According to legend, this land belonged to pagan priests. Human sacrifices were made here, holidays were held, and magicians and sorcerers were buried. In the center of the hill stood a black oak ritual pillar. The pagans carried newborns and the dead around it. The first - at sunrise, the second - at sunset. Before the battle, the warriors danced in circles and left their weapons on the full moon. It was believed that after this it remained sharp for a long time, and brought good luck in battle.
This is how our great-grandfathers lived on Borovitsky Hill even after the baptism of Rus'. Yuri Dolgoruky put an end to the pagan temple. There was a fierce struggle - pagan Slavs against Christian Slavs. Dolgoruky won. According to legend, when dying, the priest placed a curse on his possessions. The proud and arrogant prince probably just grinned, but his descendants had a hard time: many times the Kremlin burned, was captured, they built here to destroy, and how many turmoils, conspiracies they experienced, vaguely, muddiedly...
Perhaps Peter I fled from Moscow and the hated Kremlin not only out of fear of the Streltsy? Anxious, nervous - he imagined murders, tortured boyars, poisoned queens, the ghosts of past troubles bothered him. The new Russia that Peter built years later, in his personal opinion, needed a new capital - and so it happened. And for some time the ghosts of the Kremlin unrest retreated. But only two centuries have passed, and again Moscow is the capital.
The Kremlin is unique not only for its secrets, which multiply every year, but also for its high historical density. Each brick is a clot of history, multifaceted and dangerous. For eight centuries they built, rebuilt and destroyed. Dozens of talented architects and artists have written their names in the Kremlin’s urban planning chronicle. All our kings and emperors passed through the Kremlin chambers and towers. Here they atone for criminal sins and ascend to the kingdom.
Could it have been different? After the victory of Yuri Dolgoruky, Witch Mountain was renamed Borovitsky Hill. According to the official version, a forest forest once rustled on the site of the Kremlin. According to the unofficial version, there is another meaning in the name - “hog”... Last greetings from a pagan priest?
There are many ancient Kremlins preserved in Russia - Novgorod, Pskov, Nizhny Novgorod, Tula, Kolomensky, Astrakhan, Smolensk, but it was the Moscow Kremlin that served as a model. An outstanding architectural ensemble, in which there is a rare combination of unity, completeness and picturesqueness.
Until now, scientists have not established the exact origin of the word “Kremlin”. It is first found in the Tver chronicle in 1315. By that time, the wooden fortress had already existed for two hundred years. History knows many examples when powerful cities, the capitals of empires, were erased from the face of the earth and from human memory, and small, provincial towns rose and turned into world centers. Such an amazing fate awaited Moscow.
The city was first mentioned in the chronicle in 1147, but how long it had existed by that time is unknown. In 1156, Andrei Bogolyubsky built a wooden fortress on Borovitsky Hill at the mouth of the Neglinnaya River with a total length of 850 meters and an area of three hectares; it united the existing buildings of the small town of Moscow. Years later, he began the unification of the Russian principalities.
From the very beginning, the Kremlin and Moscow became inseparable from each other. It was then that the Kremlin received the shape of a triangle, located between the current Borovitsky, Trinity and Tainitsky gates. On the floor side, wooden fortifications were protected by a rampart and a moat. For that time, it was distinguished by a rare method of strengthening the sole of the shaft on the inner and outer sides.
For many years, the Kremlin disappeared from the sight of chronicles, until in the 13th century, Prince Daniil the Younger, the son of Alexander Nevsky, moved to Moscow and founded a dynasty. A provincial town lost in the forests gave its name to the principality, and soon the battle for supremacy began. History knows many cases when cities that were attacked turned into ruins and were not restored. Such a disaster could happen to Moscow.
In 1238, Batu Khan burned the Kremlin to the ground and ravaged the city. But Moscow has not lost its importance. Moreover, Ivan Kalita decided to rebuild the Kremlin. Realizing that wooden buildings are the main problem, he was the first to build stone churches - the Assumption Cathedral (the main temple of the principality) and the Archangel Cathedral.
The white stone churches of the 14th century determined the composition of the Kremlin center, which has survived to this day. The Kremlin becomes the official residence of the Grand Dukes and Moscow Metropolitans. In 1367, Ivan Kalita's grandson Dmitry Donskoy began building the white stone walls and towers of the Kremlin. This is where the famous poetic name of Moscow begins - white stone. Stone town planning has fully justified itself.
The Kremlin withstood the Lithuanian army of Prince Olgerd in 1368, in 1408 - Khan Edigei, in 1438 - Khan Ulu-Mukhamed. Under Ivan III, Moscow rose above other cities and became the capital of the united Russian principalities. The Kremlin now had special requirements; from now on it not only performed defensive, spiritual, state functions, but also sacred ones. It was with Ivan III that the mysteries of the Kremlin began. More precisely, they existed before, but numerous fires (was the curse of a pagan priest really in effect?) destroyed traces and evidence.
