Faceted Chamber of the Moscow Kremlin

In the center of the Kremlin, among the temples of Cathedral Square, the most ancient in Moscow (not counting the cellar of the Treasury yard) is a stone building for civil purposes - the Faceted Chamber. Until the fifteenth century, Muscovites were built mainly of wood, but in 1462 Grand Prince Ivan III proclaimed himself "the sovereign of all Russia" and started building new palace buildings - of stone. The first such building was the Faceted Chamber in the Kremlin. Chambers at those times called the premises intended for feasts and receptions.

A military architect from Milan, Marco Ruffo, was invited to Moscow. The architect was engaged in replacing wooden palace buildings with stone ones. In Russia, Ruffo was quickly christened by Mark Fryazin from the words "fry, fry" - "foreigner". The creative fate of the architect was tragic. Most of the buildings he built did not survive, almost all the projects started by Mark were subsequently transferred to another architect. The Faceted Chamber was no exception.

Fryazin began construction in 1487, he thought out the entire spatial and architectural composition, worked for a masterpiece for three years, but for unknown reasons was suspended from the works. Completed the construction of the Chamber in 1491, another Italian - Pietro Antonio Solari, whose name the Muscovites also soon changed to Peter Fryazin.

Solari arrived in Moscow later than his compatriot, but enjoyed the king's love and, according to some information, was officially considered the chief architect of the city. The Faceted Chamber owes its name to the Italian. In the decoration of the eastern facade, the architect applied the reception characteristic of Italian architecture of that time - "diamond rust". In the clutch were used large stones with a faceted part in the form of tetrahedral pyramids. The "faceted" stones are separated by flat paths, creating a mysterious game of light and shadow.

The building was erected on the very spot where once stood the mansions of Ivan Kalita and the palace of Dmitry Donskoy. It has two floors that are not connected to each other. Today, the throne room can be accessed from the chambers of the Great Kremlin Palace, during the time of Ivan III, the main staircases and the so-called Red Porch were led to the chambers. In the 30 years of the last century, the porch was destroyed, but in the 90-ies of the twentieth century, modern stone carvers carefully restored it according to archival documents. The faceted chamber changed its appearance several times, but its purpose as the main representation hall remained the same. Here they crowned the kingdom of Russian monarchs, received diplomats from Denmark, Germany, Hungary, Persia and Turkey, rewarded the distinguished generals with silver.

All the most important events in the life of the country: the capture of Kazan by Ivan the Terrible, the Poltava victory of the troops of Peter I, the betrothal of Boris Godunov's daughter - were celebrated with magnificent 5-6 hour lunches in the Faceted Chamber. Here the Boyar Duma and Zemsky Sobor met , taking historical decisions.

The Throne Hall for a long time remained the largest hall in Russia and always distinguished by its luxury. The dilapidated original frescoes were restored in the 17th century, then whitewashed and covered with velvet. Today the room looks like a mirror colorful box: the walls are covered with paintings of Palekh masters Belousovyh (ХІХ century), on the floor there is a brilliant parquet of 16 species of valuable wood - the result of a large-scale restoration project that ended in 2012.

The architectural monument is part of the residence of the President of the Russian Federation. It is used only in extremely important cases for solemn meetings and state receptions. In 2012, the Faceted Chamber of the Kremlin for the first time in its 500-year history opened the doors for tourists.