The Red Square Complex & The Kremlin

Overview: 

The incred­i­ble Red Square is home to many of Russia’s famous mon­u­ments, not least the sto­ried and famous Krem­lin which is not only the site of some of Russia’s most defin­ing his­tor­i­cal and polit­i­cal moments, but is the biggest active fortress in Europe and home to some of Russia’s most icon­ic sights – with the Red Square and Krem­lin com­plex includ­ing the tow­er­ing Spasskaya Tow­er, the icon­ic Star Can­non and the mag­i­cal and famous St. Basil’s Cathe­dral, and being a place of stun­ning archi­tec­ture and unique beau­ty ass one of the most his­toric and impres­sive won­ders of the world.  

Believed to have been con­struct­ed some­time in the 12th Cen­tu­ry, the Red Square has devel­oped over the course of cen­turies to become the stun­ning Square it is today, with the Krem­lin com­plex which adjoins the Kremlin’s north wall becom­ing first recog­nis­able in its cur­rent state in the 15th cen­tu­ry – dur­ing the reign of Ivan the Great – dur­ing which time the cur­rent walls of Kitay-Gorod were con­struct­ed – and then being added to through­out his­to­ry. With the Red Square’s most famous icon the St Basil’s cathe­dral being con­struct­ed on the orders in the 16th cen­tu­ry by Ivan the Ter­ri­ble – with the famous Dor­mi­tion Cathe­dral, Assump­tion Bel­fry and Church of the Twelve Apos­tles all being con­struct­ed over the fol­low­ing cen­turies.  

A place of immense archi­tec­tur­al beau­ty, the Krem­lin has also been the site of numer­ous impor­tant his­tor­i­cal events with­in Russ­ian His­to­ry – espe­cial­ly dur­ing the sovi­et era – and remains the res­i­dence of the gov­ern­ment of Rus­sia and the final rest­ing place of numer­ous great Russ­ian Lead­ers, with the Red Square site also see­ing numer­ous exe­cu­tions, speech­es and parades over the cen­turies  – and being the place where VE day was cel­e­brat­ed in Rus­sia and host­ing an annu­al New Year’s eve cel­e­bra­tion – as well as being a spot of polit­i­cal protest and demon­stra­tion through­out the 21st Cen­tu­ry.  

A unique site – that sur­pris­ing­ly sur­vived World War II untouched, the site is home to mul­ti­ple Guin­ness World Records – includ­ing our favourite – being the home of the world’s largest bell and canon in the form of the Tsar Bell and Canyon from the 16th cen­tu­ry, and with the Krem­lin now serv­ing as both the prin­ci­ple muse­um of Rus­sia and the pres­i­den­tial palace and gov­ern­ment res­i­den­cy, with the stun­ning archi­tec­ture of the Krem­lin – which includes a series of tow­er forts, church­es, cathe­drals, a shop­ping mall, which com­bined with the his­to­ry and lega­cy of the icon­ic red square makes the Red Square and the Krem­lin a tru­ly sto­ried and unique won­der of the world.  

Where:

The cen­tre of Russia’s his­to­ry – the Red Square and the Krem­lin com­plex is found in the heart of Russia’s Cap­i­tal of Moscow against the banks of the beau­ti­ful Mosk­va Riv­er. 

Getting there:

Lying in the heart of Moscow, the Red Square and the accom­pa­ny­ing Krem­lin is eas­i­ly accessed and found.  

So for starters you’ll need to get your­self to Moscow, which is done in one of two main ways; by plane or by takin on one of the world’s most epic train jour­neys; the trans-Siber­ian express. 

For those trav­el­ling by plane – you’ll want to get your­self to one of Moscow’s three main inter­na­tion­al air­ports (Domode­do­vo Air­port, Shereme­tye­vo air­port or the Vnuko­vo air­port and the from wher­ev­er you are in the world – and from there it’s a sim­ple mat­ter of get­ting to the cen­tre of Moscow – by using either the Aero Express train, a taxi or an Uber – with our pick being the Aero Express train which is a fast and cheap option to get into the city cen­tre.  

Once inside the city cen­tre you have the option of get­ting a taxi or uber to the krem­lin, walk­ing or hop­ping on the incred­i­bly beau­ti­ful Russ­ian under­ground sys­tem – with near­est stops being those on the Sokol­nich­eskaya Line (Okhot­ny Ryad and Bib­liote­ka Imeni Leni­na) or the Arbatsko-Pokrovskaya Line( Ploshchad Revolyut­sii Arbatskaya) – from where it’s a sim­ple mat­ter of walk­ing to the red square and after explor­ing it’s many unique sights car­ry­ing on to the entrance gates of the incred­i­ble won­der of the Krem­lin in front of you.  

By the Trans-Siber­ian rail­way  

For those who fan­cy a more extreme and true adven­ture to get to the won­der of the Krem­lin then you can take on one of the great­est jour­neys on the plan­et – the Trans-Siber­ian Rail­way. 

