The Kremlin and Downtown Moscow

Friday, May 19, 2017

After our late night, getting up this morning was not an easy thing, but we were breakfasted and on board the bus for a rush hour ride to the Kremlin.  Once there and through the security check, we joined the throngs entering through the Trinity Gate.  Dating from the 12^th century and now the seat of the national government, the Kremlin (fortress) was the original settlement in Moscow.  

The Kremlin was the home of the Tsars until the 18^th century, when Peter the Great, who loved the sea, moved the capital to St. Petersburg.  When Finland seceded from the Russian territories in 1918, St. Petersburg was deemed to be too close to the border and the capital was moved back to Moscow. Until the time of Khrushchev, government officials lived and worked within the Kremlin walls; he gave Politburo members apartments in the city and now only the president has a residence among the offices, churches, gardens, and monuments in the Kremlin.  President Putin chooses not to live there, however, and commutes via helicopter from his home in the suburbs. 

Among the monuments are over 800 canons seized from Napoleon in the War of 1812, the world’s largest bell (200 tons, with an 11-ton fragment displayed alongside it), and one of the world’s largest canons – the Tsar’s Bell and Tsar’s Canon respectively.  

Nearby is the Cathedral Square, ringed with churches that are now museums, except for important Holy Days, when services are held.  The Assumption Church is the largest, and the site of the coronations of Russia’s Tsars and Empresses.  We also visited the Archangel Michael Cathedral, where most of the royals were buried, until the time of Peter the Great. The Cathedral Square sits in the shadow of the Bell Tower of Ivan the Great, which for many years was – by mandate – the tallest structure in Moscow.

The tulips are in full and glorious bloom in the lovely gardens of the Kremlin and we reveled in their profusion, especially as it has seemed that spring has arrived with the flip of a switch on this trip.  Muscovites were out in the parks and gardens, enjoying this lovely warm day and the growth that’s bursting forth everywhere.  In the Kremlin gardens, we found a mature oak tree that cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin planted as a sapling upon his return to earth after the world’s first manned space flight.

As we left the Kremlin, we took off to spend the afternoon on our own.  We snacked and rested for a while in the Alexander Gardens, and enjoyed watching children play on the paths that weave through the tulip beds.  Then, we were off, roughly following a walking tour in one of our guide books.  We walked by the stately building holding the Bolshoi Theater,  the State Security Agency (better known by its former designation, the KGB) and along pedestrian shopping streets.  We have been particularly struck by the profusion of high-end stores, cars, hotels, and restaurants in the city.  Catering to the oligarchs and wealthy foreigners is obviously a going concern. 

Ultimately, we returned one more time to Red Square before walking along the Kremlin Wall on the river side of the fortress before meeting our bus for the rush hour drive back to the port.

Given the difficulties we've had finding enough bandwidth to upload our posts daily, we're happy that some of you have stayed with us.  This is our last post, and will be uploaded from home.  Thanks for traveling with this herky-jerky narrative, and we'll see you next time!