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I hate it when you see a nice skate pic And the footage looks like some wank shit

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Palace x Rapha ‘Tour de Force’ Cycling Apparel and Gear Collection

Skateboard and lifestyle brand Palace has teamed up with Rapha, renowned cycling brand, for a limited edition collection dubbed ‘Tour de Force.’ The collection features a variety of apparel and cycling gear that blends Rapha’s penchant for high-level performance and Palace’s aesthetic preferences. Bright pinks, neon greens, and reflective materials pop up throughout the collection. By the looks of it, the collection includes a full cycling kit, cycling hats, a bike frame, socks, and more along with t-shirts, hoodies, shorts, and even a pair of customized Crocs. The full Palace x Rapha ‘Tour de Force’ collection drops Friday, July 15th at 11 AM EST in stores and online.

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Palace x Rapha “Tour De Force” 2022 Collection

Following the announcement a couple weeks back, Palace and Rapha officially unveil their “Tour de Force” collection releasing in celebration of Tour de France 2022.

For the first time since the ’80s, women are back on the startline at Le Tour, as the prestigious bike race now includes a Tour de France Femmes women’s race. To celebrate the seminal moment for cycling, Palace and Rapha have teamed up on kits for the men’s and women’s EF Pro Cycling teams, as well as a full collection for the public.

The collection consists of EF pro racewear, off-bike casualwear, a special edition Crocs Classic Clog, and even a Cannondale bike frame. The collection features EF Pro Racing’s signature pink color scheme, while graphics include a cute green dinosaur, a pink female symbol, and Palace and Rapha branding.

The Palace x Rapha 2022 “Tour de Force” collection launches on Friday, July 15th via Palace in-store and online, as well as on the Rapha website and at select Rapha clubhouses. Check out the lookbook photos below.

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Our Rapha and Palace Tour de France kit

Our latest collaboration jersey celebrates the Tour de France Femmes

June 28, 2022

For us, July means one thing: the Tour de France. But what is the world’s greatest bike race with just a race for men? For the first time since the 1980s, men and women will be on the startlines — and it’s about damn time.

The Tour is the zenith of competition at the height of the European summer. It’s make or break for riders and teams, a celebration for fans and an odyssey for the riders taking on sweltering, hour-long ascents and serpentine downhills at 100 kilometers an hour… all with a thin pair of shorts for protection.

Over 29 days this summer, men and women will strive and struggle in the world’s toughest sporting event and we hope you join us for the ride on the roads, on social media, and on TV. Vive le Tour, and at long last, Vive les Femmes.

To celebrate the majesty of the Tour de Force, we have once again partnered with Rapha and Palace Skateboards to create a striking limited-edition switch-out kit for the riders of the EF Education-TIBCO-SVB and EF Education-EasyPost teams.

"It's been a very long road to get to this point, and all of us, the riders, staff and management, realize the significance of this jersey and will be proud to wear it.” - Linda Jackson, the founder and owner of EF Education-TIBCO-SVB

This collaboration doesn’t end with our racing kit. Our entire fleet of Cannondale race bikes, including the Cannondale SuperSix EVO which will be available for purchase, will have a crisp new look to match our kits, as well as POC helmets and Crocs, decked out with distinct designs imagined by Palace. WHOOP and Wahoo have joined in as well, creating their own designs inspired by the kit.

We’ve been buzzing with excitement about this collaboration with Palace and Rapha. Like us, both race with character and have never been afraid to break from cycling’s dusty traditions. Rapha and its designs regularly refer back to the sport and cycling history while Palace is disruptive, witty and always surprising, authentically straddling the worlds of high fashion, streetwear and core skate. Upon these daring shoulders, the kits are set to turn heads across the world and push the boundaries of the sport.

“I'm just thrilled with the kit that Rapha and Palace Skateboards have designed to celebrate the return of the women's Tour de France. Women's cycling has been growing steadily over the past couple of decades, but the return of the Tour de France will accelerate this growth and further our search for equality,” said Linda Jackson, the founder and owner of EF Education-TIBCO-SVB. “It's a true honor to have the EF Education-EasyPost men's team racing their Tour de France in a jersey that celebrates women's cycling. It's been a very long road to get to this point, and all of us, the riders, staff and management, realize the significance of this jersey and will be proud to wear it.”

The design narrative of the second Rapha and Palace collaboration righteously celebrates the Tour de France Femmes. After 33 years, women are finally able to return to race and we are ready to show the world what it's been missing.

“The changeout is our way of celebrating women in sport and the Tour de France Femmes. It’s wild, it’s bold, and it’s an exciting time for the cycling world and long overdue. It’s an honor for our team to race in this kit in advance of the women’s Tour de France. Both races will be incredible, and we’ll fight to keep this kit and its celebratory message at the front of the race this July,” said Jonathan Vaughters, the CEO of the EF Education-EasyPost team. The first collaboration with Rapha and Palace at the men’s 2020 Giro d’Italia did not fall short of expectations and the kit was something altogether different, merging the worlds of fashion and cycling and changing the sport once and for all. We are proud to carry on this tradition of defying expectations and challenging norms, all while cloaked in the most original kit in the peloton.

The change out extends to the full range of team bikes from Cannondale to celebrate the return of women to Le Tour. Every element of the frame design of the SystemSix, SuperSix EVO and SuperSlice is bold and intentional to seamlessly combine with the Rapha + Palace team kit that both our men’s and women’s teams will don at the Tour. Unique touches extend beyond the obvious elements of the design; each SuperSlice incorporates easter eggs for each rider to match their personality and riding style.

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Palace and Rapha Reunite to Celebrate the Return of Tour de France Femmes

Delivering kits for the ef education-tibco-svb and ef education-easypost teams and a custom fleet of cannondale bikes..

Palace ‘s 2020 collaboration with Rapha was one of its most unexpected link-ups, but it turned into much more than just another dual-branded capsule. Following the collaboration, the EF Pro Cycling Team won the Giro d’Italia stage despite kit fines, and HYPEBEAST subsequently deep-dived into the hype behind Rapha , the unexpected crossover between fashion and cycling , and an in-depth look into Palace’s best collaborations . Now, the London-based skateboarding stalwart has teamed up with Rapha again, this time around celebrating the return of Tour de France Femmes.

For the first time since the 1980s, women riders will get the chance to compete in the world’s most famous cycling race. To celebrate this Tour de Force, Palace and Rapha are releasing a limited-edition run of switch-out kits for the riders of the EF Education-TIBCO-SVB and EF Education-EasyPost teams.

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Rapha + Palace celebrate Tour de France Femmes with EF kit & custom Cannondales – Availability Update

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The Tour de France is set to kick off next week and Rapha, EF Education & Cannondale are celebrating in another style collaboration with Palace Skateboards. But this year, with the launch of the 8-day Tour de France Femmes (and the biggest prize payout in women’s cycling), both the men and women will be riding in Rapha + Palace Tour de Force switch-out kit and custom-painted Cannondale race bikes emblazoned with the female gender symbol on top of playful graphics.

UPDATE: Scroll to the bottom of the Rapha bit for their ride & off-the-bike kit availability…

And besides the Rapha replica kit, you can also pick up a Rapha + Palace TdF Cannondale SuperSix, too!

Rapha+Palace custom Tour de France, Femmes & Force!

For the first time in 33 years, pro women cycling will get its own proper stage race with the 8-stage Tour de France Femme which takes on the iconic Champs-Élysée the day after the men’s final, then ultimately marching east 1029km from Paris to the mountains to culminate in a summit finish at La Planche des Belles Filles on the final day of July.

To emphasize the importance of the women getting a proper French stage race, the EF men will start 3 weeks earlier from July 1st in the same kit as the women, and the same custom-painted bikes, with a Rapha+Palace Skateboard design with a prominent women’s gender symbol and a bunch of playful little yellow dragons.

Rapha+Palace Skateboards EF Education Tour kit

In addition to flashy bikes, Rapha is making the riders’ custom kit available soon too. Women can get the Pro Team Aero Jersey and Pro Team Bib Shorts II in the full Rapha+Palace EF Education-Tibco-SVB pink, blue & yellow dragon design, or a more low-key gray Pro Team Training Jersey.

Men get the same choices in Pro Team Aero Jersey and Pro Team Bib Shorts II in the same pink, blue & yellow dragon design with the men’s team Rapha+Palace EF Education-Easypost sponsor logos, or the low-key gray Pro Team Training Jersey.

Less over-the-top style (and pricing) options include a Rapha+Palace EF cotton cycling cap, white Rapha+Palace EF edition synthetic Pro Team socks, or a cotton Rapha+Palace EF musette.

No official word on pricing or availability yet , but we expect it to hit the online shop in time for fans to be decked out before the Tours’ finishes. RCC members will get a first shot at it though.

Update: The new Rapha + Palace kit officially goes on sale July 15 at 11:00 BST for the UK, EU, Canada & South Korea; later the same day July at 11:00 EDT for the USA; and lastly the next day July 16 at 11:00 JST for the Asia-Pacific market. 

In addition to the team riding kit, there will be Rapha + Palace Crocs, cropped tops, technical skirts, technical shirts, technical shorts, and much more including a silk scarf and some cotton tees with that cute little cartoon dragon. It’s all kinda wild really, but quite interesting at the same time…

EF Education Tour de Force custom Cannondales

Both the EF Education-EasyPost men and EF Education-TIBCO-SVB women will complete their Tours de France on a fleet of three Cannondale race bikes in matching limited edition Rapha+Palace paint jobs: the lightweight road SuperSix Evo, the aero road SystemSix, and the time trial SuperSlice.

