find yourself in the Alexander Garden - it is located near the western wall of the palace. Any diagram of the Kremlin shows the tourist that the entrance to it is through. On the right hand there will be ticket offices, where you buy tickets for visiting.

After walking a little, you will see that the Trinity Tower is adjacent to the wall of the fortress, which is connected to the previous one by a bridge. It once flowed underneath it. Several centuries ago, it was enclosed in an underground sewer to develop the Alexander Park.

After passing through the guard of honor at the Trinity Tower, you will find yourself on the square of the same name.

The Kremlin: a map for a walk. Start

There are many tasks located around Trinity Square. To the left of it is the Arsenal building, or Zeichhaus (in German, “armor house”). The armory house is considered a relatively young building, as it began to be built at the beginning of the 18th century. Next to the Zeichhaus, according to the idea of ​​Peter the Great, various military weapons are exhibited, including French cannons.

To the right of the square, the State Kremlin Palace has been erected, where various pop concerts are held, and the main Christmas tree of the country is installed.

The territory of Detinets is divided into squares and streets. The Kremlin is beautiful. Its scheme is clear and simple. Walking straight along the same Trinity Square, you can see Senate Square on the left behind it. Behind this square in the park is the Senate itself. All possible passages to it are closed, since this building is the working residence of the head of the Russian Federation.

Exit from the palace

The Moscow Kremlin is huge. Its diagram looks like an irregular quadrangle. Behind the Armory in the corner of the fortress rises, named after the hill on which it stands. Through this building there is an exit from the Kremlin.

This is where the excursion can end, since further there is the opportunity to walk only along the various towers on the walls of the fortress (Blagoveshchenskaya, Tainitskaya, 1st and 2nd Bezymyannye, Petrovskaya, etc.).

The Moscow Kremlin is grandiose. The diagram, unfortunately, cannot convey these majestic expanses and scales of temples, palaces and chambers, but it will help the traveler plan a route for visiting historical sites of interest.

The cost of a single entrance ticket to visit architectural ensemble Cathedral Square (without discounts) - 350 rubles.

What is a single ticket - this ticket allows you to visit the Assumption, Archangel, Annunciation Cathedrals, the Church of the Deposition of the Robe, the Patriarchal Palace, exhibitions in the Assumption Belfry and the One-Pillar Chamber.

The cost of a single ticket with discounts for Russian schoolchildren, students, pensioners, foreign schoolchildren and students (upon presentation of the relevant documents) is 100 rubles.

On Saturdays, Sundays and holidays Parents with children are provided with a family weekend ticket to visit the architectural ensemble of Cathedral Square.
Price family ticket for each family member (no more than 2 adults and 2 children under the age of 16) - 100 rubles. You can cooperate with someone at the ticket office and take such a ticket.

Every day after 16:00, Russian schoolchildren, full-time students, and pensioners visit the territory of the museum-reserve, cathedral museums and exhibitions for free.

Every third Monday of the month, Russian citizens under 18 years of age visit the territory of the museum-reserve and the exhibition in the Assumption Belfry free of charge.

Every day, disabled people of groups I and II, large families, conscripts, cadets of the first and second years of military schools, WWII veterans, orphans, preschoolers, museum workers, clergy (citizens of the Russian Federation and the CIS) visit the territory of the museum-reserve, museums cathedrals and exhibitions are free.

The number of tickets to visit the territory is not limited. That is, you can easily come and buy a ticket any day and walk around the territory. It is especially beautiful there in spring, summer and autumn, you can take a snack with you and sit there in the park.

Amateur photography and video shooting in cathedral museums is prohibited. Filming is allowed on the premises; you do not need to buy a special photo ticket.

The Moscow Kremlin is located in the very center of Moscow, on the high bank of the Moscow River. Its powerful walls and towers, golden-domed temples, ancient towers and palaces rise above the Moscow River and form a beautiful architectural ensemble.

“Above Moscow there is the Kremlin, and above the Kremlin there is only sky,” says the old proverb. The Kremlin is the most ancient part of Moscow, currently the residence of the highest government bodies of Russia and one of the main historical and artistic complexes of the country.

