The Kremlin, Moscow

Armoury Chamber is one of the oldest museums in Russia.

Armoury boasts the richest collection of the works of Russian and foreign decorative and applied art of 4th-20th centuries, including Russian, West-European and Eastern arms, art silver, clothes and valuable fabrics, state regalia and gala carriages. Articles by the old-Russian silversmiths and goldsmiths, gun-makers and embroideries.

There are two halls are devoted to arms and Armour, made in 12-19th century.

Collections of regalia and articles of royal court ceremonies of 13-19th century, collection of tsar's thrones, tsar's carriages, valuable fabrics, old Russian secular and religious dress, gala costumes of 18-20th century, political and ornamental embroideries and jewelers are also displayed in this museum.

This building was erected in 1932-34, designed by the architect Ivan Rerberg, for use as government offices. Its proportions and the style of the facade, as well as the building's colour scheme, are in tune with the classicalstyle of the nearby building of the former USSR Council of Ministers (the Senate Building).
This building also housed the Kremlin Theatre. A team of architects led by Mikhail Posokhin again considerably reconstructed the building. Now it is the Residence of the President of Russia.

The Arsenal was given its present aspect between 1815 and 1828, after the French attempts to blow up the Kremlin before abandoning Moscow made radical rebuilding necessary. The work was begun under the direction of Osip I.Bove, who erected a plain Neo-classical building, with wings laid out in trapezoid form rounda pentagonal central courtyard. The Baroque portico was added by Dmitry V. Ukhtomsky.
After the rebuilding it was intended that the Arsenal wouldbe used as an army museum: hence the 875 cannon lining the outside walls.The stucco reliefs of military trophies on the walls reflect the same intention.

Armoury is the oldest museum in Russia and one of the richest. Although the Armoury has for centuries been a museum, it still retains its old name. Here, in the time of the princes, grand princes and tsars, arm and armour were made and stored. The collection dates from the time of Ivan the Great and Ivan the Terrible.
The heyday of the Armoury was in the second half of the 17th century. In 1654, Bogdan Khitrov was appointed director, and under his management the most talented craftsmen and painters in the old Russian art centers (Yaroslavl, Ustyug, Uglich, etc.) were summoned to Moscow to the work in the Armoury.
The present Armoury building, in pseudo-Russian style, with features borrowed from Naryshkin Baroque, was erected between 1844 and 1851. It is in architectural harmony with the Great Kremlin Palace, also designed by Thon and Chichagov. Among the treasures of the Armouryare the crown jewels and coronation insignia of the tsars, historic armsand armour, costumes and furnishings, icons and manuscripts, coaches, sleighs, state carriages, object d'art and much else besides.

Church of the Deposition of the Virgine's Robe (the Rizopolozhenija Church) served as a house temple of Russian metropolitans and patriarches. Pskov masters constructed this church in 1485 in traditions of early Moscow architecture.

The name of the church is connected with a Christian holiday - transferring of a cope (coverlet) of the Virgin from Palestin to Constantinople and its position in the well-known temple in Vlaherna (a suburb of Constantinople where there was an imperial palace). The cope of the Virgin is esteemed in Russia as a relic protecting a city from enemies.

The interior of this church is noteworthy. Four square pillars support thevaulted roof. The walls and pillars are covered with paintings strictlycanonical in content. The paintings were made in 1644 by Sidor Pospeyevand Ivan Borisov (who had also worked on frescoes in the Cathedralof the Dormition) and by Semion Abramov.

In 1955-56 the frescoeswere cleared of later overpaintings and fixed. Restored at the same timewas the church's iconostasis, the icons of which were painted in 1627 bya team of artists led by the noted icon painter Nazary Istomin-Savin. Thechurch's northern galler y now houses a small exhibition of wooden handicrafts.

The Dormition (Falling Asleep or Death) of the Virgin, a festival celebrated by the Orthodox Church on the 15th of August,corresponds to the Roman Catholic festival of the Assumption, also celebrated on 15 August.

The Cathedral of the Dormition is, therefore, sometimes referred to - incorrectly - as the Cathedral of the Assumption.

The Ivan the Great Bell Tower is the tallest structure in the Kremlin (81 m ). There are 329 steps to the top. The firsttier of the Bell-Tower housed the ancient Church of St.John Climacus. In1532-43, the master builder Petrok Maly added a belfry to the Bell Tower;in the 17th century, the so-called Filaret Annex was added to the tower's northern side.

The Bell Tower and belfry still carry 21 bells which areremarkable creations of Russian foundry art. When Napoleon'sarmy retreated from Moscow in 1812 the belfry and annex were blown up.The belfry and annex were restored in 1819, designed by the architect Domenico Gilardi.

The Palace of Facets is the oldest secular building, not only in the Kremlinbut in the whole of Moscow. Built in 1487-91 by MarcoRuffo and Pietro Antonio Solari, it is the only part of the huge complex constituted by the Great Kremlin Palace, the Terem Palace and associated buildings which has been almost completely preserved inits original form. The name of the palace, which is almost exactly squarein plan, comes from the faceted limestone blocks which pattern the mainfront - a form of rustication which originated in the Early Italian Renaissance.
The Palace of Facets is a large chamber with high grained vaults restingon a thick central rectangular pillar. Its area is 495 square metres andits height is 9 metres. Murals were painted for the first time in the late16th century. In 1882 the Palekh painters, the Belousov brothers, restored the murals of the Palace of Facets from the copies made 200 years previouslyby Simon Ushakov. The Palace of Facets served as the tsar's audience chamberand banqueting hall.