Offi­cial­ly run­ning from the Russ­ian city of Vladi­vos­tok or the city of Bei­jing (via Mon­go­lia) to Moscow (or vice ver­sa for those who want to leave the Won­der in style) along mul­ti­ple stops in Rus­sia, the Trans-Siber­ian Rail­way dates back to the 19th cen­tu­ry and was offi­cial­ly cre­at­ed to move both peo­ple and resources across Siberia – but has no devel­oped in to one of the great­est and most scenic train jour­neys on the plan­et as you poten­tial­ly trav­el across the world’s longest rail­way for up to 8 straight days across 5716 miles and 11 time zones on an epic adven­ture.  

Used fre­quent­ly by locals to trav­el across Rus­sia, the trans-Siber­ian is an afford­able and prac­ti­cal way to cov­er Rus­sia and get to Moscow, but also offers a great expe­ri­ence for explor­ers to get to the won­der of the Red Square and the Krem­lin (or trav­el onwards) via a series of dif­fer­ent routes, with our favourite routes being:  

 Beijing (via Ulaanbaatar)  or Ulaanbaatar– Moscow ($550USD — $3000 USD)

Leav­ing from Bei­jing (of course after tak­ing in the won­ders of the Great Wall and the For­bid­den City) the jour­ney from Bei­jing to Mosco is on of the great­est rail­way jour­neys on the plan­et as you trav­el not only through the incred­i­ble  Mon­go­lian Steppe and the vast and beau­ti­ful land­scapes of Mon­go­lia – stop­ping off at the beau­ti­ful and mod­ern city of Ulaan­baatar the Mon­go­lian Cap­i­tal – before cross­ing over Siberia with the beau­ti­ful Lake Baikal at  your win­dow and arriv­ing into Moscow – from where you can expe­ri­ence the beau­ty of the Krem­lin.  

One of the great­est trips on the plan­et – the Bei­jing or Ulaan­baatar route is an epic jour­ney span­ning 7 time zones – and leaves once a week tak­ing almost a week direct leav­ing on Wednes­days but we’d real­ly encour­age you to fac­tor in some stops, with a stop at Ulaan­baatar to dis­cov­er the beau­ty of Mon­go­lia and the famous Steppe as well as with­in Siberia to dis­cov­er Lake Baikal two must vis­its on this jour­ney.  

Avail­able also as a route from Ulaan­baatar – for those who set off to Moscow from Mon­go­lia – this is arguably the best train route on the plan­et as you trav­el in com­fort across stun­ning land­scapes all vis­i­ble from the win­dow of your berth or train and arrive in style to the beau­ti­ful city of Moscow and the sto­ried won­der of the world that is the Red Square and the Krem­lin.  

Vladivostok – Moscow ($200 USD — $2000 USD)

Per­haps the most pop­u­lar route on the Trans-Siber­ian and the most direct, the dai­ly Vladi­vos­tok – Moscow route takes a whole week as you trav­el from the town of Vladi­vos­tok – a city just above the tip of North Korea more than five and a half thou­sand miles across Siberia through Irkut­sk and the beau­ty of Lake Baikal and get to expe­ri­ence the real Rus­sia on your way to the krem­lin.  

Best trav­elled as a sleep­er train jour­ney, this stun­ning and unique route care­ful­ly winds it way along­side the Russ­ian bor­der – miss­ing North Korea, Mon­go­lia and Kaza­khstan  (so you don’t need to be con­fer­enced about Visa’s and gives you the best of Rus­sia from the com­fort of your win­dow, along with the option to spot off at var­i­ous beau­ty spots – includ­ing our favourite Lake Baikal as you jour­ney across a route trav­elled across cen­turies to reach the won­der.  

Siberia (Irkutsk) & Kazan – Moscow ($150USD — $200USD)  

A short­er jour­ney – by Trans-Siber­ian Stan­dards – the route from Siberia which leaves from the sta­tion of Irkut­sk gives you a chance to jour­ney on the Trans-Siber­ian Express from the won­der of Lake Baikal (deep­est lake in the world) as you head west across the beau­ti­ful lake and into the dense Siber­ian forest­land to the third biggest city in Rus­sia Kazan on a four day epic jour­ney.  

After a 2 day jour­ney you’ll reach the city of Kazan (a spot where you can also jour­ney the Trans-Siber­ian Rail­way you’ll notice a dra­mat­ic chang­ing of land­scapes – as the old and raw Rus­sia merges with the mod­ern and new Rus­sia with the land­scape chang­ing from raw nature into tech­no­log­i­cal dri­ven cities – as you spend a final day jour­ney­ing on this incred­i­ble rail­way to the won­der of the Moscow and the beau­ty of the Red Square and the Krem­lin.  

London & Europe – Moscow ($300 USD — $3500USD) 

Final­ly for those who just can’t get enough of train trav­el and who are based in Europe, you can actu­al­ly get a train from Europe to the start­ing point of the Trans-Siber­ian Express and to the won­der of the krem­lin – before tak­ing the Trans-Siber­ian Express as a way to con­tin­ue your trav­els from the won­der of the Krem­lin an epic train route.  

