The Kremlin: museums and excursions. Overview and mode of operation of the Moscow Kremlin museums

The Moscow Kremlin Museum-Reserve was founded in 1991 on the basis of the existing Kremlin state museums. The need to unite the disparate cultural entities arose long ago, but the scale of the new project did not allow us to apply the usual integration scheme - the preparation for the rapprochement of the subjects of architecture took several years. As a result, a new unique museum was created in the Kremlin. Moscow, the metropolis of a global capital, has found another grandiose exhibition complex.

Residence

After a number of scientific researches the largest architectural ensemble of Russia received the status of a museum-reserve. In 2001 Elena Yuryevna Gagarina, the daughter of the legendary cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the general director of the united museums. The Museum-Reserve "Moscow Kremlin" has historically always been the residence of Russian tsars, and later - the presidents. Currently, it houses the stake and apartment of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

History of the Kremlin

The towers and walls of the Moscow Kremlin were built in the late 15th century, during the reign of Tsar Ivan the Terrible. At the same time, a number of architectural structures were erected within the perimeter of the Kremlin. Today, the unique museum-preserve "Kremlin" includes three cathedrals: Uspensky, Blagoveschensky and Archangel. All of them have significant historical value. The ensemble also includes other museums of the Kremlin: the Armory Chamber, the Church of the Deposition, the bell tower of Ivan the Great, the Church of the Twelve Apostles. In the lower tier of the Annunciation Cathedral there is an exposition detailing the theme of the archeology of the Kremlin. In museums, almost all genres of art are widely represented, reflecting to a greater or lesser extent the traditions of the royal court and the higher clergy. Each building is a unique construction of architecture, reflecting the era of the past. The interiors of the masterpieces of ancient architecture amaze with its splendor, conveying to the visitors the charm of the style of the 16th and 17th centuries, as well as the middle of the 19th century.

Popularity

The Moscow Kremlin, whose museums are not only represented by the location of the rarest exhibits, but are themselves monuments of culture, is under the tutelage of UNESCO's highest security institution. Attendance of the main museum complex of Moscow beats all records, during the year through the Borovitsky Gate and the Spassky Tower on Red Square there are more than two million tourists from all over the world. People's interest in the ancient Russian culture is not weakened, visitors are well-trained guides who willingly tell about the history of the Moscow Kremlin, as well as about the life of the royal family and its surroundings.

The Imperial carriages

The main treasury of the Kremlin expositions is The Armory Chamber, from which all excursions begin at the entrance to the Kremlin from the side of the Borovitskaya Tower. The Moscow Kremlin, whose museums are distinguished by a variety of exhibits, has a unique collection of carriages, which were visited by members of the royal family, representatives of the highest nobility close to the emperor, advisers and grandees. The exposition is presented in a wide range, from simple carriage to a multi-seat coach. The personal cabriolet of Empress Catherine adjoins the long-distance phaeton, and the treasurer's carriage stands next to the two-person crew for evening walks.

A separate room was set aside for clothes that were fashionable at the time, royal headdresses, studded with precious stones, trimmed with sable fur, occupy a special place. The main exhibit is a Monomakh's cap with a rich rim, trimmed with emeralds and rubies. In the next room is a collection of "Easter eggs Faberge." The court goldsmith, Carl Faberge, together with his assistants, created a whole series of masterpieces of jewelry art, which comprised a vast exposition. The main exhibit in the collection of Faberge is the Easter Egg "Moscow Kremlin". This is a stylized image of the two most famous Kremlin towers - Spassky and Vodovzvodnaya.

The towers are cast from bronze alloy, gold and silver. Between them is located directly "Easter egg", inside which the jeweler placed the interior of the Assumption Cathedral. You can see miniature icons on the iconostasis of the iconostasis by looking through lancet windows. This masterpiece of jewelry art is also famous for its never leaving the borders of Russia, although foreign exhibition companies would have been honored to include it in their exposition for a while. The unique product of the famous jeweler rests on a heavy base of a single piece of onyx.

Bombard

Under the open sky stands one of the most famous exhibits of the Moscow Kremlin, the Tsar Cannon, a unique artillery cannon cast from bronze by the master Andrei Chokhov in 1586. The gun belongs to the "bombard" category, and according to the new classification it is a mortar. Each core weighs about 2 tons, the diameter of the cannon barrel is 890 mm, the Tsar Cannon weighs 42 tons. Shoot the mortar can only theoretically, because to charge it, you need to make incredible efforts.

