Touring The Moscow Kremlin

Before you read this post make sure you have caught up on my first Moscow postt?   Up to speed?  Excellent, now you can dive into the second!  Visiting the Kremlin is something friends and coworkers judged me on before. I heard a lot of “don’t you understand the political climate?”   – yes, I do, but I appreciate beauty in every shape and form and from what I had seen (and hopefully by the end of this post you can validate, it is very, very beautiful).

Passing by the Nikolskaya Tower and Okhotny Ryad shopping mall I headed for the entrance of the Kremlin museums to buy tickets in the Alexandrovsky Garden in order to enter.   Because I was strapped for time I did not take any of the tours and decided to just buy a ticket to explore the grounds (though I heard the armory chamber / tour is incredible and I might do that next step).

Once inside the armed guards rushed us by Senate Square the Cathedral Square where I do not think I have seen that many religious buildings in such a small space ever  – and that includes when I studied abroad in Rome.  The Cathedral Square is made up of the Assumption, Archangel and Annunciation cathedrals, the Church of Laying Our Lady’s Holy Robe, the Patriarch’s Palace, the Faceted Chamber, Golden Tsarina’s Chamber, the churches of the Terem Palace and the Ivan the Great Bell-Tower complex.  And again, I am so lucky it was a gorgeous blue sky day because the gold and silver domes really gleamed in the bright sunlight.   The art inside was also quite striking but of all the places in the world I would break the rules and take photos when it clearly says no photos – the Moscow Kremlin is not one of them.  So enjoy a few more pictures of the outside:  

While wandering around the areas allowed by tourists I appreciated all of the history dating back more than 500 years as most of it was built between 1482–1495.   If you are going to Moscow I would recommend a visit and that checks off another UNESCO World Heritage site off my list! 

Have you ever been to the Moscow Kremlin?