To get to the Krem­lin by Train from Lon­don you’ll being from the famous St Pan­creas train sta­tion in Lon­don and then take a relax­ing trip through the under­ground Euro­tun­nel to either Paris or Brus­sels – where Euro­pean trav­ellers can hope on this route.  

From here you’re in for some tru­ly stun­ning scenery as you wind through the heart of indus­tri­al Ger­many and past incred­i­ble forestry through Berlin and onwards into the heart and cap­i­tal of Poland in War­saw. From Poland – and like­ly after a quick stop off – you’ll head through the beau­ty of east­ern Europe, cross­ing Latvia and into the moun­tains of Esto­nia – where you can cross the bor­der into North­ern Rus­sia and the stun­ning town of St Peters­burg, where after check­ing out the sites of one of Russia’s big three towns you can then jour­ney down to the sto­ried city of Moscow and being explor­ing the won­der of the world of Krem­lin.  

While not a route on the Trans-Siber­ian Express – this stun­ning jour­ney through the heart of Europe and up through East­ern Europe allows you to stop off at some of the most stun­ning cities in the world (and catch a few oth­er won­ders on the way) and offers a route for explor­ers to approach the won­der from all over Europe while takin in incred­i­ble scenery – and stop­ping off to explore the won­der before trav­el­ling onwards on to epic jour­ney of the Trans-Siber­ian Express.  

 Top Tips for the Trans-Siberian Railway: 

 Class­es: While the prices above are esti­mates, you have many options when it comes to class lev­els – with the Gold­en Eagle trains in par­tic­u­lar known to deliv­er first class expe­ri­ences – includ­ing but­lers and world class food, while fast trains offer­ing the same views but lack­ing in qual­i­ty when it comes to con­di­tions – and see­ing occa­sion­al prob­lems with facil­i­ties such as toi­lets in 2nd class.  

Unless going on the Kazan train you’ll be on a sleep­er train – so while you can opt for 3rd class trains on the fast trains – it’s not real­ly prac­ti­cal when it comes to sleep­ing as con­di­tions will be cramped they’ll be lit­tle space and when you nod off you’ll need to be sure to tie down your belong­ings.  

For this rea­son we’d sug­gest­ing get­ting either a 2nd class or 1st class spot on the Trans-Siber­ian Rail­way — which whill a lit­tle expen­sive will give you a decent bed and a lock and although you may find your­self shar­ing it offers bet­ter vier­ws and more com­fort – which can real­ly make a dif­fer­ence to your jour­ney on this stun­ning train trip.  

Prac­ti­cal­i­ties: For trav­el­ling on the Trans-Siber­ian Rail­way – regard­less of the route you take you’ll need to plan your jour­ney well in advance, with the tra­di­tion­al route tak­ing you through three con­ti­nents and 11 time-zones so you’ll need to get your Visa’s in advance and check against the train ser­vice.  

Also be sure to bring a hot water bot­tle for those cold nights and many lay­ers of cloth­ing as the cli­mates will shift from the desert of Mon­go­lia to the chilly days of Siberia and of course be sure to keep your valu­ables close to you at all times – par­tic­u­lar­ly at the train sta­tions where tourists are known to be tar­get­ed by pick­pock­ets – as you don’t want to be los­ing your pass­port mid trav­el ! 

Final­ly we’d real­ly rec­om­mend plan­ning your jour­ney regard­less of where you trav­el to include mul­ti­ple stops – with our pick being Mon­go­lia to explore the incred­i­ble Mon­go­lian Steppe and Irkut­sk where you can enjoy the won­der of Lake Baikal – it’ll add days onto your trip but also mean you get to explore these unique and incred­i­ble won­ders on your way to the sto­ried krem­lin.  

When and How: While the trans-Siber­ian Rail­way runs week­ly all year round – we’d advise tim­ing any vis­it to coin­cide with the incred­i­ble Nad­dam fes­ti­val in July if your route goes from Bei­jing to Moscow – as not only will you get the incred­i­ble warm weath­er on your route that makes Lake Baikal sparkle but you’ll get to wit­ness one of the great­est fes­ti­vals on the plan­et.  

If not going by Mon­go­lia – then we’d advise tim­ing your trav­el between May and August – when the warm weath­er makes your train jour­ney much more enjoy­able than the freez­ing win­ter months where car­riages can ice over, and you can be left shiv­er­ing on the train.  

For any­one inter­est­ed in the Trans-Siber­ian Rail­way expe­ri­ence vis­it the offi­cial web­site at: https://www.transsiberianexpress.net/  

Best time to Visit:  

We’d advise vis­it­ing at one of either two time peri­ods – the first is in the sum­mer in late July for those arriv­ing to the won­der by the Trans-Siber­ian Express where you must time your vis­it with a trip to the Nad­dam Fes­ti­val in Mon­go­lia before trav­el­ling to the won­der – you’ll also get the ben­e­fit of warm Russ­ian Evenings where the banks of the Mosk­va riv­er in par­tic­u­lar­ly are a great place to watch the sun­set over the won­der of both the Krem­lin and the Red Square. 

