TOUR OF KREMLIN GROUNDS

The Kremlin (kreml means a citadel or fortress) is still very much the heart of Moscow as well as one of the most famous Russian landmarks.

The small city in the centre of Moscow, once the residence of Czars and Patriarchs, was built by Italian engineers in the mid XVth century although foundations of the first wooden fortress had been laid in 1156. Since the XVth century, the Kremlin towers have been witness to many dramatic events-insurrections, assassination, murder, sieges, victory parades and religious procedures.

Three original cathedrals still dominate the heart of the Kremlin: the Uspensky (Dormation), the Blagoveshchensky (Annunciation) and the Arkhangelsky.

The Cathedral of Archangel Michael was built in 1505-08. All the tsars and princes of Muscovy from 1340 to the beginning of the XVIII century are buried in the Archangel Cathedral with the exception of Boris Godunov.

The Cathedral of Annunciation was used as a private place of worship by the tsar and his family, and is where royal marriages and christenings were celebrated. It was built by a team of masters from Pskov in 1484-89. The Cathedral of the Annunciation contains some of the finest art works in the Kremlin, with frescoes, dating from around 1508, by Theodosius. The iconostasis includes work by Master Andrey Rublev, Theophanes the Greek and Prokhor of Gorodets.

The Cathedral of the Assumption was designed in 1475 and took only 4 years to complete. The largest and most important of the Kremlin churches, this is where the tsars were crowned and the patriarchs and metropolitans of the Orthodox Church laid to rest.

The Patriarch’s Palace is a Museum of XVII century life and Applied Art, displaying ecclesiastical regalia, period furniture, gold and silver ware from Russian and Western Europe. The Palace was begun in 1640 and it incorporates the Church of Twelve Apostles, which was home church for patriarchs. The Palace is most closely associated with the reforming Patriarch Nikon.

Red Square was originally known as a market place. The present name dates from the XVIIth century, when the word “krasny” meant beautiful as well as red. Before the October Revolution the Red Square was the scene of markets, fairs, religious festivals as well as a place of execution. Under the Communists this is where that famous military parade took place on 7 November to mark the anniversary of the Revolution and on 9 May for the Victory Day.

Tours of the Armoury and Diamond Fund (a storehouse of treasures accumulated by the Russian Tsars and Princes of Muscovy from the XIIIth century onwards) can be arranged individually.

Moscow City Sightseeing and Kremlin tours are run on a daily basis.

Red Square Tour may be arranged as a part of the Kremlin tour or separately.