Of those, only the SuperSix will be available to consumers. You can get your own Rapha+Palace TdF custom Cannondale SuperSix Evo Hi-mod carbon frameset direct from Rapha ( soon ), just like the pros ride.

Although, maybe it’s not exactly the one the pros ride? Last December Cannondale received UCI approval to compete on a new SuperSix Evo 3 Limited Edition. From the outside the team bikes look the same, so we would have to assume it’s just some superlight, extra-stiff carbon layup inside, right?

You can’t get the special edition Cannondale SystemSix race bikes.

But they still are worth a closer look.

There’s a bit more surface area for silly graphics on an aero road bike.

Then, the Cannondale SuperSlice Evo takes it to the next level.

This disc brake SuperSlice (Evo?) appears to technically still be a prototype. But we’ve spotted it racing for over a year now , so it’s curious how that fits within the UCI’s technical rules.

In any case, it’s a nice big flashy canvas for the Rapha+Palace Skateboards custom look.

Cannondale.com

Cory Benson is the EU Tech Editor of Bikerumor.com .

Cory has been writing about mountain bikes, enduro, cyclocross, all-road, gravel bikes & bikepacking for over 25 years, even before the industry gave some these names. Prior to Bikerumor, Cory was a practicing Architect specializing in environmental sustainability, has designed bike shops & bike components and worked as a bike shop mechanic.

Based in the Czech Republic for 15+ years, he is a technical mountain biker, adventurous gravel rider, short & medium-haul bikepacker. Cory travels extensively across Europe riding bikes, meeting with key European product developers, industry experts & tastemakers for an in-depth review of what’s new, and what’s coming next.

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EF-EasyPost reveal Rapha x Palace Tour de France kit – it's as weird as you'd expect

Ducks out, dragons in as men's and women's teams get a style overhaul celebrating the return of the Tour de France Femmes

"RAPHA AND PALACE IT'S BACK 🚨🚨🚨"

That was the Slack message I received moments after the press release landed in the Cyclingnews inbox. 

Not often does a press release force me to stop everything I'm doing, but when my phone flashed up with "Rapha + Palace Skateboards celebrate the return of Tour de France Femmes", the email was open before I'd even consciously processed what I'd read. 

Yep, it's a new EF Education-EasyPost kit for the Tour de France , while sister team EF Education-Tibco SVB have a new look for the inaugural Tour de France Femmes , too.

The backstory goes as follows: Each year at the Giro d'Italia, the men's team are forced to swap their kit out for another colour because their usual pink kit clashes with the race's maglia rosa; the pink jersey that marks the leader of the general classification.

In October 2020 – peak pandemic times – the Giro d'Italia was about to start, and they decided to have some fun with it . Collaborating with Palace Skateboards, the team rolled onto the stage for the teams' presentation aboard sticker-bombed Cannondale bikes wearing wild-looking Rapha jerseys, each complete with a cartoon duck adorning the front. To use a 21st-century phrase, it broke the internet . 

It's happening again this July, with both men's and women's teams switching out their usual pink for an altogether new design. The squads have yet to be announced, but expect the likes of Rigoberto Urán , Neilson Powless, and Lauren Stephens to be sporting this during the next month.

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If you thought the last one was weird, get ready because cycling, high fashion, streetwear, and the cool kids of skate culture are being mashed together once again, and the result is as wild as you hoped it'd be. Check the gallery above for the full rundown.

The usual pink of the EF teams remains – the Tour leader's jerseys are yellow, after all. In come blends of purple, blue, and white, while both jerseys feature a large female symbol and a pair of friendly-looking green dragons, because why not? Meanwhile, Palace logos adorn various spots around the jersey alongside regular team sponsors such as EF.

"I'm just thrilled with the kit that Rapha and Palace Skateboards have designed to celebrate the return of the women's Tour de France," founder and owner of EF Education-Tibco-SVB said, referring to the symbol that takes up the front of both jerseys.

"Women's cycling has been growing steadily over the past couple of decades, but the return of the Tour de France will accelerate this growth and further our search for equality. It's a true honor to have the EF Education-EasyPost men's team racing their Tour de France in a jersey that celebrates women's cycling. It's been a very long road to get to this point, and all of us, the riders, staff and management, realize the significance of this jersey and will be proud to wear it."

A second, slightly more subdued design has also been created, as a training jersey. This is predominantly grey and black by design, but with dragon-matching lime green sleeve cuffs and the large Palace triangle logo across the back.

Beneath this is where you'll find perhaps our favourite feature of all of these designs. The dragon, who doesn't yet have a name by the way, is peeking out of the centre pocket, with its claws holding onto the upper edges of the outer pockets.

Once again, the collaboration extends beyond the Rapha kit, though perhaps to the frustration of other partners, that's what will gain most of the attention. POC is once again involved, giving its bright pink helmets a similar dragon theme, with the scaly triangles of its tail wrapping around the brow of the lid, giving it an almost tooth-like design, reminiscent of the dinosaur helmet you'll probably buy for your kids one day.

Just as excitingly, Cannondale is also back with a brand new wrap, giving the team's SuperSix EVO, SystemSix and SuperSlice bikes a fancy blue, white and pink base that, if you squint, could almost be the French tricolore. Atop this returns the sticker bomb idea, with EF, Palace, Rapha logos, as well as the female symbol and more getting an allocation of real estate. Oh, and the dragons. Can't forget the dragons. 

Partners Whoop, who supply wrist-based heart rate variability monitors and Wahoo, suppliers of cycling computers, are also getting involved with similar designs. 

Can you buy Rapha's Palace collaboration?

Yes, if you're fast. All of the Rapha + Palace kit will be sold at Rapha's website , in "three drops at localised times" across the UK, EU, Canada, USA and Asia-Pacific territories, but the numbers will be very limited.

More will be available to existing RCC members... there'll be no signing up

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As the Tech Editor here at Cyclingnews, Josh leads on content relating to all-things tech, including bikes, kit and components in order to cover product launches and curate our world-class buying guides, reviews and deals. Alongside this, his love for WorldTour racing and eagle eyes mean he's often breaking tech stories from the pro peloton too. 

On the bike, 32-year-old Josh has been riding and racing since his early teens. He started out racing cross country when 26-inch wheels and triple chainsets were still mainstream, but he found favour in road racing in his early 20s and has never looked back. He's always training for the next big event and is keen to get his hands on the newest tech to help. He enjoys a good long ride on road or gravel, but he's most alive when he's elbow-to-elbow in a local criterium. 

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Rapha + Palace

Not one race but two. Not three weeks but four. There’s something special coming at this year’s Tour.

High speed and high stakes, big risks and bigger rewards. Contracts on the line, careers to be made and, of course, cycling’s most prestigious prize to be won. But this year there’s something different… For the first time since the 80s, the party doesn’t stop in Paris and women as well as men will be on the startline at the world’s biggest bike race. It’s a seminal moment for our sport, one that makes this race more than just another Tour de France. Now that everyone is invited, this is all set to be a Tour de Force. To celebrate the madness and the majesty of the Tour de Force, we’ve partnered once again with Palace Skateboards to create a limited edition switch-out kit for the riders of EF Education-TIBCO-SVB and EF Education-EasyPost. And it’s not just the team’s kit that has undergone an overhaul. Everything from their off-bike casualwear to the bikes have been given a makeover for four weeks of all-out racing in France. And while the teams’ signature pink remains, the message is clear. Without a women’s race, there can be no Tour de Force. As with all Palace launches, this collection is extremely limited. To shop the collection you will have to sign into your Rapha account. If you do not have an account, sign up for free here . To give you the best chance of accessing the collection, there will be three localised drops online at rapha.cc at the following times:

- Friday, 15th July - 11am BST

for customers in the UK, EU, Canada and Korea

- Friday, 15th July - 11am EST

for customers in the USA (excluding Canada)

- Saturday, 16th July - 11am JST

for customers in the Asia-Pacific region (excluding Korea)

Original Official Site of the Russian National Tourist Office

The Kremlin is Russia's mythic refuge, a self contained city with a multitude of palaces, armories, and churches, a medieval fortress that links the modern nation to its legendary past in the ancient state of Kievan Rus'. As the dominance of Kiev faded and its empire fragmented under the weight of foreign invasion and internecine strife in the 11th and 12th centuries, regional princes gained power. In 1147, as Kievan Rus was experiencing its final death throes, a chronicler recorded that a feast was held at the hunting lodge of Prince Yuri Dolgorukiy, ruling prince of Rostov and Suzdal. The lodge was perfectly situated atop a hill overlooking the Moskva and Neglina rivers, prompting its development (in such troubled times) as a fortified town, or Kremlin.

Within a century, the town had risen to become an independent principality within the Mongol empire. By the middle of the 14th century, its princes had gained such pre-eminence that Moscow was made the seat of the Russian Orthodox Church. With Ivan the Great (1462-1505) at its helm, Muscovite rule extended over all of Russia, and the Kremlin became more magnificent, befitting its role as the seat of Russian power. By 1480 the once modest hunting lodge had become an imposing fortress city. Its stone walls were graced by the magnificent Cathedral of the Assumption, where Ivan defiantly tore up the charter binding Moscow to Mongol rule. Over the next two centuries, until Peter the Great transferred the capital of Russia to St. Petersburg, the Kremlin served as the central stage for the magnificent and occasionally horrific history of the Tsars.