For those not arriv­ing by Trans-Siber­ian Express then we’d advise you to time your trip for May, where you’ll still get the incred­i­ble weath­er but you won’t be faced with peak prices mean­ing you can have an enjoy­able jour­ney and relax­ing jour­ney around the won­der.  

It’s also incred­i­bly impor­tant to note when plan­ning your vis­it that the Krem­lin is closed on Thurs­days – so be sure to plan your vis­it around that and as the Krem­lin opens at 10am and as no food is allowed – we’d advise divid­ing your trip into two parts the first being to the incred­i­ble Krem­lin just after break­fast and tak­ing in the exte­ri­or grounds and the cathe­drals square and the muse­um in Armory (you’ll need two tick­ets) and then after a late lunch explor­ing the Red Square – before head­ing over the banks of the Mosk­va Riv­er to snap an incred­i­ble pic­ture of the whole of the Red Square and the Krem­lin against the set­ting of the sun to cap off a per­fect day.  

Explore:

Two unique won­ders rolled into one – the red square con­nects to the stun­ning Krem­lin via the Kremlin’s North wall – and it’s worth spend­ing a whole day explor­ing these incred­i­ble won­ders that lie side by side.  

Our top tip when vis­it­ing would be to vis­it all of the Krem­lin at once – even though the grounds and cathe­dral and the Armory Muse­um require sep­a­rate tick­ets, then stop­ping for a bite to eat and explor­ing the red square – with the icon­ic Red Square not just a place of polit­i­cal and sto­ried his­to­ry, but also fre­quent­ly serv­ing as a place of polit­i­cal events, mar­ket­places and fes­ti­vals – ensur­ing there’s nev­er a dull moment in this famous square.  

Through­out both won­ders there’s so much to see and explore Russia’s fas­ci­nat­ing his­to­ry with the incred­i­ble Krem­lin Palaces, the majes­tic St Basil’s Cathe­dral and of course the stun­ning archi­tec­ture of the sur­round church­es, cathe­drals and Tower’s that date back to the 12th cen­tu­ry, with the below being our top picks for sights not to be missed when explor­ing the twin won­ders of the world that is the Krem­lin and the Red Square:  

The Kremlin Palaces 

Begin­ning with per­haps the most sto­ried place in polit­i­cal his­to­ry, the incred­i­ble Krem­lin palaces are a tru­ly archi­tec­tur­al won­der fea­tur­ing 5 stun­ning rubys – that weigh a ton each and which – bar­ring their shut­down in the sec­ond world war – always shine – with these majes­tic palaces being the for­mer res­i­dence of the Tsar and now serv­ing as the base of the pres­i­dent of Rus­sia.  

Open inside only to dig­ni­taries and indi­vid­u­als who go through a thor­ough and com­plex screen­ing process, the palaces were con­struct­ed at the tend of the 19th cen­tu­ry and now over­looks the Mas­ka Riv­er with the inside fea­tur­ing recep­tion halls, liv­ing quar­ters, din­ing rooms and of course a space for dig­ni­taries – with a recent­ly includ­ed heli­copter pad being installed to allow the Pres­i­dent to trav­el around Rus­sia with­out block­ing main traf­fic in Moscow – with these build­ing being under­stand­able off lim­its to tourists.  

An incred­i­ble and archi­tec­tur­al feat the stun­ning palaces from the out­side are tru­ly beau­ti­ful as the clear white and gold reflec­tion of one of the most impor­tant build­ings in Russ­ian His­to­ry stands tall in the heart of Moscow.  

Armoury Cham­ber 

Mov­ing inside the Krem­lin and you’ll get a chance to expe­ri­ence one of the old­est muse­ums on the plan­et that offers a unique inside into Russia’s stored his­to­ry and the his­to­ry of the Krem­lin in the Armoury Cham­ber Muse­um.  

Avail­able as a sep­a­rate tick­et to the Krem­lin palaces and cathedral’s the Armoury cham­ber sits inside a quaint build­ing that was once an armoury hous­ing the dead­liest weapons of Rus­sia and which have shaped her many wars – with the build­ing today hold­ing col­lec­tions of Tsar jew­els, armour and gold­en and sparkling relics of the past – as well as some of the rarest and expen­sive jew­els in exis­tence with­in the area known as the Dia­mond Fund which see’s glit­ter­ing Fabergé eggs, art col­lec­tions dat­ing back to the 5th cen­tu­ry, a 33kg gold nugget, one of the world largest dia­monds and the Russ­ian Crown jew­els.  

Along­side this you’ll also see of the Rus­sians Roy­al Fam­i­lies col­lec­tions – includ­ing Robes, the throne of Ivan the Ter­ri­ble and a col­lec­tion of 20 car­riages and coach­es that have been used by the Russ­ian Roy­al Fam­i­ly through­out the cen­turies.  

Set across nine stun­ning theme halls there are over four thou­sand items to dis­cov­er, with this incred­i­ble muse­um allow­ing you to step back in time and tru­ly under­stand and expe­ri­ence for the glo­ry and his­to­ry of Rus­sia. 