Pskov masters began the next grandiose construction of the Kremlin. But the walls of the Assumption Cathedral, raised to the two-meter mark, unexpectedly collapsed. What happened to the masters is unknown, but the damned ancient pagan temple demanded human blood. It was after this incident that Ivan III gave the order to the ambassadors to search for skilled craftsmen in Europe. And they were found.
It is still unclear what they were promised for their consent. After all, neither Aristotle Fioravanti nor Pietro Antonio Solari not only knew Russian, but also had no idea where they were going.
Then they were joined by Marco Ruffo, Aleviz Novy, Bon Frezin. Such a cohort of Italians worked on the centuries-old symbol of Russia.
Aristotle Fioravanti. Imaginary portrait by Lotto
The fate of these people was terrible. Neither Aristotle nor Solari, despite the honor and respect that surrounded them, were able to get out of Russia alive. Just to get out. It is known that Aristotle tried to escape (namely, escape) from Moscow. What scared him so much? Was it just the execution of a German doctor that he witnessed? What made him fear for his life? What secrets of the Kremlin did he carry within himself?
And why did the tsar not let him out of Russia? Aristotle visited Solovki, took part in the campaign against Tver with the rank of artillery chief, and then disappeared. And no one else knows anything about him. Aristotle and Solari are the main architects of the Moscow Kremlin. Their contribution to the Russian pearl is unique and has not yet been surpassed by anyone.
What tasks did Ivan III set for architects? Apparently, they were so complex that only foreign masters could handle them.
Architects Pietro Antonio Solari and Marco Ruffo. Fragment of a miniature of the Facial Chronicle vault (1568-1576)
But why are ours worse? What could the Italians do? It is known that Aristotle was invited not as an architect, but as an engineer capable of technical miracles.
In his native Bologna, he moved the bell tower of St. Mark, and in the city of Cento he straightened the lopsided tower. What engineering miracle was he supposed to perform with the Kremlin? And judging by the mysterious, unclear death, he did.
On the inside of the Spasskaya Tower is carved the name of the designer of all the towers and walls of the Kremlin, Pietro Antonio Solari, who, by the way, was a remarkable student of Leonardo da Vinci.
He implemented much of what he learned from the Italian genius in the Kremlin. For example, in the upper part of the Kremlin wall, stretching along the Moscow River, seemingly meaningless holes were discovered, located just below the battlements. Exactly the same ones are found in Leonardo’s drawings.
Poles are inserted into them, connected on the outside with bound logs, and resting on the inside against a system of levers. When storming the walls, the defenders pressed levers - and horizontal logs overturned the attackers' ladders.
Another sign of da Vinci’s “hand” in the design of the Kremlin (not only, by the way, the Moscow Kremlin, but also Nizhny Novgorod, Kolomenskoye and the Oreshek fortress) was found by the architect-restorer Svyatoslav Agafonov. Casemates recessed into the thickness of the corner towers are found both in these fortifications and in the albums of the famous architect.
And they are embodied with such precision that the drawings can be considered projects. Isn't it amazing? Albeit indirectly, Leonardo da Vinci may well be related to the Kremlin.
However, this assumption still requires additional research.
Drawing by Leonardo da Vinci. This idea of Leonardo is embodied in several Kremlins in our country
And yet, historians are inclined to think that the author of the entire ensemble of the Moscow Kremlin is Aristotle Fioravanti. In the Kremlin, dilapidated buildings were thoroughly repaired and rebuilt, and stone palace buildings - towers - were erected on the site of old palaces.
The Assumption and Annunciation Cathedrals, the Chamber of Facets, and the princely tomb - the Archangel Cathedral - were built. The most beautiful and slender tower of the Kremlin, 71 meters high, Spasskaya, appeared.
Its gates, the main ones in the Kremlin, were especially elegantly decorated, and a chiming clock was installed on the tower. New walls and towers, taller and thicker than the previous ones, were faced with red brick. After another fire in 1493, Ivan III ordered the clearing of a protective strip two hundred and forty meters wide in front of the Kremlin.
The place was nicknamed “Fire”, now it is Red Square. Konyushennaya (Armory), Komendantskaya, Granaya (Middle Arsenalnaya), Taynitskaya (received its name from a secret passage dug towards the river), Sviblova, Sobakina (Corner Arsenalnaya) towers were erected.
Under Ivan III, the Moscow Kremlin became red brick, acquired its current appearance and reached its modern size. The area is almost twenty-eight hectares, along the entire perimeter of the Kremlin there are eighteen towers built into the fortress walls, one remote - Kutafya and one small wall-mounted - Tsarskaya.
The total length of the walls is 2235 meters, height from five to nineteen meters, thickness from three and a half to six and a half meters. Trinity Bridge is a brilliant structure from a technical point of view. It is based on the principle of ancient Roman two-tier aqueducts.
The foundation goes into the ground to a depth of 11 meters and has stood on marshy soil for five centuries, but the brick remains dry and strong. Why? During the restoration of the Kremlin before the Moscow Olympics (1980), hollow cells were discovered in the lower tier of the bridge, penetrating the entire structure.
Now that they are cleaned, if you look closely you can see small round holes on the sides of the bridge. This is part of the ventilation draft system, which guarantees the masonry dryness and safety. It was invented in Russia and was used in many northern monasteries. But the use of ventilation in engineering structures began precisely with the Moscow Kremlin.