With the shift of power to St. Petersburg, the city and the Kremlin declined. However, the Bolsheviks' choice of Moscow as their capital in March 1918 returned it to preeminence, and during Soviet rule the Kremlin experienced its second life as a great center of power. Although the Soviet state certainly left its mark on the Kremlin, the centuries-old citadel very much retains the aura of early Tsarist Russia. Especially in Cathedral Square, where the spirits of Ivan the Terrible, Boris Godunov, and the early Romanovs loom much larger than those of Stalin or even Lenin himself.

Sites of The Kremlin

The State Kremlin Palace This modern glass and concrete structure, completed in 1961, is the Kremlin's most recent edifice. It was built during the halcyon days of the Khruschev administration to host Communist Party congresses and was executed in appropriately magnificent style. The palace's most prominent feature was its huge auditorium (6000 seats), the stage of which was surmounted by a monumental bas-relief head of Lenin surrounded by gilded rays. Today the palace is used for performances by the Kremlin Ballet Company, and the once familiar relief of Lenin is gone.

Senate The graceful neoclassical Senate building, commissioned by Catherine the Great, is one of several fine works in Moscow by the architect Matvey Kazakov. The building was intended by Catherine to serve as a meeting place for an advisory council, but it is better known for having been the location of Lenin's office after the Revolution. In a recent modernization, however, his preserved offices were delivered into posterity. Today, the Senate serves as the official Presidential residence.

Tsar Cannon and Bell These two curiosities form an oddly appropriate pair. Both are among the largest of their kind in the world, and neither has ever worked. The 40-ton Tsar Cannon, built during the reign of Ivan the Terrible's imbecilic son Fyodor in 1586, possesses a barrel in excess of five meters long and a calibre of 890 mm. The gun should in theory have been capable of smiting foolish attackers with projectiles the size of wine casks. As if the cannon's sheer size were not inspiring enough, the barrel and carriage are adorned with a relief of the redoubtable Fyodor as well as a scene in which a fierce Russian lion devastates a snake symbolizing Russia's enemies.

The two hundred ton Tsar Bell, though the largest in the world, was never successfully completed, much less rung. A smaller predecessor (weighing in at a mere 130 tons) was built in the middle of the 17th century but was destroyed in the Moscow fire of 1701. Three decades later the Empress Anna ordered the fragments to be recast into a much larger bell, but the resultant wonder cracked in 1737 after having fallen into its casting pit. Another century passed before the bell was lifted and set in its present location. Beside the bell lies a small eleven-ton scrap that fell from the bell during its excavation.

Ivan the Great Belltower Dominating not only Cathedral Square but the entire Kremlin is the gleaming gilt dome of the Ivan the Great Belltower, long the tallest structure in all of Russia. Constructed of bright white stone and soaring to a height of over eighty meters, the bell tower was begun in the early 16th century and completed in 1600, during the reign of Boris Godunov. In the adjacent belfrey hangs the massive 64-ton Resurrection Bell, dating from the nineteenth century.

Assumption Cathedral Assumption Cathedral is the oldest, largest, and most important of the Kremlin's many churches. It stands on the site of a small cathedral erected by Ivan I around 1330 to mark Moscow's new status as the seat of Russian orthodoxy. A century and a half later, Ivan III (the Great) decided that his predecessor's modest and by then time-worn work was insufficient as a symbol of the city's grandeur. After a brief and unsuccessful flirtation with local builders, he decided to go all out and hire an Italian (after all, it was the Renaissance). Thus, in 1475, Alberti (a.k.a. Aristotle) Fioravanti arrived from Bologna. After conducting a tour of Vladimir, Pskov, and Novgorod in order to gain a sense of the traditions of Russian ecclesiatical architecture, Fioravanti returned to Moscow and set to work. A mere four years later, he had finished a veritable tour de force, a cathedral so satisfying to his patron that Fioravanti's request to return to Italy prompted Ivan to imprison him. Fioravanti died in captivity a few years later.

The Cathedral itself made history almost before the paint was dry, for it was on its steps in 1480 that Ivan tore up the charter binding Moscow's princes to tribute to the Mongols. In addition to its historical significance as the primary church of Russian Orthodoxy (and thus as the site of all manner of coronations, funerals, victory services, and intrigues), the Cathedral is notable for its accomplished architectural and decorative elements. Its frescoes, icons, and the elaborate Throne of Monomakh are of particular interest for visitors, as is Fioravanti's archetypal synthesis of traditional Russian ecclesiastical architecture.

The Church of the Deposition of the Robe This comparatively modest structure was built by Russian craftsmen just a few years after the completion of the Cathedral of the Assumption. It now houses a fascinating collection of wooden figures.

The Cathedral of the Archangel Michael This most Italianate of the Kremlin's churches, the last of Ivan the Great's contributions to Cathedral Square, is the burial place of the early Tsars and their predecessors, the princes of Moscow. Commissioned in 1505 and built by the Venetian architect Alevisio, its notably foreign features include the scallop-shell decoration of its gables and the ornate Corinthian capitals of its columns. With the notable exception of Boris Godunov (buried at the Trinity Monastery of St. Sergei), the Cathedral houses the remains of everyone from Grand Prince Ivan Kalita (1325-41) to Tsar Ivan V (1682-96). Unfortunately, the tombs themselves do little to convey the passage of history, as all of the stone sarcophagi date from the 17th century and their bronze covers from the beginning of the twentieth.

The Cathedral of the Annunciation The golden-domed Cathedral of the Annunciation served as the private chapel of the Tsars. It was raised by Ivan III in the late 1440s on the foundations of a much earlier and more modest church and has been damaged, repaired, enlarged, and altered on numerous occasions since then. One addition deserving of special appreciation is the Grosnenskiy Porch, found at the Cathedral's southeast corner. The porch was built by Ivan the Terrible in 1572 after he contravened church doctrine by marrying for a fourth time (the Orthodox Church allowed only three marriages). While the Church Council appreciated Ivan's occasionally excessive reactions to opposition and thus accepted the marriage, it was able to express its dismay by asking the Tsar to refrain thereafter from entering the Cathedral to attend services. The porch was the resultant compromise, and from it Ivan would carry out his religious devotions from behind a specially-constructed grille.

Cathedral of the Twelve Apostles and The Patriarch's Palace These two buildings are in fact a continuous structure, together constituting the Kremlin domain of the patriarchs of the Russian Orthodox Church. Constructed by the Patriarch Nikon in the 1650s, they now serve as a museum of 17th-century applied arts, including ecclesiastical regalia as well as furniture and domestic objects from the period.

The Terem, Faceted, and Great Kremlin Palaces None of the three great palaces of the Kremlin are open to visitors--at least not yet. The earliest of the three is the Terem Palace, which is the oldest building in the Kremlin. The Palace served as the Imperial residence until the removal of the capital to St. Petersburg in 1712. The Faceted Palace, built by Ivan III, was used primarily for audiences and feasts, a function revived by Soviet leaders. The last of the three palaces, the Great Kremlin, was built in the early 19th-century as a Moscow residence for Nicholas I. All three of the palaces possess extraordinary interior decorations belied by their rather unremarkable exteriors.

The Armory The Armory began in the early 16th century as a purely functional storehouse for the Kremlin's weaponry. However, within a few decades that original and prosaic structure had gained the added function of a workshop and repository for all sorts of treasures of the increasingly magnificent Imperial court. In 1813, following Napoleon's invasion, the Armory building became an exhibition hall and museum, though the Imperial arms and regalia had long since been removed by Peter the Great to St. Petersburg. It was only in 1851 that the collection was returned to Moscow, where it was installed in the current building, then new. Despite the loss of significant items in the collection during the early nineteenth century, the treasures contained within the Armory are overwhelming. From the chalice of Yuri Dolgoruky and the helm and armor of Boris Godunov to a stupendous collection of over fifty Faberge eggs, visitors are presented with an array of objects that is staggering in its historical interest and spectacular richness. Next door, at the Diamond Treasury, visitors can catch a glimpse of the infamous 190-carat Orlov Diamond.

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15 of the most amazing Romanov palaces in Russia

1. Grand Peterhof Palace (Leningrad Region)

The Grand Peterhof Palace is a true gem of Peterhof, a complex of palaces and gardens near St. Petersburg. Here, in Peterhof, known also as “the Russian Versailles,” Russian Emperors had their country residence. Nowadays, the palace is a museum, which contains over 3,500 exhibits: paintings, porcelain, fabrics, furniture, and personal belongings of the Russian rulers. The Peterhof complex also consists of several minor palaces. In one of them - the Farm Palace - the first elevator in Russia was installed.

2. Winter Palace (St. Petersburg)

The main residence of the Russian Emperors, the Winter Palace impresses by its sheer vastness. It has 1,057 rooms, 1,786 doors, 1,945 windows and 117 staircases. Its halls are decorated with 176 sculptures. Today, the Winter Palace is the main home to the Hermitage Museum. Within its wall visitors may find millions of exhibits from the prehistoric era to our days, including well-known works by Leonardo da Vinci, Henri Matisse and Rembrandt.