 The Cathe­dral of the Dor­mi­tion

Some­times trans­lat­ed to Cathe­dral of the Assump­tion, is one of the most majes­tic pieces of archi­tec­ture in the Krem­lin’s Cathe­dral Square. Con­struc­tion began in the lat­ter 15th cen­tu­ry, and since that time, the Cathe­dral of the Dor­mi­tion has stood as the most impor­tant church in Rus­sia. The Dor­mi­tion Cathe­dral has seen the coro­na­tion of tsars and roy­al wed­dings and has been the seat of the Moscow Met­ro­pol­i­tan.  

The inte­ri­or of this impor­tant cathe­dral is dec­o­rat­ed with fine fres­coes, and some of Rus­si­a’s most prized icons were cre­at­ed espe­cial­ly for the cathe­dral. The Holy Vir­gin of Vladimir of the 11th or 12th cen­turies was dis­played here at one time, though it is now pro­tect­ed in the Tretyakov Gallery.  

The Cathe­dral of the Dor­mi­tion, some­times trans­lat­ed to Cathe­dral of the Assump­tion, is one of the most majes­tic pieces of archi­tec­ture in the Krem­lin’s Cathe­dral Square. Con­struc­tion began in the lat­ter 15th cen­tu­ry, and since that time, the Cathe­dral of the Dor­mi­tion has stood as the most impor­tant church in Rus­sia. The Dor­mi­tion Cathe­dral has seen the coro­na­tion of tsars and roy­al wed­dings and has been the seat of the Moscow Met­ro­pol­i­tan.  

The inte­ri­or of this impor­tant cathe­dral is dec­o­rat­ed with fine fres­coes, and some of Rus­si­a’s most prized icons were cre­at­ed espe­cial­ly for the cathe­dral. The Holy Vir­gin of Vladimir of the 11th or 12th cen­turies was dis­played here at one time, though it is now pro­tect­ed in the Tretyakov Gallery.  

The Assump­tion Cathe­dral 

Leav­ing the Krem­lin Palaces and you’ll come to the main square in the Krem­lin where before you will stand a series of tow­er­ing beau­ti­ful cathe­drals – none more so that the Cathe­dral of the Assump­tion.  

Dat­ing back to the 15th cen­tu­ry the archi­tec­tur­al won­der that is the Assump­tion Cathe­dral is con­sid­ered the holi­est church not just in the Krem­lin but also in the whole of Rus­sia – and stands as one of the most sto­ried spots in the Krem­lin – being the place that once served as the site where Russia’s Tsars were anoint­ed – and is a must see on your tour of the Krem­lin with eh church also home to some beau­ti­ful grounds that host a ceme­tery where some of Russia’s most influ­en­tial fig­ures are buried – a tru­ly inter­est­ing and sto­ried spot this cathe­dral is one of the most inter­est­ing places in the whole of the Krem­lin.  

The Cathe­dral of the Annun­ci­a­tion  

Rec­og­niz­able instant­ly from its Gold­en spire and sparkling Gold­en walls The Cathe­dral of the Annun­ci­a­tion is not just a stun­ning reli­gious cathe­dral – but also one for art lovers as the cathe­dral hosts a series of large paint­ings from some of Russia’s most famous artists – that are not only stun­ning mas­ter­pieces but which tell the his­to­ry, leg­ends and fables of this great coun­try – one absolute­ly not to be missed for both the stun­ning cathe­dral and also the  

Church of the Twelve Apos­tles and Patri­arch’s Palace  

One of the most recent church­es in the whole of the Krem­lin, and the jew­el of the Cathe­dral Square with­in the Krem­lin, the church of the Twelve Apos­tles is one of the most majes­tic church­es on the plan­et and giv­en its stun­ning inte­ri­or it was once a place ding­ti­atires and key reli­gious fig­ures would meet and be received.  

Con­struct­ed in the mid-17th cen­tu­ry, the Church of the Twelve Apos­tles was built in an attempt to unite Rus­sia and com­bine its palaces, pol­i­tics and reli­gious under one roof, and has an immense inte­ri­or – with the orig­i­nal 17th cen­tu­ry ceil­ings and altars being all fan­tas­ti­cal­ly pre­served.  

Set across three floors – which are all vis­itable the first and third floor were used as cham­bers – with it being the sec­ond floor that will real­ly take your inter­est, with a vast large recep­tion hall, that still retains its unique 17th cen­tu­ry charm and design that leads to a large vault­ed hall that takes you to muse­um that details the his­to­ry of 17th cen­tu­ry Rus­sia – allow­ing you to stpe back in time to explore the fas­ci­nat­ing his­to­ry of Rus­sia from inside one of the most unique and beau­ti­ful church­es on the plan­et.   

 The Cathe­dral of the Archangel 

A piece of majes­tic Ital­ian Archi­tec­ture with­in the heart of Rus­sia, the Cathe­dral of the Archangel is unsur­pris­ing­ly in tru­ib­ite to the Angles and from the out­side is a beau­ti­ful ‑if some­what out of place – cathe­dral that was designed in the shape of a Flower – sup­pos­ed­ly rep­re­sent­ing the beau­ty of reli­gion.  

