For the eight centuries period of its existence, the Moscow Kremlin has witnessed many great and tragical events of the Russian history. Today it is one of the largest museums in the world. The state regalia, invaluable icons, treasures of Russian Tsars are all kept here.
This excursion is exclusive and these pictures have been shot thanks to one girl who works in the Kremlin. Ordinary tourists don’t have a chance to see all this with their eyes.
All in all there are 20 towers in the Kremlin each having a unique architectural look, its name and history. The excursion begins from the Borovitskaya tower.
Famous merlons!
Along the whole wall there are 1045 merlons as they say …
Vodozvodnaya tower, here was made the first water supply of the city.
The Kremlin Palace – a place to hold presidents inauguration, other great events, prize distribution etc.
Archangel Cathedral has been a burial vault of Russian tsars and princes. Among the buried here: Ivan Kalita, Dmitry Donskoy, the great prince Ivan III, tsar Ivan IV the Terrible and his sons, first tsars of the Romanovs family etc. There are 46 tombs, 52Â burials in the burial vault.
A view of Christ the Saviour Cathedral from the Tainitskaya Tower.
A view of Beklemishevskaya Tower and the Big Bridge of the Moskva River.
A fanciful Tsar Tower looking like a stone marquee from Russian fairytales. Standing here Ivan the Terrible was watching the events happening in the Red Square. Previously it had the Spassky alarm bell inside.
The Spasskaya Tower has ten floors. The decoration details impress with fine workmanship.
The clock is just huge! The dial plate diameter is 6,12 m, the figures height – 72cm, the hourhand length – 2,97 m, the minute hand length – 3,28 m. The clock is located on the 7th, 8th, 9th floors of the tower.
The building of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet and the bells of Ivan the Great.
A view from the Spasskaya Tower.
Memorial plates. It has inscriptions in Russian and Latin.
via bigpicture.ru
A. Bunka here. First like USA.
A. Bunka here. When I was in Moscow we stayed at Hotel Russia across the street from St. Basil’s. Walking through this 600 year old church was the coolest part of the trip. The Kremlin is imagined as a dark and forboding place, it’s not. If you are lucky enough to visit Moscow go to the Kremlin, just stay away from Napoleon’s cannons or a KGB man will blow his whistle at you, like he did at me, lol. I guess I should be glad he didn’t arrest me or shoot me for walking around an area that was off limits to tourists.
The tour I was one went to the cannons. We looked at them. We moved back to other side of street and before going any where else. The security is very high. They are friendly but very professional. One need stay within the permited limits or you have problems. The largest security was the diamond collection. They are worth the trip to Moscow. You are really inside a vault to see them.
You see in the photographs a guard is with them.
The best parts of the Kremlin are not on normal tours. So it is hard to see them. The normal tour is still worth it.
We were on a public tour, so unfortunately, we didn’t see the diamond collection. We saw all the other jewelry of the Romonov’s and let me say: the rare gem collection at the Smithsonian is nothing compared to it, Hope Diamond or no Hope Diamond. A horse blanket with 10,000 pearls! No wonder why they had a revolution.
This is what I love about Europe. We don’t have this sort of really old architecture in America. Lots of beauty there.
You Americans should come to Scotland. Lots of history here
Can I stay at your place?
Not a problem. There is an old battlefield next to where i stay. Battle of Prestonpans. As for Pittenweem its a lovely wee place. Best fish supper anywhere.
I’d love to visit Scotland. My family is from Pittenweem and I’ve never managed to visit the place yet. Next year though.
The best things in Russia were built before the communist.
The Russians have always been and probably always will be a notably secretive and rather surly race. The Kremlin can therefore be considered one of their top National Totems, a symbol of a large slavic race that is only just in Europe.
Huh?
“We don’t have this sort of really old architecture in America”
Of course not. 150 years of etnic cleansing and building a society upon the bones of 40 million genocided native americans is nothing to be proud of.
Go to their places, there you have 30 000 years of history but it´s not yours.
Maybe they should have refrained from scalping every woman and child of our first peaceful settlement. The savages ENJOY cutting babies scalps off and keeping them. So take you’re silly one sided perspective back to preschool.
One more thing Mr. Historical Genius, watch Ice Age Columbus on Youtube to see SUPPRESSED EVIDENCE that White man was here first. Suppressed by goofballs like you, it’s NOW known they committed genocide against Whitey a long time ago only to get payed back.
Correction – that should say further than 1000 miles, not 100.
A. Bunka here. I admire the American Indian very much. The Indian has suffered in the USA of this there is no doubt. What happened to the indigenous people of Asia? There were killed, moved, and can not to this day run their now “independant countries because of the economic pressure brought to bear against them from Moscow. Ask a Georgian, ask a Ukrainian, ask a Pole, ask a Lithuaian, Estonian, etc., etc., how they feel about Communist and Russian occupation. The turmoil in Kyrgyzstan: the result of wholesale forced population movements.
Proletcult Movement should have destroyed all these religious structures. Religion is an opiate.
Religion is more than an opiate. Religion is the destroyer of knowledge, and the enforcer of ignorance. Nothing has damaged human societies like religion, and it still is.
@macsen, you might want to do some in-depth reading on Christianity. Vis a vis Christianity, your statement is insane.
A. Bunka here. The Communist Manifesto: find a society that is sick and kill it. Blow up the churches and chase everyone with a brain and ambition out of the country, or kill them, because they are dangerous. Stalin said “the most dangerous people are the well meaning ones”. You know, the idealistic fools who swallow this garbage, like you SovMarxist1924. You would have found yourself in a gulag in Stalin’s USSR. Because you are a well meaning Commie.
Beautiful buildings, great pictures. Well done!
Very nice photos.
The beautiful Moscow Kremlin was built by Italian architects using money Ivan III collected from Russians, and refused to pay as a tribute to his master, Khan of the Golden Horde.
There is one version (of 3) that Saint Basil’s Cathedral (and some in-Kremlin buildings) are created by unknown italian architector, but… this version has no documental proofs. FAIL.
You need to read the Russian history – not in Russian, of course.
E.g. Charles J. Halperin ‘Russia and the Golden Horde’, Indiana University Press, Bloomington, 1987
see page 84
http://www.amazon.com/Russia-Golden-Horde-Medieval-Russian/dp/0253204453/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1282502276&sr=1-1
Two and a half men is funny as!
I love this site. A chance to see Russia as most have never seen it. Keep the political stuff quiet and enjoy the look inside of Russian life. Both the USA and Russia (and almost all other nations) have dark histories behind them. What counts most is what we do now and in the future. Learn from the past.
Keep up the great work here. It is a wonderful experience.
This is why I return again and again to EnglishRussia – what a great set of photographs! And even the (sometimes silly) political feuding in the comments can be quite interesting, as intriguing suggestions, points of view and possible facts emerge.
I love this site.
beautiful photos
Who have made renovation of Kremlins walls? It is the most horrible work i ever saw.