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Moscow Kremlin
The Kremlin is a big fortress in the middle of Moscow, Russia. A long wall with 20 towers goes all around it. Inside are palaces and churches with golden domes.
The Moscow Kremlin is the oldest part of Moscow. It began as a wooden fort on a hill by the Moskva River. Its present walls and towers were built from 1485 to 1516. Inside stand golden-domed cathedrals, palaces, a tall bell tower and museums.
First recorded in 1147, the Moscow Kremlin is a triangular citadel on the Moskva River whose walls and 20 towers date from 1485 to 1516. Its cathedrals, palaces and Ivan the Great Bell Tower, many by Italian architects, form, with Red Square, a World Heritage Site inscribed in 1990.
Photo: A.Savin, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Discover the Moscow Kremlin
The Kremlin is in Moscow, a very big city in Russia.
It is a fortress, a place with strong walls to keep it safe. The walls have 20 towers. Inside, there are palaces, churches with shiny golden domes, and a very tall white bell tower.
A kremlin is a citadel at the center of an old Russian town, and UNESCO calls Moscow's the prototype, the model for the others. It sits on a hill beside the Moskva River, at the very center of Moscow, and it is the oldest part of the city.
Its walls make a rough triangle, with four gates and 20 towers. Inside are cathedrals with golden domes, grand palaces, government buildings, a bell tower 82 meters tall and museums. Right outside its east wall is Red Square. UNESCO listed the Kremlin and Red Square together as a World Heritage Site in 1990.
UNESCO describes the Moscow Kremlin as the geographic and historic center of Moscow and its oldest part. Its triangular enceinte, pierced by four gates and reinforced by 20 towers, stands on the hill where the Moskva and the Neglinnaya rivers met; the Neglinnaya now runs beneath the Alexander Garden.
UNESCO calls it the prototype of a kremlin, the citadel at the center of Old Russian towns such as Pskov, Tula, Kazan and Smolensk, and notes that the rings of later walls around it gave central Moscow its radial and circular plan. Within the walls stand cathedrals, palaces and civic buildings from the 15th to the 19th century. The property, Kremlin and Red Square, Moscow, covers 42.1 hectares and was inscribed in 1990 under criteria i, ii, iv and vi.
- Where
- Center of Moscow, Russia, on the Moskva River
- First recorded
- 1147
- Walls and towers
- 1485 to 1516; 20 towers
- World Heritage Site
- Kremlin and Red Square (1990)
From wooden fort to stone citadel
Long ago, a prince built a wooden fort on a hill by a river.
Later, people built walls of logs, and then of stone. The town around the fort grew and grew. It became the big city of Moscow.
The Kremlin is first mentioned in an old chronicle in 1147, as a fort built by Prince Yuri Dolgoruki. Around 1156 he put up wooden walls on the hill where two rivers met. In the 1300s, stronger walls of oak logs went up, and in 1367 and 1368 Prince Dmitri Donskoi built the first walls of white stone.
From the 1200s, the Kremlin was the home of the country's rulers. The walls and towers you see today were built between 1485 and 1516. In the early 1700s, the capital moved to the new city of St. Petersburg, and the Kremlin became mainly a place for ceremonies. In 1918, it became the seat of government again.
UNESCO cites the Hypatian Chronicle of 1147 as the first mention of a fortification built on the left bank of the Moskva by Yuri Dolgoruki, Prince of Suzdal; his wooden fortifications of about 1156 crowned the hill at the confluence of the Moskva and Neglinnaya. In the 14th century came a log enceinte and then the first stone wall: UNESCO credits both to Dmitri Donskoi, while Britannica dates oak walls to about 1340, under Ivan I, and Donskoi's white-stone walls to 1367 and 1368. As settlements grew around it, new rings of fortification followed: the Kitay-gorod wall, Bely Gorod and Zemlyanoy Gorod.
By the 13th century the Kremlin was the official residence of supreme power, and UNESCO counts the Kremlin of the late 15th and early 16th centuries among the major fortifications of Europe; its present walls and towers date from 1485 to 1516. When the capital moved to St. Petersburg in the early 18th century, the Kremlin kept mainly ceremonial and religious roles, a period of about 200 years that ended in 1918, when it again became the seat of government.
Italian architects in Moscow
Builders from far away, in Italy, came to Moscow to help.
They built strong walls and tall towers. They also built a great church with five domes, and a big hall for important visitors.
In the late 1400s and early 1500s, Moscow's rulers invited architects from Italy. Their buildings show the style of the Italian Renaissance, a time of new ideas in art and building.
Aristotele Fioravanti built the five-domed Cathedral of the Assumption from 1475 to 1479. Marco Fryazin and Pietro Antonio Solari built the Palace of the Facets, a great hall for ceremonies and for welcoming foreign ambassadors. Solari also worked on the towers, using ideas from engineers in Milan. Another Italian, Alevisio Novi, built the Church of the Archangel.
UNESCO stresses the Italian Renaissance influence that reached Russian architecture through the Kremlin. Rudolfo Aristotele Fioravanti built the five-domed Cathedral of the Dormition, also called the Assumption Cathedral, in 1475 to 1479. Marco Fryazin and Pietro Antonio Solario built the Granovitaya Palace, the Palace of the Facets (1487 to 1491), as a hall for state ceremonies, celebrations and the reception of foreign ambassadors.
