Unknown facts about the Kremlin. Interesting facts about the Moscow Kremlin and Red Square. Interesting facts about the Moscow metro

ABOUT MOSCOW

Moscow is the most important city in our country. Moscow is the capital of the Russian Federation, a city of federal significance, the administrative center of the Central Federal District and the center of the Moscow Region, which is not part of it. The largest city in Russia in terms of population and its subject - 12,330,126 people. (2016), the most populous city entirely within Europe, is among the top ten cities in the world by population. Center of the Moscow urban agglomeration.

The historical capital of the Grand Duchy of Moscow, the Russian kingdom, the Russian Empire (in 1728-1730), Soviet Russia and the USSR. Popular names: "Mother See", "Third Rome". Hero City. Moscow is home to the federal authorities of the Russian Federation (with the exception of the Constitutional Court), embassies of foreign states, the headquarters of most of the largest Russian commercial organizations and public associations. It is located on the Moskva River in the center of the East European Plain, between the Oka and Volga rivers.

Moscow is an important tourist center of Russia. The Moscow Kremlin, Red Square, Novodevichy Convent and the Church of the Ascension in Kolomenskoye are included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. It is the most important transport hub. The city is served by 5 airports, 9 railway stations, 3 river ports (there is a river connection with the seas of the basins of the Atlantic and Arctic Oceans). Since 1935, the metro has been operating in Moscow.

Moscow is located in the center of the European part of Russia, between the Oka and Volga rivers, at the junction of the Smolensk-Moscow Upland (in the west), the Moskvoretsko-Okskaya Plain (in the east) and the Meshcherskaya Lowland (in the southeast). The territory of the city after the change of city boundaries in 2012 is 2550 km².

The average height above sea level is 156 m. The highest point is located on the Teplostanskaya Upland and is 255 m, the lowest point is near the Besedinsky Bridges, where the Moscow River leaves the city (the height of this point above sea level is 114.2 m).

The climate of Moscow is temperate continental, with a pronounced seasonality.

Moscow has large forest and park areas, within the city there is a part of the Losiny Ostrov Natural National Park, many squares and recreational areas. Despite the huge degree of development in Moscow, the area of green areas of the city is 34.3 thousand hectares, or about 1/3 of the total area of the city. Not only squirrels, hedgehogs and hares are found in Moscow forests, but also larger wild animals such as wild boar and elk, spotted deer, fox, mink and ermine, wild ducks and herons, rare pheasants and gray partridges, black kite and many other animals.

The name of the city comes from the name of the river. Hypotheses about the Slavic and Finno-Ugric origin of the river's name have become widespread among specialists. In the Finno-Ugric version, the original meaning of the word was - "water, river, wet", from the Mari language - "bear, female, mother, she-bear". In the Slavic version - "liquid, slushy, damp, slushy."

In the center of Moscow and at the same time, its oldest part, there is the Moscow Kremlin fortress - the main socio-political, historical and artistic complex of the city, the official residence of the President of the Russian Federation. The Kremlin is the largest fortress in Europe, preserved and operating to this day.

The exact age of Moscow is not known. The first settlements on the territory of the Moscow Kremlin date back to the Bronze Age (II millennium BC). A Finno-Ugric settlement dating back to the early Iron Age (second half of the 1st millennium BC) was found near the modern Archangel Cathedral. The settlement occupied the center of the upper floodplain terrace of Borovitsky Hill (the area of modern Cathedral Square) and, possibly, had fortifications. With the beginning of the Slavic colonization of the Oka and Moskva River basins in the 10th century, the Vyatichi settled on the top of the Borovitsky Hill.

50 INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT MOSCOW

According to most researchers and historians, Moscow got its name from the river that flows nearby. There are two versions of the origin of the name "Moscow". Supporters of the first version believe that the word "Moscow" is of Finnish origin, since once upon a time there were ancient settlements of Finnish tribes on the banks of the river. According to this version, "mosk" is translated as a bear, and "va" as water. Supporters of the second version believe that the ancient Slavs gave this name, and in the Old Slavonic "Moscow" means "wet", "dampness".

If you add up all the streets of the city, then their length will be about 4350 kilometers. A pedestrian walking at a speed of 5 km per hour without stopping will take more than a month to cover this path.

The Moscow Kremlin is the largest fortress in Europe, preserved and operating to this day.

The Kremlin chimes are the oldest large tower clock in Russia. Their diameter is 9 meters, the length of the minute hand is 4 meters, and its weight is 50 kilograms. The hour hand is half a meter shorter than the minute hand and 11 kilograms lighter.

The oldest temple in Moscow is the Assumption Cathedral, which was built in 1475-1479. The Dormition Cathedral by Aristotle Fioravanti is the oldest surviving building in Moscow. To date, he is already 535 years old. There are 837 Orthodox churches and chapels in Moscow.

Previously, representatives of various classes, professions and nationalities lived separately in Moscow. Many streets in the central part of the city were named according to who the inhabitants were and what they did. Cooks really lived on Povarskaya, and butchers lived on Myasnitskaya. In the area of Bolshaya Ordynka and Malaya Ordynka, immigrants from the Golden Horde, that is, the Tatars, settled. In the area of Malaya Gruzinskaya there was a Gruzinskaya Sloboda, and Khokhlovsky Lane and Maroseyka Street began to be called so due to the fact that Ukrainians (from Little Russia) settled here.

The Lenin Library (now the Russian State Library) is one of the largest in the world, second only to the US Library of Congress. It contains 40 million books.

The oldest park in Moscow is the Alexander Garden. It was equipped in the XVIII century.

Moscow is of great importance as a scientific and cultural center. The Russian Academy of Sciences located here includes 90 departments and 78 research centers. In addition to the Russian Academy of Sciences, there are other scientific academies in Moscow. The collections of Moscow museums - the Tretyakov Gallery and the Pushkin Museum - compete with the most famous collections in the world. There are 109 cinemas, 31 cinema and concert halls, 142 exhibition centers, 78 museums and 72 theaters in Moscow.
Ancient oaks grow in Kolomenskoye - their age is more than seven centuries.

One of the poetic places in Moscow - Chistye Prudy - was originally called far from poetically - Pogany Boloty. Waste was regularly dumped there. In the 17th century, the pond entered the princely estate, was cleaned and changed its name. For almost fifteen years now, the Annushka tram has been running around Chistye Prudy in Moscow. It has a cafe.

The last Russian ruler, a native Muscovite, is still Alexander II. Everyone else, including Soviet leaders and Russian presidents, was not born in Moscow.

In Moscow there is a river Los, and the largest of the streams flowing into it is called Losenok.

The millionth resident of Moscow was born in 1897.

In the novel by Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina threw herself under a train at the Obiralovka station near Moscow. In Soviet times, this village became a city and was renamed Zheleznodorozhny.

The most unusual benches in Moscow are located in the Art Museum garden, next to the Central House of Artists. Here you can sit on a bench-palette, a bench "bread grain" or a centipede bench.

The famous monument to Pushkin on Tverskaya used to be on the opposite side of the street. And in the current place is only fifty years old.

The names of streets and squares in Moscow were given for a reason. For example, the Kremlin gates were called Borovitsky, because a real pine forest grew nearby, around the fortress wall. On the site of the river bank, overgrown with moss, Mokhovaya Street arose, and a small swamp - Bolotnaya Street.

Several dozen rivers flow through the city and its environs. Large rivers are tributaries of the Moscow River - these are the Yauza, Neglinnaya, Skhodnya, Kotlovka, Khodynka, Setun. In modern conditions, many of them were enclosed in collectors. In total, 362 rivers and 550 streams flow into the Moscow River.

Moscow is surrounded on all sides by forests. And on the territory of the city itself there are several parks, including Timiryazevsky, Izmailovsky, the Botanical Garden with a unique collection of plants, Neskuchny Garden. In the east of the city there is the Losiny Ostrov Natural National Park.

There is a legend that the famous treasures of the Templars are located in Moscow. Treasures were secretly taken out of Paris during the defeat of the order. Preserved in Moscow and traces of the Templars. They can be seen on the walls of the St. Danilov Monastery. The first tier of the gate church is decorated with stucco rosettes in the form of the coat of arms of the Templars - a six-petal rose in a white square frame, the corners of which are cut off by four rings.

On June 29, 1904, a strong tornado came to Moscow. Having destroyed several villages along the way, breaking centuries-old trees in Sokolniki and destroying houses in Lefortovo, having walked along the Moscow River, the tornado lifted the water up and exposed the bottom.

One of the most mysterious places in Moscow is Tsaritsyno. Once upon a time, the place where the royal estate was built was called "Black Dirt", because it was "unclean". Since ancient times, it was as if an evil rock was hanging over it, it seemed to survive its owners.

The two most famous diamonds in the world are kept in Moscow in the Diamond Fund. One of them is called "Shah", its weight is 88 carats. The stone is inscribed with inscriptions telling about its former owners. In 1829, it was presented to Nicholas I by the Shah of Tehran as a sign of reconciliation after the defeat of the Russian embassy and the murder of the diplomat and poet A. S. Griboyedov. The Orlov diamond is the largest in the collection of the Diamond Fund. It was supposedly found in India and was the eye of a Buddha statue. Subsequently, it was bought by Count Orlov as a gift to Catherine II.

Glass windows appeared in the houses of the boyars in the 16th century, and until that time the inhabitants of Moscow had a fish bladder or mica instead of glass.

The most expensive street in Moscow is Tretyakovsky proezd. Here are the most expensive boutiques.

The first water supply system appeared in Moscow in 1804. And the sewerage system was built in 1898. The Moscow telegraph started working in 1872, and the first telephones began to ring from Muscovites in 1882. The elevator in Moscow was first built in 1901.