3. Terem Palace (Moscow)

Built in 1636, the Terem Palace in the Moscow Kremlin combines elements of Italian and ancient Russian architecture. The interior walls were decorated with bizarre ornaments and heraldic patterns and drawings on biblical themes. Although the original decorations have not been preserved, a 19th century restoration was tastefully carried out with all respect to the 17th century style.

4. Livadia Palace (Crimea)

The southern residence of the royal family, the Livadia Palace became known to the whole world when Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill met there in February 1945 for the Yalta Conference, where the post-war shape of Europe was discussed.  

5. Catherine Palace (Leningrad Region)

Three Empresses - Catherine I, Elizabeth Petrovna and Catherine II - spared no money and effort to make it one of the most beautiful palaces in Europe. The most remarkable feature in the Catherine Palace is the Amber Room, whose panels and decorations are made of amber. Presented to the Russian Tsar Peter I by Frederick Wilhelm I of Prussia, it was lost without a trace during World War II. Now visitors may see a restored version of the masterpiece.

6. Gatchina Palace (Leningrad Region)

The Gatchina Palace was, probably, the favorite vacation spot for the royal family. One of its most interesting places is a secret passage with numerous corridors and hidden rooms. The passage allowed residents to not only discreetly leave the Palace, but also to quickly move between the palace wings.  

7. Tsaritsyno Palace (Moscow)

The Tsarytsino Palace in the south of Moscow has a sad history. Designed as Catherine II’s residence, it was never lived in. For centuries the palace remained abandoned and in the late 20th century was in terrible condition. Only after a major restoration in 2005-2007, it became the amazing palace its architects had envisioned.

8. Vorontsov Palace (St. Petersburg)

Famous Italian architect Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli designed this palace at the request of statesman Mikhail Vorontsov. Huge and luxurious, it became an unbearable burden for Vorontsov, and he was forced to deliver it to the state. In the late 18th century the palace was given by the Emperor Pavel I to Knights of Malta, who added to the main building the Malta Capella. Nowadays, the palace is a home to the Suvorov Military School, visiting it is not easy. However, a tourist can always attend an organ music concert at the Capella.    

9. Tauride Palace (St. Petersburg)

The palace was built on the orders of Empress Catherine II as a reward to Prince Grigory Potemkin for the successful accession of Taurida (Crimea) in 1783. The Tauride Palace had a significant impact on the Russian architecture. After its appearance, nobles started to model their own country estates on it.

10. Wooden Palace of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich (Moscow)

The wooden palace of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich with 270 rooms decorated with paintings and carvings was built in 1667 without using any fastening materials, nails or hooks. Demolished in the 18th century, it was reconstructed in the 1990s to amaze all lovers of Russian wooden architecture.  

11. Mikhailovsky Palace (St. Petersburg)

Designed by the Italian architect Carlo Rossi, the Mikhailovsky Palace is one of the most beautiful buildings in St. Petersburg. The palace amazed not only city residents, but foreigners too. Having heard so much about it, British King George IV even asked the Russian Emperor Nicholas I to send him a model of the palace as a gift.

12. Grand Kremlin Palace (Moscow)

Finished in 1849, the Grand Kremlin Palace today is the main palace in the country and serves as the official residence of the President of Russia. It is possible to visit the Palace, but this is not an inexpensive pleasure. A two-hour excursion costs over $80.

13. Imperial Palace (Tver)

Built in the middle of the 18th century, the Imperial Palace in Tver served as a recreation place for the royal family, which travelled from St. Petersburg to Moscow and back. The building has been rebuilt and reconstructed many times and integrated elements of different architectural styles, including Baroque and Classicism.

14. Konstantin Palace (St. Petersburg)

The Konstantin Palace today is the business and cultural center of St. Petersburg. Major events such as Russia-EU and G20 Summits take place here now.

15. Petrov Palace (Moscow)

With the construction of the Petrov Palace Catherine II celebrated Russia’s victory over the Ottoman Empire (1768—1774). During the devastating fire of 1812, Napoleon moved from the Kremlin to the Petrov Palace, which soldiers turned into an impregnable fortress. Nowadays, the palace is shared between a museum and hotel.

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• How did the Soviets use noble estates and palaces?

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Matador Original Series

These 7 Palaces in Moscow Are Straight Out of a Fairy Tale

M oscow’s past is inextricably linked with the tsars and their favorite people, who, because of their status, did not live in communal flats but in incredibly fancy palaces. The palaces of St. Petersburg are world-famous, but Russia’s capital also has its fair share of magnificent noble residences, most of which are now museums. All the palaces impress with their beautiful architecture and equally beautiful interiors, as well as with their tumultuous histories. We have selected seven of them for you to add to your Moscow itinerary .

1. Tsaritsyno

Photo: Sergey Dzyuba /Shutterstock

In 1776, Tsaritsyno was built on the order of Catherine the Great who fell in love with the pastoral beauty of the area; however, she never lived here. The empress did not like the creation of Vasily Bazhenov, so his work was torn down. A second attempt by architect Matvey Kazakov got cut short — Catherine the Great died before he could finish the 20-year enterprise. The building was abandoned until it was beautifully renovated between 2005 and 2007.

Photo: dimbar76 /Shutterstock

Today, Tsaritsyno is a museum within a large, 1,000-acre park. Tsaritsyno is located south of Moscow, a 40-minute metro ride from the city center to the Tsaritsyno metro station and a 10-minute walk to get to the gate. The palace is in the middle of the park, so you’ll have to walk for another 10 minutes to access it, but the greenery, and the fountains and bridges that dot it, are a sight to see and well worth the extra footwork. The palace complex is closed on Monday, but you can access the park daily, from 6:00 AM to midnight.

2. Kolomenskoye

Photo: Gubin Yury /Shutterstock

As early as the 16th century, Kolomenskoye was the summer residence of the tsars. In the 17th century, Tsar Alexei Romanov built a great wooden palace on the royal estate, which was unfortunately torn down on the order of Catherine the Great in the late 18th century. The current magnificent wooden palace in Kolomenskoye was built using drawings of the one that stood on the estate so long ago.

Photo: EvgenySHCH /Shutterstock

Today, the Kolomenskoye estate is comprised of 17 architectural monuments on 990 acres, including the 16th-century Ascension Church, which is a UNESCO World Heritage site ; 17th-century wooden fortresses; and a 400-year old wooden Orthodox Church. The open-air museum is opened for visitors daily, except Mondays. To get there is a 50-minute metro ride from the center of Moscow to Kolomenskaya station.

3. Petrovsky Palace

Photo: Yury Dmitrienko /Shutterstock

Built as a station on the tsars’ journeys from St. Petersburg to Moscow by order of Catherine the Great, the red and white Petrovsky Palace is the work of the famous Russian architect Matvey Kazakov (and, as such, bears a resemblance with Tsaritsyno).

Today, the palace is used as a four-star hotel , so visiting it is not an option unless as part of a rare guided tour. The edifice is also used as the House of Receptions of the Government of Moscow since 2009. To get to the Petrovsky Palace, located in the northwest of Moscow, travel on the metro to the Dinamo station and walk for fewer than 10 minutes.

The huge Kuskovo complex was built between 1740 and 1780 by the wealthy and noble Sheremetev family to be used as a holiday residence. Besides the palace that was intended for receptions only, and which remains exactly the same as it was in the 18th century, the complex includes the Dutch House (a pavilion modeled on a 17th-century Dutch townhouse), Italian House (built in the style of 17th-century Italian villa), the Grotto, the Menagerie, the Hermitage and other structures in a large park with fountains, ponds, canals and a formal garden.

Photo: Dmitry Zimin /Shutterstock

The superb ensemble is a museum of 18th-century manor life that contains 50,000 pieces such as paintings, drawings, sculptures, and artistic furniture. The complex is also the host for the State Museum of Ceramics, where works of porcelain, glass, and ceramics are displayed. Kuskovo is a 35-minute metro ride from the city center to the Novogireevo metro station and a 15-minute walk to the complex.

5. Grand Kremlin Palace

Photo: Laborant /Shutterstock

The Grand Kremlin Palace is the largest building in the Kremlin, a fortified complex of cathedrals and palaces located in the heart of the Russian capital. The Grand Kremlin Palace was built between 1837 and 1849 and used to be the tsar’s residence; nowadays, it is the residence of the President of the Russian Federation. Although the outside may seem fancy, it is nothing compared to the lavish interior. With its intricate domed ceilings; huge, sparkling chandeliers; and gold -covered everything, it’s even fancier than Versailles . It is possible to visit the beautiful palace, but the only way to do it is by booking a two-hour tour .

Photo: Natalia Sidorova /Shutterstock

One of the most beautiful estates in Moscow, Bykovo — also known as Marino — unfortunately sits abandoned. The complex is comprised of the incredible Church of the Vladimir Icon of the Virgin, built in 1789 and said to have been designed by famous Russian architect Vasily Bazhenov; a palatial manor rebuilt in 1856, which served as a tuberculosis sanitarium after the Bolshevik Revolution; and a rotunda by large pond, all of which sits on an overgrown, forested park.

Photo: Julia Trubarova /Shutterstock

Because the estate is neglected, it is not possible to visit the interior of the manor; however, you can walk around and enjoy the architecture from the outside. In winter, the long slope in front of the manor serves as a tobogganing spot for local kids. Unlike the rest of the estate, the church is currently being renovated. It’s a bit of a trek to get to Bykovo by public transport, but if you have a vehicle or can afford a taxi ride, it’s only a 50-minute car ride from the center of Moscow.