How­ev­er per­haps more inter­est­ing­ly the Cathe­dral is the final rest­ing place of some of Russia’s most famous and well known Tsars, pres­i­dents and rulers – where explor­ers, par­tic­u­lar­ly those inter­est­ed in his­to­ry – can come to both pay their respects and reflect on the immense and fas­ci­nat­ing his­to­ry of Rus­sia.  

The Ivan the Great Bell Tow­er 

 Designed in the shape of a flick­er­ing can­dle, the Ivan the Great Bell tow­er is tru­ly great and a fit­ting mon­u­ment to one of Russia’s most famous rulers – with the 80-metre-tall bell tow­er stand­ing not only as a beau­ti­ful archi­tec­tur­al design in the Krem­lin – but with it’s beau­ti­ful 21 bells and tow­er­ing domes it remains the largest build­ing in the Krem­lin and one of the largest in Rus­sia.  

The bell tow­er is not only an archi­tec­tur­al won­der – but is also climbable allow­ing you to head the sum­mit of the Tow­er for stun­ning views of the Red Square and the Krem­lin as well as across the whole of Moscow – and gives you a chance to admire the famous Tsar bell that lies at the foot of the Tow­er.  

Tsar Bell and Canyon 

One of the most unique and enjoy­able sights in the square – the Tsar Can­non and Bell hold the Guin­ness world records for being the largest can­non and bell on the plan­et – not quite what you’d expect when you vis­it Rus­sia. 

Sat in the Ivanovskaya Square in the Krem­lin – hav­ing been relo­cat­ed from the Red Square — the tsar bell sits at the foot of the Great Bell Tow­er, which lies 6m in height and is not only the largest bell in the world – but by our cal­cu­la­tions the heav­i­est weigh­ing an esti­mat­ed 200,000 Kg – and thanks in large to its size it has sur­vived numer­ous theft and destruc­tion attempts includ­ing by Napoleon him­self.  

For this rea­son, the Bell is con­sid­ered a good luck omen for those who throw a coin into it and is also draped in his­to­ry hav­ing been acci­dent­ly smashed when work­ers attempt­ed to extin­guish one of the many fires that occurred in the Krem­lin caus­ing the bell to crack and remain sta­tion­ary where it has lied for cen­turies in the heart of Moscow.  

Spasskaya Tow­er  

Enter­ing into the grounds of the Krem­lin and you’ll notice the stun­ning tow­er of Spasskaya which stands tall as one of the most beau­ti­ful, icon­ic and strik­ing mon­u­ments with­in the krem­lin grounds. 

Con­struct­ed in the 15th cen­tu­ry the tow­er lit­er­al­ly means sav­iour tow­er and is the main tow­er on the east­ern wall – with the red bricks act­ing as both a bor­der and view­ing point over the red square and the clock – which is espe­cial­ly lit up dur­ing new years eve also being an archi­tec­tur­al mas­ter­piece.  

 One of the icons of both the Krem­lin and the Red Square, the Spasskaya Tow­er lights up in the evening and is par­tic­u­lar­ly beau­ti­ful at dusk and is also one of the most pho­tographed icons of this incred­i­ble won­der – sit­ting in close prox­im­i­ty to the icon of the red square the stun­ning and famous St Basil’s Cathe­dral. 

Walls of Kitay-Gorod 

Final­ly – per­haps the most notable fea­ture of the Krem­lin when inside – the Walls of Kitay-Gorod has out­last­ed it’s three part­ner walls and now stands alone as the last remain­ing and stand­ing wall from the Kremlin’s con­struc­tion mak­ing it a unique and sto­ried site.  

Designed in the 16th cen­tu­ry for pro­tec­tion against Crimean Tatars – who fre­quent­ly raid­ed the city, the fact that the walls still stand – espe­cial­ly after the attempt­ed bom­bard­ment dur­ing world war II – the walls are made our of slick red brick – and help crate the icon­ic red square image that stands and con­tributes to the nation­al emblem of Rus­sia and the image of the great Red Square.  

Red Square 

Con­sid­ered (although not offi­cial­ly) the main square of Rus­sia, the stun­ning red square is an assort­ment of archi­tec­tur­al and his­tor­i­cal­ly impor­tant build­ings as well as being the home of exe­cu­tions, the place of fes­ti­vals, parades, protests and events and the heart of Moscow.  

Bor­dered by the red walls of the Krem­lin and a series of defen­sive walls, the square fea­tures build­ings and icons that dis­play Russia’s fas­ci­nat­ing his­to­ry with church­es, cathe­drals, muse­ums and mau­soleums from it’s past and mod­ern restau­rants and shop­ping malls from its present cre­at­ing a unique blend of past and present and a reminder of the his­to­ry and future of this sto­ried nation.  

Con­sid­ered the embod­i­ment of Rus­sia and a must vis­it for all explor­ers the Red Square was first observed as being used in the 12th cen­tu­ry as a place of gath­er­ing, with the build­ings known to date back as far as the 15th cen­tu­ry, with the square also being home to a series of Graves of Russia’s most famous lead­ers, and being the place where Rus­sia cel­e­brat­ed their VE day after the end of world war two.  

