It is a castle that has witnessed history. In the 13th century, the Mongols occupied Russia. More than two hundred years later, Grand Duke Ivan III of Moscow got rid of the Mongol rulers and established his capital in Moscow. The Kremlin immediately became a royal palace.

It is located in northwest Russia, on the banks of the Moskva River. Built in 1156 AD, it is a typical Russian-style building and a symbol of Russian state power.

It is a castle that has witnessed history

"Kremlin" in Russian means "castle". Among the "Kremlins" in major cities in Russia, Moscow's Kremlin is the most representative. It is located in the center of Moscow city, on the hills on the north bank of Moscow River. The Kremlin is not only the focus of Moscow, but also a witness to Russia's glorious history. The earliest historical records about the Kremlin begin in 1156, when it was just a newly built oak castle, and later developed into the city of Moscow. In the 13th century, the Mongols occupied Russia. More than two hundred years later, the Grand Duke of Moscow Ivan III got rid of the Mongol rulers and established his capital in Moscow. The Kremlin immediately became a royal palace. Ivan III successively hired many famous Italian teachers to re-expand the scale of today's Kremlin and the square outside the city on the northeast side - Red Square . At the beginning of the 19th century, Moscow was in ruins under the attack of Napoleon 's army. Fortunately, the city did not fall. After the war, in addition to quickly restoring the Kremlin's old size, the rulers also added a lot of details to the Red Square.

Representative buildings of Russian style

The Kremlin has been rebuilt three times. Most of the existing city walls and buildings were expanded step by step during the period of Ivan III in the 15th century. Since the center of gravity of Greek Orthodoxy moved from Constantinople to Moscow at that time, under the influence of religion, Byzantine style golden domes appeared in the churches and palace buildings here; in addition, the architects involved in the expansion They are all famous Italian craftsmen. They integrated the Italian Renaissance style with the original medieval Russian traditional architecture, making the Kremlin a unique Russian-style building.

At the end of the 15th century, famous Italian architects and Russian craftsmen began to build the city wall outside the Kremlin. When building a new wall, in order not to create any defensive loopholes, every time a small part of the old wall was demolished, a new wall was immediately built. The work took a total of ten years, and 19 tall minarets were built over the next 200 years after the walls were completed. The tallest and most beautiful tower is the Spassky Tower of 1625. It was built on the original lower tower. These towers have the function of sight and warning. There are forts, shooting holes or secret passages in the middle. They have different shapes. Some are built to praise saints, some to commemorate rulers, and five of them also have the function of city gates. .

Church on the Square

On the square of the oldest church in the center of the Kremlin, there are Assumption Cathedral, Angel Cathedral, Golden Dome Church and Annunciation Church. The interiors of several churches are filled with exquisite inlays, wall decorations and gold-framed icon books, which are dazzling and dazzling. The five-domed white stone church is the Assumption Church, built in 1480 by Italian architects. The coronations of grand dukes and tsars were held here.

The church’s gabled arches and golden round tower have the architectural style of northeastern Russian churches. The Archangel Cathedral was built in 1509. It is the cemetery of all Moscow Grand Dukes and Tsars from Ivan I to Peter the Great. The only secular building in the square is the Polygonal Palace, one of the oldest palaces in the Kremlin, built in 1491.

The main hall of the Polygonal Palace is on the second floor, about 500 square meters. In the middle of the hall, there is a huge pillar extending upwards to support the dome. The dome is painted with murals from the late 16th century. Ivan the Great Bell Tower, Bell King and Cannon King Ivan the Great Bell Tower is the tallest building in the Kremlin, 81 meters high, made of white stone and built between 1505 and 1608. It is also a watchtower, overlooking the surrounding 32 square kilometers. The bell tower originally had three floors, but in 1600 it was increased to five floors and crowned with a golden dome. It gradually becomes smaller from the third floor upwards, and its appearance is in the shape of a stack of octagonal prisms. Each facet has an arched window and a self-ringing bell in the window. There are more than a dozen large and small ancient bells hanging in the building.Whenever the bells toll in unison, they can be heard far away. Next to the bell tower of Ivan the Great is the famous "Bell King". It weighs 202 tons, is 6.14 meters high and 6.6 meters in diameter. It is 4.5 times heavier than the " Yongle Bell " of the Dazhong Temple in Beijing. This bell took two years to be cast in 1735, but due to a fire, a piece of the lower part of the bell fell off. Some people believe that the Russians' imperfect knowledge of alloy proportions and metal strength caused the bell to shatter on the first strike. Whatever the reason, the fragment alone weighs 11.5 tons. This bell also has statues of Tsar Alexei and Queen Anna as well as various statues of gods. Near the Bell King is the King of Cannons - the "Tsar Cannon". The King of Cannons has a history of more than 400 years. The cannon weighs 40 tons and has a muzzle diameter of 0.92 meters, which can accommodate an adult. There were four spherical shells piled in front of the gun, each weighing 2 tons. There are exquisite reliefs on the gun carriage, and there is also a relief of Tsar Fedor. Because it was too heavy and too heavy, the artillery king never fired a single shell.

Red Square

Red Square is located outside the city wall on the northeast side of the Kremlin. It is about 700 meters long and 30 meters wide, with a total area of ​​about 90,000 square meters. "Red Square" means "beautiful square" in Russian. Red Square is not red, but it was the place where executions were carried out during the Tsarist rule, so it has left traces of its blood-stained history. It is now a gathering place for Moscow citizens. There are many important Russian historical monuments surrounding Red Square, among which St. Basil's Cathedral of the Assumption is the most eye-catching. The Cathedral of Saint Basil's Assumption was built in 1555 to commemorate the union of the Principality of Kazan and Astrakhan into Russia. The structure of the church is unique. It consists of nine churches that are cleverly combined. The one with a high bulge in the middle is larger, and the eight surrounding ones are slightly smaller, with clear layers and scattered connections. All nine churches are domed, with the tallest spire being 47 meters high.