Where is the White Kremlin. Why the Kremlin walls were painted white. Moscow Kremlin under different rulers
In the second half of the 15th century, when Moscow became the political and cultural center of the Russian lands, the Kremlin was rebuilt with the participation of Italian architects. Its center was Cathedral Square with the Assumption Cathedral built by the architect Aristotle Fioravanti (1475-79) - the tomb of Russian metropolitans and patriarchs, the place of weddings and coronations of great princes, then tsars and emperors. Pskov masters erected the Church of the Deposition of the Robe (1484-88) and the Annunciation Cathedral (1484-89) - the home church of the Moscow sovereigns. In 1505-08, the Archangel Cathedral was built - the burial vault of Russian princes and tsars (before Ivan V Alekseevich). The Stone Sovereign Palace (on the site of the modern Grand Kremlin Palace) with the Faceted Chamber (1487-91) completed the design of the western side of Cathedral Square. The Ivan the Great Bell Tower became the center of the Kremlin ensemble. In 1485-95 around the Kremlin, taking into account the traditions of Russian defense architecture and the achievements of Western European fortification, the existing walls and towers of red brick were built with an internal backfill of cobblestone and white stone on a lime mortar. The Kremlin has become one of the most powerful fortresses in Europe.
INSCRIPTION OVER THE GATE OF THE SPASSKAYA TOWER
“In the summer of 6999 (1491) July, by the grace of God, this shooter was made by the order of John Vasilyevich sovereign and autocrat of all Russia and the Grand Duke of Volodymyr and Moscow and Novgorod and Pskov and Tver and Yugorsk and Vyatka and Perm and Bulgarian and others in the 30th summer of the state it was made by Peter Anthony Solario from the city of Mediolana (Milan - ed.). "
THE ARCHITECT OF THE NEW ENSEMBLE OF THE MOSCOW KREMLIN
For the implementation of the plan of Ivan III - to turn the Kremlin into a symbol of the Russian state, a demonstration of its greatness and power - architecture was one of the most important means. And the prince turns the Kremlin into a monumental ensemble. Almost all the buildings of the Kremlin - towers, walls, buildings on the central Kremlin square - not only stand in the same places and bear the same names where they began to be built and as Ivan Kalita called them in the 30s of the XIV century, but they even they look the way they looked during the reign of Ivan III ...
The prince invited architects from Italy on the advice of the Grekini Sophia. The first to arrive from Bologna in 1474 was Aristotle Fioravanti with his son Andrew.
The Italian architect was 58 years old at that time, and he already managed to go down in the history of Italy as the author of palaces, fortresses and fortifications for many Italian dukes and even for the Hungarian king, as a man who moved a huge bell tower from place to place. In Bologna, Fioravanti was about to begin the construction of the Palazzo del Podesta, whose model so delighted his compatriots. But he went far to the east to go down in the history of another people - the Russian.
Aristotle was settled in the Kremlin, given enormous powers, and the work began to boil. Ivan III himself understood that the white-stone walls were an unreliable defender, they could not withstand cannon fire. The Kremlin must be built with brick. And the Italian first built a brick factory on the Yauza River. The bricks obtained at this factory according to the recipe of Fioravanti himself were unusually strong. They were narrower and more authentic than usual, and therefore they became called "Aristotelian".
Having created the general scheme of the Kremlin fortress and its center - Cathedral Square, the Italian led the construction of the Assumption Cathedral - the main cathedral of Moscow Russia. The temple was supposed to carry a huge "preaching" meaning, it was to announce the birth of a new state to the world, and therefore it was necessary to embody the truly national character of culture in it. Aristotle begins to get acquainted with the examples of Russian architecture in Vladimir, in the north of Russia, and when, after four years of work, the five-domed cathedral was ready, he struck the imagination of his contemporaries. He looked like a single stone, and with this feeling of a monolith he inspired the idea of the monolithic character of the whole people. It cannot be considered accidental that a year after the completion of the construction of the cathedral, Ivan III refused to pay tribute to the Golden Horde.