Lit­er­al­ly trans­lat­ing to Beau­ti­ful square in Russ­ian – the Red Square lives up to its billing with the fol­low­ing stun­ning sights: 

 Basil’s Cathe­dral:

Offi­cial­ly made up of nine sep­a­rate church­es., the incred­i­ble 16th cen­tu­ry St Basil’s cathe­dral is one of the most recog­nis­able cathe­drals on the plan­et — thanks large­ly to the muli­ta-coloured twirling cone like struc­tures that sit atop the church­es that were designed to look like the flames of a bon­fire.  

Cre­at­ed to cel­e­brate the cap­ture of Kazan by Ivan the ter­ri­ble, the stun­ning cathe­dral is con­sid­ered a mon­u­ment of Rus­sia St Basil’s Cathe­dral is con­sid­ered the focal point of the red square and thus a pop­u­lar tourist spot, so after tak­ing your time to snap as many pho­tos as you wish and admir­ing the incred­i­ble cathe­dral from inside the square – and admire the nine spires that each rep­re­sent fes­ti­vals and saints of Rus­sia – we’d real­ly encour­age you to head inside the stun­ning cathe­dral and explore the inside of this stun­ning archi­tec­tur­al and famous won­der.  

Inside the cathe­dral you’ll find not just reg­u­lar ser­vices inside the church of Basil – but also one of the great­est muse­ums on the plan­et with a series of stat­ues, paint­ing and scrip­tures which date back to the 16th cen­tu­ry dot­ting the walls – and an incred­i­ble gallery which is wor­thy of the build­ings exte­ri­or, with St Basil’s cathe­dral being one of the great­est and most beau­ti­ful cathe­drals on the plan­et – and a spot that encom­pass­es the best of the red square.  

 Kazan Cathe­dral in Moscow 

Dat­ing back to the 16th cen­tu­ry – and the late medieval Russ­ian era, the stun­ning Kazan Cathe­dral is not only a stun­ning archi­tec­tur­al land­mark – but is unique in that it allows explor­ers to actu­al­ly touch holy catholic relics – includ­ing the sacred Lady of Kazan and Lady of Upbring­ing stat­ues – that both bring good luck and pro­tect Rus­sia from Evil.  

A small but impos­ing and beau­ti­ful church which is ded­i­cat­ed to the pro­tec­tion or Rus­sia, the Kazan church is often over­looked when vis­it­ing the Red Square but makes for an incred­i­ble spot to stop off and not only admire the archi­tec­ture of the build­ing but touch the his­to­ry and bless­ings that have pro­tect­ed and guid­ed Rus­sia through­out His­to­ry.  

Gum depart­ment store:  

Build­ing on the Red Square’s famous rep­u­ta­tion as a mar­ket­place – which has exist­ed since the 16th cen­tu­ry, the Gum Depart­ment store – which is a state depart­ment store brings a mod­ern twist to the tra­di­tion­al marked place – with a three sto­ried shop­ping mall that shows of the best of mod­ern Russ­ian Archi­tec­ture and fea­tur­ing some of the most expen­sive and exclu­sive items in Rus­sia.  

But if you’re not one for upmar­ket cloth­ing and acces­sories it’s still worth a vis­it as the GUM store also offers some incred­i­ble and tasty ice cream which is just the ton­ic to cool down in the hot Russ­ian heat – as you sit by the store and reflect on the his­toric and momen­tous events that tak­en place in the red square where you now sit. 

Lenin’s Mau­soleum 

Whilst not nec­es­sar­i­ly a high­light – it’s not every day you get a chance to vis­it the mau­soleum of one of Russia’s most famous and con­tro­ver­sial lead­ers with the mau­soleum of Lenin which lies in the heart of the Red Square giv­ing you the chance to not only see Lenin’s grave – sur­round­ed of course by the graves of oth­er sovi­et lead­ers – but also learn about Russia’s famous past and in par­tic­u­lar­ly the cause and events of the Russ­ian Rev­o­lu­tion at the site of one of Russia’s most famous lead­ers.  

Alexan­der Gar­den 

Final­ly, for all of Russia’s and the Krem­lins and Red Squares sto­ried his­to­ry – it’s also impor­tant to remem­ber the often over­looked human and suf­fer­ing ele­ment that comes with such his­to­ry – with the role and Sac­ri­fice of Rus­sia in World War II being par­tic­u­lar­ly over­looked.  

To com­mem­o­rate this, the Som­bre and reflect­ful Alexan­der Gar­den lies also in the Red Square and is the sight not only of the Remem­brance Day Parades but also hosts an Eter­nal Flames and Tomb of the unknown Solid­er that is guard­ed all year round, along with a series of fit­ting trib­utes to the mil­lions of peo­ple who giv­en their lives in ser­vice to and to pro­tect Rus­sia and who have helped pro­tect and pre­serve the two icon­ic won­der of the world that are the Krem­lin and the Red Square.  