A masterpiece of iron casting

Another grandiose exhibit is the Tsar Bell. In 1730, by order of Empress Anna Ioannovna, work began on casting the largest bell in the history of foundry. The father and son of Matorina were contracted to perform the work. During the preparatory work, the senior Matorin died, and his son had to do all the work. In 1735, everything was ready for the pouring process, in six melting furnaces, bronze was boiling, the mold pit was ready to receive molten metal. The finished bell weighed 200 tons, its height was 6.3 meters. However, the bell suffered during the fire, because of the temperature drop, the metal cracked, and a huge chunk broke away from the mass. Thus, the grandiose design ceased to exist as a church bell for the belfry and became a museum exhibit. The Moscow Kremlin, whose museums are regularly replenished with new rarities, has become a haven for the unique Tsar Bell.

Assumption Cathedral

One of the first white-stone churches in Moscow, the Assumption Cathedral, was built in the late 15th century by the architect Aristotle Fioravanti. Seven years after the construction of the famous icon painter Dionysius laid the foundation for painting the walls of the temple. Work continued until 1515. In the middle of the 17th century, the Assumption Cathedral was painted anew, but the old frescoes have been partially preserved and are by far the oldest icon-painting specimens throughout the Kremlin.

In the Assumption Cathedral there is a vast necropolis, in which the ashes of the metropolitans of Kiev, Moscow, and also the nine Moscow patriarchs who died in the 17th century are buried.

Blagoveshchensky cathedral

The temple is located on the cathedral square of the Moscow Kremlin. It was built in 1489 on an ancient white stone subglacerate, left from the previous cathedral. In 1547, the temple was seriously damaged by the fire and was restored only in 1564, while the architects built two chapters on the side of the altar chapels. In 1572, the so-called Groznensky porch was attached to the cathedral. The iconostasis carries two series of icons, the "Deesis" and "festive" works of Andrei Rublev and Theophanes the Greek. On the porch there are images of Greek philosophers: Aristotle, Homer, Anaxagoras, Plutarch, Ptolemy. The northern gate is decorated with bas-reliefs of ancient Roman prophetesses Sibyl. The floor of the cathedral is made of jasper plates.

Until the 18th century the church was used as a house church of the Moscow tsars. And in the period of St. Petersburg domination of the Annunciation Church was a representation of Protopresbyterism.

Cathedral of the Archangel

The five-domed temple of the eight chapels was built at the very beginning of the 16th century. The interior of the cathedral was completely finished only 150 years later, thanks to the efforts of the icon painters Fedor Zubov, Stepan Ryazanets, Iosif Vladimirov. Later in the interior there appeared a wooden tybal iconostasis, painted with gold. Its height was 13 meters.

The Archangel Cathedral is famous for its extensive necropolis, which includes 54 burials, including the crayfish of Prince Dmitry Ivanovich and Mikhail Chernigov. Necropolis also contains 46 tombstones with ornaments and funeral cases of bronze. In 1928, the remains of women from the Romanov family and the Rurikovich family were moved to the basement of the church, which earlier rested in the church of the Ascension Monastery.

Kremlin Museums, working hours

One of the most important exhibition complexes of Russia operates throughout the calendar year. Below is the daily schedule of exhibitions that are part of the Kremlin Museum. The opening hours of museum sectors are as follows:

All museum halls are open from 10 to 17 hours daily. In the summer period - from 10 to 18 hours.

Thursday is a day off.

Cash desks are open daily (except Thursday) from 9.30 to 16.30, in the summer - to 17 hours. Tickets can be bought in the Alexander Garden, metro station "Lenin Library".

The Museum "Armory Chamber" is open according to the rules of the sessions: 10.00, 12.00, 14.30, 16.30. Tickets are sold at the box office 45 minutes prior to the session.

The exhibition "The Antiquities of the Kremlin", located in the Annunciation Cathedral, is open daily (except Thursday): excursions at 10.15, 11.15, 12.15, 13.15, 14.15, 15.15, 16.15.

The ticket price for the entrance to Cathedral Square is 350 rubles for adults, 150 rubles for schoolchildren.

On holidays and weekends, family tickets are offered for two adults and two children. The price of one ticket is 100 rubles.

The ticket price to the Armory Chamber is 700 rubles for adults and 200 rubles for pensioners, students and schoolchildren.

Souvenirs and postcards

Museums of the Kremlin, exhibitions, vernissages, themed shows and other events are subject to a system that has been developed over the years. Every visitor to the Moscow Kremlin is greeted as an expensive guest, providing him with everything necessary at the entrance. Booklets, layouts, souvenirs, postcards are all available in any quantity. The Moscow Kremlin, whose museums are of interest to people around the world, continues to receive guests.