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Red Square
Our next stop in the heart of the city, Krasnaya Ploshchad, known in English as <Red Square 1>. Red Square does not refer to Communism but rather to the beauty of the city square. In the 16th century, krasny meant “beautiful,” but over centuries its meaning changed to mean “red.” In the 16th century, the square became a place for state ceremonies, where they have been held ever since. The square itself is around 330 meters (1,100 ft) long and 70 meters (230 ft) wide.
Red Square is often considered the central square of Moscow and all of Russia, because Moscow's major streets—which connect to Russia's major highways—originate from the square. <Red Square 2>
The buildings that surround the Square:
<Lenin's Mausoleum> - contains the embalmed body of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin Kazan Cathedral – next to GUM department store
Saint Basil's Cathedral - elaborate brightly domed to the south. State Historical Museum – on the northern side
Palaces and cathedrals of the Kremlin. (Statue Georgy Zhukov, Russian general in World War Two)
<GUM department store> – on the eastern side <Tomb of the Unknown Soldier>
Alexander Gardens
<Alexander Gardens> was one of the first urban public parks in Moscow. The park comprises three separate gardens, which stretch along all the length of the western Kremlin wall for 865 meters (2,838ft.) Towards the main entrance to the park is the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier with an eternal flame brought from the Field of Mars in Leningrad. Created in 1967, it contains the body of a soldier who fell during the Great Patriotic War (WWII) at the kilometer 41 marker of Leningradskoe Shosse, the nearest point the forces of Nazi Germany penetrated towards Moscow. <City tour of Moscow>
Day 13 July 12: -Moscow –State Armory -National Russian Show
Today’s tour of the <Kremlin>, is probably the most recognized icon of the mystery and intrigue of the former Soviet Union. It is actually a walled city built as a fortification and ringed all around by 15th-century towers. The Kremlin is the very heart of Moscow, with the city’s streets radiating outward in circles, the Kremlin standing as the focal point of the inner ring. In Russian Kremlin means fortress. But it has become synonymous with the Russian seat of power in Moscow.
Construction of the Kremlin began in the 12th century on Borovitsky Hill (translated as Pine Grove Hill, for the stands of evergreens) along the north bank of the Moscow River. The citadel is surrounded by a mile of red brick walls 65 feet high and up to 20 feet thick. Along these are battlements and gated entryways interspersed with 20 towers, the tallest standing 264 feet high. We entered the ancient Kremlin grounds through Kutafya Tower. In addition to being the seat of government, there are numerous museums and six cathedrals within the walls. The Kremlin not only represented the political power of the country from Tsars to Soviet prime ministers, but in earlier centuries it was also the religious heart of the Russian Orthodox Church.
Our exploration of the Kremlin included a tour of the <State Armory>, the oldest museum in Russia. Some of the Armory collection housed here dates to the 16th century. In the 1840s, this Russo-Byzantine building was designed to protect the Kremlin’s collection of valuable weaponry, jewels, and ceremonial robes and articles.
The museum’s collection has grown. The museum has historic armor (Russian and foreign), royal thrones covered with thin plates of gold and studded with diamonds, imperial carriages, coronation robes, and the wedding dress of Catherine the Great. Some of the world-famous Faberge eggs, created by Carl Faberge, the jeweler to the Tsars of Russia, are on display, as well as ornate 12th-century decorations of Russian gold and silver, Russian weaponry in jewel-studded cases, battle-axes, sabers, and lavish equestrian harnesses and saddles. Here are the vestments of the Tsars—priceless silks, velvets, and brocades, encrusted with jewels and pearls.