Kremlin
and Red Square

A good medieval city must have strong walls. Moscow used to have four walls: three stone ones – Kremlin, Kitay-Gorod and Bely Gorod, and one made of earth and timber – Zemlyanoy Gorod.

Alexander Garden (Russian: Aleksandrovsky sad, or Александровский сад) and Manege Square (Russian: Manezhnaya ploshchad, or Манежная площадь) are two symbolic places in central Moscow, highly popular both among residents and tourists as areas for promenading.

The smallish, airy white-and-gold Cathedral of the Annunciation does not convey any impression of grandeur and significance. It has rather an atmosphere of coziness and warmth of a home. This cathedral was originally designed as a house church for Russian tsars and their families.

This unique example of mid-17th century Moscow architecture located in the very centre of the Russian capital on the Kremlin’s grounds is an impressive three-storey building designed as a single architectural complex that united the Patriarch’s Palace and the church.

Moscow Manege has a rich history. This is a historic building that was constructed in 1817 in honour of the fifth anniversary of the Russian victory against Napoleonic France in the War of 1812. Now the complex serves for large-scale cultural projects, hosting exhibitions of contemporary art and photography.

The Orthodox Cathedral of Saint Basil dates back to the 16th century and the era of Ivan the Terrible. It is the most famous symbol of medieval Russian church architecture. The ornate cathedral has a rather unconventional look.

The core of the collection is comprised of strikingly beautiful jewellery from various historic periods, of which the Imperial Crown of Russia is considered to be the gem. Military awards and numerous imperial regalia are also on display.

The Kremlin is one of the most important examples of Russian architecture and Europe’s largest fortress still in regular use. Its walls conceal magnificent cathedrals and palaces of different epochs as well as the Armoury Chamber and the Diamond Fund, all of which extremely interesting museums.

Kitay-gorod is an area of Moscow located east of the Kremlin. This is where the earliest streets of Moscow are preserved, as well as numerous unique monuments of architecture, and an active government district. Kitay-gorod adjoins Red Square and leads into the historical part of Moscow.

Red Square is the heart of Moscow and the main square of Russia. Its monuments embody Moscow’s centuries-old history in all of its manifestations. Few squares in the world combine churches, defensive walls and towers, museums, a cemetery with a mausoleum, and a huge department store in a single space.

Steeple-roofed towers of the Moscow Kremlin and its walls with swallow-tailed crenellations are irreplaceable elements of the metropolis panorama. Twenty Kremlin towers connected by walls form an irregular triangle enclosing an area of 28 ha. The fortifications were constructed using the latest 15th-century technology.

The building of the State Historical Museum is one of the 19th century Russian landmarks and a unique example of the way the national architectural traditions are followed. The foundation of the building was laid in Red Square in 1875.

The Chambers of the Old English Court are a unique architectural landmark in Moscow. This is one of the oldest examples of civic architecture dating back to the 15–early 16th centuries. That was a time of active stone construction work in the Kremlin and redevelopment of the adjacent Veliky Posad, now renamed Kitay-Gorod

This small church stands where Red Square meets Nikolskaya Street, next to the Historical Museum and the GUM (State Department Store). The moment you see it, your imagination carries you away, deep into the mystery of ancient Moscow the way it was in the last part of the late Middle Ages.

The Monument to Minin and Pozharsky, two national heroes-liberators, is one of Moscow's best known monuments and perhaps the most symbolic one.

he Upper Trading Rows, now known as the State Department Store is a shopping mall which houses about a hundred premium class stores and over fifty cafes and restaurants serving mall visitors.

The Grand Kremlin Palace is a unique architectural ensemble and a landmark museum in Moscow. It used to serve as the residential chambers of emperors and members of their families, and today it has the status of the grand residence of the President of Russia.

Rising above the city just opposite the Borovitskaya Kremlin Tower, right in the centre of the capital is one of Moscow’s most beautiful mansions, Pyotr Pashkov’s house built in 1786. This building is one of the most significant architectural landmarks of the 18th century, a masterpiece of the epoch of classicism.

For many centuries, the Ivan the Great Bell Tower situated in the Kremlin’s Cathedral Square remained the tallest landmark in Moscow. Its slender silhouette is the first thing that catches one’s eye when looking at the Kremlin panorama.

The Cathedral of the Archangel (Russian: Arkhangelsky sobor, or Архангельский собор) is one of the key elements of the Kremlin ensemble and an important city landmark: it stands on the Borovitsky Hill, and presents a stunning view from the side of the Moskva River.

The Resurrection Gate arch establishes a visual link between two other remarkable buildings – the State Historical Museum and the Museum of the War of 1812, while the small chapel by the gate houses one of the most venerated icons - the Iveron Icon of the Mother of God.

The Church of the Deposition of the Robe (Russian: tserkov Rizopolozheniya, or церковь Ризоположения) is located at the Moscow Kremlin hiding behind the stately Cathedral of the Dormition and the Palace of the Facets, and is actually quite small.

The museum is located in one of the central squares of Moscow, Revolution Square. The building of the museum is part of a harmonious ensemble together with other landmarks around Red Square: the State Historical Museum and the Kremlin.

The Tsar Cannon and The Tsar Bell are rather remarkable exhibits of the Kremlin in Moscow. Both of them are located near the Ivan the Great Bell Tower and immediately attract visitors’ attention.

The Dormition Cathedral (or the Assumption Cathedral) of the Moscow Kremlin was the key Orthodox cathedral of the Russian state in the 15th–19th centuries. It is where all the emperors of the Romanov dynasty were coronated. The cathedral was the burial place for the Metropolitans and, later, for the Patriarchs of Moscow.

The Armoury Chamber of the Moscow Kremlin is an amazing treasure house museum. The museum collection is made up of unique items, which were preserved for centuries in the royal treasury and in the Patriarch’s sacristy. These include personal belongings of Russian tsars, valuable gifts from foreign embassies as well as household and decorative items made by Armoury craftsmen.

It seems like there no other reminder of the Soviet era is more distinctive than the monumental building of the Mausoleum in Red Square. The embalmed body of Vladimir Lenin, the main organiser and leader of the 1917 October Revolution, rests here, at the very heart of the capital.

This is a true Russian mansion - a huge luxurious house in the centre of a former medieval aristocrat’s estate located only a few hundred metres away from Red Square in the historical district called Kitai-Gorod.