How well do you know the Moscow Kremlin?
Not politics, but the fortress itself. These six questions explore the Kremlin's walls, cathedrals, giant bell and cannon, and a colour you might not expect.
Did you know?
- The Ivan the Great Bell Tower reached its present height around 1600 and dominated Moscow's skyline for generations. Together with its neighbouring belfry it holds more than 20 bells, the largest of which, the Dormition Bell, weighs about 65 tonnes and is rung on major holidays.
- The piece that broke off the Tsar Bell weighs about 11 tonnes, roughly as much as a city bus. The bell itself stayed in its casting pit for about a century before it was lifted onto its stone pedestal in 1836 by the architect Auguste de Montferrand.
- Kremlins were built across Russia as walled centres of towns. The Kazan Kremlin, with buildings from different traditions side by side, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the Kremlin of Veliky Novgorod is one of the oldest surviving examples in the country.
A fortress full of treasures
The Moscow Kremlin sits on a hill above the Moskva River, in a roughly triangular area of about 27 hectares. Its brick walls run for around 2.2 kilometres, with 20 towers, and they enclose palaces, cathedrals, museums and government buildings. The first wooden fort on the hill dates back to the 12th century, and the Kremlin grew as Moscow became the centre of a powerful state. Together with Red Square, it was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1990.
Cathedral Square
At the heart of the Kremlin lies Cathedral Square, surrounded by three major cathedrals. The Cathedral of the Dormition, built in the 1470s by the Italian architect Aristotele Fioravanti, was where Russian rulers were crowned. The Cathedral of the Archangel holds the tombs of Moscow's grand princes and tsars from before the capital moved to St Petersburg. The smaller Cathedral of the Annunciation was the private church of the royal family. Above them rises the Ivan the Great Bell Tower, about 81 metres high.
Treasures of the Armoury
The Armoury Chamber, one of Russia's oldest museums, began as a workshop that made and stored weapons, jewellery and ceremonial objects for the court. Its collection includes coronation robes and crowns, gold and silver tableware, ornate carriages and a group of jewelled Easter eggs made by the House of Fabergé for the imperial family. Many objects arrived as diplomatic gifts from foreign rulers, making the museum a record of centuries of international relations.
Clocks and towers
The Kremlin's towers were first built with flat tops for defence. In the 17th century they were given tall, tent-shaped roofs, starting with the Spasskaya Tower, the main gate onto Red Square. The British clockmaker Christopher Galloway worked on the tower and its clock in the 1620s, and a clock has chimed there ever since, although the mechanism has been replaced several times. The present one, installed in the 1850s, is kept in careful working order by specialist clockmakers.