12 well-known ghosts allegedly live in Moscow, not counting hundreds of little-known ones. Among them are the Black Monk, Beria's limousine, Behemoth the Cat and others.

Until the 20th century, according to the established tradition, the walls of the Kremlin were whitewashed, so Moscow was “white stone”. And the spiers of the towers were crowned not by stars at all, as they are now, but by the heraldic eagles of the Russian Empire. After the revolution, Lenin repeatedly called for them to be removed, but this was done only in the 1930s.

Some metropolitan street names have much more original origins. For example, Plyushchikha Street began to be called that in the 18th century, because there was a tavern of the same name here.

During its long history, Moscow has burned down countless times. Since the houses used to be built mostly of wood, the fire spread very quickly, and the fire engulfed the entire city in a short time. The Kremlin also burned frequently. The situation was aggravated by the fact that until the end of the 18th century there was no centralized water supply in Moscow. In 1737, during one of the strong fires, the newly cast Tsar Bell shattered.

In the very center of Moscow, a river flows that many generations of Muscovites have never seen live. This is the river Neglinka. Once it was a fairly full-flowing river, but at the beginning of the 19th century it was enclosed in a pipe, and now it flows underground in a collector. Neglinnaya Street completely repeats the riverbed. Moscow diggers and just adventurers periodically descend into the sewer to follow the path of the famous reporter Vladimir Gilyarovsky, who also visited these dungeons more than 100 years ago.

In fact, they wanted to build a metro in Moscow even under the tsar. The first such ideas were expressed in 1875, in 1902 a similar project was considered by the City Duma. And in 1914, they even planned to start construction, but this was prevented by the outbreak of the First World War. As a result, the subway appeared only in 1935.

Over the years of the existence of the Moscow Metro, many stations have been renamed more than once. Some of them originally had rather strange names. For example, Sukharevskaya was the Kolkhoznaya station, and Alekseevskaya was the Mir station.

During the Great Patriotic War, the metro was used as a bomb shelter. During German air raids, the movement of trains stopped, and women, children and the elderly hurried to the station. The metro not only hid Muscovites themselves, but also housed state institutions. In addition, during the bombing, 217 children were born here.

Since its opening, the metro has not worked only once - on October 16, 1941. Then the Germans came very close to Moscow, and the subway was planned to be destroyed that day. However, by the end of the day, the destruction order was cancelled.

The stations of the Sokolnicheskaya line from Park Kultury to Sokolniki are finished with the stone of the Serpukhov Kremlin, dismantled in 1934.

At several dozen metro stations (which are lined with marble), you can find many extinct prehistoric animals, such as: nautiluses, ammonites, sea urchins, corals, various mollusks and others. The largest number of fossils at the stations of the Sokolnicheskaya, Arbatsko-Pokrovskaya and Zamoskvoretskaya lines

The Metro Museum operates at the Sportivnaya station, the exhibits of which are reduced models of Moscow Metro stations and trains.

In the transition between the stations Rimskaya and Ploshchad Ilyich, a real fountain beats.

On many lines the tunnel goes up before the station and down after the station. This is done to reduce the wear and tear of trains during braking before the station and acceleration after.

76 bronze sculptures have been installed at the Revolution Square station! All figures are unique and do not resemble each other. In addition, you can see that the sculptural group “Border Guard with a Dog” has a dog’s nose polished to a shine ... this is due to the fact that among students of Moscow universities there is a belief that a student who rubs a dog’s nose will definitely pass the exam.

Okhotny Ryad station was renamed several times. From the moment of its construction and opening (1935) it bore its own name. In 1955, the name of the station was changed to "station named after Koganovich" until 1957. But in 1957, the station again began to bear its original name, but not for long, since in 1961 the station was given the name "station named after Karl Marx" until 1990. Well, since 1990, we can again see this station under the name "Okhotny Ryad".

If you go from the outskirts to the center or move clockwise, then the passengers will be accompanied by a male voice, but if you go from the center to the sleeping areas or move counterclockwise, then the stop is announced by a woman. The solution to this puzzle is as simple as the world: this was done so that the blind and visually impaired would not get confused in the countless labyrinths of the Moscow metro

There is a secret metro line in Moscow. It is believed that it was built to provide a link between the Kremlin and other institutions with shelter bunkers in case of danger. However, there is no reliable evidence for this.

Today Moscow is a city-record holder and leader of many ratings. It is one of the world's largest capitals and the most populous city in Europe. The Moscow Kremlin is the largest museum in the world, and the Ostankino TV tower is the highest TV tower in Europe.

Interestingly, Moscow is home to the most billionaires in the world. According to Forbes, 84 residents of the capital are so rich. Their combined wealth is $367 billion. New York, home to only 62 billionaires, ranks second in this ranking.

There is a legend that the Baskaks, the tax collectors of the Golden Horde, took tribute from the girls, who were taken out into the field on the banks of the Moscow River in order to choose the most beautiful ones to be sent to the Horde. Therefore, the field in front of the river was called the girl's, and the monastery built on this site was called Novodevichy.

"Triumph-Palace" skyscraper in Moscow (Chapaevsky lane, building 3), whose height reaches 264.5 m, is the highest residential building in Europe. The Triumph Palace Hotel, which occupies the last 3 residential floors, is the highest-rise hotel in Moscow and Europe.

The largest zoo in Russia is located in Moscow. It houses over 550 species of animals from all over the world.

10 INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT THE MOSCOW METRO

To date, the total length of all 12 metro lines is about 325-330 km, and consists of almost 200 stations. By 2020, this figure is planned to be increased by more than 70 stations, thereby increasing the length by another 160 kilometers. Let's see what happens in 2020.

Most of the stations, of course, are underground (that's why it is the subway), but 9 stations are still on the surface of the earth (right on the street) and 5 stations are generally above the ground (i.e. on bridges, etc.). The Kuntsevskaya metro station is the only station with only one track. Trains come and go from here.

The gaps between stations can be of completely different lengths. For example, the longest section is considered from the Krylatskoye metro station to the Strogino metro station (6.5 km), and the shortest section is from the Mezhdunarodnaya station to the Delovoy Tsentr station (0.5 km in total).

The very first line was Sokolnicheskaya (red line), respectively, it was also founded in 1935. But the latest metro line Butovskaya was founded only 12 years ago, i.e. in 2003. The first train of the Moscow metro departed from Sokolniki station on the opening day, i.e. May 15, 1935.

The very first transition between stations was made in 1938. It was a transition from the Lenin Library station to the Aleksandrovsky Sad station.

The first turnstiles appeared in the Moscow Metro in 1952. And the station-pioneer was the station "Red Gate". Prior to this, controllers manually checked all tickets.

Subway cars are manufactured in the city of Mytishchi near Moscow and they enter the subway through the Sokol station (not to be confused with Sokolniki!).

The Myakinino station is the only station located outside of Moscow, namely in the Krasnogorsk region. True, within a few years (by 2020), it is planned to complete and open another station in the Moscow region, namely in Mytishchi - Chelobityevo, which will be the next one after the Medvedkovo station.

The deepest station in the subway is the Park Pobedy station, which is about 90 meters deep. Also at this station is the longest escalator (about 140 meters).

At the metro station "Kurskaya" you can see an interesting inscription - "Kurskaya of the big ring". In 1950, when this station was built, they made such an inscription at the same time, since at that time it was planned to build a small ring, but this project was never started. But, by the way, in the middle of the station there is a closed passage, which should lead to the Small Ring station.

HISTORY OF MOSCOW

The first settlements on the territory of the Moscow Kremlin date back to the Bronze Age (II millennium BC). A Finno-Ugric settlement dating back to the early Iron Age (second half of the 1st millennium BC) was found near the modern Archangel Cathedral. The settlement occupied the center of the upper floodplain terrace of Borovitsky Hill (the area of modern Cathedral Square) and, possibly, had fortifications. With the beginning of the Slavic colonization of the Oka and Moskva River basins in the 10th century, the Vyatichi settled on the top of the Borovitsky Hill. The Vyatichi settlement consisted of two fortified centers - the first, larger in area, was located on the site of the modern Cathedral Square, the second occupied the tip of the cape.

Presumably, both centers were protected by a ring fortification, consisting of a moat, a rampart and a palisade. Vyatichi included in the defensive structures and two ravines connected by a ravine, which performed the same function even in pre-Slavic times; the ravines were transformed into a moat up to 9 meters deep and about 3.8 meters wide. Presumably, a certain political and administrative center was located on the cape of the settlement. Both parts probably had their own cult centers - the upper one in the area of Cathedral Square, the lower one - "under Bor", on the site of the Church of the Nativity of John the Baptist that stood here. These two centers were surrounded by a settlement stretching along the Neglinnaya and Moskva rivers.

The first chronicle mention of Moscow dates back to 1147. The chronicle mention is the indication of the Ipatiev Chronicle on Friday, April 4, 1147, when the Rostov-Suzdal prince Yuri Dolgoruky received his friends and allies in a town called Moskov, headed by the Novgorod-Seversky prince Svyatoslav Olgovich. In 1156, the first fortifications were built on the territory of the modern Kremlin. For those times it was a typical average Russian fortress. The shaft was reinforced with oak beams. In 1238, during the Mongol invasion, the Kremlin was destroyed, but soon restored. Since 1264 it was the residence of the Moscow specific princes. In 1339 the oak walls and towers were built.

In the 14th century, Moscow continued to rise as a new all-Russian center. Beginning with Yuri Danilovich, the Moscow princes bore the title of Grand Duke of Vladimir, who was considered supreme within North-Eastern Rus' and Novgorod. In 1325, the residence of the metropolitans was moved to Moscow, and in 1589 the Moscow Patriarchate was established.

