Russia 2007 The Kremlin and Red Square

Main Travel Page Main Russia Page

	This is Alexandrovsky Garden, just outside the Kremlin wall. Kremlin is a Russian word that means "fortress", and many cities have kremlins. The one is Moscow, of course, is the most famous. The Kremlin is basically a giant triangle, and this garden forms one of the sides. Click here for a satellite map of the Kremlin and Red Square area.
	This is the front of the Kremlin, facing Red Square, which, for me, was the highlight of our trip. It's among the top two or three public spaces I've ever visited. The yellow buildings immediately behind the wall are used by the president of Russia. This is Lenin's tomb in the foreground. His body is still on display.
	Red Square forms another of the sides of the Kremlin's triangle. On the left is St. Basil's Cathedral. Lining the Kremlin wall are twenty towers. On the right in this picture is Savior Gate Tower, the official entry into the Kremlin from Red Square, though tourists (and everyone else, it seems) enter from the back, on the Alexandrovsky Garden side.
	A closer view of the Savior Gate Tower. On the top of the tower is a Soviet era tower. At one point we asked our guide why many of the Soviet symbols had not been taken down. She replied that they are now part of Russian history, like everything else. This seemed like a sensible answer to me, better than trying to clear away all the remnants of the last eighty years.
	This is the tourist entrance, under the Kutafya Tower. On the right side of the picture is the modern State Kremlin Palace, built in the 1960s to house communist meetings and also to serve as an auditorium and concert hall.
	Inside the Kremlin. This is the back corner of the building you can see above the Kremlin wall in the second picture.
	This is the Czar Cannon, cast in 1586 and never fired.
	Inside the third side of the Kremlin triangle (parallel to the Moscow River) is this park.
	Looking from the park toward the collection of Kremlin churches.
	The Assumption Cathedral. This was the main church of Russian Orthodoxy before the communist revolution in 1917.
	The Cathedral of the Annunciation. This was the personal church of the early Russian czars.
	The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. They have a changing of the guards ceremony here, like the American one at Arlington National Cemetery.
	The Kremlin. This picture was taken from a pedestrian bridge that crosses the Moscow River. You can see many of the towers that line the kremlin walls as well as the spires from the churches.
	A tour boat cruising on the Moscow River, with the Kremlin in the background.
	Another view from across the river.
	Red Square in the morning. The large red building on the right is the State History Museum.
	Lenin's Tomb. If you look closely you can see the five Cyrillic letters that spell Lenin. Click here for a closer view.
	Another view of Red Square.
	The Kremlin, from a little farther away. This picture was taken from the top of the rebuilt Church of Christ the Savior.
	After attending the Bolshoi Ballet, we walked back to Red Square. This is the G.U.M department store, which I assume they keep lit like this all year. You can also see lights on top of the building shining out, across the square to light up the Kremlin.
	St. Basil's Cathedral, also after the ballet.
	Red Square. Because of Moscow's northern latitude, it stays light until very late. This picture was taken around 11:00 pm.
Go on to the Travel and Transportation page.

---

Top of the Page

Main Russia Page