In the same years, Pskov masters, unknown to us so far, were rebuilding the Annunciation Cathedral - the home church of the royal court. In the basement of this cathedral, a new Kazenny Dvor was made - the Treasury, the deep white-stone cellars of which existed for three centuries. The Treasury was built by another Italian - Marco Ruffo, whose name we associate with another remarkable building of the Kremlin - the Faceted Chamber - the ceremonial throne room of the future Russian tsars. For the 15th century, the Faceted Chamber is a unique creation: a hall with an area of 500 square meters, the vaults of which are supported by only one central pillar.
Marco Ruffo just mortgaged this chamber. He completed the work together with the architect Pietro Antonio Solari, who had arrived from Italy, one of the legendary builders of the Milan Cathedral. It is Solari who owns the main engineering solution for the Faceted Chamber, which was later named for the four-sided stones with which it is faced. Both architects simultaneously built the stone imperial palace.
It remains only to regret that Solari lived in Moscow so little - in 1493, three years after his arrival, he suddenly died. But even in three years he did too much and, most importantly, realized the plan of Ivan III: to turn the Moscow Kremlin into the most impregnable fortress in Europe. The new fortress walls, 2235 meters long, were 5 to 19 meters high. Inside the walls, the thickness of which reached from 3.5 to 6.5 meters, closed galleries were arranged for the secret movement of soldiers. To prevent enemy mines, there were many secret passages and "rumors" from the Kremlin.
Its towers became the centers of the Kremlin's defense. The first was erected in the very middle of the wall facing the Moskva River. It was built under the guidance of the Italian master Anton Fryazin in 1485. Since there was a secret spring under the tower, they named it Taynitskaya.
After that, a new tower is erected almost every year: Beklemishevskaya (Marko Ruffo), Vodovzvodnaya (Anton Fryazin), Borovitskaya, Konstantino-Yeleninskaya (Pietro Antonio Solari). And finally, in 1491, two towers were erected on Red Square - Nikolskaya and Frolovskaya - the latter would later become known to the whole world as Spasskaya (as it was in 1658 named by the tsar's decree after the image of the Savior of Smolensk, written above the gate of the tower in memory of the liberation by Russian troops the city of Smolensk). The Spasskaya Tower became the main, main entrance to the Kremlin ...
In 1494 Aleviz Fryazin (Milanese) came to Moscow. For ten years he built the stone chambers that became part of the Kremlin's Terem Palace. He erected both the Kremlin walls and the towers along the Neglinnaya River. He also owns the main hydraulic structures of Moscow of those years: the dams on Neglinnaya and the ditches along the walls of the Kremlin.
In 1504, shortly before his death, Ivan III invited another "Fryazin" to Moscow, who received the name of Aleviz Fryazin the New (Venetian). He came from Bakhchisarai, where he was building a palace for the khan. The creations of the new architect were already seen by Vasily III. It was with him that the Venetian built eleven churches (which have not survived to this day) and the Cathedral, which still serves as an adornment of the Moscow Kremlin, - Arkhangelsk, designed in the best traditions of ancient Russian architecture. One feels that its creator was under the great influence of the original Russian culture.
At the same time, in 1505-1508, the famous Ivan the Great bell tower was built. Its architect Bon-Fryazin, erecting this pillar, which later reached 81 meters, accurately calculated that this architectural vertical would dominate the entire ensemble, giving it a unique color.
The construction of the Moscow Kremlin was an outstanding event for its time. Even if we consider the beginning of the construction of the ensemble in 1475 - the year of the laying of the last, fourth version of the Assumption Cathedral, and the end of construction - the erection of the last Kremlin fortifications in 1516, we have to admit that all this splendor and power was created in thirty (!) Years.
