General view

Within the Kremlin walls is one of the most striking and beautiful architectural ensembles in the world: a combination of churches and palaces, which are open to the public and are among the city's most popular tourist attractions, and the highest offices of the state, which are surrounded by strict security. Around the centrally located Cathedral Square are grouped three magnificent cathedrals, superb examples of Russian church architecture at its height in the late 15th and early 16th centuries. These and the other churches in the Kremlin ceased functioning as places of worship after the Russian Revolution of 1917, but services recommenced in most Kremlin churches beginning in 1990.

The Cathedral of the Assumption is the oldest, built of white stone in 1475-79 in the Italianate-Byzantine style. Its pure, simple, and beautifully proportioned lines and elegant arches are crowned by five golden domes. The Orthodox metropolitans and patriarchs of the 14th to 18th centuries are buried there.

Across the square is the Cathedral of the Annunciation, built in 1484-89 (though burned in 1547, it was rebuilt in 1562-64). Its cluster of chapels is topped by golden roofs and domes. Inside are a number of early 15th-century icons attributed to Theophanes the Greek and to Andrey Rublyov, considered by many to be the greatest of all Russian icon painters.

The third cathedral, dedicated to St. Michael the Archangel, was rebuilt in 1505-08; in it are buried the princes of Moscow and the tsars of Russia (except Boris Godunov) up to the founding of St. Petersburg.

Suggested listening (streaming mp3, 11 minutes): Modest Mussorgsky: Boris Godunov, Coronation Scene