Photo: Shevchenko Andrey /Shutterstock

The Marfino estate is a unique and prime example of Gothic architecture in Moscow as it’s an ensemble where every building is of the Gothic style. After being burned down by the French in 1822, it was later rebuilt by famed architect Mikhail Bykosvky. The ensemble is comprised of a large park, large ponds, a beautiful bridge, stone gates, sculptures, the Nativity Church, a rotunda, a pavilion, and, of course, the red and white manor.

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View of the Kremlin and surrounding area from 1825. From The Album of Ancient Views of the Moscow Kremlin , by Ivan Zabelin. Available online from the Yeltsin Library .

The Kremlin: Moscow’s Historical Heart Through the Ages

Published: December 3, 2021

The Moscow Kremlin has long been the main symbol of Moscow and Russia – and for good reason. It was with the Kremlin that city of Moscow officially began and from which it grew. The Prince of Moscow, ruling from the Kremlin and drawing on the growing power of his city, united and conquered the cities and lands around him to create Russia.

While the Kremlin can be seen as something of a constant in Russian history, the Kremlin itself has seen major changes within its walls and to its own status. It has lost and gained buildings. It has changed from the seat of government to an ancillary structure, back to the governmental seat, and finally to a museum complex.

The resource below unites the work of multiple SRAS students writing on Home and Abroad , Challenge Grants , and Online Research Internships to bring you an overarching view of this iconic complex.

The Kremlin Walls

By Hudson Dobbs

The Kremlin was first established in 1156 by Prince Yuri Dolgorukiy. This post-dates the first mention of Moscow, which dates back to 1147, when Prince Dolgorukiy invited Prince Sviatoslav of Chernigov to Moscow to celebrate their alliance.

The actual site of this stronghold has likely been occupied since the second millennium BCE. It likely had fortifications built there as early as the 10th century, by the then-resident Vyatichi, a tribe of Slavic peoples.

Eventually, Prince Dolgorukiy ordered the construction of what would become the Kremlin walls. These first walls were tall and expansive and built out of wood. Although this structure was built for protection, it also served as a symbol for the power and strength of the new city of Moscow.

While the first walls did their job well, they were eventually burnt down by Tatar-Mongol forces and later upgraded to more fire-resistant oak in 1339. As the city grew, the Kremlin also further developed, and with it the popularity of building fortresses in town centers. Cities such as Smolensk, Kazan, Novgorod, and Pskov all constructed a Kremlin of their own. In fact, the word “kremlin” simply means “a fortress within a city.”

By the 13th century, the Kremlin housed the political and spiritual power of the state, with residences, workshops, churches, and state buildings all residing within its walls. In the 1360’s, Prince Dmitry Donskoy rebuilt the walls in limestone and a gleaming white Kremlin soon became the iconic image of Moscow. These walls were credited in helping the city defend itself from sieges by Grand Duke Algirdas of Lithuania in the late 1360’s.

The walls and towers that exist today are still another iteration, and were built on the order of Grand Prince Ivan III, also known as Ivan the Great, from 1485 to 1495. Ivan wanted to build something grander and more worthy of being his residence – something that would be comparable to Constantinople in terms of size and importance.

Wanting what would be specifically a “Third Rome,” Ivan invited Italian architects such as Aristotele Fioravanti and Pietro Antonio Solari. Their involvement is why the current fortress closely resembles castles of Northern Italy. Its red brick made the Kremlin unique for the time, as it was the first structure in Russia built from such material.

These brick walls have stood, with minor adjustments, since that time. One noticeable change came in the late 1600s, when Tsar Fyodor Alekseevich ordered the red brick to be whitewashed in limestone, returning it to gleaming white the city had been hitherto known for. Eventually, the whitewash stopped being maintained and was allowed to wear off, a process that was complete by the 1900s.

Grand Kremlin Palace Tour

By Jack Fisher

Formerly the Moscow residence of the Russian tsars, the Grand Kremlin Palace (not to be confused with the State Kremlin Palace) is a complex inside the Kremlin. It now hosts diplomatic meetings and official state ceremonies including presidential inaugurations. It is also designated as a residence of the President of the Russian Federation, but is rarely used for that purpose.

When SRAS gave me the opportunity to take an exclusive tour of this complex, which is an exclusive tour that is normally off-limits to the general public, I had to take it.

This particular tour is different from those that cover the more public areas inside the Kremlin and requires signing up early and submitting your documents for a security check.

I met the tour group on a Friday afternoon in Aleksandrovski Sad, which borders the Kremlin walls. From there, we made our way towards the Kremlin grounds entrance. There was a huge line to get into the grounds through a first security checkpoint, but we were able to skip straight to the front of it since we had registered for our tour ahead of time. Once we were through the gate, the crowd thinned out significantly.

As we walked through the Kremlin grounds, we saw other tour groups taking photos of the landscaping, palace, and other historical buildings. Unlike us, they didn’t have the permission of the Russian government to enter the actual palace. When we got to the palace, we walked through the front doors, crossed a second security checkpoint, met our guide, and started the tour.

Our tour guide inside the building was a woman that worked in preservation. She only spoke Russian, so everything was translated for us by an SRAS-hired guide to English. We began on the first floor of the newer section of the palace and saw several ornate living rooms and guest rooms, followed by the empress’s and emperor’s chambers. Unfortunately, we weren’t allowed to see the emperor’s office and bathroom as President Putin had decided to use them as his personal study for the remainder of his time in office.

After the first floor, we headed upstairs to the second. From the outside the palace appeared to have three floors, but in reality the second floor just had massive, vaulted ceilings and two levels of windows. From what I saw, the second floor seemed to be where the fun happened. The first major room we walked into was the Hall of the Order of St. George, built to house major military meetings and balls and today used as a large conference room. There were names of famous military officers and soldiers inscribed on the walls, and the hall looked like it could hold hundreds of guests. Then it was on to the Hall of the Order of St. Vladimir, which was way less cool. It did, however, have the largest chandelier in the palace, for what that’s worth.

Next, we moved into the oldest section of the palace. It was built in the late 1400s and the newer sections of the palace were built out to connect with it. Our guide told us that by the time of the last czars, the older section was used strictly for ceremonial purposes. The walls were covered with paintings of historical rulers and religious figures. It was definitely my favorite room as there seemed to be an aura of timelessness hanging about the place.

Then we went back through the Hall of the Order of St. Vladimir and through another hall to the older bedchamber of the czar and an older, smaller meeting room for the czar and his nobles. This section was markedly different as there was none of the opulence of the newer palace. It had a utilitarian feel due to its practical layout with comfortable but plain looking chairs, reasonably sized paintings, low ceilings and large traditional Russian stoves.

Finally, we visited the throne room. It was massive, just like the Hall of the Order of St. George, and had polished stone and gilding everywhere. Unfortunately, it was a reconstruction. Our guide let us know that the soviets had torn it apart when they came to power, creating what looked like a massive classroom to house the first meetings of the Soviet Congress. The Russian government had restored it completely within the past decade. She also let us know that the current heir to the Russian throne is Prince Harry of England, which is an interesting fact I’ve been surprising Brits with lately.

On our way out, we exited through a portrait hall. Most of the portraits were typical Enlightenment and Victorian era paintings with stuffy looking people. However, one painting caught my eye: the portrait of Knyaz Sbyatoclav. The man looked absolutely hardcore (and you can see him below in a photo I took).

In my opinion, it was definitely worth $75. While I wouldn’t go twice, the fact of the matter is that you get to see the inside of a beautiful building and stand in rooms that very powerful people meet in and have met in for hundreds of years – which is an opportunity that few regular people are given. Don’t think that it’s too expensive, because you’ll have the experience and memory with you for the rest of your life.

The Kremlin Without a Capital (1712-1918)

By Lee Sullivan

The Kremlin has always been a symbol of Russian power and authority. It is often used interchangeably with the Russian state in journalism and academic literature. This is not surprising considering the Kremlin is situated in the heart of Moscow and has typically housed Russian rulers and their offices – and continues to contain an official residence and office for Russian president Vladimir Putin. However, not all of Russia’s leaders have always called the Moscow fortress home. This article covers the nearly 200 years of Kremlin history when Moscow was not the capital.

Peter the Great moved Russia’s capital from Moscow to St. Petersburg in 1712. Despite the continued crowning of tsars in the Annunciation Cathedral and symbols of power in the Kremlin vaults, Moscow’s role in state life was minimal compared to that of the new capital. This changed when a new stage of construction began under Catherine the Great. Even though St. Petersburg was the new capital, she was crowned in Moscow following ancient tradition. A commission to replace the code of laws from Tsar Alexey Mikhailovich’s time was called in Moscow and its session was held in the Kremlin’s Faceted Palace. This was a sign that under Catherine the Great the state would be ruled from both St. Petersburg and Moscow. Additionally, the Senate was divided into departments under Catherine. Four were in St. Petersburg and two were in the newly commissioned Senate Building, which still stands in the Moscow Kremlin.

Catherine additionally planned a grand reconstruction of the Kremlin interior, one that would have seen most of its buildings demolished, save for the historic cluster of churches, and replaced with modern imperial architecture built with long, straight roads, much like St. Petersburg itself. Demolition was started, including to parts of the original Kremlin walls, when cracks began to appear in one of the cathedral walls due to the resulting disruption of the soil. Because of this, and because of the project’s already enormous cost, it was cancelled, and the original walls re-built.