Also in kindergarten children hear about white-stone Moscow. This name is a traditional epithet for the capital. But then the children grow older and in history lessons they learn that the city got this name because of its main fortress - the Kremlin. And they have natural questions about where this strange color blindness came from? The Kremlin is red, not white!
In fact, there is no mistake. Just a beautiful epithet appeared a long time ago, when the Kremlin was really bright.
What is the Kremlin?
This word in medieval Russia was called the central fortress of the city, the last and main stronghold of defense. The main (or only) city temple was usually located on its territory, and the ruler of the city (prince or voivode) lived.
In the event of an attack (and they happened very often in those days), not only the population of an unprotected or weakly defended urban settlement, but also the peasants of the nearest villages were hiding behind the walls of the Kremlin. Strong walls gave hope to repel the attack or wait for help, withstanding the siege.
Not the first
For a very long time, stone fortifications were not built in Russia. They built it from wood - it was faster and easier. Therefore, the white-stone Kremlin in Moscow was not really the first - there was a wooden fortress before it. There is chronicle evidence of the construction of a wooden fortress in the city by the founder of Moscow, Prince Yuri Dolgoruky (by the way, a lover of war). This fact is dated 9 years later than the first mention of Moscow in a written source.
Later, the wooden Kremlin was repeatedly restored and rebuilt. The reason is clear - wooden walls defended well against direct attacks from enemies, but were powerless against fire. And Russia just entered troubled times - it all began with princely strife, and then the Tatars came. The last time the wooden fortress was rebuilt by the famous Ivan Kalita. He built it from oak and significantly increased the area. But it still didn't help.
All Saints Fire
It didn't even take a Tatar attack - Ivan Kalita's Kremlin was destroyed by a domestic fire. It was a terrible scourge of wooden medieval cities - with any fire they could burn out completely. This time, the Church of All Saints was the first to light up (hence the name of the fire). It happened in 1365.
At this time, the young Dmitry Ivanovich (then not Donskoy) reigned in Moscow. He strove to pursue an independent policy, but understood that with a “bare” capital, it would be a hopeless business. Therefore, he hastened to begin the construction of a new fortress and, at the same time, made sure that it burned worse.
White stone
Russia already knew stone construction. But in many regions, strictly speaking, it was not stone, but brick - clay plinth was used. But in the Vladimir-Suzdal principality, even before the invasion of the Mongols, a tradition of building from limestone arose. For its light color it was called "white stone". It was necessary to be able to work with it, but in principle limestone was easy to work with. It was possible to cut blocks of the desired size from it.
There was a limestone deposit near Moscow in the village of Myachkovo, 30 km from the capital. This grade is now called Myachkovsky limestone. The historian and writer I.E.Zabelin assumed that this very stone should have been used by the builders of the Kremlin, Dmitry Ivanovich.
Delivery of the stone was a big problem, and the prince did not want to start construction until all the necessary material was at hand. Transportation was carried out along the Moskva River, partly by water, but mostly in winter on ice.
Unprecedented Kremlin
The construction of the white-stone Kremlin in Moscow took two years (1367-68). He is often mentioned in sources, but our contemporaries do not know exactly what he looked like. There are no accurate images, and one has to rely on descriptions and data from archaeological research.
The Kremlin square under Prince Dmitry was approaching the current one - he ordered the construction of new walls at a decent distance from the old ones. The walls were theoretically up to 3 m thick and had numerous loopholes, which were closed when attacked with wooden shields for better protection of the soldiers. A significant part of the walls stretched along the Moskva River and Neglinnaya (they served as additional protection). In the same place where such protection was lacking, a ditch was dug (its traces were found by archaeologists). A stone bridge was thrown across Neglinnaya - the first in Moscow (now there is the Trinity Bridge).
Historian M.I.Tikhomirov believes that initially the walls were thick, but rather low. They were built on gradually. This was a common practice in medieval towns and castles. There is a version that initially not the entire Kremlin was made of stone - the less dangerous from the point of view of a possible assault remained wooden. Over time, this omission was also eliminated.