At the end of the 15th century, under Prince Ivan III Vasilyevich, Moscow became the capital of the largest Russian state, and at the beginning of the 16th century, under Prince Vasily III Ivanovich, the capital of a single Russian state. The new status contributed to the growth of the city and the formation of the economic and cultural center of the country. Industry and crafts developed: the production of weapons, fabrics, leather, pottery, jewelry, and construction. Cannon and Print Yards appeared. Moscow architecture reached great heights. The boundaries of Moscow expanded significantly - by the end of the 16th century, it included the territories of the White City and Zemlyanoy Gorod. A system of defensive structures was created. A radical restructuring of the Moscow Kremlin began. For these purposes, Ivan III invited the architect Aristotle Fioravanti from Italy.

In 1605, the troops of the self-proclaimed Tsar False Dmitry I entered Moscow. The power of the impostor in the city fell in 1606, during a popular uprising, he was killed by the inhabitants of Moscow. From 1608 to 1610, during the reign of the newly elected Tsar Vasily Shuisky, Moscow was under siege by the troops of the second impostor False Dmitry II, who settled in a camp in Tushino. During this period, communication between Moscow and the rest of the state is difficult. The siege was lifted by the approach to Moscow from Novgorod in March 1610 by the troops of Mikhail Skopin-Shuisky with Swedish mercenaries.

In 1610, after the defeat of the troops of Vasily Shuisky in the Battle of Klushino, Moscow was occupied by the Polish troops of Stanislav Zolkiewski. Attempts in 1611 to liberate the city from the Poles by the First Zemstvo Militia under the leadership of Prokopy Lyapunov, Ivan Zarutsky and Prince Dmitry Trubetskoy were unsuccessful. In 1612, the troops of the Second Zemstvo Militia, led by the townsman Kuzma Minin and Prince Dmitry Pozharsky, defeated the Polish troops on November 4 in the Battle of the Maiden Field, liberated Moscow from the Poles, forcing their garrison to capitulate in the Kremlin at the end of 1612 and leave Moscow.

In Moscow in 1613, Mikhail Fedorovich was anointed king, marking the beginning of more than 300 years of the Romanov dynasty.

In the 17th century, Earthen City finally entered the boundaries of Moscow, the Moscow Kremlin was completed and acquired a modern look. Yamskaya Sloboda, Meshchanskaya, Nemetskaya Sloboda appeared. The royal residence Kolomenskoye is gaining great importance.

The middle and second half of the 17th century was marked in Moscow by a number of social and political riots: salt, copper, streltsy in 1682 and 1698.

In 1712 the capital of Russia was transferred to St. Petersburg. In 1728, under Peter II, the imperial court was transferred to Moscow, which was located here until 1732, when Anna Ioannovna returned it back to St. Petersburg. Moscow retained the status of the "first-throne" capital and was the site of the coronation of emperors. This title is used to emphasize the historical seniority of Moscow as the city in which the throne of the Russian Tsar first appeared. In the dictionary of F. A. Brockhaus and I. A. Efron, Moscow is called “the capital of Russia”. The explanatory dictionary of S.I. Ozhegov and N.Yu. Shvedova interprets the word "first throne" as the designation of the oldest capital. The term is now widely used in all spheres of public life as a synonym and unofficial name for Moscow.

In 1755, Mikhail Lomonosov and Ivan Ivanovich Shuvalov founded Moscow University by order of Empress Elizabeth.

During the Patriotic War of 1812, Moscow was captured by Napoleon's troops and was badly damaged by fire. According to various estimates, up to 80% of the buildings burned down as a result of the Moscow fire. The process of restoration of Moscow lasted more than thirty years, the Cathedral of Christ the Savior was built. By the end of the 19th century, a tram appeared in Moscow.

In 1851, a railway connection between Moscow and St. Petersburg was opened.

In 1896, during the events timed to coincide with the coronation of Emperor Nicholas II, a major crush with a significant number of victims took place on the Khodynka Field, which was called the Khodynskaya tragedy.

In December 1905, revolutionary unrest and street barricade battles took place in Moscow.

In mid-August 1917, the All-Russian State Conference, convened by the Provisional Government, was held in Moscow.

On October 25, 1917, simultaneously with the beginning of the Storming of the Winter Palace in Petrograd, the Moscow armed uprising of the Bolsheviks began, which, unlike the uprising in Petrograd, was stubbornly resisted in Moscow. The opponents of the uprising, among whom the cadets of Moscow military schools predominated, united in a committee of public security and occupied the Kremlin in order to counteract the attackers. The confrontation ended in bloody battles between the junkers and the Red Guards, which continued in the city from October 25 to November 2, 1917 and led to damage to the historical center of Moscow and the Kremlin by artillery fire.

In 1918, the Bolshevik government moved from Petrograd to Moscow and Moscow became the capital of the RSFSR.

At the beginning of the second half of 1919, the anti-Bolshevik organizations in Moscow, led by the National Center, made attempts to organize an uprising in the city with the aim of overthrowing the Soviet regime, which failed.

With the victory of the Bolsheviks in 1920 in the Civil War, a new, Soviet era began in the development of the city. In Soviet times, Moscow again became the center of the state, and the international political significance of the city increased. Moscow was built up at a rapid pace, former suburbs joined the city. At the same time, historic downtown development was subject to selective destruction; A number of churches and monasteries were destroyed, including the Cathedral of Christ the Savior and the Holy Monastery. In 1922 Moscow became the capital of the USSR. The city began the rapid development of transport infrastructure. So, in 1924, bus traffic was opened in Moscow, in 1933 the first trolleybus route was launched, and in 1935 the first metro line was opened for passengers. After the commissioning of the Moscow Canal and raising the water level in the Moscow River, part of the urban area near the Moscow River was flooded. In particular, sections of the former Dorogomilovsky and the Jewish cemeteries adjoining it went under water.

By the Decree of the Presidium of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee “On the formation on the territory of the RSFSR of administrative-territorial associations of regional and regional significance” dated January 14, 1929, from October 1, 1929, the Central Industrial Region was formed with the center in the city of Moscow.

In 1931, two large cities of the RSFSR - Moscow (June 16) and Leningrad (December 3) - were separated into separate administrative units - cities of republican subordination of the RSFSR.

During the years of industrialization, a network of higher and secondary technical educational institutions was rapidly developing in Moscow.

In the thirties, a whole network of research and design institutes of a technical profile was created in Moscow. The vast majority of them were part of the USSR Academy of Sciences. At this time, mass media also developed in the city, many newspapers were published, regular television broadcasting was organized since 1939. During the Great Patriotic War, the State Defense Committee and the General Staff of the Red Army were located in the city, a people's militia was formed (over 160 thousand people).

In the winter of 1941/1942, the famous Battle of Moscow took place, in which Soviet troops won the first major victory over the Wehrmacht since the outbreak of World War II. In October 1941, German troops came close to Moscow; many industrial enterprises were evacuated, the evacuation of government offices to Kuibyshev began. On October 20, 1941, a state of siege was introduced in Moscow. But, despite this, on November 7, a military parade took place on Red Square, the troops from which went straight to the front. In December 1941, the advance of the German Army Group Center near Moscow was halted; as a result of the successful counter-offensive of the Soviet troops near Moscow, the German troops were driven back from the capital. On June 24, 1945, the Victory Parade took place on Red Square.

In 1952-1957, the construction of high-rise buildings was carried out, which later received the name "Stalin skyscrapers" and became one of the symbols of Moscow in the Soviet era.

In 1960, a new border of Moscow along the Moscow Ring Road was formed, beyond which the city began to go only in 1984.

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the city center again underwent a major restructuring. For the sake of expanding existing streets, building new highways and typical multi-storey panel houses, some architectural monuments of Moscow were demolished.

In 1957 and 1985, the VI and XII World Festivals of Youth and Students were held in Moscow, respectively. In 1980, Moscow hosted the XXII Summer Olympic Games.

On August 19-22, 1991, the August putsch took place in the city, organized by the State Emergency Committee. By 1993, the constitutional state crisis, which arose as a result of the confrontation between the president and parliament, reached its climax. On October 3-4, 1993, there was an attempt to seize the Ostankino television center and the shooting of the building of the Supreme Council (the White House). Then significant changes took place in the city. In 1995, new official symbols of the capital were approved - the emblem, flag and anthem of the city. The restoration of churches began, the construction of a full-scale copy of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior blown up by the Bolsheviks.

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the city faced the threat of international terrorism for the first time. There have been several terrorist attacks in Moscow.

In recent years, Moscow has hosted many international cultural and sporting events.

The early 2000s were marked by a major architectural transformation. The city is being seriously rebuilt - multi-storey office buildings, modern transport infrastructure, luxury housing are being built, a new business center has appeared - the Moscow City district. At the same time, it is noted that this "construction boom" leads to the destruction of the historical appearance of the city, the destruction of architectural monuments and the existing urban environment. A serious problem is the underdeveloped transport infrastructure, leading to

traffic jams and public transport congestion. According to Moscow Mayor S.S. 12% in 2016 compared to 5 years ago.

MOSCOW KREMLIN

The Moscow Kremlin is a fortress in the center of Moscow and its oldest part, the main socio-political, historical and artistic complex of the city, the official residence of the President of the Russian Federation. The Kremlin is the largest fortress in Europe, preserved and operating to this day.

It is located on the high left bank of the Moskva River - Borovitsky Hill, at the confluence of the Neglinnaya River. In plan, the Kremlin is an irregular triangle with an area of 27.5 hectares (ha). The southern wall faces the Moscow River, the northwestern one faces the Alexander Garden, and the eastern one faces Red Square.