How long to stay:  

We’d rec­om­mend bud­get­ing a full day to explore the beau­ti­ful Krem­lin and Red Square – spend­ing the morn­ing head­ing to the Krem­lin after a late break­fast then spend­ing a few hours explor­ing the palaces, cathe­drals and muse­ums – and climb­ing the great bell tow­er – before hav­ing a late lunch in the red square and mak­ing your way round St Basi’s Cathe­dral, the Mau­soleum and Alexan­der Gar­den and then mak­ing you way across the Mas­ka Riv­er to watch the sun set across these two stun­ning won­der to cap off a per­fect day explor­ing two of the most icon­ic and sto­ried sites on the plan­et.  

 Top Tip:  

Well the Krem­lin is a safe place to vis­it – and gives you a great chance to explore the incred­i­ble his­to­ry of Rus­sia, it’s also the home of the pres­i­dent and one of Russia’s most sacred sites – for this rea­son there’s a series of rules that gov­ern behav­iour which have to be respect­ed.  

First­ly, be sure not trav­el on bike or a scoot­er or Jay­walk, don’t dis­trib­ute fly­ers or play loud music – and def­i­nite­ly don’t try and get into the restrict­ed areas as the Krem­lin is well pro­tect­ed. It’s also advised for any­one vis­it­ing out­side of the sum­mer months, to make sure you wrap up warm – Rus­sia does expe­ri­ence a long and hard win­ter.  

It’s also good to know that eat­ing is off lim­its in the Krem­lin and you won’t find any restau­rants there, so for this rea­son we advise buy­ing your tick­ets online in advance and get­ting to the Krem­lin ear­ly – as there are vis­i­tor restric­tions in place – and tim­ing your vis­it with a large late break­fast then spend­ing a few hours explor­ing the Krem­lin – before head­ing into the Red Square for a late lunch as you enjoy these two incred­i­ble won­ders of the world in the space of one incred­i­ble day.  

Cost:

Although the Krem­lin is one com­plex – you’ll need to buy two tick­ets – one to vis­it the grounds of the Krem­lin and anoth­er to vis­it the muse­um – with tick­ets cost­ing 500 Ruble (approx­i­mate­ly $7 Usd) to the Krem­lin and a fur­ther 1000 Ruble (approx­i­mate­ly $14 Usd) for the full expe­ri­ence with­in the Muse­um and we’d real­ly encour­age you to get them online in advance – you’ll save your­self a lot of has­sle and it’ll make your life a lot eas­i­er – espe­cial­ly as the open­ing hours are 10am – 6pm and queues start form­ing at 9am in the sum­mer months to enter.  

Although entry to the Red Square and the Cathe­dral Square are both free – for those who want one to vis­it one of the best pho­to spots of both won­ders – which is done by climb­ing to the peak of the Ivan the Great’s Bell Tow­er you can expect to pay a fur­ther 700 Ruble (10USD) for the plea­sure of tak­ing on the climb to the sum­mit – which in our view is well worth it  — just be advised you have to select a time slot and tick­ets can­not be booked online before­hand – so bud­get a bit of time for your tick­ets.  

There­fore not account­ing for any food or ice cream from the GUM store – nor the cost of get­ting to Moscow which can run into the thou­sands of dol­lars if you take on the epic trans-Siber­ian express — we’d esti­mate a vis­it to the Krem­lin will cost around $31 USD – a great price to explore one of the sto­ried and most his­toric sites on the plan­et. 

Fun Fact:

As well as being the site of some of his­to­ries and the presents most inter­est­ing events, the Krem­lin is also a world record hold­er – with the world’s largest bell – the Tsar bell which clocks in at more than 6 metre and the world’s largest canon, the Tsar canon– that clocks in at 40 tonnes both found in the heart of the Krem­lin – and both of which are well worth a vis­it.  

Best photo spot: 

Although com­mer­cial pho­tog­ra­phy with­in the Krem­lin com­plex requires spe­cial per­mis­sion from the Russ­ian Police – which is eas­i­ly obtained from the Front Desk of the Krem­lin Office by fill­ing out a few forms – we’d rec­om­mend regard­less of if you’re grab­bing pho­tos for your scrap­book or for pro­fes­sion­al pur­pos­es — to not only get the tra­di­tion­al pho­tos in the Red Square in front of the majes­tic St Basil’s cathe­dral, in the cen­tre of the red square and against the back­ground of the stun­ning Spasskaya Tow­er with­in the Krem­lin – but for  amore unique and panoram­ic pho­to to make sure you make the climb to the sum­mit of the Ivan the Great bell Tow­er – from where you can stand atop the high­est build­ing in Rus­sia and cap­ture stun­ning views over the whole of both won­ders and across the whole of the city of Moscow.  

We’d also advise mak­ing time to snap a pho­to from across the Mosk­va Riv­er on the Krem­lin embank­ment at sun­set. From here you get not only the best views of the incred­i­ble Krem­lin and Red Square, but you are also treat­ed to the unique sight of the whole of the Krem­lin com­plex light­ing up against the back­ground of the evening sun for a tru­ly mag­nif­i­cent view of the incred­i­ble won­ders of the world that are the Red Square and the Krem­lin.