Inside the Kremilin

The one place on this planet I thought I would never see in my lifetime was inside the Kremlin. But never say never, because this past Saturday we took our first tour. Historically, here is quick summary I found on the internet:

The Kremlin is Russia's mythic refuge, a self contained city with a multitude of palaces, armories, and churches, a medieval fortress that links the modern nation to its legendary past in the ancient state of Kievan Rus'. As the dominance of Kiev faded and its empire fragmented under the weight of foreign invasion and internecine strife in the 11th and 12th centuries, regional princes gained power. In 1147, as Kievan Rus was experiencing its final death throes, a chronicler recorded that a feast was held at the hunting lodge of Prince Yuri Dolgorukiy, ruling prince of Rostov and Suzdal. The lodge was perfectly situated atop a hill overlooking the Moskva and Neglina rivers, prompting its development (in such troubled times) as a fortified town, or Kremlin.

Within a century, the town had risen to become an independent principality within the Mongol empire. By the middle of the 14th century, its princes had gained such pre-eminence that Moscow was made the seat of the Russian Orthodox Church. With Ivan the Great (1462-1505) at its helm, Muscovite rule extended over all of Russia, and the Kremlin became more magnificent, befitting its role as the seat of Russian power. By 1480 the once modest hunting lodge had become an imposing fortress city. Its stone walls were graced by the magnificent Cathedral of the Assumption, where Ivan defiantly tore up the charter binding Moscow to Mongol rule. Over the next two centuries, until Peter the Great transferred the capital of Russia to St. Petersburg, the Kremlin served as the central stage for the magnificent and occasionally horrific history of the Tsars.

We went with the Masons, Reeses and Irelands. Unfortunately, Clark and Renee were given tickets of lesser value (even though they paid for the same tickets that we did!) and they were not able to get into all the attractions. A few babuska's showed some mercy and got them into a few the exhibitions, but the men would not budge!!

For all that one reads about the Kremlin, a first time visitor is taken aback at the number of churchs within the walls. This tour is mostly of the grounds and churches. There were no tours of the government buildings. We did get to see a special display of rubies and emerald jewlery from India. I was impressed that the art was so intricately detailed; it was not just about how big the precious stones were(though there were a few of those too).

Here are a few pictures that we took along our tour:

Narene, Chris, Clark, Renee, Greg and Linda (Stephen and Sam are taking the pictures! This picture is taken on the main bridge leading to one of the many towers that surround the Kremlin.
First view after passing through the tower.
Looking back at the tower. On the left you can just see the edge of the Kremilin Theater. It looked rather grand from the outside, but we never had the opportunity to attend one of its productions.

The impressive bronze Tsar Cannon is one of the largest canons ever made and was cast in 1586 by the foundry man Andrei Chokhov. The canon is 5.34 meters long, weighs an impressive 40 tons and has an incredible caliber of 890 mm. It was originally created with the purpose of defending the Kremlin's Savior Gate, which leads to Red Square, but the canon was never actually fired and has remained on display in the Kremlin as a fine example of Russian workmanship ever since. Its bronze barrel bears a relief of Ivan the Terrible's son, Fyodor, and its enormous gun carriage, which was cast over 250 years later in 1835, is decorated with a lion and snake fighting on either side and a lion's head behind the barrel. The cannon balls lying in front of the canon were cast at the same time as the gun carriage, but are merely decorative as the canon was always intended to fire stone case-shot.


The enormous Tsar Bell is an impressive 6.14 meters in height, 6.6 meters in diameter and weighs some 200 tons, making it the largest bell in the world. The bell's bronze surface is decorated with relief depictions of Tsar Alexei and Empress Anna, who decreed the casting of the first Tsar Bell as well as the one on display today. The first version weighed 130 tons and was cast in 1655, but not hoisted into the belfry of the Assumption Cathedral for another 19 years, where it fell to the ground and immediately shattered in the fire of 1701. Almost three decades later, Anna ordered that the broken fragments be used to cast a second larger bell, which was executed between 1734 and 1735 by local foundry man Ivan Motorin, his son Mikhail and nearly 200 craftsmen.

While the bell was cooling off in its casting pit, a great fire began in the Kremlin in May 1737 and water thrown on the bell in attempt to douse the flames caused a chunk weighing over 11 tons to crack and break off. The bell lay in the great pit on Ivanovskaya Square for almost a hundred years until 1836, when the French architect Auguste Montferrand raised it and place it on a granite pedestal, next to its broken section.

On our way to the Kremlin from Ismayalova (we were searching for a few last minute gifts) we stopped at McDonalds for lunch and then stopped to take this picture of the latest fashions in Russian men's headgear.
Sam sporting his new mink Shaptka, Stephen with a sporty snap-brim hat, Greg with his classic rabbit hat from Hungary, Clark with his Cabella's sportsman cap and Dave with toughing it out without a hat!

Notice Sam's new gloves. On his way to the Kremilin he left his nice leather gloves on the metro (he was too busy chatting with Sister Shepard!). It was only now that appreciated the little angel selling homemade socks at Ismalova. He didn't really want any socks, but the little babuska could bearly speak and he felt compelled to be generous. Unfortunately, after arriving at a negotiated price, when he dug into his pockets he came up short, so the little babuska had mercy on him and she just settled for what he had. Little did he know that in a few minutes his new found treasure would be used as gloves--not socks!!

Earlier in the week week we were invited to dinner at the home of Lidia and Alexsey Samaykin. Lidia is one of our area office secretaries and her husband is the Materials Manager. Alexsey reports to David Stapley our DTA. They have a wonderful, but small apartment. They gave us a presentation of their makeover on the computer. It was quite an amazing transformation. Alexsey did some great finish work and Lidia pitched in too. They proved that a husband and a wife can hang wallpaper and still have a strong marriage!!
Sitting down for dinner in their kitchen. We had Borscht (beet soup), chicken, rice, salad, other meat slices, great Russian bread and we brought eclaire like pastries for dessert. It was all wonderful.
Their living room and bedroom.

Later in the week we celebrated Acia's birthday. Here she is holding her handmade card. Marina and Elena are the ones in our office that make these fantastic custom cards. Just another victory over Hallmark!!