With the beginning of the Slavic colonization of the Oka and Moskva River basins in the 10th century, the Vyatichi settled on the top of the Borovitsky Hill. The Vyatichi settlement consisted of two fortified centers - the first, larger in area, was located on the site of the modern Cathedral Square, the second occupied the tip of the cape. Presumably, both centers were protected by a ring fortification, consisting of a moat, a rampart and a palisade. Vyatichi included in the defensive structures and two ravines connected by a ravine, which performed the same function even in pre-Slavic times; the ravines were transformed into a moat up to 9 meters deep and about 3.8 meters wide.

Presumably, a certain political and administrative center was located on the cape of the settlement. Both parts probably had their own cult centers - the upper one in the area of Cathedral Square, the lower one - "under Bor", on the site of the Church of the Nativity of John the Baptist that stood here. These two centers were surrounded by a settlement stretching along the Neglinnaya and Moskva rivers.

The first chronicle mention of Moscow dates back to 1147. In 1156, the first fortifications were built on the territory of the modern Kremlin. For those times it was a typical average Russian fortress. The shaft was reinforced with oak beams. In 1238, during the Mongol invasion, the Kremlin was destroyed, but soon restored. Since 1264 it was the residence of the Moscow specific princes. In 1339 the oak walls and towers were built.

In the Kremlin there was the oldest Moscow church - the Cathedral of the Savior on Bor, or the Cathedral of the Transfiguration of the Savior "what is on Bor", built by 1330, for the millennium of Constantinople - "New Rome". The temple was destroyed in 1933. Moscow princes and princesses were buried here, until the role of the tomb was transferred to the Archangel Cathedral for men and the Ascension Monastery (also destroyed) for women.

Another ancient building was the Chudov Monastery, founded by Metropolitan Alexy in 1365, located in the eastern part of the Kremlin, adjacent to the Ascension Monastery. It was named after the Church of the Miracle of the Archangel Michael in Khonekh, which later became the tomb of Metropolitan Alexy. In 1483, the Aleksievskaya Church was built on the territory of the monastery. By order of the Chudov Archimandrite Gennady, the relics of Metropolitan Alexy were transferred to it. In 1501-1503 the ancient church of Michael the Archangel was replaced by a temple built by Italian craftsmen. At the beginning of the 20th century, a tomb was built in the basement of the Aleksievskaya Church, where the remains of Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich, who died in the Kremlin in 1905 at the hands of terrorists, were buried. The crypt of the Grand Duke was under the floor, exactly under the shrine of St. Alexis. In 1929, all the buildings of the Chudov Monastery were demolished.

In 1366-1368, under Grand Duke Dmitry Donskoy, the wooden walls of the Kremlin were replaced by walls and towers made of local white stone. Since this period, the name “White-Stone Moscow” is often found in the annals. Soon after the construction of the white stone walls, they twice - in 1368 and 1370 - withstood the siege of the troops of Prince Olgerd; In 1382, Khan Tokhtamysh fraudulently entered the Kremlin and ruined it, but the fortress was quickly restored.

In the second half of the 15th century, under Ivan III the Great, a radical restructuring of the Moscow Kremlin began. The first to start building a new Assumption Cathedral, because the old one, built by Ivan Kalita, by that time had already become very dilapidated. Ivan III invited the architect Aristotle Fioravanti from Italy.

Simultaneously with the construction of the Grand Duke's Palace and the renovation of the Kremlin churches, the construction of new Kremlin walls and towers was going on. The shape of the towers and the completion of the wall in the form of battlements are reminiscent of the Scaliger castle in Verona and the Sforza castle in Milan. In 1508, a ditch was dug along the walls, the water to which came from Neglinnaya. The Kremlin finally turned into an impregnable fortress surrounded by water on all sides, isolated from the city that had grown by that time. During the restoration of the walls and towers in 1946-1950 and in 1974-1978, white stone blocks were found inside their brickwork, in the lower parts and foundations, used as backfill. It is possible that these are the remains of the white stone walls of the Kremlin of the time of Dmitry Donskoy.

In 1610-1612, the Kremlin was occupied by the Polish-Lithuanian garrison of A. Gonsevsky.

With the beginning of the reign of Peter I, the significance of the Moscow Kremlin changed markedly - the tsar moved first to Preobrazhenskoye, and then to St. Petersburg, and the fortress lost the status of a permanent royal residence.

But the coronations of all Emperors and Empresses by right and justice took place in Moscow. The idea of the inviolability of autocratic power in the Russian Empire was carried out by strictly observing the ceremonial, in which the main political symbols of the state were realized. By decree of May 16, 1721, Peter 1 ordered that the day of the coronation be considered a holiday, along with the royal birthdays and namesakes. A throne was erected in the Assumption Cathedral, and imperial regalia were placed on a special table. Coronations in the Russian Empire were an important event for both the nobility and the common people. On the days of the coronation, duties were canceled, amnesties were announced. The coronation celebrations united the people of the whole country and the state into one, reinforced the spirit of unity and developed a sense of patriotism.

Under Elizaveta Petrovna in the 1743-1750s, when the Kremlin buildings were dilapidated, the task was first of all to repair them, and if it was impossible, the old buildings were allowed to be demolished and restored "the same appearance as they were before."

In 1768, for the construction of a new Kremlin Palace according to the project of V. I. Bazhenov, a special state organization was created - the Expedition of the Kremlin Building. However, in 1775 the construction of the palace was canceled, this decision was facilitated by the huge costs of reconstruction and Catherine II's dislike for Moscow.

In 1775, the Projected Plan was approved - a plan for the reconstruction of Moscow, for the implementation of which the Stone Order was created, headed by P.N. Kozhin. At the end of 1776, Kozhin compiled a separate report on

reconstruction of the Moscow Kremlin. In 1763, by decree of Empress Catherine II, the Senate was divided into departments and two of them - in charge of the rights of the nobles and the judiciary - were transferred from the capital to Moscow. With the erection of the Senate, the last private properties disappeared from the territory of the Kremlin.

In the early years of the 19th century, the Kremlin began to be perceived by contemporaries as a symbol of Russia's historical and military glory.

In 1812, Moscow and the Kremlin were captured by Napoleon's army. The French army entered the Kremlin on September 2, 1812, and Napoleon himself on September 3. Retreating, Napoleon ordered to mine and blow up the Kremlin buildings. Despite the fact that most of the charges did not explode, the damage was significant. It took more than 20 years to eliminate the consequences of the explosion in the Kremlin: the last work was completed by 1836.

By the beginning of the 1830s, restoration work began on the ancient monuments of the Kremlin. One of the first to be restored in 1836-1849 was the Terem Palace. In 1836, the architect O. Montferrand raised and installed on a special pedestal the Tsar Bell, which had fallen in the fire of 1737 and had lain all this time in a pit.

In 1839, Nicholas I commissioned the construction of the Grand Kremlin Palace to the architect K. A. Ton, according to whose project the Cathedral of Christ the Savior was being built at the same time. The construction of the building took about ten years and was completed by 1849. The passage to the territory of the Moscow Kremlin was free for everyone. It was customary to enter through the Spassky Gate, bowing to the icon of the Savior. The emperor and his family rarely visited his Moscow residence, therefore, by taking a free ticket at the palace office, the visitor had the right to walk around all the Kremlin palaces.

During the armed uprising in October-November 1917, the Kremlin, on the territory of which there were detachments of junkers, was seriously damaged by artillery shelling carried out by revolutionary troops. The walls, the Spasskaya Tower and the Spassky Clock, the Nikolskaya Tower, the Beklemishevskaya Tower, almost all the churches on the territory of the Kremlin were badly damaged, the Small Nikolaevsky Palace received great damage.

With the advent of Soviet power, the capital was moved to Moscow, and the Kremlin again becomes the political center. In March 1918, the Soviet government headed by V. I. Lenin moved to the Kremlin. Palaces and cavalry corps became his residence and the place of residence of the Soviet leaders. Soon, free access to the territory of the Kremlin for ordinary Muscovites is banned. Temples are closed, and the Kremlin bells are silent for a long time.

The Petrograd Collegium for the Protection of Antiquities and Art Treasures sent a desperate appeal to the government with a call to leave the Kremlin, because "... the occupation of the Kremlin by the government poses a monstrous threat to the integrity of the greatest monuments in their world and exceptional significance." This appeal (published in 1997 by T. A. Tutova, an employee of the Kremlin museums) was not even considered.

During the years of Soviet power, the architectural ensemble of the Moscow Kremlin suffered significantly. The author of a study on the destruction of the Kremlin monuments during this period, Konstantin Mikhailov, in the book “The Destroyed Kremlin” writes that “in the 20th century, the architectural ensemble of the Moscow Kremlin was destroyed by more than half.” On the plans of the Kremlin at the beginning of the 20th century, one can distinguish 54 structures that stood inside the Kremlin walls. More than half of them - 28 buildings - no longer exist. In 1922, during the campaign to “withdraw church valuables” from the Kremlin cathedrals, more than 300 poods of silver, more than 2 poods of gold, thousands of precious stones, and even the reliquary of Patriarch Hermogenes from the Assumption Cathedral were seized

In total, during the years of Soviet power, 17 churches with 25 altars were destroyed.

