We toured the Kremlin. Red Square is not the Kremlin. It is the parade ground outside the Kremlin. I always thought it was IN the Kremlin. Turns out the Kremlin is much more massive than Red Square. Oh - and Red Square does not have a meaning related to Communism. They say "red" and mean beautiful. Go figure.
There are some of the most beautiful cathedrals inside the Kremlin along with what would be the equivalent to our White House.
We went into the oldest cathedral. Did you know that there are no pews inside a Russian Orthodox church? You are supposed to look up - hence some beautiful paintings with layers of gold covering the walls and the ceiling. Only royalty was allowed to sit in church. There was a throne of sorts for the queen and also the original throne for Ivan the Terrible. Unfortunately, you are only allowed to photograph the outside.
Moscow prides itself on big things. The city is enormous, the ballet is called Bolshoi (means big), Stahlin's "Seven Sisters" are mammouth buildings that stretch into the sky and on the grounds of the Kremlin is the Czar Cannon and the Czar Bell. These are massive creations that have no useful function but WOW they are something to see!
Both the Czar Bell and the Czar Cannon were constructed on the grounds of the Kremlin but they were so big and heavy that they could not be used or really even moved. The bell was broken during a fire and the citizens poured water on it to keep it from being destroyed -- cold water+hot metal = broken bell.
1 comment:
ahh the ruby star! loved that. Eric wanted to tour the kremlin but I didnt. we had Ethan and I just thought it would be difficult with a toddler.
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