Kremlin

The Moscow Kremlin is a walled citadel on Borovitsky Hill, where the Neglinnaya once flowed into the Moskva River. It has been the seat of Russian power, with interruptions, for most of the last seven centuries. A timber fort stood here in the 12th century. Ivan I rebuilt it in oak in 1339, and Dmitry Donskoy replaced that with white limestone in the 1360s. The red-brick walls and towers seen today date from 1485–1495. They were built for Ivan III by Italian engineers, above all Pietro Antonio Solari, whose name is still carved in Latin over the Spassky Gate. The wall runs for about 2.2 km around an irregular triangle, between 5 and 19 metres high depending on the ground, and has twenty towers. The tallest, the Troitskaya, reaches 80 metres. The illuminated stars on several towers replaced golden eagles in Soviet times.

Cathedral Square, at the heart of the enclosure, holds some of the most important buildings in Russian history. Tsars were crowned in the Dormition Cathedral, completed in 1479 to a design by the Italian architect Aristotele Fioravanti. The Annunciation Cathedral followed in 1489 and was rebuilt with nine domes a century later. The Archangel Cathedral of 1508 holds the tombs of Muscovite rulers from Ivan Kalita to Ivan V. Beside them rise the white Ivan the Great Bell Tower, completed at its present 81 metres in 1600, and the Palace of Facets of 1491, the oldest surviving secular building. The Tsar Bell, the largest bell in the world, sits on a pedestal beside the tower, and the Tsar Cannon is nearby.

Later centuries added and subtracted. Napoleon ordered the Kremlin blown up during his retreat in 1812. Rain damped the fuses, but towers and parts of the wall were still wrecked. Konstantin Thon's Grand Kremlin Palace (1839–1849) and the Armoury (1851), which now displays the regalia and the Diamond Fund, came under Nicholas I. The Soviet period was destructive: the Chudov Monastery, the Ascension Convent and many churches were demolished, 28 of 54 historic buildings in all. The glass-and-marble State Kremlin Palace went up in 1959–61. The grounds were closed to the public until 1955. The Kremlin Museums were founded in 1961, and in 1990 the Kremlin was among the first Soviet sites on the World Heritage List.

The Kremlin still marks the centre of Moscow, the Russian capital. Red Square and St Basil's Cathedral lie against its eastern wall, and the Alexander Garden follows the western side. The complex remains the working seat of the Russian presidency, so visitors see only the museum areas.

Getting there

The Kremlin is in the centre of Moscow. The nearest metro stations include Biblioteka Imeni Lenina, Aleksandrovsky Sad, Borovitskaya and Okhotny Ryad. Sheremetyevo International Airport (SVO) is about 28 km away, and the city has other large airports as well. Access is limited to the Kremlin Museums.