In the 1920s-1930s. the premises on the territory of the Moscow Kremlin were also used as residential: the leaders of the Soviet state, the Communist Party, and employees of the Kremlin commandant's office lived in them on quite official grounds. In 1920, 2100 people were registered in the Kremlin, by 1935 their number had dropped to 374 people, as of 1939, 31 people permanently lived in the Kremlin, including Stalin, Voroshilov, Molotov, Kaganovich, Mikoyan, Kalinin, Zhdanov , Andreev, Voznesensky, relatives of Lenin, Dzerzhinsky, Ordzhonikidze and others. The Kremlin was used as a place of permanent residence until the end of the 1950s. The last to move from the Kremlin was K. E. Voroshilov, who lived there with his family until 1962.

In 1935, the double-headed eagles that crowned the main travel towers of the Kremlin: Spasskaya, Nikolskaya, Troitskaya and Borovitskaya were replaced by gilded copper stars covered with Ural gems. In 1937, the gemstone stars were replaced with ruby glass stars. The ruby star was first installed on the Vodovzvodnaya Tower.

During the Great Patriotic War, the Kremlin was disguised in order to avoid its destruction. Streets and facades of other buildings were depicted on the walls, green roofs were repainted, ruby stars were extinguished and covered. The mausoleum was hidden under a two-story fake building. The Germans could not carry out targeted bombing of the Kremlin, since the Kremlin visually disappeared. During the war on the territory of the Kremlin and the Red

area, 18 high-explosive bombs weighing from 50 to 500 kg and about one and a half hundred incendiary bombs were dropped, which did not cause catastrophic destruction.

Since 1955, the Kremlin has been partially open to the public, becoming an open-air museum. From the same year, a ban on residence on the territory of the Kremlin was introduced (the last residents were discharged in 1962). The last major building of the Kremlin during the years of Soviet power was the Palace of Congresses, built in 1958-1961.

During the restoration work of the late 1960s and early 1970s, clay tiles on the Kremlin towers were replaced in many places with metal sheets painted to look like tiles. In addition, in connection with the construction of the “Tomb of the Unknown Soldier” memorial, part of the surface layer of the wall between the Corner and Middle Arsenal towers was cut to a depth of 1 m and then laid out again to create a surface that was monotonous in color and texture, designed to serve as a background for the memorial.

In 1990, the Kremlin was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.

In 1991, the Kremlin became the residence of the President of Russia. In the 1990s, extensive restoration work was carried out on the territory of the Kremlin, as a result of which the Red Porch of the Faceted Chamber was restored, the Alexander and Andreevsky Halls of the Grand Kremlin Palace were restored, and the Senate building was restored. In 1996-2000, the Kremlin walls and towers were restored. In July 2014, President Vladimir Putin proposed demolishing the 14th administrative building on Ivanovskaya Square in the Moscow Kremlin and restoring the Chudov and Ascension monasteries that stood in its place.

INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT THE MOSCOW KREMLIN

The existing walls and towers were built in 1485-1516. The total length of the walls is 2235 m, the height is from 5 to 19 m, the thickness is from 3.5 to 6.5 m. In plan, the walls form an irregular triangle. The top of the wall is decorated with battlements in the shape of a dovetail, there are 1045 battlements along the top of the wall. The battlements have the same appearance as the distinctive battlements of the Italian Ghibelline castles. Most of the teeth have slit-like loopholes. There are wide embrasures covered with arches in the walls. From the outside, the walls are smooth, from the inside they are decorated with arched niches - a traditional technique designed to facilitate and strengthen the structure of the structure. We are used to the fact that the walls of the Kremlin are red, but from the early 1680s to the early 1880s, its walls, according to historical descriptions and picturesque images, were painted white. In 1941, windows were painted on the walls of the Kremlin in order to disguise them as residential buildings.

There are 20 towers along the walls. 3 towers, standing in the corners of the triangle, have a circular section, the rest are square. The highest tower is Troitskaya, it has a height of 79.3 m.

Most of the towers are made in a single architectural style, given to them in the second half of the 17th century. The Nikolskaya Tower stands out from the general ensemble, which was rebuilt in the pseudo-Gothic style at the beginning of the 19th century.

In 1485-1516, the construction of the Kremlin walls was headed by Italian architects Anton Fryazin, Marco Fryazin, Pietro Antonio Solari and Aleviz Fryazin Stary. Brick walls were placed along the line of white stone ones, with a slight retreat to the outside. Starting from the Spasskaya Tower, the territory of the Kremlin was enlarged to the east. In 1485, the Taynitskaya Tower was laid first on the south side, and five years later the entire southern part of the fortress was built. For the construction of walls and towers, large (30x14x17 cm or 31x15x9 cm) bricks weighing up to 8 kg each were used. The front walls were laid out of brick, which were filled with white stone. The highest walls were erected along Red Square, where there was no natural water barrier.

Spasskaya, Nabatnaya, Konstantin-Eleninskaya, Troitskaya, Borovitskaya, Annunciation and Petrovskaya towers had shoots on the walls. Initially, inside the wall through all the towers there was a through passage covered with cylindrical vaults. Most of the passage was eventually covered with construction waste, the section between the Konstantin-Eleninskaya and Nabatnaya towers has been preserved. There were also caches and passages under the walls, in some cases going far beyond the line of fortifications.

At the beginning of the 18th century, Neglinnaya was moved away from the walls. To install new guns on the towers, loopholes were cut. At the same time, the originally existing plank roofs of the walls burned down. In 1702-1736, for the construction of the Arsenal, part of the wall was dismantled, later restored. In 1771-1773, for the construction of the Kremlin Palace according to the project of V.I. Bazhenov, a part of the southern wall between the Beklemishevskaya and Annunciation towers was also dismantled, which was later restored. In 1802-1805, the towers were overhauled, during which almost all the outlet archers were dismantled. The war of 1812 inflicted heavy damage on the walls, especially the Nikolskaya Tower, towers and walls along the Neglinnaya. Repair and restoration of the fortifications were carried out from 1817 to 1822. During the repair work, pseudo-Gothic decor details were added to the external appearance of the Borovitskaya and Vodovzvodnaya towers.

In 1866-1870, the walls and towers of the Kremlin were restored by architects N. A. Shokhin, P. A. Gerasimov, F. F. Richter, who sought to give the buildings their original appearance. During the restoration process, pseudo-Gothic decorative details disappeared from the Borovitskaya Tower, however, many elements of the original details of the walls and towers of the Kremlin were lost and replaced with inaccurate copies. Damage to the towers and walls was caused during the alterations of the second half of the 19th century in the course of adapting their premises for household needs.

The Nikolskaya and Beklemishevskaya towers, which suffered during the revolution, were repaired in 1918. Examination and partial restoration of the walls were carried out in 1931-1936. In 1935-1937 ruby five-pointed stars were installed on five towers. The next restoration of the walls and towers of the Kremlin was carried out in 1946-1953, during which the walls were cleaned and repaired, loopholes and parapets were restored, details on a number of towers were revealed, the tops of the Spasskaya, Troitskaya and Nikolskaya towers were upholstered with sheet copper. The restoration commission included prominent scientists and restorers: I. E. Grabar, V. N. Lazarev, M. V. Alpatov, P. D. Korin, D. P. Sukhov and others.

Uphill Consulting Group has assessed the Moscow Kremlin. The value of the Kremlin as a real estate object (taking into account the socio-cultural value) as of November 2012 amounted to 50 billion US dollars.

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02.01.2018

The Moscow Kremlin is perhaps the most famous landmark in Russia, and St. Basil's Cathedral standing next to it on Red Square is the most recognizable symbol of the country. Foreign tourists come here without fail and residents of the city come with pleasure. The Moscow Kremlin is famous not only for its colorful architecture and historical value, but also for its mysterious legends, curious facts and interesting rumors.

The walls of the Kremlin are built in the shape of a triangle. According to legend, at this place, on the way from Kiev to Vladimir, Prince Yuri Dolgoruky had a vision - a motley three-headed beast, and the Greek philosopher accompanying him explained that this meant the appearance of a triangular-shaped fortress city, where people from different tribes would flock.
The first walls of the Kremlin were built in the 13th century from logs and covered a site with a perimeter of about 850 meters and an area of 3 hectares, inside which all of the then Moscow was located.
White stone walls appeared under Dmitry Donskoy in the 14th century, because wooden ones were unstable before fires, and a century later they were replaced with red brick ones.
The Kremlin towers were built primarily for defense, so some were equipped with drawbridges or even traps: an iron grate lowered and closed the exit as soon as the enemy passed through the gate into the tower.
St. Basil's Cathedral is sometimes considered part of the Moscow Kremlin, but it is located outside the walls - opposite the Spasskaya Tower and is not a single 10-domed temple, but 9 separate single-domed churches surrounding the high central one itself. Each has its own name, and among themselves they are connected by transitions.
Of the 20 towers of the Kremlin, all have their own name, except for two, respectively, the 1st and 2nd Nameless.
Initially, the towers were named after the boyars or builders of fortresses, as well as nearby churches.
The Spasskaya Tower was called Frolovskaya - in honor of the temple on Myasnitskaya Street, where its gates went.
The legend about Napoleon's stay in Moscow is connected with the Spasskaya Tower. At first he tried to drive through the gate on horseback and in a cocked hat, but the headdress was blown away by the wind: the entrance was considered holy because of the icon of the Almighty Savior (Smolensky), located above the arch, it was forbidden to drive or pass with a covered head. And when trying to set fire to the tower, the wick was flooded with a gushing downpour. And the whole military campaign, as you know, ended ingloriously.
The icon that hung on the Spasskaya Tower was considered lost since the 30s of the 20th century, but in 2010 it was found, moreover, in its place, above the gate, where it should have been. The image was skillfully hidden behind a metal mesh and plaster in order to save it from destruction. The icon was discovered with the help of probing.
The Taynitskaya tower got its name from a secret well with water. The entrance to the fortress through it was equipped very cunningly: breaking through the gate from the side of the river, the enemy only got into the outhouse-shooter, and the real passage was located on the side.
In 1613, the first pressurized water supply system in Russia was built in the Kremlin - in the Vodovzvodnaya Tower. With the help of a lifting mechanism (the wheels were rotated by horses), the water rose through pipes into a stone tank, and from it was distributed to all the fortresses.
Until 1831, between the Blagoveshchenskaya and Vodovzvodnaya towers, there was a Port Washing Gate: a small passage through which the laundresses made their way to the river. The remains of the opening can be seen from the inside of the wall.
The Kutafya Tower is the only entrance to the Kremlin open to visitors. Trinity Bridge leads from inside the fortress. Now the Alexander Garden is spread under it, and once the river Neglinka flowed.

