Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The first stone structures in the Kremlin were built in the 1330s at the behest of
Ivan 'Moneybags' Kalita. Only the Church of the Saviour's Transfiguration sur-
vived into the 20th century, but it was demolished by Stalin approximately 600
years after it was built.
SPE
SPECIAL E
CIAL EXHIBIT
XHIBITS
Temporary exhibits from the Kremlin collections are held on the ground floor of
the Assumption Belfry and in Patriarch's Palace.
In 1812 French troops used the Assumption Cathedral as a stable; they also
looted 295kg of gold and over five tonnes of silver from here, but much of it was
recovered.
GGET INSIDE THE GRE
T INSIDE THE GREAT KREMLIN P
T KREMLIN PAALACCE
The Great Kremlin Palace is not open to the public, but
Patriarshy Dom Tours
sometimes arranges tours inside this grandiose building.
In 1600, Boris Godunov increased the height of the Ivan the Great Bell Tower
from 60m to 81m. Local legend says that this was a public works project de-
signed to employ the thousands of people who had come to Moscow during a
famine, but historical documents contradict the story, as the construction appar-
ently did not coincide with a famine. The height was probably increased so that
the belfry could also serve as a watch tower.
CAMER
AMERA SHY
A SHY
Photography is not permitted inside the Armoury or in any of the buildings on
Sobornaya pl (Cathedral Sq).
Under Orthodox law, the fourth marriage of Ivan the Terrible disqualified him
from entering the church proper, so he had the southern gallery of the Annunci-
ation Cathedral converted into the Archangel Gabriel Chapel, from where he
could watch services through a grille.
