When the kings of the Rudic dynasty founded the Kremlin Palace in 1487, they did not know that they were about to tear the ribbon on the foundation of one of the most adventurous buildings in the world. The Kremlin Palace has witnessed some of the most important historical events in the world. This palace was present from Napoleon’s attack on Russia until the revolution of 1917 and the destruction of the tsars.
Now that the discussion of the Kremlin, this old palace is hot again, let’s use this excuse to talk a little about the history and the events that the old structure has been through throughout history. If you want to know more about this topic, stay with Torik until the end of this article.
Where is the Kremlin Palace?
The Kremlin Palace or Citadel is a historical fortress located in the heart of Moscow, overlooking the Moskva River, Alexandra Garden and Red Square. This citadel consists of four palaces, four churches, the Kremlin wall and a number of towers. This palace used to be the residence of the Tsar and now it is the official residence of the President of the Russian Federation. This palace is also known as a museum to the point where it had about 3 million visitors in 2017.
When was the Kremlin Palace born?
There have been fortifications on the Kremlin hill since thousands of years BC. In the 11th century, the Slavs captured this hill and made it their capital. Remains of it have been found in archaeologists’ excavations. This area was developed in 1156 by Prince Yuri Dolgroki, but was destroyed by the Mongols in 1237. The Kremlin was rebuilt in 1339 with oak wood. It is interesting to know that this area was called Grad until the 14th century and the word Kremlin was used for the first time in 1331.
Peter moves the capital to Moscow
In 1320-1330, Peter decided to move his capital from Kiev (now the capital of Ukraine) to Moscow. In order to be able to have the support of the church, he had attributed his capital to the church, so he should also build churches in this place.
Therefore, Dormition Cathedral (1327), the bell tower of St. John Climacus Church (1329), the Transfiguration Savior Church Monastery (1330) and the Closer Angel Cathedral (1333) were built. By the 20th century, all these churches had been destroyed, and only the Church of the Transfiguration of the Savior remained, which was also destroyed by Stalin.
In Dmitri’s rebuilding of the Kremlin, in order to make the citadel strong against Tatar attacks, the oak walls were replaced with stone walls, a strategy that worked. Dimitri’s son lived in peace but added churches to the complex.
The tsars went to live in the Kremlin
In 1475, when the great princess Ivan III was ruling Russia, she decided to rebuild the Kremlin to show her power and grandeur. Therefore, he invited the most famous architects of the Italian Renaissance, such as Antonio Solari and Marco Raffo, to come to Russia to do this work. This is how the tallest structure in the city was built in 1505-08.
The construction process of this palace continued during the rule of the tsars. For example, they built a 30-meter wide moat around this palace, and during the reign of Ivan the Terrible, a church was built on top of it. In 1610, this palace was captured by the Polish-Lithuanian forces for 2 years until the first tsar of the Romanov dynasty took it back.
Tsar Alexis also added parts to this palace. After the death of this tsar, Moscow entered chaos and only Peter was able to survive this chaos. He hated the Kremlin after this, so he moved his capital to St. Petersburg three decades later.
By 1773, the Kremlin was forgotten until Catherine the Great decided to return to the palace. He started to rebuild the palace but after some time the construction was stopped due to lack of funds. After a few years, Matvey Kazakoff finished this renovation. After that, a part of this palace was used as the main office of the president.
In 1812 Napoleon (Emperor of France) invaded Russia and managed to capture the Kremlin. When he wanted to escape from Moscow, he ordered the entire building of the Kremlin to be destroyed. Therefore, many parts of this palace were burnt. The explosions related to this fire continued for three days.
Alexander I rebuilt parts of this palace in the remaining years of his reign. Nikas I also made changes in this palace, but after that, no changes were made in this building until the Russian Revolution in 1917. Of course, except for the memory of Alexander II.
The Bolsheviks come to the Kremlin
After the revolution of 1917, Lenin moved to the Kremlin. He had a private room in this palace, which is now a museum. Since Lenin did not like any relics of the tsarist era to be far away, he changed the decorations to a great extent. It might be interesting for you to know that at the height of the revolution, the Russian people surrounded the Kremlin. The tsar and his family escaped from the palace but were eventually captured and killed by the revolutionaries.
Putin is imprisoned in the Kremlin
The Kremlin Palace has seen many historical events over the years. It has been destroyed and rebuilt many times. This time, this palace has been besieged in a militia coup. This Russian visa coup and other diplomatic and domestic issues also affect the Kremlin Palace. It should be seen what fate the political game has prepared for this old and lovely building.
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