In plan, the Kremlin is an irregular triangle. Its southern wall faces the Moscow River, to the north is Red Square, and to the north-west is the Alexander Garden. In the 14th century, cathedrals and monasteries were already built here; the Kremlin was the center of Russian Orthodox Church. Three gigantic cathedrals were built in the 15th and 16th centuries. There's a lot to see here! In the Annunciation Cathedral there are beautiful icons and an iconostasis; the bell tower of Ivan the Great with two golden domes is visible from a distance of 30 km, it rises next to the Assumption Cathedral, not far from the cathedral stands the largest bell of the Kremlin - the Tsar Bell; The Armory houses a wide variety of treasures, including royal crowns. In addition, here is the Amusement Palace, the Senate, in the premises of which the President’s office is located.

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

Initially, the Kremlin served as a fortification for the village that arose on Borovitsky Hill, a cape at the confluence of the Neglinnaya River with the Moscow River. Here was the oldest Moscow church - the Cathedral of the Transfiguration, or the Savior on Bor, built in 1330 for the millennium of Constantinople - “New Rome”. The temple was destroyed in 1933. Moscow princes and princesses were buried in it until the cathedral received the status of a court temple.

In 1812, Napoleon blew up the Vodovzvodnaya, Petrovskaya and First Nameless Towers, the Arsenal Tower was seriously damaged, and the extensions to the Ivan the Great Bell Tower were also destroyed. It took 20 years to restore. In the 30s of the 20th century, the double-headed eagles that crowned the main towers of the Kremlin: Spasskaya, Nikolskaya, Troitskaya, Borovitskaya and Vodovzvodnaya, were replaced with ruby ​​stars with a diameter of 3-4 m. In 1941-1942, 167 German air bombs fell on the Kremlin, but it almost unharmed. Since 1955, the Kremlin has been open to the public, becoming an open-air museum.

The entrance to the Kremlin is through the Kutafya Tower, which was built in 1516. The name is also associated with her short and initially nondescript appearance: “kutafya” in Dahl’s dictionary is a clumsily, ugly dressed woman.

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

Previously, there was a very complex structure here medieval city with cramped uneven streets, each block of which contained multiple temples and chambers, courtyards and passages. The only fragment of that incredible city is located in the passage on the right hand of the gate - this is the Amusing Palace of the mid-17th century, restored by restorers only at the beginning of this century. On its roof stands a golden-domed house church; once it was surrounded by open gardens and hanging apple orchards laid out on high stone terraces - the entire female half of the Sovereign's courtyard, which occupied the site of the current Palace of Congresses, was arranged in approximately the same strange way.

The Patriarchal Palace, which also has its own house church and probably also had a roof garden. Through its arch you can get to Cathedral Square. From here, the square reveals itself in an ancient, bright and unexpected way: straight ahead - the bell tower of Ivan the Great, on the right - the Assumption Cathedral, one of the great Russian shrines, the main temple of Rus' from the 14th century until 1918, the tomb of ancient metropolitans and patriarchs. The current building was built in the 1470s by the Italian master Aristotle. The temple is small in size (in architecture textbooks there is a popular picture where the silhouette of the cathedral fits into the gigantic outlines of the Roman St. Peter, like a little doll), but at the same time incredibly strong and large-scale - both inside and outside: the Italians knew a lot about such illusions.

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

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

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

The Tsar Cannon and the Tsar Bell are also located on the territory. Many people, when mentioning the square, recall the saying “shout to the entire Ivanovskaya”, believing that it was here that the Tsar’s decrees were announced. However, there is another way to decipher this saying. The Ivan the Great Bell Tower was the main Russian bell tower; it had forty bells, each with its own name. All bells were rung only on very special occasions. So the expression “to the fullest extent of Ivanovskaya” means that some task must be accomplished with all strength and completeness.

The famous monuments of foundry art - the Tsar Bell and the Tsar Cannon - are so huge that they have never been used for their intended purpose. But touching them with your hand is a good omen.

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

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

By the way, the Moscow Kremlin, the main one of all Kremlins, is the only one written with a capital letter. This is the largest active fortress in Europe. Its semi-regime status is explained by the fact that the entire complex is simultaneously a monument included in the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage List and the official residence of the President of the Russian Federation.

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

History of construction

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