In an amazing way, the Kremlin embodied the idea of “Moscow is the third Rome.” In 1508, Prince Vasily Ivanovich, the son of Ivan III, ordered to dig a ditch from the side of Red Square from Neglinnaya to the Moscow River, thirty-two meters wide and ten meters deep. Thus, the Kremlin turned into an inaccessible island.
One involuntarily recalls a medieval engraving - three elephants surrounded by the world's oceans and holding the earth's firmament on them. The analogy with the Kremlin suggests itself. Center of world order and spiritual power. Interesting coincidence... Or maybe intentional?
Several more times the Kremlin burned, was rebuilt, fell into decay, and was rebuilt again. No matter how strange it may seem, most of the palaces and towers were destroyed by the Russian tsars of the Romanov dynasty, who, as it seemed to them, settled for a long time in this mysterious, sacred and mystical place - in the Kremlin, created by the Rurik dynasty. The heyday of Kremlin construction coincided with the last Rurikovichs. Perhaps this means something that we have not yet figured out, like many things in history, be it a random coincidence or an insignificant detail.
To this day, the secret of Ivan III, embodied by Italian architects in the Kremlin, has not been revealed. Only echoes reach us - strange, amazing. In 1894, archaeologist Prince N.S. Shcherbatov, while searching for the library of Ivan the Terrible in the Kremlin, examined the first floor of the Alarm Tower and found in it the entrance to a walled-up gallery running along the Kremlin wall. The vaulted tunnel, about a meter wide, soon ran into an obstacle, and Prince Shcherbatov decided to explore the neighboring Konstantin-Eleninsky tower.
Alarm tower
There, too, an entrance to a tunnel was discovered, although it was located below the first one. As it turned out, the first of the found dungeons was used in ancient times as a close-combat gallery, that is, it served for shelling the enemy during a close siege, and the second was used for secret communication between neighboring towers (in ancient times, as historians say, internal passages connected all the Kremlin towers).
In addition, the researcher managed to discover a secret passage connecting the Nikolskaya Tower with the Corner Arsenalnaya. And get into the tunnel running under the Borovitsky Gate (underground chambers covered with earth up to the very six-meter arches were also discovered there), and also explore the hidden chambers located near the Trinity Tower at a nine-meter depth. Shcherbatov's photographs of the Kremlin dungeons he discovered, along with their descriptions, disappeared without a trace in the 1920s. According to rumors, the Cheka were requisitioned.
The architect I.E., who examined the Kremlin in 1918 Bondarenko reported that in the Beklemishevskaya tower there was a “cache”: rumor dungeons (rumors were passages that could be used to observe the enemy and surprise military landings) and underground galleries. (The dungeon of the Beklemishevskaya tower, along with the hearing, was already used as a place of torture and imprisonment of prisoners in 1525.) For daring speeches and complaints about Grand Duke Vasily III, the tongue of boyar Ivan Nikitich Bersen-Beklemishev was cut out here.
Beklemishevskaya (Moskvoretskaya) tower of the Moscow Kremlin
And Tsar Ivan the Terrible, accusing Prince Andrei Fedorovich Khovansky of treason, ordered him to be “tortured and executed by trade execution and imprisoned in the Beklemishevskaya strelnitsa.”
In 1929, while clearing debris from the underground part of the Senate Tower, a dungeon more than six meters deep was discovered underneath it. A version was put forward: the Senate Tower is a hatch into the underground Kremlin. However, something else is more likely - initially the tower dungeon had two or three tiers with wooden platforms; over time they rotted and fell down, thereby forming a “mysterious” well.
In 1930, when laying drains from the Kremlin on Red Square, an underground passage the size of a man was discovered (and very soon covered with earth) - it was located just to the right of the Spasskaya Tower at a depth of four meters and went towards the Execution Ground.
In 1933-1934, Ignatius Stelletsky, while examining the Corner and Middle Arsenal towers, discovered more than one underground cache here. There were secret passages inside the walls and underground passages (one was completely cleared). In addition, Stelletsky reported to the NKVD about the existence of a secret passage from the Spasskaya Tower to St. Basil's Cathedral, “near which there is a descent into a large tunnel under Red Square of a very mysterious purpose.” During the excavation work that was carried out near the Alarm Tower in 1972, a piece of an underground passage appeared at a depth of four meters.
In 1973, when laying a pit in the Kremlin near the Alarm Tower, the vault of an underground gallery was discovered at a depth of four meters. It was adjacent to the foundation of the Alarm Tower, that is, it ran parallel to the Kremlin wall towards the Spasskaya Tower. However, it was not possible to clear the gallery completely and find out where the tunnel began and ended.
Not far from the Middle Arsenal Tower, during restoration work in the 1970s, a passage into the wall was opened, turning towards the Corner Arsenal Tower. Kremlin archaeologists were unable to penetrate far through it - it was blocked with bricks. None of the dungeons discovered in the Kremlin both before and after the revolution have been fully explored. Most of them - after inspection by representatives of the special services - were permanently sealed or covered with earth or even filled with concrete.