The white-stone Kremlin in Moscow (construction began in 1367) stood for 150 years. Prince Ivan III, known for putting an end to the Mongol yoke, planned to build a new fortress. Little by little, the white walls were dismantled, others were built in their place. The material this time is red brick. This is how a modern-looking Kremlin appeared.
Some lime blocks were left in the new wall as rubble. They were later discovered by scientists and were convinced in this way that the first stone Kremlin in Moscow was indeed white.
Miracles of White Stone
Striving to unite and strengthen Russia, Dmitry Ivanovich strove to make the Kremlin not only a fortress, but also a kind of center of attraction, which would symbolize Russian greatness. Therefore, the prince built not only walls, but also stone churches in the Kremlin monasteries. As a result, Moscow became one of the most "stone" Russian cities, and the Kremlin itself became the most powerful European fortress.
Dmitry's heirs sought to continue his endeavor and increase the number of Kremlin miracles. So, at the turn of the XIV-XV centuries, the first tower clock in Russia appeared in the Kremlin. White stone began to be used not only for construction, but also for decoration. In the middle of the 15th century, a Russian sculptor made two bas-reliefs from limestone. One of them depicted the coat of arms of Moscow (with George the Victorious), the second - St. Dmitry Thessaloniki (the heavenly patron of Dmitry Ivanovich). They were fixed on the Frolovskaya (today - Spasskaya) tower: the first in 1446 outside above the gate, the second in 1466 in the same way, but from the inside.
Fortress Adventure
Despite its relatively short life, the first white-stone Kremlin in Moscow managed to serve the Motherland well. As soon as its construction was completed, in 1368, an army of the Grand Duke of Lithuania Olgerd appeared under the walls of Moscow. The Lithuanians got away without a break - the fortress survived. In 1370, Olgerd repeated the attempt - with the same result.
But the white Kremlin unexpectedly "got out sideways" exactly the event that glorified its builder for centuries. In 1380, Dmitry Ivanovich led the army of the united Russian principalities against the Golden Horde, and for the first time inflicted a crushing defeat on the enemy on the Kulikovo field near the Don. For this victory, the prince was awarded the honorary nickname Donskoy. But the angry Mongols had not yet been defeated at all. In 1382 Khan Tokhtamysh, who replaced Temnik Mamai, who had been defeated by Dmitry, took advantage of Dmitry's absence to attack Moscow. The city fell and was burned clean.
It was then that Dmitry's foresight manifested itself - the white-stone Kremlin in Moscow (the date of completion of construction - 1368) survived! It only had to be repaired, but not rebuilt.
The power of tradition
Although Prince Ivan used a different material for the construction, he clearly had respect for the fortress built by his famous grandfather. The Kremlin remained white until late XIX century! Although it was completed and restored several times. Including after the "Time of Troubles" and Patriotic War 1812, the walls stubbornly continued to whitewash!
That is why the epithet "white stone" has become so firmly attached to Moscow - it took not 150 years to form, but much longer! IN White color the walls were painted primarily to show respect for Dmitry Donskoy, and then out of habit.
You can see that St. Basil's Cathedral, which is in the immediate vicinity of the Kremlin, is mostly red. You might guess that this was a catchy contrast. In addition, there was a tradition in the architecture of Russia - to build temples from plinth, and it resembles modern red brick in color. Whitewashing of Russian churches began much later. And far from everywhere (having visited St. Sophia Cathedral in Kiev, one can be sure that its walls were not originally white - fragments of masonry were deliberately left unpainted on the walls of the buildings). Thanks to this, churches were strikingly different from secular buildings (houses were then wooden or resembled Ukrainian huts). In the Vladimir-Suzdal principality, white churches were built (for example, the Intercession on the Nerl), but this was not an immutable rule.
