The Red Square
The Red Square is a city square. It separates the Kremlin from a historic merchant quarter known as Kitai-gorod. Red Square is often
considered the central square of Moscow, because Moscow's major streets—which connect to Russia's major highways—originate from the square.
The name Red Square does not originate from the pigment of the surrounding bricks nor from the link between the color red and communism.
Rather, the name came about because the Russian word красная (krasnaya), which now means "red," originally
meant "beautiful"; in this meaning, it was applied to a small area between St. Basil's Cathedral, the Spassky Tower of the Kremlin,
and the Lobnoe Mesto (place of execution), and Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich officially extended the name to the entire square, which had
previously been called Pozhar, or "burnt-out place", in reference to the fact that several buildings had to be burned down to make
place for the square.
The red square is surrounded by Pokrov or Saint Basil's Cathedral (on the side facing the river), the north-east wall of the Kremlin, the State Museum
at the opposite side of the cathedral with Voskresensky gate on its right side, the Kazan Cathedral and GUM department store. On the
Red Square you will find Lenin's Mausoleum
We enter the Red Square through Voskresensky gate to face Saint Basil's cathedral
By night the Red Square is lit, giving it a special, atmosphere
The Kremlin
With evidence of human habitation on the site of the Kremlin dating back to 500 BC, Moscow's history really begins around 1147. The city grew rapidly and, despite being razed by the Mongols in 1208, was soon powerful enough to attain primacy among the Russian principalities, acknowledged in 1326 when the seat of the Russian Orthodox Church moved there from Vladimir.
At the same time, stone buildings began to appear in the Kremlin and, by the end of the 14th Century, the citadel was fortified with stone walls. Under Ivan the Great (1462 - 1505), the Kremlin became the centre of a unified Russian state, and was extensively remodelled, as befitted its new status. Meanwhile, Moscow spread outside the walls of the citadel, and the Kremlin became a world apart, the base of the twin powers of state and religion. This period saw the construction of the magnificent Cathedrals of the Assumption, the Annunciation and the Archangel, and the uniquely Russian Terem Palace, the royal residence. The addition of the Ivan the Great Bell Tower completed Sobornaya Square, and added to the imposing effect of the Kremlin skyline.
Ivan's descendents further developed and adapted the Kremlin complex and, even when Peter the Great moved the capital to St Petersburg, Russia's rulers continued to leave their mark on the medieval town. After the 1917 Revolution, the Kremlin regained its place as the seat of the Russian government, and the legacy of the Communist era is still visible in the large red stars that top many of the defensive towers, and in the vast, modern State Kremlin Palace, originally the Palace of Congresses
And a few more things
As my stay in Moscow was only a short one, I have not been able to see everything of interest. So Here are a few of the other things that I saw whilst in Moscow
The park west of the Kremlin
On the west side of the Kremlin there is a small park, called the Alexander Gardens. The initial name of the grounds was the Kremlin Gardens (the present-day name was given in 1856 after the coronation of Alexander II), with three discrete gardens sharing a matching layout and landscape design