And here is an excerpt from the “Government Bulletin” dated February 24, 1912: “Ancient underground passages in Moscow form a whole network, little explored yet. So far, underground passages have been discovered between the Novodevichy Convent and the Albert Gunther manufacturing factory, under the Donskoy Monastery, Golitsyn Hospital and Neskuchny Garden.
The underground passage under the Borovitskaya Tower has been well explored, in which two niches were found that open tunnels to the center of the Kremlin and under Ilyinka. The Taynitskaya, Arsenalnaya and Sukhareva towers also have underground passages. Other underground passages were discovered, apparently standing separately from the general network.”
They also wrote the following: “The Moscow Kremlin...is an outstanding monument of military architecture of the late 15th century. and yet remains almost unstudied to this day. This instruction concerns especially the underground part of the Kremlin, which is of enormous interest... Prince Shcherbatov’s research shows the extreme complexity of the Kremlin’s underground structures, the great difficulty of not only accurate research, but also simple penetration into them. Most of the passages are walled up, some are cut by the foundations of later buildings...”
“For many centuries there has been a belief that an underground city is hidden under the Kremlin. Treasures in the form of gold and silver from the times of Novgorod, which cannot be assessed, the library of Grozny, valuable paintings and historical relics, pearls and precious stones in huge quantities... Only Peter I managed to put his hand into this secret safe.”
An underground city... galleries, chambers, wells, hiding places... Peter I... But how, how was all this realized? Now, for such purposes, special equipment and tunneling machines are needed, but Aristotle and Solari had none of the above! They didn’t really speak Russian either. How negligibly little we know about our own ancestors, their ideas and attitude, their ability to realize the most daring plans!
With unique Russian slowness, the Kremlin is revealing centuries-old secrets. Until now, historians make unique finds and discoveries. Cannonballs and arrows are so commonplace here that sometimes archaeologists get bored. But recently a silver mug was found, in which two coins with a crucifix were minted, and on the handle was engraved a dragon, bursting not with flames, but with flowers!
Or birch bark letters so rare for Moscow. And absolutely amazing finds - the icon of Jesus Christ above the Spassky Gate and St. Nicholas the Pleasant - above the Nikolsky Gate, which were considered hopelessly lost since 1917. But how many times did each of us look at the gates, above which were plastered squares three meters high!
Address: Russia Moscow
Start of construction: 1482
Completion of construction: 1495
Number of towers: 20
Wall length: 2500 m.
Main attractions: Spasskaya Tower, Assumption Cathedral, Ivan the Great Bell Tower, Annunciation Cathedral, Archangel Cathedral, Faceted Chamber, Terem Palace, Arsenal, Armory Chamber, Tsar Cannon, Tsar Bell
Coordinates: 55°45"03.0"N 37°36"59.3"E
Object of cultural heritage of the Russian Federation
In the very heart of Moscow, on Borovitsky Hill, the majestic Kremlin ensemble rises. It has long become a symbol not only of the capital, but of all of Russia. History itself decreed that an ordinary Krivichi village, located in the middle of the forest, eventually turned into the capital of a mighty Russian state.
The Kremlin from a bird's eye view
The Kremlin or Detinets in ancient Rus' was the name given to the central, fortified part of the city with a fortress wall, loopholes and towers. The first Moscow Kremlin, built in 1156 by Prince Yuri Dolgoruky, was a wooden fortress surrounded by a moat and rampart. During the reign of Ivan I, nicknamed Kalita (money bag), oak walls and towers were erected in Moscow and the first stone building was laid - the Cathedral of the Assumption of Our Lady.
View of the Kremlin walls from the Kremlin embankment
In 1367, Grand Duke Dmitry Donskoy surrounded the Kremlin with a powerful fortress wall made of white limestone. Since then, the capital has received the nickname “White Stone Moscow”. Large-scale construction began under Ivan III, who united a significant part of the Russian lands around Moscow and built a residence worthy of the “Sovereign of All Rus'” in the Kremlin.
Ivan III invited architects from Milan to build fortifications. It was in 1485 - 1495 that the existing walls and towers of the Kremlin were built. The top of the walls is crowned with 1045 battlements in the shape of a “swallowtail” - they have the same appearance as the battlements of Italian castles. At the turn of the 15th - 16th centuries, the Moscow Kremlin turned into an impregnable massive fortress, lined with red brick.
View of the Kremlin from the Bolshoy Kamenny Bridge
In 1516, a ditch was dug along the fortifications overlooking Red Square. After the Time of Troubles, the towers were decorated with tents, giving the Kremlin a modern look.
The miraculous return of the shrine of the Moscow Kremlin
The main one of the 20 towers of the Moscow Kremlin is rightfully considered Spasskaya, created by the Italian architect Pietro Antonio Solari. The Spassky Gate has long been the main entrance to the Kremlin, and the chimes placed in the tower's tent are known as the main clock of the country. The top of the tower is crowned with a luminous ruby star, but after the collapse of the USSR there are increasingly calls to remove the star and erect a double-headed eagle in its place. The tower got its name from the icon of the Savior of Smolensk over the gate.