In September of 1812, French troops occupied Moscow. Napoleon, who led them, planned to occupy the Kremlin as his residence. It is widely thought that in defense against the French, the Moscow mayor ordered fires be set across the city. They raged for days so and were so intense that Napoleon was forced to leave the Kremlin due to the smoke. Upon returning he declared an intention to remain in the Kremlin for winter and ordered additional fortification of the Kremlin walls. However, the French army was weakening due to battle loss and poor supply.

Napoleon ordered his troops to retreat and blow up the Kremlin in the process. Mines were laid but their effectiveness was reduced by rain and prompt Muscovite response. Still, considerable damage was done, including to the Vodozvodnaya Tower, which was completely destroyed.

The Kremlin quickly underwent restoration under Tsar Alexander I and Nicolas I. Despite the war’s considerable drain on state funding, Tsar Alexander I prioritized restoring many parts of the Kremlin including towers, walls, palaces, and cathedrals. He often traveled to Moscow to observe the restoration progress. Many of Russia’s best architects were included in the restoration efforts. Order was progressively restored to the Kremlin and new gardens, now called the Alexander Gardens, were laid out along its exterior. Buildings like the Senate were brought back to their original appearance.

Restoration was completed under Nicholas I, who gave special attention to the restoration of ancient Kremlin churches and other old buildings. He also commissioned the construction of new buildings like the Great Kremlin Palace, after having the old one demolished. The entire imperial family attended the palace blessing during an official ceremony in April 1849. It was constructed and designed with techniques that were ahead of their time – vaulted construction for walls and ceilings, inlaid stone floors, and iron rafters.

Shortly after the revolution, the Communists restored Moscow as the official capital in 1918 when Moscow was reinstated as Russia’s capital. Construction and restoration were completed by the mid-19 th century. During the Soviet years, the Kremlin housed Soviet leaders and saw the development and then dissolution of the Soviet state. Today the Kremlin stands in Russia’s capital as a unique architectural ensemble.

The Kremlin Under the Soviets

The new Bolshevik government made sweeping changes to the historic Kremlin complex to, as they saw it, better represent the character of the new socialist state.

During the revolution of November 1917, the Kremlin was ransacked, leaving it with broken glass, destroyed icons, and parts of the complex in disrepair. Restoration of the walls and towers began in 1918, but further restoration stalled for lack of funding and because the communists had not yet decided on a plan for their changes to their seat of government.

The first targets were churches and royal symbols. Nuns and monks who had long lived in the Kremlin were removed. Churches had valuables removed and transferred to the new Commissariat of Finances to fund state projects. Many royal treasures and even crown jewels were similarly transferred. The double-headed eagles on the top of the buildings were promptly removed.

Many buildings were repurposed. Initially, many were converted to housing for Communist functionaries as the revolution and war had depleted Moscow’s housing stock while driving immigration from the countryside to the city. At one point, over two thousand people lived inside the Kremlin. By 1939, however, Kremlin residents consisted of only about three dozen high ranking officials.

Other notable repurposings included turning the Palace of Facets into a canteen with its kitchen inside the Tsarina’s Golden Chamber. The Ivan the Great Bell Tower was turned into a workshop, the Small Nicholas Palace became a worker’s club, and a gym was placed in the Church of St. Catherine. In 1932, the Andrew and Alexander Halls within the palace were gutted to make room for a party congress.

Many of the buildings and statues within the complex were destroyed, often to make way for new construction; only 26 of the original 54 buildings survived the Soviet period. The Chudov Monastery and Ascension Convent were both destroyed to make way for a military academy and eventually the Kremlin Presidium was built on the ground to house the Supreme Soviet, the supreme legislative body of the USSR.

In 1929, the Maly Nikolaevsky Palace, a former royal residence, was replaced by a new administrative building.

In the 1920s, the Russian royals buried in the Archangel Cathedral on the Kremlin’s Cathedral Square were exhumed and autopsied. They and the items in their sarcophagi were turned over to the Kremlin museum. Some valuable artifacts were requisitioned to the state treasury.

In 1935, five stars of rubied glass replaced the double-headed eagles that once topped the Kremlin gate towers.

Throughout WWII, the Kremlin was disguised under mock construction and painted roofs. Despite this, several bombs still fell on the Kremlin grounds, but did not cause major damage.

In 1947, Stalin painted the Kremlin walls red in an unmistakable ode to socialism, a drastic change from the traditional white that the walls had carried for centuries.

In 1955, the Kremlin opened to the public as an open air museum. In that same year, a ban on living in the Kremlin was introduced, lessening any security risk opening it to the public might create.

The last wave of demolitions came in 1958-1961, when the Palace of Congresses, built to house the congresses of Communist Party and cultural events, replaced the Old Amoury and part of the Patriarch’s Palace.

In part due to the outcry from this massive renovation, greater care of the Kremlin grounds began. The official Kremlin museum system was established in 1966, and Elena Gagarin, daughter of Yuri Gagarin, was hired as museum director. Today, that system includes the large armoury, several churches, and items outside of the Kremlin, such as St. Basil’s Cathedral.

The changes made during the Soviet period have left the Kremlin with a striking architectural contrast between traditional, tsarist-era architecture with Soviet-style buildings and the iconic, ancient red walls and remaining cathedrals. Despite the destruction and changes that were carried out, the compound still offers an unforgettable look into Russian and Soviet history that is impossible to get from anywhere else.

The Kremlin Stars

Translated by Caroline Barrow

The following was originally posted to the the Russian 7 website . It has been translated here by SRAS Home and Abroad Translation Scholar Caroline Barrow. Additional edits and updates were applied in 2021.

On October 24, 1935, two long-standing symbols of the Russian monarchy—the two-headed eagles which stood on top of the Kremlin towers, were ordered to be brought down and replaced with five-pointed stars.

Why a five-pointed star became the symbol of the Soviet regime is unknown, but what is known is that Lev Trotsky supported this symbol. Greatly fascinated by the esoteric, he knew that stars and pentagrams have a strong energetic potential and are one of the strongest symbols. The swastika could have easily become the symbol of the new government, since it had a strong following in Russia at the beginning of the twentieth century. Swastikas were displayed on the currency of the temporary government led by Alexander Kerensky, and swastikas were painted on the walls of Empress Alexandra Fedrovna’s Ipatiev House before the royal family was executed there. This swastika trend was stopped almost solely by Trotsky and the Bolsheviks, who opted for the five-pointed star. The history of the twentieth century even showed that stars are stronger than swastikas… Stars shone over the Kremlin, in the place of two-headed eagle.

Erecting the thousand-kilogram stars on the Kremlin towers was not a simple thing to do. The problem was that the needed technology did not exist in 1935. The smallest of the Kremlin Towers, Borovitskaya, rose to 52 meters, and the tallest tower, Troitskaya, reached a height of 72 meters. Throughout the country, there were no tower cranes capable of reaching these heights. However, for Russian engineers, the word “no” did not exist, only the phrase “we must.” Engineers designed and built special cranes that could be installed on the upper deck for each tower. A metal base, called the console, was mounted at the base of each turret window, and on each console the engineers mounted a lifting crane. Thus, the process occurred in several stages: first the two-headed eagles were dismantled, and second, the stars erected.

Each star weighs about one ton. Given the height at which the stars would be placed and the fact that each star has a surface area of 6.3 square meters (potentially excellent for catching the wind), there was a danger that the stars might be blown away along with the top of the towers. So, it was decided to stress test the towers and, it turns out, with good reason: the upper part of each tower and its console was completely destroyed in the process. So, builders reinforced the masonry at the upper levels of the towers, and for the Spasskaya, Troitskaya, and Borovitskaya Tower, metal bracing was added to the base of the tower. The console on Nikolskaya Tower was so damaged that it had to be completely rebuilt.

All the stars were not made identical; four stars differ from one another in their artistic forms. On the Spasskaya Tower star, rays go out from the center. However, on Troitskaya Tower’s star, the rays look like spikes. The star on Borovitskaya Tower is made up of two contours, one inscribed in the other, and, finally, the rays on Nikolskaya Tower’s star have no pattern. In terms of length, the Spasskaya and Nikolskaya Towers were similar, with the distance between the ends of the rays being about 4.5 meters. On Troitskaya and Borovitskaya Towers, the star rays were shorter, and the distance between the ends of the rays was less, measuring 4 and 3.4 meters, respectively.

A star is good, but a spinning star is twice as nice. Moscow is large, its people many, and all must see the Kremlin stars. For the base of each star, special bearings were produced by the First Bearing Plant. These special bearings allow the stars to rotate with the wind even despite their significant weight. Consequently, it is possible to know the direction of the wind given the position of the stars.

Installation of the Kremlin Stars was a true celebration for Muscovites. The stars were not carried under the cover of night to Red Square. The day before the stars were placed on the towers they were put on display in Gorky Park. District and City Secretaries of the Communist Party came together with the ordinary mortals below to see the stars. The stars were lit from the outside to make the Ural stones shine and the rays sparkle. The eagles, taken off the towers, were also displayed to visually demonstrate the dilapidation of the “old” world and the beauty of the “new” world.

