November 2010 : Red square and Kremlin

News about the Moscow weather ... finally, we have got snow last Sunday 21st of November but these last days, the snow has disapeared with heavy rain. And again snow (5 cm) this Sunday 28/11 with - 6°C then -20°C on Tuesday 30/11 !

Some photos taken last Sunday will proof that it is possible to run during winter period in Russia.

But the Gorki park was really desert !

Now, back to the subject for November : the Red place and the Kremlin.

It's the first time that I will talk about one of the most famous spot for tourists in Moscow : better late than never !

See the Red place a month ago (left photo) when it was snowing and very windy - not a lot of tourists, isn't it ? - and compare with the photo on the right taken 32 years ago during Christmas time when the temperature was around -40°C !

For most visitors, Red Square is indelibly associated with images of Soviet leaders standing in the bitter cold showing the military power of USSR at the foot of Lenin's Mausoleum.

A short history about the Lenin's mausoleum :
Lenin's mausoleum was designed by Alexei Shchusev in 1924. Faced with red granite (for Communism) and black labradorite (for mourning), the mausoleum is essentially a pyramid composed of cubes. The mausoleum has been stripped of the honor guard that once flanked its entrance, and announced plans to remove Lenin's body seem to be outdated. Lenin (or at the least the wax copy of his body) lies still in his crystal casket, seemingly unaffected by the vast changes that have swept over Russia.
For sure, there are less people now queing the Lenin's mausoleum than 32 years ago !

But what is amazing is the St Basil's cathedral : I saw it in 1978 and it always looks the same, almost out of a fairy tale. Honestly, I prefer to view it when there is a lot of snow. It is the most known of churches in Moscow but there are plenty of churches like this one in Russia.

St. Basil's Cathedral  rises from Red Square in an irresistible profusion of colors and shapes. Its montage of domes, cupolas, arches, towers, and spires, each bearing a distinctive pattern and hue, have fascinated the eyes of visitors since its construction in the 1550s.

Although St. Basil's was built to commemorate Ivan the Terrible's capture of the Mongol stronghold of Kazan and is properly named Cathedral of the Intercession, its popular name has long associated it with a ragged prophet (his name was Basil) who foretold the Moscow fire of 1547.

Inside, there are some beautiful paintings and it's under restauration.

We will terminate the visit of the Red Square with the famous GUM store ... In the past (1980) there was quite nothing to buy, but a lot of queues, and now there are plenty of luxury stores like in other big cities.

Before entering the Kremlin, l invite you to read a short history about Moscow and the Kremlin.

1147 : the first mention in the Historical Chronicles is made about the city of Moscow, which was founded by Russian prince Yury Dolgoruky.
In the 14th century, the Mongols chose Moscow's Prince Ivan I to collect tribute from all their conquered principalities, giving the city supremacy over its neightbours.

By the middle of the 14th century, its princes had gained such pre-eminence that Moscow was made the seat of the Russian Orthodox Church. With Ivan the Great (1462-1505) at its helm, Muscovite rule extended over all of Russia, and the Kremlin became more magnificent, befitting its role as the seat of Russian power.

In 1495, the wooden enclosure was replaced by brick walls that surrounded the magnificent Cathedral of the Assumption. Over the next two centuries, until Peter the Great transferred the capital of Russia to St. Petersburg, the Kremlin served as the central stage for the magnificent and occasionally horrific history of the Tsars. With the shift of power to St. Petersburg, the city and the Kremlin declined. However, the Bolsheviks' choice of Moscow as their capital in March 1918 returned it to preeminence, and during Soviet rule the Kremlin experienced its second life as a great center of power. Although the Soviet state certainly left its mark on the Kremlin, the centuries-old citadel very much retains the aura of early Tsarist Russia. Especially in Cathedral Square, where the spirits of Ivan the Terrible, Boris Godunov, and the early Romanovs loom much larger than those of Stalin or even Lenin himself.

Now, let's start the visit of the Kremlin : well, you just need to buy a ticket ... see recent prices (and here, you have the choice between English and Russian, what is not the case everywhere !).

After crossing the Trinity tower gate where Napoleon marched in triumph in 1812, we can see on the right the State Kremlin Palace, with a modern glass and concrete structure, completed in 1961 : it is the Kremlin's most recent edifice. It was built during the halcyon days of the Khruschev administration to host Communist Party congresses and was executed in appropriately magnificent style. The palace's most prominent feature was its huge auditorium (6000 seats), the stage of which was surmounted by a monumental bas-relief head of Lenin surrounded by gilded rays. Today the palace is used for performances by the Kremlin Ballet Company, and the once familiar bas-relief of Lenin is gone.