View of the Kremlin from the Bolshoi Moskvoretsky Bridge
The icon was revered by saints, so men, passing through the gate, in front of the image of the Savior had to take off their headdress. Legend has it that when Napoleon was passing through the Spassky Gate, a gust of wind tore the cocked hat off his head. But the bad omens did not end there: the French tried to steal the gilded robe that adorned the image of the Savior of Smolensk, but the ladder attached to the gate overturned, and the shrine remained unharmed.
During the years of Soviet power, the icon was removed from the tower. For more than 70 years, the shrine was considered lost, until in 2010, restorers discovered a metal mesh hiding the image of Christ under a layer of plaster. On August 28, 2010, on the feast of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary, Patriarch Kirill solemnly consecrated the newly found icon above the gates of the Spasskaya Tower.
Beklemishevskaya Tower
Legends and myths of the Kremlin
From time immemorial, the Moscow Kremlin was not only a symbol of the unlimited power of the sovereign, but also a place about which legends were written. Over the long history of the Kremlin churches and towers, so many legends have been created that would be enough for a whole book.
The most famous legends tell about secret dungeons and underground passages. It is believed that they were invented by Italian architects who designed and built the Kremlin walls and towers. Many underground rooms have been preserved under the former Chudov Monastery, which until the 1930s was located in the eastern part of the Kremlin Hill. These are passages, interiors of temples and long galleries. Today, some of them are flooded with groundwater.
Eternal flame at the walls of the Kremlin
There are rumors among Muscovites that previously branched underground passages led outside from each of the Kremlin towers. The same secret passages connected all the royal palaces. When builders began digging a large foundation pit for the State Kremlin Palace in the 1960s, they discovered three underground passages dating back to the 16th century. The dungeons were so wide that you could drive a cart through them.
Underground passages were found during every major reconstruction. Most often, voids, gaps and labyrinths were walled up or simply filled with concrete for safety reasons.
Spasskaya Tower
One of the secrets of the Moscow Kremlin is also connected with its dungeons. For several centuries now, historians and archaeologists have been struggling with the mystery of the disappearance of the library of Ivan IV the Terrible, which is also called Liberia. The Russian sovereign inherited a unique collection of ancient books and manuscripts from his grandmother Sophia Paleologus, who received these books as a dowry.
In historical documents there is an inventory of the library, consisting of 800 volumes, but the collection itself disappeared without a trace. Some researchers are convinced that it burned down in a fire or disappeared during the Time of Troubles. But many are sure that the library is intact and hidden in one of the Kremlin dungeons.
View of the Assumption, Annunciation Cathedrals and Cathedral Square
The discovery of books in storage facilities located underground was not an accident. When Sophia Paleologus arrived in the city in 1472, she saw the terrible consequences of the fire that raged in Moscow two years earlier. Realizing that the library she brought could easily perish in a fire, Sophia ordered a spacious basement, which was located under the Kremlin Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary, to be equipped for storage. After this, the valuable Liberia was always kept in dungeons.
View of Cathedral Square and Ivan the Great Bell Tower
Cathedrals of the Moscow Kremlin - “altars of Russia”
Today the Moscow Kremlin is both the place of work of the President of the Russian Federation and a historical and cultural museum. The historical center of the Kremlin is represented by Cathedral Square with three cathedrals— Uspensky, Arkhangelsk and Blagoveshchensky. An old proverb says: “The Kremlin rises above Moscow, and above the Kremlin there is only the sky.” That is why all the people honored the tsar’s decrees, which he proclaimed in the Assumption Cathedral.
This temple can rightfully be called the “altar of Russia.” In the Assumption Cathedral of the Kremlin, kings were crowned kings, the next head of the Russian church was elected, and in the tombs of the temple the relics of Moscow saints found eternal rest. The Archangel Cathedral, from 1340 until the 18th century, served as the tomb of Moscow princes and kings.
Archangel Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin
Under its arches, tombstones are placed in strict order on white stone slabs. The Annunciation Cathedral was the personal house of prayer for the Moscow princes: here they were baptized, confessed, and got married. According to legend, the grand ducal treasury was kept in the basement of this temple. The Cathedral Square is surrounded by the Ivan the Great Bell Tower, Faceted and Patriarchal Chambers. Meetings of the Boyar Duma and Zemsky Sobors were held in the Faceted Chamber, and the office of the Holy Synod was located in the Patriarchal Palace.
Sights of the Moscow Kremlin
The younger buildings of the Kremlin include the Grand Kremlin Palace, built in the mid-19th century by order of Emperor Nicholas I. Today, the ceremonial residence of the President of Russia is located within its walls.
Ilyinskaya Polina.