Creations of the masters
Although none of the leaders of the new era saw the first Kremlin, it aroused their interest. Some tried to "invent" the Kremlin of Dmitry Donskoy and depict the results of their reflections on canvas. The most interesting version belongs to the artist A. Vasnetsov. The bleached Kremlin of later eras was also often painted and described. One can suspect that not all of the witnesses knew that before the fortress was different - really white.
Back to white
Nowadays, the red walls of the Kremlin are tinted for showiness with red paint in the same way as they used to whitewash. But in last years there are more and more proposals to repaint the Kremlin white again. Say, this will be more in line with the historical spirit of Moscow.
In addition to the fact that it does not interfere with thinking about how much paint is required for this and how much the work will cost, you need to remember two more things. First, the current Kremlin was not born white-stone. Repainting will not restore the real fortress of Dmitry Donskoy. And secondly, the Kremlin and Red Square are a monument of world importance and are under the protection of UNESCO.
The Moscow Kremlin is the center of Russia and the citadel of power. For more than 5 centuries, these walls reliably hide state secrets and protect their main carriers. The Kremlin is shown on Russian and world channels several times a day. This medieval fortress, unlike anything else, has long become a symbol of Russia.
Only now the frames we are provided are basically the same. The Kremlin is a strictly guarded operating residence of the President of our country. There are no trifles in security, which is why all Kremlin filming is so strictly regulated. By the way, don't forget to visit the excursion to the Kremlin.
To see another Kremlin, try to imagine its towers without tents, limit the height only to a wide, non-tapering part and you will immediately see a completely different Moscow Kremlin - a powerful, squat, medieval, European fortress.
This is how it was built at the end of the 15th century on the site of the old white-stone Kremlin by the Italians - Pietro Fryazin, Anton Fryazin and Alois Fryazin. They all received the same surname, although they were not relatives. "Fryazin" means a foreigner in Old Slavonic.
They built the fortress in accordance with all the latest achievements of fortification and military science of that time. A battle platform with a width of 2 to 4.5 meters runs along the battlements of the walls.
Each prong has a loophole, which can only be reached by standing on something else. The view is limited. The height of each prong is 2-2.5 meters, the distance between them during the battle was covered with wooden shields. There are 1145 battlements on the walls of the Moscow Kremlin.
The Moscow Kremlin is a great fortress, located near the Moskva River, in the heart of Russia - in Moscow. The citadel is equipped with 20 towers, each with its own unique view and 5 travel gates. The Kremlin is like a ray of light, carried through the rich history of Russia's formation.
These ancient walls are witnesses of all those numerous events that happened to the state, starting from the moment of its construction. The fortress begins its journey in 1331, although the word "Kremlin" was mentioned earlier.
Moscow Kremlin, infographics. Source: www.kultura.rf. For a detailed view, open the picture in a new browser tab.
Moscow Kremlin under different rulers
Moscow Kremlin under Ivan Kalita
In the years 1339-1340. Moscow prince Ivan Danilovich, nicknamed Kalita ("money bag"), built an imposing citadel of oak on Borovitsky Hill, walls from 2 to 6 m thick, and no less than 7 m high. Ivan Kalita made a powerful fortress with a formidable look, but it stood less three decades and burned down during a terrible fire in the summer of 1365.
Moscow Kremlin under Dmitry Donskoy
The tasks of the defense of Moscow insistently demanded the creation of a more reliable fortress: the Moscow principality was threatened by the Golden Horde, Lithuania and the rival Russian principalities - Tver and Ryazan. The then reigning 16-year-old grandson of Ivan Kalita Dmitry (aka Dmitry Donskoy) decided to build a fortress of stone - the Kremlin.
The stone fortress began to be built in 1367, and the stone was mined nearby, in the village of Myachkovo. We completed the construction in a short time - in just one year. Dmitry Donskoy made the Kremlin a white-stone fortress, which the enemies tried to storm more than once, but they could not.
