Moscow Kremlin

The city of tsars behind red walls

The Kremlin is a fortress in the centre of Moscow, with red-brick walls 2 km long and 20 towers. Inside are cathedrals with golden domes, the President's palace and the biggest bell in the world — the 200-tonne 'Tsar Bell', which never rang because it cracked while being cast. The clock on the Spasskaya Tower is Russia's 'main clock'. Next to it are Red Square and St Basil's Cathedral with its colourful domes.

The Kremlin covers 27.5 ha on Borovitsky Hill where the Neglinnaya meets the Moskva River; a 12th-century wooden fort → white stone in 1367 → in 1485–1495 Italian architects (Fioravanti, Solari) built the red-brick walls (2,235 m, 5–19 m high, 20 towers). Inside: the Dormition Cathedral (1479, where tsars were crowned), the Archangel Cathedral (tomb of princes and tsars), the Annunciation Cathedral, the Ivan the Great Bell Tower (81 m), the Palace of Facets (1491), the Grand Kremlin Palace (1849), the Armoury (Monomakh's Cap, Fabergé eggs). The Tsar Bell (1735, 202 t, an 11.5 t piece broke off in a fire) and the Tsar Cannon (1586, 40 t, never fired). Seat of government since 1918; the Spasskaya Tower chimes (1852). UNESCO since 1990 (with Red Square). St Basil's Cathedral (1561, Ivan the Terrible, for the capture of Kazan).

Fun facts

• The Tsar Bell weighs 202 tonnes — the heaviest in the world, yet it never rang.
• The Kremlin's walls were built by Italian architects.
• The Tsar Cannon weighs 40 tonnes and was never fired.