We went on an excursion to the Kremlin. The Kremlin is located on Borovitsky Hill. In ancient times, there was a pine forest on the hill, which is why it was called Borovitsky. Its inhabitants surrounded themselves with a palisade to hide from robbers. In 1156, Prince Yuri Dolgoruky formed a real fortress. Previously, the Kremlin was made of wood and therefore often burned. From above, the Kremlin territory looked like a large triangle. At the site of the Alexandria Garden, the Neglinnaya River flowed and flowed into the Moscow River. Now the Neglinnaya River is enclosed in pipes. Moscow expanded in 1326. For fourteen years, Ivan Kalita built and expanded the Kremlin. Stone cathedrals were erected - Assumption and Arkhangelsk. They built a high tower. Princely mansions were built. In 1367, Kalita's grandson Prince Dmitry ordered the construction of the Kremlin walls from stone. The townspeople really liked the walls and towers of the Kremlin. Since then, Moscow has been called “white stone”. Under Ivan III, the Kremlin walls that we see now were built. They are more than five hundred years old, they were built by Italian craftsmen.
Marusya Kozlova
My class and I went to the Moscow Kremlin. The Kremlin was founded by Russian prince Yuri Dolgoruky. Many years ago, the Kremlin was made of wood, and therefore often burned. One spark could lead to a larger fire. But in 1367, construction of the Kremlin made of stone began to provide residents with security.
To this day, many ancient cathedrals, towers, and statues have been preserved in the Kremlin. For example, the Tsar Cannon, which is cast from pure bronze and weighs forty tons, and the cannonballs weigh 1 ton. It will take 200 horses to move it. But it was never put into action, just like the Tsar Bell. The Tsar Bell weighs 200 tons and features the image of the Russian Empress. It is covered in scratches; a piece larger than a person even fell off the bell.
Nefedov Danya
Residents of the Kremlin
In ancient times, only Muscovites-artisans lived in the Kremlin. And then only the boyars and kings remained to live. The boyars had large courtyards. The courtyards are an entire estate with warehouses, churches, baths, bakeries, and so on. Gradually, all the possessions of the boyars BEGAN to pass to the Tsar. He either bought or took away these properties. The tsar executed undesirable boyars or expelled them from the Kremlin. In the 15th century, the Kremlin had a lot of houses and narrow streets. The streets were dirty, and only near the royal palace were wooden floors laid. The king had the richest mansions; they consisted of three floors. There were people living on every floor. Servants and soldiers lived on the ground floor; the first floor was called the basement. And on the second floor there were upper rooms, and already on the third floor the king lived. Each member of the royal family had a separate hut built, then all these huts were connected by passages and churches. It was possible to get lost in these passages. The queen and princesses lived in their own half. If the king wanted to convey something to the queen, then his servant called the court noblewoman and conveyed the news from the king.
Lopatin Alyosha
Walls and towers of the Kremlin.
The current towers and walls of the Kremlin are more than five hundred years old. They were built under Ivan III. The white stone walls of the Kremlin were badly damaged and were covered in wooden patches. The cathedrals had to be propped up with logs. The Kremlin has 20 towers, 6 of which are travel towers. Small archery towers were placed in front of them. One of these towers is Kutafya. If you look at the Kremlin from above, it looks like a polygon. One of the main towers of the Kremlin is the Spasskaya Tower. There is a clock hanging on it. In the Trinity Tower there is a remote control that controls the Kremlin stars. On some “corners” of the Kremlin, round towers with overhanging loopholes were erected to shoot in all directions. The Kremlin walls are so wide that a carriage can drive along them. Each tower has its own name: Troitskaya, Spasskaya, Nikolskaya...
Masha Busurina
The Tsar Bell.
There is the Tsar Bell in the Kremlin on Ivanovskaya Square. This bell was named so because it is the largest bell in the world. It weighs 200 tons. It was cast in 1733. Making the Tsar Bell was not easy. They dug a large hole in the square and first made a bell out of clay, and then poured bronze on top of it. One day, during another fire, burning logs fell into the pit with the Tsar Bell. Fearing that the bell would melt, people began to cool it with water. The bell cracked ten times and a piece weighing 11.5 tons broke off. Only a hundred years later the bell was raised from the pit. This bell has never rung. The bells could be “executed” for being rung during riots. Their tongues were torn out.
Egerev Yaroslav
Cathedral of the Archangel.
On the Cathedral Square of the Kremlin there is the Archangel Cathedral, it is dedicated to Michael the Archangel, the patron saint of Russian princes. The Archangel Cathedral was built by Aleviz Novy in 1505-1508 on the site of an old temple from the times of Ivan Kalita. Russian princes and tsars were buried in the Archangel Cathedral. The ashes of Ivan Kalita were brought there first. Ivan the Terrible and his sons are also buried there, but he did not want to rest like everyone else. He ordered himself and his sons to be buried behind the iconostasis in the altar.
Assumption Cathedral.
When the old cathedral of Ivan Kalita began to fall apart, Ivan III ordered the construction of a new cathedral. He entrusted the construction of the new one to the architect Aristotle Fiovanti. The new cathedral was completed in 1476, it was intended for coronation. There were two gates in the Assumption Cathedral. The first gate led to Cathedral Square, through which the king entered. The second gate led to the Patriarchal Palace, through which the patriarch entered.
Umansky Misha
Kremlin security.