The Kremlin stars were not always ruby glass. The first stars, installed in October, 1935, were made from high-alloy stainless steel and red copper. In the center of each star, on both sides, the stars were embedded with precious stones outlining the hammer and sickle emblem. Over the course of a year, the glitter of the gems dimmed. The stars were also found to be too big, not fitting well with the architectural ensemble. In May, 1937, it was decided to install new, illuminated glass ruby stars. Also, they added a star to a fifth tower, the Vodovzvodnaya Tower. The ruby glass was produced at a factory in the city of Konstantinov, according to the method of the Moscovite glassmaker, N. I. Kurochkina. It was necessary to prepare 500 square meters of ruby glass, and for that, a new type was invented—selenium ruby glass. Before that, gold was used to color the glass; selenium was cheaper and produced a deeper color.

The Kremlin stars don’t only rotate, they also light up. In order not to overheat and cause damage, about 600 cubic meters of air is blown through the stars per hour. The stars are not affected by power outages, because they have their own, independent generators.

For the original lighting, the Moscow Electrical Lamp Plant produced the lights for the stars. The stars on Spasskaya, Troitskaya, and Nikolskaya Towers all had 5000-watt bulbs, and the other two operated at 3700 watts. In each star, two parallel filaments were installed. That way, if one burned out, the other filament still shone and a control panel is was notified of the burnout.

To change a bulb, one need not need to climb up to the star. Rather, the bulb comes down on a special rod that runs straight through the bearing. The whole process takes 30-35 minutes. In the stars’ history, the stars stopped shining only twice—once during the war, and another time for the filming of the now-classic movie The Barber of Siberia .

Editorial Note: Update 2021. Starting in 2015, the lighting of the Kremlin stars was updated with one star’s lighting system replaced each year. The old incandescent lamps were replaced with modern metal halide lamps. These lamps are approximately four times more energy efficient than the old bulbs and provide a more intense, higher-quality light. Metal halide lamps are often used for sports stadiums and other places where strong, high-quality light is needed.

In preparation for this switch, Employees of the Central Scientific and Restoration Design Workshops (TsNRPM) measured the illumination of each arm of each star separately to make sure that each would still be lit evenly and brightly. They also created models of the stars lit with various methods including LED matrices and optical fiber. In the end, metal halide was determined to be the closest in historical appearance to the existing incandescent lamps.

Within this update, each star was also given its first compressive maintenance since 1946. Damaged panes were replaced, the stars were cleaned inside and out, and the lubricants within the rotation system were replaced with modern fluids.

The State Kremlin Palace

By Benjamin Bradley Mulick

Finished in 1961 after three years of work, the Palace of Congresses, later renamed as the State Kremlin Palace (not to be confused with the Grand Kremlin Palace), opened its doors for the first time for the 22nd Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, welcoming thousands of party delegates as well as communist leaders from around the world. Today, it is still the Kremlin’s newest building and a multipurpose facility, housing large conventions, cultural displays from around the world and even its own ballet troupe. With these functions giving it continued purpose, the Kremlin’s most modern and out of place building is also one of its most significant.

The Kremlin State Palace stands out from the gilded, pastel buildings around it with its hulking angular lines, and large windows divided by tall marble columns. It’s crowned by a glass banquet hall, which was the brainchild of Khrushchev himself.

It features three main halls: The Great Hall, the Small Hall, and the Diplomatic Hall. The Great Hall is the largest, featuring the palace’s main stage and hosting its most important events. With a seating capacity of six thousand, it is where party congresses were held, and where some of Russia’s most prominent cultural programs take place today. The Small Hall hosts smaller musical performances, and by virtue of having removable seating, also hosts dance events, such as the World Cup of Latin American Dance, as held in June of 2021. The Diplomatic Hall provides a smaller and more intimate setting in which to enjoy performances. Last but not least, the Diplomatic Hall often hosts lesser-known artists, often performing genres that do best in closer settings, such as jazz and folk.

The facility also holds many smaller meeting rooms, intended as breakout rooms for conventions, but also used for various purposes today.

The construction of the State Kremlin Palace came with considerable controversy. Not only is it stylistically wildly inconsistent with the rest of the Kremlin’s buildings, one of Russia’s most oldest and most important historical ensembles, but it also resulted in the destruction of several older buildings to make ways for the Palace’s massive presence.

The demolished buildings included the Old Kremlin Armory Building, originally built in 1851 to house the Kremlin’s ceremonial guard and a collection of state documents and treasure. The northern wing of the Patriarchal Chambers was torn down, formerly part of the private quarters of the head of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Because these were officially designated historic buildings, the legality of razing them was questionable and likely would not have taken place had not the decision been made from the office of Khrushchev himself.

Perhaps the real loss, however, came from underground. The original plans for the palace, before the Second World War, envisioned it as truly massive facility built where Christ the Savior Cathedral now stands. In the Khrushchev era, it was planned to build a smaller but still very large building near MGU, along the river, in what were then the still-developing outskirts of the city. When Khrushchev decided to place it inside the Kremlin, its footprint was again shrunk and it faced restrictions on its height so that the view of the Dormition Cathedral would not be entirely lost.

To make up for this, the bottom part of the building was sunk sixteen meters into the valuable archeological depths of the Kremlin’s soil. The buildings torn down to make room for the Palace were themselves built over much older foundations.

Archeologists were given a short window to explore the former Palace of Natalya Narishkina, the mother of Tsar Peter I, as well the former sites of churches, royal kitchens, workshops, and studios in what was once an economic center based within the historic Kremlin.

Teams of archaeologists were assigned to the area, who, in addition to expected finds, also found a number of secret tunnels. Unfortunately, while the archaeologists did their best to learn and preserve what they could, the limited timeframe allowed by the construction of the State Kremlin Palace meant that the archaeological potential of the site was, in large part, wasted. The tunnels were filled in, the old foundations built over, and the ruins lost to history.

Today, the Palace is perhaps best known as the home of The Kremlin Ballet, which was specifically formed in 1990 under esteemed Russian artist and choreographer Andrey Petrov with the purpose of performing there after the Bolshoi Ballet stopped performing at the palace and returned to the Bolshoi, then under renovations.

While the Kremlin Ballet was created with a strong basis in the classics, they have made more recent contributions to the ballet world with a number of their own classically-inspired modern works, including a ballet adaptation of Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Tom Sawyer .

The State Kremlin Palace also hosts the Moscow Classical Ballet, which has been dancing in Moscow since 1966. Demonstrations of this tradition in the upcoming year will include the Moscow Classical Ballet’s dancing reinvention of Romeo and Juliet (which was considered scandalous when it was first performed in 1972), and a performance of Swan Lake , one of Russia’s most important contributions to dance, as performed by the Kremlin Ballet.

Built to hold important political events, the State Kremlin Palace is more a cultural building than a political one. The stage’s relatively short history promises to be subsumed by its promising future. Whatever the next big musical or cultural phenomenon in Russia is, the State Kremlin Palace will be a part of it.

• Read a review of The Snow Maidan as performed at the State Kremlin Palace on this site.

A Tour of the Moscow Kremlin Today

Tour as reviewed by Helen McHenry, 2019

As part of our SRAS cultural program, we were given the opportunity to take a tour of the Kremlin, a historic complex and symbol of the Russian government. We met our guide outside of Red Square before walking along the Kremlin walls to the visitors’ entrance. She pointed out the swallowtail merlons bordering the wall, a design popular in 15th century Italian-style architecture, before we mounted the battlement. To travel behind the Kremlin walls, we crossed a bridge that used to span the Neglinnaya River but today acts as an archway covering part of the footpath.

Inside the Kremlin is an intriguing mix of old and new – from the 15th century walls to the 20th century block of modernism known as the State Kremlin Palace. Our guide informed us of the controversy over the palace’s design, which stands in such contrast to the more traditional styles surrounding it. The building, built under Khrushchev’s leadership primarily as a government meeting hall, has almost as many floors underground as it does above ground. Although many cried out against the building when it was built, it still stands today, where it is now used mainly to host concerts.

A brief walk along a path lined with cannons from the state artillery collection brought us to what appeared to be the mother of all cannons. Indeed, the Tsar Cannon is the largest bombard by caliber ever manufactured and has never been used due to its vast size. Just around the corner lay a similarly large but unused item – the Tsar Bell. Commissioned during the time of Empress Anna, niece of Peter the Great, an almost life-size image of her adorns the bell’s surface.

We then traveled to Cathedral Square, which, as its name suggests, features a number of beautiful cathedrals. The overcast day did nothing to accentuate the gold domes that capped their many towers, but no amount of gloom could dim their impressive stature – so immense that photographing them from my vantage point proved a challenge. Each cathedral was adorned with more stunning iconography than the last, overwhelming to the point of monotony as we shuffled through the throngs of tourists.

Our next visit was to the State Armoury, a neoclassical building resplendent with the wealth of the tsars. We traipsed through room after room of riches, from icons, dishware, and diplomatic gifts to clothing, carriages, and thrones. What stood out to me the most was the two distinct – and sometimes warring – natures of Russian identity on display at the Armoury, East and West. The contrast was particularly obvious amongst the collections of clothing, weaponry, and thrones. The older pieces hearkened back to the time before the Western pivot of Peter the Great. While these remained just as ornately decorated as their modern counterparts, they were, on the whole, a lot less outlandish than those done in the styles of the West.

The Armoury marked our last stop within the Kremlin, so we traveled across the city center to the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. Although the cathedral is the world’s largest Orthodox church, the current building is not the original. Christ the Saviour was demolished under the reign of Stalin and was only rebuilt in the late 1990s. Since then, the cathedral has gained fame as the site of Pussy Riot’s 2012 performance, which landed three members in jail for “hooliganism.”