What does the word "Kremlin" mean?
One of the first mentions of the word "Kremlin" appears in the Resurrection Chronicle in a message about the fire of 1331. According to historians, it could have arisen from the Old Russian word "kremnik", which meant a fortress built of oak. According to another point of view, it is based on the word "krom" or "kroma", which means a boundary, a border.
The first victory of the Moscow Kremlin
Almost immediately after the construction of the Moscow Kremlin, Moscow was under siege. Lithuanian prince Olgerda in 1368, and then in 1370 Lithuanians stood at the white-stone walls for three days and three nights, but the fortifications turned out to be impregnable. This instilled confidence in the young Moscow ruler and allowed him to later challenge the powerful Golden Horde Khan Mamai.
In 1380, feeling the reliable rear behind his back, Russian army under the leadership of Prince Dmitry, they ventured into a decisive operation. Having left their hometown far to the south, to the upper reaches of the Don, they met with the army of Mamai and defeated it at the Kulikovo field.
So for the first time, chrome became a stronghold not only of the Moscow principality, but of all of Russia. And Dmitry received the nickname Donskoy. For 100 years after the Battle of Kulikovo, the white-stone citadel united the Russian lands, becoming the main center of Russia.
Moscow Kremlin under Ivan 3
The current dark red appearance of the Moscow Kremlin owes its birth to Prince Ivan III Vasilyevich. Started by him in 1485-1495. the grandiose construction was not a simple reconstruction of the dilapidated defensive fortifications of Dmitry Donskoy. The white-stone fortress is replaced by a red brick fortress.
Outside the towers are pushed out in order to fire along the walls. To quickly move the defenders, a system of secret underground passages was created. Completing the system of impregnable defense, the Kremlin was made an island altogether. On both sides it already had natural barriers - the Moskva and Neglinnaya rivers.
They dug a ditch on the third side, where the Red Square is now, about 30-35 meters wide and 12 meters deep. Contemporaries called the Moscow Kremlin an outstanding military engineering structure. Moreover, the Kremlin is the only European fortress that has never been taken by storm.
The special role of the Moscow Kremlin as a new grand-ducal residence and the main fortress of the state determined the nature of its engineering and technical appearance. Built of red brick, it retained the features of the layout of the Old Russian Detinets, and in its outlines - the already formed shape of an irregular triangle.
At the same time, the Italians made it extremely functional and very similar to many fortresses in Europe. What Muscovites came up with in the 17th century turned the Kremlin into a unique architectural monument. The Russians just built on stone tents, which turned the fortress into a lightweight structure directed towards the sky, which has no equal in the world, and the corner towers took on such an appearance as if our ancestors knew that it was Russia that would send the first man into space.
Moscow Kremlin architects
The construction was supervised by Italian architects. Memorial plaques installed on the Spasskaya Tower of the Moscow Kremlin testify that it was built in the "30th summer" of the reign of Ivan Vasilyevich. He noted the construction of the most powerful entrance front tower Grand Duke anniversary of their state activities. In particular, Spasskaya and Borovitskaya were designed by Pietro Solari.
In 1485, under the leadership of Antonio Gilardi, the powerful Taynitskaya Tower was built. In 1487 another Italian architect, Marco Ruffo, began to build Beklemishevskaya, and later Sviblova (Vodovzvodnaya) appeared on the opposite side. These three structures set the direction and rhythm for all subsequent construction.
The Italian origin of the main architects of the Moscow Kremlin is not accidental. At that time, it was Italy that came to the fore in the theory and practice of fortification construction. The design features testify to the familiarity of its creators with the engineering ideas of such outstanding representatives of the Italian Renaissance as Leonardo da Vinci, Leon Battista Alberti, Filippo Brunelleschi. In addition, it was the Italian architectural school that "presented" the Stalinist skyscrapers in Moscow.