Previously, there were many crows in the Kremlin, which greatly annoyed people. Crows croaked loudly, landed on the domes, and polluted the Kremlin. At first they wanted to scare them away by placing dogs in the squares that barked loudly and scared away the crows. But the crows were not afraid of the dog's barking and nothing happened. Then the Kremlin decided to have birds of prey: eagles, falcons, gyrfalcons and other birds of prey. Birds of prey scared away the crows, and soon there were fewer crows, and when they did fly to the Kremlin, they flew away almost immediately. Birds of prey were trained in a special fenced area of land where entry was prohibited. Already trained birds were kept free, and when there were no crows, the birds sat calmly on horizontal iron sticks protruding from the ground. There were few trees and bushes, but there was enough for the birds, because there were also few birds, and there was a trainer for each bird.
Igor Kruglov
The most important building in the Kremlin is the Ivan the Great Bell Tower. This is the center of the Kremlin. It unites all temples, cathedrals and churches. This bell tower was once considered the tallest building in Moscow. If the city was in any danger, people climbed the bell tower and started ringing the bells. The bell tower consisted of several octagonal tiers. Its height was eighty-one meters, the thickness of its walls in the first tier was 4 meters, in the second - two and a half meters. Because of this, Napoleon was able to blow up only the belfry, which stood next to the bell tower; the bell tower itself survived. Her bath could be seen thirty miles away. During major holidays, this bell tower began to ring first, then the bells of other churches picked up the ringing. Throughout the bell tower and belfry. There are a total of 21 bells on the Ivan the Great Bell Tower. The largest of them weighs 70 tons.
Liza Zhumaeva
Tsar Cannon.
In the Kremlin on Ivanovskaya Square there is a Tsar Cannon. The Tsar Cannon was made by Andrei Chokhov in 1586. He decided to make the largest cannon in the world. It was cast in the Cannon Yard. The Tsar Cannon weighs about 40 tons, its length is 5.34 m, and its caliber is 890 mm. Next to the Tsar Cannon lie huge round cannonballs. The kernels were decorative and empty inside. One core weighs 1 ton. The Tsar Cannon never fired. The Tsar Cannon was actually supposed to fire grapeshot from small stones and pieces of iron. In 1835, a decorative carriage was cast for the Tsar Cannon, decorated with reliefs on a military theme. On the front of the carriage is a lion's head.
The materials of the section are prepared by the editors of “Around the World” together with the World Heritage Center, Paris.
An act of high international recognition of the historical and artistic value of the architectural masterpieces of the Moscow Kremlin and Red Square was their inclusion in 1990 in the UNESCO List of World Cultural and Natural Heritage Monuments.
The Moscow Kremlin is a symbol of Moscow, a symbol of Russia... History itself decreed that what was once an ordinary Slavic settlement, located in the wilderness of the Vladimir Principality, eventually turned into the capital of the largest state...
The first documentary evidence of Moscow dates back to 1147, the time of the reign of Vladimir Monomakh’s son Yuri Dolgoruky.
Under Prince Dmitry Donskoy, the white stone walls and towers of the Kremlin were erected. In 1485 1495 the Kremlin was thoroughly rebuilt. It was during these years that it became red brick, acquired its current appearance and reached its modern size.
The Kremlin covers an area of almost 28 hectares. Along the entire perimeter of the Kremlin there are 18 towers built into the fortress walls, one remote tower (Kutafya) and one small wall tower (Tsarskaya). The most famous among others is the Spasskaya Tower, which has long been the main gate of the Kremlin, has 10 floors and a height of 71 meters. The Kremlin chimes are located in the hipped roof of the Spasskaya Tower.
On the territory of the Kremlin there are also such unique cultural objects as the Grand Kremlin Palace. Senate, Ivan the Great Bell Tower, Assumption, Annunciation, Archangel Cathedrals...
The Armory Chamber, located at the Borovitsky Gate, is the oldest Russian treasury museum. There are more than 4,000 exhibits on display here, including royal thrones. And nearby stands the Tsar Cannon, a masterpiece of Russian weaponry, its weight is 40 tons, its length is more than 5 meters. The Tsar Bell is the largest in the world. Its height is 6 meters and it weighs 200 tons.
The Kremlin is always crowded. Visitors admire the timeless beauty of architectural masterpieces that embody the history and culture of Russia.
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Kutafya Tower (entrance to the Kremlin) |
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Church of the Twelve Apostles |
For many centuries the Kremlin has stood on the high Borovitsky Hill, right next to the Moscow River. It would seem that all its secrets should have long been known to people who are busy studying this unique monument, which today has received the status of a State Historical and Cultural Museum-Reserve. And yet, almost every day brings new discoveries to archaeologists, art historians, architects, and restorers. Here are some of them.
Recently, unique items from the princely treasury dating back to the 12th century were found in the Kremlin. They lay under a five-meter layer of earth in a wooden chest with copper handles. They were probably hidden in the terrible days of the winter of 1237, when small Moscow was besieged by the hordes of Batu Khan for three days. At that time, Vladimir Yuryevich, the grandson of Vsevolod the Big Nest, reigned, the head of one of the largest states in Europe in the 12th and 13th centuries, the vast Vladimir-Suzdal principality. Apparently, Vladimir was given a share of the family treasures when he went to reign in Moscow.
