Kremlin Armoury

Lore & Background

The Kremlin Armoury traces its origins to the early 16th century as a royal arsenal, but it was formally established as a museum institution in 1806. Until the transfer of the court to St Petersburg, it produced, purchased, and stored weapons, jewelry, and household articles for the tsars. Notable craftsmen included the Vyatkin brothers (gunsmiths), Gavrila Ovdokimov (jeweler), and Simon Ushakov (painter). In 1640 and 1683, iconography and pictorial studios opened, offering lessons in painting and handicrafts. In 1700, the Armoury was enriched with treasures from the Golden and Silver chambers of the Russian tsars.

Reader's Guide

In 1711, Peter the Great transferred most masters to St Petersburg. Fifteen years later, the Armoury merged with the Fiscal Yard, Stables Treasury, and Master Chamber, becoming the Arms and Master Chamber. Alexander I designated it the first public museum in Moscow in 1806, but collections opened to the public seven years later. Ten of the 44 surviving Fabergé imperial Easter eggs are displayed there. After the Russian Revolution, treasures from ransacked imperial palaces were moved to the Armoury on Lenin's order. Today, it also houses the Russian Diamond Fund.

Did You Know?

• The Kremlin Armoury traces its origins to the early 16th century as a royal arsenal, but was formally established as a museum in 1806.
• Ten of the 43 surviving Fabergé imperial Easter eggs are displayed there.
• After the Russian Revolution, treasures from ransacked imperial palaces were moved to the Armoury on Lenin's order.
• The Armoury is also home to the Russian Diamond Fund.

Physical Layout and Boundaries

Stretching roughly 330 metres in length and 70 metres in width, the square presents an almost perfectly rectangular footprint oriented from northwest to southeast. Its southwest edge is defined by the towering Kremlin wall, while the northeast side is anchored by the GUM department store and the older Kitay-gorod district. The State Historical Museum and the Resurrection Gate mark the northwest corner, and Saint Basil's Cathedral crowns the southeast end. Tverskaya Street departs from behind the museum to the northwest, and a gentle incline known as the Basilius slope descends toward the Moskva River and the Zamoskvorechye district on the opposite bank. Two historic thoroughfares, Nikolskaya and Ilyinka, both traceable to the fourteenth century, branch off toward the northeast. Today the entire expanse of roughly 73,000 square metres functions as a pedestrian zone, with the sole exception of a single access road leading through to the Savior Gate of the Kremlin. Since 1990 the site has also carried UNESCO World Heritage designation.

Evolution of the Name

The word krasnaya, which in modern Russian translates simply as 'red,' carried a very different connotation in earlier centuries, where it signified 'beautiful' or 'fine.' The modern adjective krasivaya, meaning 'beautiful,' is in fact a later derivative of that archaic sense. This linguistic heritage explains why several other Russian cities, including Suzdal, Yelets, and Pereslavl-Zalessky, also designate their principal public squares as Krasnaya ploshchad. In Moscow specifically, the name originally applied only to a modest stretch of ground bounded by Saint Basil's Cathedral, the Spasskaya Tower, and the Lobnoye Mesto herald's platform. It was Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich who formally broadened the designation to cover the full expanse of the square. Before that official extension, the area had been known as Pozhar, a blunt reference to the burnt-out remains of structures that had once occupied the site. The earliest recorded use of the Krasnaya label for the whole square dates to the years 1661 and 1662.

Defensive Engineering and the Moat

Because the eastern face of the Kremlin triangle sat between the Moskva and the now-subterranean Neglinnaya rivers without the natural protection afforded to the other three sides, it was considered the most exposed flank. The wall on this stretch was therefore raised to its greatest height, and Italian architects working on the fortifications persuaded Ivan the Great to clear a broad open field beyond it. Royal decrees issued in 1493 and 1495 ordered the demolition of every structure within roughly 234 metres of the wall. Between 1508 and 1516 the Italian builder Aloisio the New directed the digging of a substantial moat linking the two rivers, measuring 541 metres long, 36 metres wide, and between 9.5 and 13 metres deep, its banks lined with limestone. By 1533 low cogged brick walls four metres thick enclosed both sides. Three gates punctuated this stretch, the Spassky Gate serving as the principal ceremonial entrance for royalty. The moat was finally paved over in 1812.

Market Roots and Ceremonial Tradition

From its earliest days the square was conceived as Moscow's central trading ground and the stage for state proclamations, and on occasion even for the coronation of a Tsar. Ivan the Great initially restricted commerce to direct person-to-person exchange, but those restrictions were gradually eased and permanent market structures took root along the eastern edge. Following a devastating fire in 1547, Ivan the Terrible reorganised the wooden shop rows into formalised Upper, Middle, and Bottom Lines along the Ilyinka and Varvarka streets. By 1595 the timber market lines had been rebuilt in stone. The construction of Saint Basil's Cathedral on the moat under Ivan IV gave the square its first recognisable skyline silhouette. Over the centuries the space accumulated a layered ceremonial identity: it hosted parades, speeches, public demonstrations, and even executions, and it has served as the official ceremonial ground for every successive Russian government. Artists such as Vasily Surikov and Konstantin Yuon captured its drama in paint, preserving the square's multifaceted public life for posterity.