By the beginning of the 1490s, four more blind towers appeared (Blagoveshchenskaya, 1st and 2nd Unnamed and Petrovskaya). All of them, as a rule, repeated the line of the old fortifications. The work was carried out gradually, so that there would be no open areas in the fortress through which the enemy could suddenly attack.
In the 1490s, the construction was supervised by the Italian Pietro Solari (aka Pyotr Fryazin), with whom his compatriots Antonio Gilardi (aka Anton Fryazin) and Aloisio da Carcano (Aleviz Fryazin) worked. 1490-1495 The following towers were added to the Moscow Kremlin: Konstantino-Eleninskaya, Spasskaya, Nikolskaya, Senatskaya, Uglovaya Arsenalnaya and Nabatnaya.
Secret passages in the Moscow Kremlin
In case of danger, the defender of the Kremlin was able to quickly move along secret underground passages. In addition, internal passages were made in the walls, connecting all the towers. Thus, the defenders of the Kremlin could concentrate, if necessary, on a dangerous sector of the front, or retreat in the event of an overweight of the enemy forces.
Long underground tunnels were also dug, thanks to which it was possible to observe the enemy in the event of a siege, as well as to make unexpected attacks on the enemy. Several underground tunnels went beyond the Kremlin.
Some towers had more than just a defensive function. For example, Taynitskaya hid a secret passage from the fortress to the Moscow River. Wells were made in Beklemishevskaya, Vodovzvodnaya and Arsenalnaya, with the help of which it was possible to deliver water if the city was in a state of siege. The well in Arsenalnaya has survived to this day.
Within two years of the fortress, Kolymazhnaya (Commandant) and Faceted (Middle Arsenalnaya) rose in a slender line, and in 1495 the construction of Troitskaya began. The construction was supervised by Aleviz Fryazin.
Chronology of events
| Of the year | Event |
| 1156 | The first citadel made of wood was erected on Borovitsky Hill |
| 1238 | Khan Baty's troops marched across Moscow, as a result, most of the buildings were burned. In 1293 the city was once again ravaged by the Mongol-Tatar troops of Duden |
| 1339-1340 | Ivan Kalita erected mighty oak walls around the Kremlin. 2 to 6 m in thickness and up to 7 m in height |
| 1367-1368 | Dmitry Donskoy built a white-stone fortress. The white-stone Kremlin has been shining for over 100 years. Since that time, Moscow began to be called "white stone" |
| 1485-1495 | Ivan III the Great erected a red brick citadel. The Moscow Kremlin is equipped with 17 towers, the height of the walls of which is 5-19 m, and the thickness is 3.5-6.5 m |
| 1534-1538 | A new ring of defensive walls was built, which was named Kitai-gorod. From the south, the walls of Kitai-Gorod adjoined the walls of the Kremlin at the Beklemishevskaya tower, from the north - to the Corner Arsenalnaya |
| 1586-1587 | Boris Godunov surrounded Moscow with two more rows of fortress walls, which received the name Tsar-Gorod, later - the White City. They covered the area between the modern central squares and the Boulevard Ring. |
| 1591 | Another 14-verst ring of fortifications has been built around Moscow, covering the area between the Boulevard and Garden rings. The construction was carried out within one year. The new fortress was named Skorodoma. So Moscow was taken into four rings of walls, which had a total of 120 towers |
All towers of the Moscow Kremlin
Since its construction (II millennium BC), the Moscow Kremlin has always been red. In the 18th century, its walls were whitewashed. This was the trend of the then fashion. Entering Moscow in 1812, Napoleon also saw the Kremlin as white.
White color
The white paint hid the cracks in the Kremlin walls for a long time. They were whitewashed before big holidays. Under the influence of precipitation, the whitewash was quickly washed off, and the walls became incomprehensibly dirty. Muscovites called it a noble patina.
