Kremlin

Stand on the far bank of the river and look up at the long red wall. It runs for more than two kilometers around the hill. Towers rise along its length, each one capped with a pointed roof. Behind the wall you can see the tops of palaces, churches, and rounded gold domes. This is the Moscow Kremlin. The word kremlin simply means a fortress that sits inside a city. This one is the oldest heart of Moscow.

People have built defenses on this hill for many hundreds of years. The hill rises above the Moskva River, at the point where a smaller river once joined it. The earliest walls here were made of oak. Later they were rebuilt in pale white stone, and for a time the city was even known as Moscow of the white walls. The fortress kept growing as the city grew around it.

The red brick walls you see today are about five hundred years old. They were built between 1485 and 1495, under Ivan the Third, the ruler often called Ivan the Great. He invited architects all the way from Italy to design them. That is why, if you look closely, the shape of the walls and the split tops of some towers can remind you of fortresses in northern Italy.

Walk along the outside and count the towers as you go. There are twenty of them in all. Each tower has its own name and its own shape. Some once guarded gates where roads entered the fortress. Others simply watched over the river. In the twentieth century, large red glass stars were raised on five of the tallest towers. After dark, the stars are lit from within and glow above the city.

Inside the walls sits a quiet square ringed by cathedrals. The Dormition Cathedral was the place where rulers were crowned for centuries. The Archangel Cathedral holds the tombs of many early tsars and princes. The Annunciation Cathedral served as the private chapel of the royal family. Their gold domes are grouped close together, and they catch the sunlight so brightly that you can see them from far across the city.

Near these churches rises a tall white bell tower. It is named for Ivan the Great, like the walls. For a long time it was the highest point in all of Moscow. There was even a rule, people say, that no building in the city should be allowed to stand taller than it. From its top, watchmen could once see for many kilometers in every direction.

Two enormous objects rest on the ground close by. One is the Tsar Bell, cast in the 1730s from many tons of metal. It is the largest bell ever made by anyone, anywhere. Yet it cracked before it could ring, and a great broken piece of it leans against its side. The other is the Tsar Cannon, a vast gun that was most likely never fired in a real battle. Both were made less for use than to show the power of the state.

The Kremlin has always been a seat of rule. Tsars lived, prayed, and governed within these walls. Later, after the capital returned to Moscow, the fortress became the center of the Soviet government, and its name came to stand for the whole state. Today it is the official residence of the Russian president. Part of the grounds is kept closed, while another part is open for visitors to walk through.

Much of Russia's treasure is kept inside the walls as well. The Armoury is a museum that holds crowns, thrones, royal carriages, ceremonial weapons, and the famous jeweled eggs made by the house of Faberge. Walking through its rooms is a little like turning the pages of the country's history, told through the objects its rulers owned and prized.

These walls have lived through war and through fire. Armies have stood before the gates. The wooden city around the fortress burned and was rebuilt more than once over the centuries. Through all of it, the fortress on the hill held its ground and kept its place at the very center of the nation.

In 1990 the Kremlin and Red Square were named, together, a single World Heritage site. The listing honors both the fortress itself and the long history that was made inside it. Few places anywhere hold so many layers of one country's story, gathered together within a single ring of walls.

Before you leave, take one slow look from across the river again. See how the wall, the towers, and the gold domes all line up along the top of the hill. Power has gathered on this ground for a very long time, and it gathers here still. Stand quietly for a moment. From this spot, it is not hard to feel why.