The items included in the treasure are magnificent and varied. These are kolta large pendants in the form of six-pointed stars, covered with the smallest grains, temple rings with openwork beads, medallions with images of archangels and flourishing crosses, gilded sewn-on plaques for decorating clothes... As well as a gold ring of oriental work with an Arabic inscription: “Glory and success, and power, and happiness, and adornment to the owner of this.” This is the second gold item found in the entire history of archaeological excavations in the Kremlin. Among the neck decorations were hollow pendants in the shape of beetles, ornamented with hemispheres, grains and filigree wire. Similar ones were found in Sweden; they date back to the Viking Age and the 11th century. This is the first time such pendants have been discovered in Rus'. How did they end up in the Moscow Kremlin?! There are many mysteries.
Historians have long been interested in the question: why among the Kremlin churches there was a temple of Kozma and Demyan - patrons of blacksmiths. During excavations nearby, in the Kremlin itself, they found numerous evidence of metal working, the remains of a 15th century forge that burned down in a fire, pieces of crucibles, and fragments of crucibles.
The Kremlin citadel, like the best medieval fortresses in Europe, was rich in above-ground and underground hiding places. There were passages for forays and secret water intake, for communications between Kremlin buildings; there were underground torture chambers, for storing treasury and weapons, and prison chambers. They were protected from undermining by rumors, that is, by cameras with auditory tubes built into the walls and vaults, intended for listening. The underground galleries laid in front of the fortress wall were also called rumors; they were used during sieges to prevent the enemy from undermining.
Underground passages also led to the reception hall of the Russian empresses. An eyewitness of the 16th century, the Greek bishop Arseny Elassonsky wrote about the queen’s chamber: “The entire spherical temple shone with the purest gold, and by the cunning design of the artist, quiet words echoed loudly in it. (When examining the chamber, well-preserved pots were discovered on the vault, placed close to each other, fastened with brick chips on lime.) Ancient craftsmen often used hollow ceramic pots in the masonry of temple walls to amplify the sound in the room.
The vault was covered in gold and decorated with precious images. On the walls there is an amazing mural depicting the deeds of saints.”
Today, the throne room of the Russian queens corresponds to the bishop’s picturesque story about it: the restoration of the unique monument, begun in the 80s, has been completed.
The fate of the necropolis of the Ascension Cathedral is interesting. Female royalty and grand duchesses were usually buried there. Despite repeated attempts to fill up or destroy the necropolis, it was possible to save it and move everything to the Basement Chamber of the Archangel Cathedral. In recent years, active study of burials has begun, and discoveries were not long in coming.
Using the remains of Sophia Paleolog, forensic experts were able to reconstruct her sculptural portrait. Now we can see: Sophia Paleologus, the second wife of Ivan III, a Byzantine princess who came to Russia in 1472, was a woman of unusual beauty, with chiseled features, wavy hair, which Ivan the Terrible bears a striking resemblance to. And this is not surprising, because she was his own grandmother. Now the portrait of Ivan the Terrible’s mother is being painstakingly recreated. At the same time, Kremlin museum workers began a truly “forensic investigation”: which famous women were poisoned? Through complex studies of the preserved remains, they identified: Anastasia Romanova, the first wife of Ivan the Terrible, one of the victims of such an act.
The Kremlin continues to work on the revival of ancient symbols and emblems, carefully preserved in the historical memory of the people.
The image of St. George the Victorious... It was he who was considered by the Vladimir and then Moscow princes as their patron and intercessor. Saint George the Warrior was revered as the heavenly patron of the founder of Moscow, Yuri Dolgoruky. A sculptural image of St. George the Victorious by sculptor Vasily Ermolin adorned the façade of the Kremlin’s Spasskaya Tower. In the 30s of our century it was barbarically defeated. And only today it has been restored.
Once again, solemn services are held in the Kremlin cathedrals. Finally we heard the discordant sounds of the Kremlin bells...
Previously, many in Moscow recognized them by their voices, and the Assumption Bell in the Kremlin invariably played the lead singer during all the ringings, celebratory and funeral. Today all 22 Kremlin bells sounded again. Some of them were donated by private individuals in the past, as evidenced by the inscriptions. These are relatively small bells, because casting was an expensive affair due to the high price of copper, and the craftsmen charged a lot for the work.
Much remains to be discovered by the workers of the Kremlin Museum-Reserve. Discover, explore and restore.
So that everyone who comes here can exclaim after Lermontov: “...What can be compared with this Kremlin, which, surrounded by battlements, flaunting the golden domes of cathedrals, reclines on a high mountain, like a sovereign crown on the brow of a formidable ruler?..
Neither the Kremlin, nor its battlements, nor its dark passages, nor its magnificent palaces can be described. You have to see, see... you have to feel everything they say to your heart and imagination!”
Tatyana Panova, head of the archaeological department of the State Historical and Cultural Museum-Reserve "Moscow Kremlin" / photo by Yuri Maslyaev