Foreign guests of the capital saw the fortress differently. Jacques-François Ancelot, who visited Moscow in 1826, described it as a sad sight that does not correspond to its historical content. He believed that trying to give the fortress walls a semblance of youth, Muscovites "erased their past."
Kremlin during the war
At the beginning of World War II, it was decided that the Kremlin walls should be repainted in order to disguise. The development and implementation of the project was entrusted to academician Boris Iofan. Both the Red Square and the fortifications were disguised as ordinary residential buildings. “Streets” were built behind the Kremlin walls, and black squares of windows were painted on the walls of the buildings. From the air, the mausoleum looked like an ordinary residential building with a gable roof. Strategically, this was the wisest decision. But it shows that already in 1941, Stalin was ready for the fact that enemy aircraft would circle over Moscow.
Red color
The walls of the ancient structure became red after the end of the war. In 1947, Stalin ordered to change their color to the favorite of the communists. The leader's logic was simple and straightforward. Red blood - red flag - red Kremlin.
65 years ago, Stalin ordered the Moscow Kremlin to be repainted red. Collected here are pictures and photographs depicting the Moscow Kremlin from different eras.
Rather, the Kremlin was originally red-brick - the Italians, who built in 1485-1495 a new fortress for the Grand Duke of Moscow Ivan III Vasilyevich on the site of old white-stone fortifications, erected walls and towers of ordinary bricks - for example, the castle of Milan Castle, Castello Sforzesco.
The Kremlin became white only in the 18th century, when the fortress walls were whitewashed in the fashion of the time (like the walls of all other Russian kremlin - in Kazan, Zaraisk, Nizhny Novgorod, Rostov the Great, etc.).
J. Delabart. View of Moscow from the balcony of the Kremlin Palace towards the Moskvoretsky Bridge. 1797 year.
The White Kremlin appeared before Napoleon's army in 1812, and a few years later, already washed from the soot of warmed Moscow, it again blinded travelers with snow-white walls and tents. The famous French playwright Jacques-François Ancelo, who visited Moscow in 1826, described the Kremlin in his memoir Six mois en Russie: “With this we will leave the Kremlin, my dear Xavier; but, looking back at this ancient citadel, we will regret that, correcting the destruction caused by the explosion, the builders removed the age-old patina from the walls that gave them so much grandeur. The white paint that hides the cracks gives the Kremlin an appearance of youth that does not match its shape and erases its past. "
S. M. Shukhvostov. View of the Red Square. 1855 (?) Year
P. Vereshchagin. View of the Moscow Kremlin. 1879 year
Kremlin. Chromolithography from the collection of the Library of Congress, 1890.
White Spasskaya Tower of the Kremlin, 1883
White Nikolskaya tower, 1883
Moscow and the Moskva River. Photo by Murray Howe (USA), 1909
In the photo by Murray Howe: peeling walls and towers, covered with a "noble urban patina". 1909 year
The Kremlin met the beginning of the twentieth century as a real old fortress, covered, in the words of the writer Pavel Ettinger, with a "noble urban patina": it was sometimes whitewashed to important events, and the rest of the time he stood as expected - with smudges and shabby. The Bolsheviks who made the Kremlin a symbol and citadel of all state power, the white color of the fortress walls and towers did not bother at all.
Red Square, Athletes' Parade, 1932. Pay attention to the Kremlin walls freshly whitened for the holiday
Moscow, 1934-35 (?)
But then the war began, and in June 1941, the commandant of the Kremlin, Major General Nikolai Spiridonov, proposed repainting all the walls and towers of the Kremlin - for camouflage. A fantastic project for that time was developed by a group of academician Boris Iofan: walls of houses, black holes of windows were painted on white walls, artificial streets were built on Red Square, and the empty Mausoleum (Lenin's body was evacuated from Moscow on July 3, 1941) was covered with a plywood cap depicting a house. And the Kremlin naturally disappeared - the camouflage confused all the maps for the fascist pilots.