The Moscow Kremlin keeps many more secrets and even slowly reveals them to our contemporaries. For example, in 2007, during the excavations, 5,000 different historical relics were discovered, including medieval birch bark letters. And these are certainly not the last finds that can tell about ancient Moscow.

Interesting facts about the Moscow Kremlin tell the secrets and history of this building. The Kremlin is the oldest part of Moscow and the main building of history, culture and politics. At the moment, the Moscow Kremlin is the official residence of the Russian president. What is interesting and remarkable about this building?

Previously, the place on which the Kremlin is now built was called Borovitsky Hill.. Archaeologists have found settlements of people who lived at that time. The finds date back to the 2nd century BC. All this testifies that the place of the Moscow Kremlin used to be the center of life for people. During paganism, Borovitsky Hill was the Witch's Mountain. Gods were worshiped on it, various rituals were performed.
This building contains more secrets than many people think. In addition to the main building, which everyone sees, there is also a dungeon. The secret passages of the Kremlin are being studied by experienced archaeologists. Interestingly, the underground labyrinths of the Kremlin and the Garden Ring are interconnected. Archaeologists have discovered a whole underground capital. From the Kremlin dungeon, you can get to the Sparrow Hills.
In the 17th century, hanging gardens were located on the territory of the Kremlin. There were two large gardens and several smaller ones. They grew fruits, nuts, and there was a real reservoir. Water was supplied to the gardens from a water tower.
Now everyone sees the Kremlin in red. Initially, when it was just built, it was also red. However, in the 17th century it was made white. One playwright described the Kremlin in these words: "The white paint that hides the cracks gives the Kremlin the appearance of youth, erasing its past." During the World War, a proposal was made to repaint the Kremlin to camouflage it. On it they painted the walls of houses, holes in windows. Well, it was returned to the red color after the end of the war.
Today, the Moscow Kremlin occupies a leading position among the fortresses of Russia. It is considered the largest, and not only in Russia, but also in Europe.
Always on the Kremlin chimes exact time. The answer to this question lies underground. The cable from the chimes is connected to the control clock at the Moscow Institute of Astronomy.
Initially, the Kremlin was decorated with two-headed eagles.. But in 1935 they were changed to ruby stars.
The weight of one star is a ton. They are able to withstand strong winds and hurricanes. When there are windy days in Moscow, the stars rotate, changing their position, turning sideways to the wind.
The Alhill Group appraised the Kremlin, its price was $50 billion.
In the days of the tsars, anyone could visit the territory of the Kremlin. Tickets were also issued to visit the Kremlin palaces.
Now the Kremlin is the center of Moscow, a sensitive facility. Interestingly, until the middle of the last century, Muscovites lived in it. In 1955, a law was passed prohibiting residence in the Kremlin. The last inhabitants of the Kremlin left it in 1962.
The Museum of Applied Arts was opened in 1955, everyone could visit it. Another grand building on the territory of the Kremlin is the Palace of Congresses. But he is not taken seriously, they say, against the background of other buildings, he is like a "glass".
Like all ancient buildings, the Kremlin is full of secrets. Basically, all the secrets and mysteries are connected with the dungeon. There is no exact map of the dungeon, it is lost. Archaeologists have not been able to study many corridors until our time. In the dungeon, there was the library of Ivan the Terrible. However, many books and documents were never found. There is an opinion that it simply burned down, or lies in one of the unexplored corridors.
When Napoleon Bonaparte attacked Russia, the Kremlin suffered huge damage. The French invaders were looking for valuables, they looted churches and burial places. And when Napoleon retreated, he partially blew up the walls and towers. The Kremlin was restored only in the 18th century. The October Revolution also brought destruction. The Kremlin was bombarded.
The Kremlin has 20 completely different towers. Each of them has its own history, name. They were rebuilt in the same style, of which the Nikolskaya Tower stands out. It is made in the Gothic style.

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The main symbol of Russia, the building is so status, significant, outstanding that only such world-famous historical architectural objects as the Egyptian pyramids or the Tower of London can be compared with it ...

Appolinary Vasnetsov. The heyday of the Kremlin at the end of the 17th century

The Moscow Kremlin is the oldest part of the Russian capital, the heart of the city, the official residence of the country's leader, one of the world's largest complexes with unique architecture, a treasury of historical relics and a spiritual center.

The significance of the Kremlin in our country is evidenced by the fact that it is with the Moscow complex that the very concept of the “Kremlin” is associated. Meanwhile, Kolomna, Syzran, Nizhny Novgorod, Smolensk, Astrakhan and other cities not only in Russia, but also in Poland, Ukraine, and Belarus have their own Kremlins.

According to the definition given in the "explanatory dictionary" by Vladimir Dahl, "krem" is a large and strong timber forest, and "kremlin" is a coniferous forest growing in a moss swamp. And the “Kremlin” is a city surrounded by a fortress wall, with towers and loopholes. Thus, the name of these structures comes from the type of wood that was used in their construction. Unfortunately, not a single wooden Kremlin has been preserved in Russia, except for the guard towers in the Trans-Urals, but the stone structures, which until the 14th century were called detinets and performed a protective function, remained, and the Moscow Kremlin is, of course, the most famous of them.

The main symbol of Russia is located on Borovitsky Hill, on the higher left bank of the Moskva River, in the place where the Neglinnaya River flows into it. If we consider the complex from a height, then the Kremlin is an irregularly shaped triangle with a total area of 27.7 hectares, surrounded by a massive wall with towers.

The first detailed plan of the Moscow Kremlin, 1601

The architectural complex of the Moscow Kremlin includes 4 palaces and 4 cathedrals, the southern wall faces the Moscow River, the eastern one faces Red Square, and the northwestern one faces the Alexander Garden. Currently, the Kremlin is an independent administrative unit within Moscow and is included in the UNESCO World Natural and Cultural Heritage List.

Plan of the Moscow Kremlin presented on its official website

Listing all the events that took place over the course of more than 900 years of the history of the Moscow Kremlin is not an easy task. Interestingly, the first human settlements on Borovitsky Hill are dated by archaeologists to the 2nd millennium BC. At that time, the construction site of the future Kremlin was completely covered with dense forests, hence the name of the hill - Borovitsky.

Other archaeological finds found on the territory of the Kremlin date back to the period of the 8th-3rd centuries BC, scientists suggest that even then the first wooden fortifications were erected on the site where the Cathedral Square of the Kremlin is now located. You can see items related to the everyday life of the ancient inhabitants of the Kremlin Mountain in the basement of the Annunciation Cathedral, where the exhibition "Archaeology of the Moscow Kremlin" operates.

From the 12th century until the first half of the 13th century, a border fortress was located on the site of the Moscow Kremlin, which became the beginning of the history of Moscow. Archaeologists managed to discover an ancient cemetery of the 12th century, which was located on the site of the Assumption Cathedral, presumably, there was also a wooden church nearby.

Border fortress on the site of the Moscow Kremlin, watercolor by G.V. Borisevich

The founder of Moscow, Vladimir-Suzdal Prince Yuri Dolgoruky, laid a fortress at the mouth of the Neglinnaya River, a little higher than the Yauza River. The new fortress united 2 fortified centers located on the Borovitsky hill into a single whole. The fortress, which stood on the site of the future Kremlin, occupied an irregular triangle between the current Trinity, Borovitsky and Tainitsky gates.

Monument to Yuri Dolgoruky in Moscow

During this period, Moscow and the Kremlin experienced numerous internecine wars of the Russian princes, a severe fire and looting overtook the city during the invasion of Batu Khan, so that the wooden structures of the old Kremlin were seriously damaged.

The first "high-ranking person" who settled in the Moscow Kremlin was Prince Daniel - the youngest son of Prince Alexander Nevsky from Vladimir, then the son of Moscow Prince Daniel - Ivan Kalita ruled in Moscow, who did a lot to make the city one of the largest and strongest in the world. Rus'. Ivan Kalita was also engaged in the arrangement of his residence, which, under him, in 1331 received its current name - the Moscow Kremlin and became a separate, main part of the city.

In 1326-1327, the Assumption Cathedral was erected - already at that time it became the main temple of the principality, and in 1329 the construction of the church and the bell tower of John of the Ladder was completed. The following year, the domes of the Cathedral of the Savior on Bor rose in the Kremlin, and in 1333 the Cathedral of the Archangel Michael was built, in which Ivan Kalita himself, his children and grandchildren were then buried. These first not wooden, but white-stone temples of Moscow later determined the spatial composition of the Kremlin center, in its main features it is still preserved today.

By the way, it was under Ivan Kalita, in the first half of the 14th century, that the treasury of the Moscow princes began to form, the place of storage of which, of course, became the Kremlin. One of the main items of the treasury was the “golden hat” — scientists identify it with the famous Monomakh’s hat, which served as a crown for all Moscow rulers.