Our guide let us explore the church on our own, as the church requires groups to be led by its own guides. Looking forward to lunch, we opted for a quick pass through the cathedral. Had I not been so hungry, I could have spent hours inside, as every surface held intricately-painted religious imagery intermixed with adornments heavily gilded with gold. Photographs were not allowed within the cathedral, reserving this spectacle to be seen first-hand.

The Kremlin in its entirety is a spot I recommend to all visiting Moscow, as four hours within its walls was not enough for our group to even scratch the surface of the wonders within.

Tour as Reviewed by Joseph Ozment, 2016

As part of SRAS’s Russian as a Second Language (RSL) program at Moscow State University, I had the opportunity to attend a guided walking tour of the Kremlin and its museums. We had a professional tour guide provided by SRAS who was very well informed about all aspects of the Kremlin’s sites and always willing to answer questions.

The tour, as offered by SRAS each session, can differ slightly based on availability and timing. We began our day’s tour not at the Kremlin, but at the nearby Cathedral of Christ the Savior, Russia’s largest Orthodox cathedral and one of the largest Christian structures in the world. Note that there are wardrobe requirements for entering the church (men and women both must have their shoulders covered, while men cannot wear shorts and women must wear skirts at least beneath the knee).

Before going inside, we were taken around the massive structure, and given a brief yet informative overview of its history. We learned that, despite the classical style of the building, it is actually only about 20 years old, having been constructed to resemble the church that once stood on the same ground.

During Communist times, the ground on which the Church now stands was a massive swimming pool, having been filled with water after the original Church was destroyed. The plans that the Communists originally had for the site were to construct the headquarters of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, which would be one of the tallest structures in the world and house the office of the Soviet Union’s premier inside the head of a giant Vladimir Lenin statue adorning the top.

The Cathedral is a truly stunning structure. Comparable only to St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome in my mind, the sheer amount of open air is amazing when one considers how still and tranquil it is on the inside.

We then continued onwards to the Kremlin itself, which was teeming with guided tours from all over the world, just like ours. Seeing other groups from America, but also some from France, Italy, China, and several other European and Asian countries was very interesting, as people tend not to think of Russia as a popular tourist destination. However, tourism here has grown rapidly in recent years, particularly since the ruble lost about half its value on world markets, making Russia a much more affordable location.

Anna informed us of the purposes of all of the first structures we encountered within the Kremlin walls. First of all, though, she made sure that we were aware that the word “Kremlin” does not refer just the center of government in Moscow, but is a general word that means fortress. Most Russian cities and towns of reasonable size and with a medieval history possess a Kremlin.

We saw one of the offices in which President Putin occasionally works, as well as the large, semi-controversial event and concert hall that resides just inside the main entrance to the Kremlin. Despite its modern style that clashes somewhat with the comparatively ancient structures around it, the fact that the building is covered in glass at least ensures that it reflects the beauty and history that abounds within the Kremlin.

After seeing the aptly named Tsar Cannon and Tsar Bell, both of which are two of the largest objects of their kind in the world, and neither of which have been used for their structural purpose in their existence, we moved on to see several of the many churches that stand within the walls of the Kremlin.

Inside the Church of the Annunciation, we were informed of some of the basic components of any Russian Orthodox Church. For starters, every inch of wall is covered in some image or another, from icons of Saints to giant murals that depict judgment day and the people of earth being sent either to heaven or hell. We also learned that the altar in an Orthodox church is given its own room, to which only the priests are allowed entry. The mysticism that is native to Orthodoxy and inherent to its liturgy was embodied in all aspects of these churches.

After our tour of the Kremlin’s outside squares, we were taken on a tour of the Armory Museum, which houses outfits, household items, carriages, armor, weapons, and various sundry items that belonged to the Tsars and Tsarinas of Russia. Anna knowledgeably led us through the various styles worn by different Russian rulers, and explained the significance(s) behind the appearance of what they wore and the carriages in which they rode.

We were in awe of the beautiful jewels that encrusted everything the royals wore and every vessel out of which they drank or off of which they ate, not to mention of the thrones on which they sat. We saw gifts from foreign dignitaries and rulers, and even the museum’s collection of Faberge creations.

All in all, it was a day rich with history and made even more enjoyable by our friendly and incredibly knowledgeable tour guide, Anna. There is hardly a more essential Russian experience to have during your time in Moscow than a guided tour of the Kremlin.

Incidentally, Anna, a guide that SRAS has worked with for years, helps run a guiding collective in Moscow called Bridge to Moscow . They run many private tours and are available for custom tours and travel as well.

Latest Updates

By Josh Wilson

In addition to the changes to how the Kremlin stars are lit and renovations to the Kremlin bells in Spasskaya Tower , for instance, several recent events are of interest.

In the mid-2000s, the Russian Orthodox Church lobbied for the restoration of the Chudov Monetary and the Ascension Convent within the Kremlin walls. The idea was seriously considered and even discussed on television by President Vladimir Putin, although only in the sense of rebuilding them as cultural monuments and part of the museum complex, rather than as working religious institutions. In the end, however, the Kremlin Presidium was simply torn down in 2016 and the area left mostly open with fragments of the old foundations left under glass for viewing. The result is a Kremlin even more dominated by open space and gardens.

Wind has damaged the Kremlin walls on a few occasions. In June 1998, several of the iconic sparrow tail structures on the wall were damaged by strong winds. In April 2018, strong wind damaged the Senate Palace roof. In October 2021, scaffolding being used to restore a section of the inner wall was blown over the top of the wall, also damaging several of the iconic sparrow tail structures. In all cases, the damage was quickly repaired.

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About the authors

Serena Keenan

At the time she wrote for this site, Serena Keenan was a rising junior at Smith College in Northampton, MA. She was majoring in Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies with a minor in Government and a concentration in Translation Studies. She hoped to study abroad in Moscow during the spring 2022 semester. After college, she hoped to go on to work in nuclear nonproliferation. In her free time, she likes to read and crochet.

Program attended: Online Interships

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Caroline Barrow

Caroline Barrow is a graduate of Texas A&M University with a degree in International Studies and Russian. She loves traveling and hearing people’s stories. Out of the places she’s been able to visit, her favorite was Kiev, Ukraine for its beauty, history, and friendly people. She received a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship and, at the time she wrote for this site, was spending year teaching English in Kostanay, Kazakhstan. Additionally, she was been named SRAS’s Home and Abroad Translation Scholar for the 2013-2014 cycle. Her contributions included mostly translations of articles and blog posts that will be of interest to students.

Program attended: Home and Abroad Scholar

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Lee Sullivan

Lee Sullivan is an undergraduate student at Stetson University. She is currently pursuing a BS in cybersecurity and a BA in Russian, East European, and Eurasian studies. Next semester Lee will be in Vladivostok, Russia – studying the Russian language and participating in the Home and Abroad internship with SRAS. She aspires to pursue a master’s degree upon graduating.

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Benjamin Mulick

Ben Mulick, at the time he wrote for this site, was a fourth year Global Studies major at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee.

View all posts by: Benjamin Mulick

Jack Fischer

Jack Fischer, at the time he wrote for this site, was majoring in Physics with Russian and Economics minors at Iowa State University of Science and Technology in Ames, Iowa. He is studied Russian as a Second Language with SRAS over the summer of 2016 to improve his command of the Russian language. In the future, he’d like to work for himself and run a business, preferably abroad.

Program attended: Challenge Grants

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Joseph Ozment

Joseph Ozment is a fourth-year International Studies and Russian Studies major at Rhodes College in Memphis, TN. He is minoring in music minor and has spent a lot of free time on music projects. He is studying Russian as a Second Language and also working an internship with The Moscow Times. He hopes to increase his Russian skills and cultural awareness so as to use his knowledge of the country and language in a professional setting in the future.

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Helen McHenry

Helen McHenry, at the time she wrote for this site, was a double major in international relations and Russian at the Ohio State University, with minors in Spanish and public policy. She studied with Russian as a Second Language with SRAS at the Higher School of Economics in Moscow in order to advance her proficiency in Russian and appreciation for Russian culture. She hoped to use the knowledge gained during her time abroad to advocate for foreign policy that strengthens relations between East and West in her future career.

View all posts by: Helen McHenry

Julia Brock

Julie Brock, at the time she wrote for this site, had returned to University of Kentucky to pursue a Global Studies Certificate, with an emphasis on Russia and the travel industry. She earned prior BA and MA degrees in psychology. A few years ago, she traveled to Russia, Estonia, and Finland, and loves the culture and history of these areas. She works at the campus library, and enjoys reading, running 5Ks, and spending time with her dogs. She lived for five years in Minnesota and loved the snow, winter sports, and Museum of Russian Art.

View all posts by: Julia Brock

Hudson Dobbs

Hudson received his BA in Russian Studies with a minor in Corporate Communications from Baylor University. At the time he wrote for this site, he was serving as a Home and Abroad Scholar as part of a Spring, 2022 session of SRAS’s Language and Society program St. Petersburg. While abroad, Hudson will be researching the Russian coffee culture, as well as the evolution of specialty coffee in Russia. His goal is to open his own coffee shop in the US - taking his experiences abroad and applying them to his future business.

View all posts by: Hudson Dobbs