The graceful neoclassical Senate building, commissioned by Catherine the Great, has been realized by the architect Matvey Kazakov. The building was intended by Catherine to serve as a meeting place for an advisory council, but it is better known for having been the location of Lenin's office after the Revolution. Today, the Senate serves as the official Presidential residence.

The 40-ton Tsar Cannon, built during the reign of Ivan the Terrible's son Fyodor in 1586, possesses a barrel in excess of five meters long and a calibre of 890 mm. The gun should in theory have been capable of smiting foolish attackers with projectiles the size of wine casks.

The two hundred ton Tsar Bell, though the largest in the world, was never successfully completed, much less rung. A smaller predecessor (weighing in at a mere 130 tons) was built in the middle of the 17th century but was destroyed in the Moscow fire of 1701. Beside the bell lies a small eleven-ton scrap that fell from the bell during its excavation.

Cathedral Square was laid out as the city's first great public space during the ascension of Muscovite power in the early 14th century and it was for centuries the symbolic heart of Tsarist rule.

The square is centered on the impressive Cathedral of the Assumption, built in the 1470s by Ivan the Great as the seat of the Russian Orthodox Church. It is the oldest, largest, and most important of the Kremlin's many churches.

Until Peter the Great moved his capital from Moscow to St. Petersburg in 1710, Cathedral Square was the focal point of political power in the country : coronations, assemblies of the nobility, and all of the associated ceremonial rituals of state took place here. If one ignores the statue of Lenin that still looks out across the square from its eastern edge, Cathedral Square provides an unparalleled atmosphere of old tsarist Russia. Clustered around the square are a series of cathedrals, towers, and palaces that together constitute almost the entire history of that period.

The Cathedral of the Archangel Michael  (1505) is the most Italianate of the Kremlin's churches, the last of Ivan the Great's contributions to Cathedral Square, and is the burial place of the early Tsars and their predecessors, the princes of Moscow. With the notable exception of Boris Godunov (buried at the Trinity Monastery of St. Sergei), the Cathedral houses the remains of everyone from Grand Prince Ivan Kalita (1325-41) to Tsar Ivan V (1682-96).

The golden-domed Cathedral of the Annunciation served as the private chapel of the Tsars. It was raised by Ivan III in the late 1440s. The Grosnenskiy porch was built by Ivan the Terrible in 1572 after he contravened church doctrine by marrying for a fourth time (the Orthodox Church allowed only three marriages).

The Cathedral of Archangel (left) and the Annunciation  (right)

Cathedral of the Twelve Apostles and The Patriarch's Palace  : these two buildings are in fact a continuous structure, together constituting the Kremlin domain of the patriarchs of the Russian Orthodox Church. Constructed by the Patriarch Nikon in the 1650s, they now serve as a museum of 17th-century applied arts.

The Ivan the Great Bell Tower has a gleaming gilt dome that dominates the Kremlin skyline, and for centuries the Ivan the Great Bell Tower was the tallest structure in all of Russia. Constructed of white stone and soaring to a height of over eighty meters, the bell tower was completed in 1600, during the reign of Boris Godunov.

The Armoury Chamber and Diamond Fund museum are located in a building constructed in 1851 by architect Konstantin Ton which is part of the Grand Kremlin Palace’s complex.

The Armoury Chamber preserves ancient state regalia, ceremonial tsar’s vestments and coronation dress, vestments of the Russian Orthodox Church’es hierarchs, the largest collection of gold and silverware by Russian craftsmen, West European artistic silver, ceremonial weapons and arms, carriages, horse ceremonial harness. You will see among other spectacular richnesses, the chalice of Yuri Dolgoruky, the helm and armor of Boris Godunov, a stupendous collection of over fifty Faberge eggs (see video -in English- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyffVbGp9zc).
The Diamond Fund museum was created in 1922 in order to keep the treasures of Russia and the crown jewels of Russian tsars. Some parts were made in the Kremlin workshops, others were accepted as ambassadorial gifts. Particular attention is paid to the Soviet Diamond since the Soviet Union was a major supplier of world diamond market.

When leaving, don't forget to walk all around the Kremlin walls with the beautiful gardens : nearly 2 km for this tour !