Moscow Kremlin under Ivan Kalita, painting by A.M. Vasnetsov

In 1365, after another fire, Prince Dmitry (in 1380, after the victory over Mamai, he received the nickname Donskoy), who ruled at that time in Moscow, decided to build towers and fortifications of stone, for which they brought to Borovitsky Hill in the winter of 1367 sleigh limestone. In the spring of the same year, the construction of the first white-stone fortress of North-Eastern Rus' began.

Cathedral Square became the cult center of the Kremlin, on which the wooden princely chambers, the white-stone Annunciation Cathedral were located, Metropolitan Alexei founded the Chudov Monastery in the eastern part of the Kremlin, and the residence of the Metropolitan himself was located in the Kremlin.

In 1404, on a special tower of the Moscow Kremlin, the Athos monk Lazar, a Serb, installed a special city clock, which became the first in the territory of Rus'.

In the second half of the 15th century, a grandiose restructuring of the Moscow Kremlin began, after which it acquired modern features familiar to every Russian. Prince Ivan the Third, who married Sophia Paleolog, a Byzantine princess, was able to complete the unification of the principalities of Rus' and Moscow acquired a new status - the capital of a large state. Naturally, the residence of the head of such a vast country needed alteration and expansion.

In 1475-1479, the Italian architect Aristotle Fioravanti erected a new Assumption Cathedral, which was the main temple of the Moscow principality under Ivan Kalita, and now has received the status of the main cathedral of the Russian state.

Assumption Cathedral on a postcard from the early 20th century

Another Italian architect, Aleviz Novy, was engaged in the construction of the grand-ducal temple-tomb - the Cathedral of the Archangel Michael. On the western side of the square, the palace of the Grand Duke of Moscow Ivan the Third was erected, which included the Middle Golden Chamber, the Embankment Chamber and the Great Faceted Chamber, that is, a whole complex of ceremonial buildings. Unfortunately, not all of them have survived to this day.

Moscow Kremlin at the end of the 15th century, painting by A.M. Vasnetsov

After the Italian masters erected new towers and walls of the Kremlin, many foreign guests began to call the building a castle, similar to which the battlements on the walls give the complex. The Moscow Kremlin was also compared with the Scaliger castle in Verona and the famous Sforza castle in Milan. However, unlike these buildings, the Kremlin became not only the residence of the ruler of the country, but also the center of the cultural, religious life of the entire state, here are the most famous temples of Rus', the residence of the metropolitan and monasteries.

Of course, the history of the Moscow Kremlin is inextricably linked with the history of the princes, tsars and emperors who ruled the Moscow principality, then the kingdom, and then the Russian Empire. So, Tsar Ivan the Fourth (better known as the Terrible), who came to the throne in 1547, also did a lot to form the Kremlin ensemble. Under him, the Church of the Annunciation was rebuilt, and orders were placed on Ivanovskaya Square, including the Ambassadorial Order, which was in charge of receiving foreign guests. Already then there was the Armory, also on the territory of the Kremlin there were royal stables, a sleeping chamber, storage facilities and workshops.

In 1652-1656, Patriarch Nikon was involved in the reconstruction of the patriarchal palace in the Kremlin, the treasures of the Patriarchal sacristy were stored in this building, and church councils met in the Cross Chamber and feasts were held for distinguished guests.

Only in 1712, after Peter the Great decided to move the capital to the newly erected St. Petersburg, the Moscow Kremlin lost its status as the permanent and only residence of the rulers of the state, in addition, the beginning of the 18th century was marked for Moscow by a new devastating fire. When restoring the damaged parts of the Kremlin, it was decided to build an Arsenal between the Sobakina and Troitskaya towers.

In 1749-1753, the old chambers of the Sovereign's Court dating back to the 15th century were dismantled; on their foundations, the famous architect F.-B. Rastrelli erected a new stone Winter Palace in the Baroque style. The building faced on one side to the Moskva River, and on the other - to the Cathedral Square.

In 1756-1764, the architect D.V. Ukhtomsky erected a new building of the Armory Gallery between the Archangel and Annunciation Cathedrals, but then, in the course of planning a large-scale reconstruction of the Kremlin, this building was demolished. The idea of V.I. Bazhenov to build a new palace was never realized, however, in the course of preparing for the start of this project, the Kremlin lost many ancient buildings.

In 1776-1787, the architect M. F. Kazakov, by decree of Catherine the Second, built the Senate building opposite the Arsenal, and only then Senate Square acquired its completed look.

In 1810, by decree of Emperor Alexander the First, the Armory was erected, architect I.V. Egotov managed to fit the new building into the ensemble of the Kremlin, as a result of the construction a new Kremlin square appeared - Troitskaya, formed between the new museum building, the Arsenal and the Trinity Tower.

The Kremlin was seriously damaged during the Napoleonic invasion; after the fire of 1812, many of the blown up and burnt buildings of the complex had to be restored.

In 1838-1851, in accordance with the decree of Emperor Nicholas I, a new palace complex was built in the Moscow Kremlin, designed in the “national Russian style”. It included the building of the Apartments, the Grand Kremlin Palace, erected on the site of the Winter Palace, and the more solemn building of the museum - the Moscow Armory. The architect Konstantin Ton carried out construction strictly within the boundaries of the ancient Sovereign's Court, took into account all the historical features, managed to combine in one composition both new buildings and architectural monuments of the 15th-17th centuries. At the same time, the reconstruction of old churches was also carried out. New buildings formed in the Moscow Kremlin and a new area - Imperial or Palace.

Already at the beginning of the 20th century, the Moscow Kremlin was considered a monument of history and architecture. Nicholas II intended to turn the Poteshny Palace into a museum dedicated to the Patriotic War of 1812, but 1917 crossed out all the plans of the emperor.

As you know, after the coup, the Bolshevik government moved from St. Petersburg to the Kremlin and until 1953, that is, until the death of Stalin, who occupied an office and an apartment in the Kremlin, the complex was closed to ordinary tourists and Muscovites.

In 1935, the Kremlin lost its double-headed eagles, and in 1937, luminous ruby stars were installed in their place on the Spasskaya, Borovitskaya, Nikolskaya, Troitskaya and Vodovzvodnaya towers.

On the site of the demolished Ascension and Chudov monasteries, the building of the Military School was erected, which greatly changed the appearance of the architectural complex.

Interestingly, during the Great Patriotic War, the Kremlin was practically not damaged, despite the massive bombardments that hit Moscow in 1941 and 1942. The authorities evacuated the treasures of the Armory, and in the event of the surrender of the capital to the German troops, a plan was provided for mining the main buildings of the complex.

In 1955, the Moscow Kremlin reopened its doors to ordinary visitors, the Museum of Applied Art and Life of Russia of the 17th century, located in the Patriarchal Palace, began its work. The last large-scale construction on the territory of the Kremlin was the construction in 1961 of the Palace of Congresses, which many modern architects and ordinary Muscovites call “glass against the backdrop of the ancient Kremlin” and consider its construction to be another crime of the Soviet regime.

Like any ancient, historical building, the Moscow Kremlin has its own secrets, legends associated with it, and often rather dark secrets.

Most of these legends are associated with the Kremlin dungeons. Since their exact map was lost a long time ago (perhaps it was destroyed by the builders themselves), many underground passages, corridors and tunnels of the Moscow Kremlin have not yet been fully explored.

For example, the search for the famous library of Ivan the Terrible was resumed several times, but the vast repository of books and documents of that time has not yet been found. Scientists argue whether the legendary library really existed, whether it burned down during one of the fires that repeatedly raged on the territory of the complex, or is hidden so well that modern archaeologists are not able to find it on the huge square of the Moscow Kremlin.

Most likely, until the 18th century, all the towers and walls of the Kremlin were literally “permeated” with numerous secret passages and tunnels.

It was during the search for Liberia (as the library of Ivan the Terrible is usually called) that the archaeologist Shcherbatov in 1894 stumbled upon a mysterious underground structure located under the first floor of the Nabatnaya Tower. Trying to explore the found tunnel, the archaeologist hit a dead end, but then he discovered the same tunnel leading from the Konstantin-Eleninskaya Tower.

The archaeologist Shcherbatov also found a secret passage connecting the Nikolskaya tower with the Corner Arsenal, however, in 1920, all information, photographs taken by scientists and reports on the passages found were classified by the Bolsheviks and became a state secret. It is possible that the new authorities have decided to use the secret passages of the Kremlin for their own purposes.

According to scientists, since the Moscow Kremlin was built according to all the rules of fortification of the Middle Ages and was primarily a fortress designed to protect the townspeople from attacks by enemies, the Italian architect Fioravanti also built places for lower combat and "rumors" - secret corners from which you can it was secretly to observe (and eavesdrop) on the enemy. Most likely (collecting evidence is now quite difficult), until the 18th century, all the towers and walls of the Kremlin were literally “permeated” with numerous secret passages and tunnels, but then, as unnecessary, most of them were simply walled up and covered up.

By the way, the very name of the Tainitskaya tower clearly indicates that there was a hiding place under it, there are references to the construction of secret passages in the annals that recorded the process of building towers in the 15th century.

Tainitskaya tower of the Moscow Kremlin

There were also rumors about the dungeons of the Beklemishevskaya Tower, which, by the way, enjoys the most notorious reputation - it was here that the torture chamber, created by order of Ivan the Terrible, was located. In the 19th century, Archpriest Lebedev, who served in the Kremlin for more than 45 years, counted 9 failures that formed on the vaults of various underground structures. It is known about the secret passage leading from the Tainitskaya to the Spasskaya Tower, another secret road leads from the Troitskaya to the Nikolskaya Tower and further to Kitai-Gorod.

And Ignatius Stelletsky, a well-known historian and specialist specifically in the “archeology of dungeons”, the initiator of the digger movement in Moscow, intended to go from the Beklemishevskaya Tower to the Moscow River, and from the Spasskaya Tower through a secret underground passage directly to St. Basil’s Cathedral, and then along the existing near the temple descent into a large tunnel under Red Square.

There were remains of underground passages in various parts of the Moscow Kremlin more than once, almost during each reconstruction, but most often such dead ends, failures or vaults were simply walled up or even poured with concrete.

On the eve of his coronation, the ghost of Ivan the Terrible was seen by Emperor Nicholas II himself, about which he informed his wife Alexandra Feodorovna.

There are in the Moscow Kremlin, of course, and their ghosts. So, in the Commandant's Tower they saw a disheveled, pale woman with a revolver in her hand, in which they allegedly recognized Fanny Kaplan, who was shot by the then Kremlin commandant.

For several centuries, the ghost of this Russian tyrant has been found on the lower tiers of the bell tower of Ivan the Terrible. By the way, the ghost of Ivan the Terrible also has a crowned witness - on the eve of his coronation, Emperor Nicholas II himself saw him, about which he informed his wife Alexandra Feodorovna.

Flickers sometimes over the teeth of the Moscow Kremlin and the ghost of the Pretender - False Dmitry executed here. The Constantino-Eleninskaya Tower also enjoys a bad reputation - here, too, in the 17th century there was a torture chamber and a case was recorded of the appearance of drops of blood on the masonry, which then disappeared on their own.

Another ghostly inhabitant of the Moscow Kremlin is, of course, Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, who was seen both in his office and in his former apartment. Stalin's well-known comrade-in-arms, the head of the NKVD Yezhov, "visited" his former office ... But Iosif Vissarionovich himself was never noted in an appearance in the Kremlin after March 5, 1953.

It is not surprising that such an ancient structure, replete with burials, secrets and secret rooms, is of interest not only to archaeologists, scientists and historians, but also to mystics.

Data

If we talk about the Moscow Kremlin only from the point of view of a large-scale complex of buildings, it is impossible not to mention all its structures.

So, the architectural complex of the Moscow Kremlin includes 20 towers: Tainitskaya, Beklemishevskaya, Blagoveshchenskaya, Vodovzvodnaya, Petrovskaya tower, Borovitskaya, First Nameless, Second Nameless, Konstantin-Eleninskaya, Nikolskaya, Spasskaya, Corner Arsenalnaya, Nabatnaya, Senatskaya, Middle Arsenalnaya, Armory, Komendantskaya, Troitskaya, Tsarskaya and Kutafya.

Each of the towers has its own history, purpose and a special architectural image. The most famous of them is, of course, the Spasskaya Tower with its famous clock, which appeared on the tower erected in 1491 in 1625 according to the project of Christopher Galoway and subsequently changed and improved several times.

The modern Kremlin chimes were made in 1852 by the Russian watchmakers brothers Budenop, in 1917 the clock suffered from a shell hit, and after repairs in 1918, the “Internationale” began to play, the last restoration of the chimes was carried out in 1999.

The Kremlin complex also includes five squares: Troitskaya, Dvortsovaya, Senatskaya, Ivanovskaya and Sobornaya.

Located on the territory of the Moscow Kremlin and 18 buildings: the Church of the Nativity of the Virgin on the Senyakh, the Church of the Deposition of the Robe, the Assumption Cathedral, the Annunciation Cathedral, the Archangel Cathedral, the Faceted Chamber, the Ensemble of the Ivan the Great Bell Tower, the Terem Palace, the Golden Tsarina's Chamber, the Upper Savior Cathedral and the Terem churches, the Arsenal, The Patriarchal Chambers with the Church of the Twelve Apostles, the Senate, the Poteshny Palace, the Grand Kremlin Palace, the State Kremlin Palace, the Armory and the Military School named after the All-Russian Central Executive Committee.

It is impossible not to mention such significant objects of the Kremlin, which attract millions of tourists, such as the Tsar Cannon and the Tsar Bell.

The Tsar Bell is indeed the largest bell in the world, created back in 1733-1735 by order of Anna Ivanovna, and installed in the Kremlin as a monument to foundry craftsmanship. And the Tsar Cannon, with its caliber of 890 millimeters, is still the largest artillery gun on the planet. The cannon, weighing 40 tons, did not have to fire a single shot, but it became an excellent decoration for the museum composition of the Moscow Kremlin.

Yes, and the Moscow Kremlin itself is rightfully considered the largest in Europe, preserved, operating and currently used architectural and historical complex.

Currently, on the territory of the Kremlin there is the State Historical and Cultural Museum-Reserve "Moscow Kremlin", numerous exhibitions, exhibits and relics of which are available to everyone who wants to see with their own eyes all the beauty and charm of the ancient building.

Not so long ago, Vladimir Kozhin, managing director of the President of the Russian Federation, said that even after the expansion of Moscow and the relocation of all departments and ministries to new locations, the presidential administration and the head of state himself would still remain in the Kremlin. Apparently, the country's leadership is well aware that it is difficult to find a better place to receive foreign guests and govern the state. And you can’t break the centuries-old traditions in any way ...

Anna Sedykh, rmnt.ru

Perhaps only the lazy did not write about the Kremlin. But still there are still a lot of unsolved mysteries and little-known facts. Here are just a few of them.

1. Despite its venerable age, the Moscow Kremlin is far from being the oldest surviving one. He has as many as 4 older "brothers" - in Pskov, Tula. Novgorod and Kazan.

2. The first Kremlin in Moscow was wooden and very tiny. It completely fit between the current Borovitskaya, Troitskaya and Tainitskaya towers, and the length of the walls was only 1,200 meters. In the XIV century, under Ivan Kalita, new walls of the Moscow Kremlin were built: wooden and plastered with clay on the outside, and stone inside. That is, while Rus' was under the Tatar-Mongol yoke, the Moscow princes managed to build and rebuild fortresses in the very center of the occupied country! The next Kremlin was already built of white stone under Dmitry Donskoy. Then the walls had a length of almost 2,000 meters.

Well, what we see today is already the fourth fortress! Outside, the walls of the fortress are made of bricks, and inside they are built of white stone of the old walls of the Dmitry Donskoy Kremlin. And they call the Kremlin and Moscow white stone, in general, from old memory.

3. At first, the Kremlin was simply called the City (and everything around it - suburbs). After the advent of Kitay-gorod, the fortress was renamed the Old City, and only with the construction of the White City (in 1331), the Old City was finally called the Kremlin, which meant "fortress in the city center."

4. The number of towers and their placement is deeply symbolic. It is known that the legendary Tsargrad was founded at three corners on all sides of seven miles. Therefore, the Italian craftsmen placed 7 red-brick towers on each side of the Moscow Kremlin (counting the corner ones), trying to keep the same distance from the center - the Assumption Cathedral. And the very shape of the triangle is an ancient sacred symbol.

5. The Kremlin was once an island! Two water lines and the slopes of the Borovitsky hill already gave the fortress a strategic advantage, but, nevertheless, in the 16th century a canal was dug along the northeastern wall, connecting the Neglinnaya and Moscow rivers.

6. M-shaped battlements-merlons of the Kremlin walls are a typical feature of Italian fortification architecture (it is known that supporters of imperial power in Italy marked their fortresses with them). In everyday life they are called "dovetail". But supporters of papal power made rectangular teeth. Whether the architects themselves determined the adherence of the Russian princes, or they were prompted, history is silent about this.

7. The walls of the Moscow Kremlin were surrounded by rumors where underground wars were fought. This system protected the fortress from undermining. But that's not all: under the walls there is a complex system of secret underground passages and labyrinths. Archaeologist N.S. Shcherbatov in 1894 discovered them under almost every tower, but the photographs he took disappeared without a trace in the 1920s.

8. There were 2 monasteries in the Kremlin. Both were destroyed in Soviet times, and the 14th building of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee was built in their place (now it has already been dismantled to restore the monasteries). But this is not the only loss: a total of 28 buildings were destroyed on the territory of the Kremlin in the 20th century.

9. With the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the Moscow Kremlin disappeared ... It was disguised as an urban area. The red-brick walls were painted in different colors, and windows and doors were painted on them to imitate individual buildings. The battlements on top of the walls and the stars of the Kremlin towers were covered with plywood roofs, and the green roofs were painted to look like rust.

It is generally accepted that not a single bomb fell on the Kremlin. In fact, fifteen high-explosive and one and a half hundred small incendiary ones fell. For example, a one-ton bomb hit the Arsenal, and part of the building collapsed. The spectacle was so impressive that British Prime Minister Churchill, who later arrived at the Kremlin, stopped and took off his hat as he passed the breach.

10. There are ghosts in the Kremlin too. The spirit of Stalin did not appear there, but the ghost of Lenin is a frequent visitor. At the same time, the spirit of the leader made the first visit during his lifetime - on October 18, 1923. According to eyewitnesses, the terminally ill Lenin unexpectedly arrived from Gorki to the Kremlin. Alone, without security, he went to his office, and then walked around the Kremlin, where he was greeted by a detachment of cadets of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee. The head of the guard was at first dumbfounded, and then rushed to call Gorki to find out why Vladimir Ilyich was unaccompanied. It was then that he learned that Lenin did not go anywhere. After this incident, real devilry began in the leader’s Kremlin apartment: the creaking of floorboards, the sounds of moving furniture, the crackling of the telephone and even voices were heard. This continued until Ilyich's apartment with all his belongings was transferred to Gorki. But until now, the guards and employees of the Kremlin sometimes see the ghost of Lenin on the Cathedral Square on frosty January evenings, warming his frozen hands over a fire.