Renaissance ideas also shaped the towers of the enceinte, built in the same period by Solario on principles established by Milanese engineers; the Nikolskaya and Spasskaya towers both date from 1491. Alevisio Novi rebuilt the Church of the Archangel (1505 to 1508 or 1509, as UNESCO gives both), whose classical capitals and shell motifs show the style most clearly. The Teremnoi (Terem) Palace of the 17th century is the most noteworthy civic building of that century by Russian masters.
Cathedral Square and the palaces
In the middle of the Kremlin is a square with big churches. Their domes shine with gold.
Next to them is a very tall white bell tower. Nearby is a long, grand palace, built as a home for the emperor's family.
The heart of the Kremlin is Cathedral Square, surrounded by churches with golden domes. Russia's grand princes, tsars and emperors were crowned in the Cathedral of the Assumption, and many grand princes and tsars are buried in the Church of the Archangel.
Beside the square rises the Ivan the Great Bell Tower, built from 1505 to 1508. At 82 meters, it was once the tallest building in Russia. The long Grand Kremlin Palace was built from 1839 to 1849 as a home for the emperor's family. Inside its complex is the Armory Chamber, a museum founded in 1806.
Cathedral Square holds the Kremlin's principal churches. The Assumption (Dormition) Cathedral became the main Russian Orthodox church, the place of weddings and coronations of grand princes, tsars and emperors, with frescoes and a five-tier iconostasis of the 15th to 17th centuries. Many rulers of Moscow are buried in the Church of the Archangel, among them Ivan I Kalita, Dmitri Donskoi, Ivan III, Ivan IV and the first Romanov tsars, Mikhail Fedorovich and Alexei Mikhailovich.
The Ivan the Great Bell Tower (1505 to 1508), 82 m high, was the tallest building in Russia and became the focal point of the ensemble. Konstantin Thon's Grand Kremlin Palace (1839 to 1849), built as an imperial residence, joined older buildings such as the Palace of the Facets, the Tsarina's Golden Chamber and the Terem Palace; its Armory Chamber houses a museum officially founded by Alexander I in 1806. Matvei Kazakov's Senate (1776 to 1787) was built for the Ruling Senate of the Russian Empire.
- Cathedral of the Assumption
- 1475 to 1479, by Aristotele Fioravanti
- Ivan the Great Bell Tower
- built 1505 to 1508; 82 m tall
- Palace of the Facets
- 1487 to 1491
- Grand Kremlin Palace
- 1839 to 1849, by Konstantin Thon
The Kremlin and Red Square today
Right next to the Kremlin is a huge open space called Red Square.
At one end stands a church with beautifully decorated domes. Inside the Kremlin is a museum that is more than 200 years old.
Red Square lies right below the Kremlin's east wall. At its south end stands St. Basil's Cathedral, built from 1555 to 1560, whose domes were decoratively finished in the 1600s. By the end of the 1800s, the square also had the State Historical Museum and long shopping arcades called trading rows.
UNESCO notes that the Kremlin's old Senate building, from the 1780s, is today the residence of the President of Russia, and the Armory Chamber is a museum. UNESCO lists the Kremlin and Red Square together as one World Heritage Site.
Red Square lies beneath the Kremlin's east wall. At its south end stands the Pokrovsky Cathedral, St. Basil the Blessed (1555 to 1560), built to commemorate Ivan IV's victory over the Khanate of Kazan; it gained its present look in the 17th century, when its domes were decoratively finished and it was painted inside and out. UNESCO ranks it among the most beautiful monuments of Old Russian church architecture. The square was completed by the late 19th century with the Imperial Historical Museum (now the State Historical Museum), the Upper Trading Rows (GUM) and the Middle Trading Rows.
UNESCO states that Kazakov's Senate is today the residence of the President of Russia. It notes that some monuments on the edge of the ensemble, destroyed in the 1930s, have been rebuilt from measured plans, and it names unregulated commercial development of the surrounding areas as the biggest threat to the property.
Amazing facts
-
A river once flowed beside the Kremlin. Now it runs under a garden.
The Kremlin was built where two rivers met. One of them, the Neglinnaya, now flows underground, beneath the Alexander Garden.
The Neglinnaya, which once met the Moskva at the Kremlin hill, is now covered by the Alexander Garden.
-
Builders from Italy helped make the Kremlin.
Almost all of the Kremlin's main churches were designed by architects invited from Italy.
UNESCO notes that almost all the principal Kremlin churches were designed by invited Italian architects, and their style shows it.
-
Two famous towers were built in the same year, 1491.
The Spasskaya and Nikolskaya towers were both built in 1491.
The Nikolskaya and Spasskaya towers both date from 1491, built under Solario on Milanese principles.
-
The Kremlin has a museum more than 200 years old.
The Armory Chamber museum, inside the Grand Kremlin Palace complex, was officially founded in 1806.
The Armory Chamber museum was officially established by order of Alexander I in 1806; Thon built its present building within the Grand Kremlin Palace complex.
Words to know
- kremlin
- a fortress at the center of an old Russian town
- fortress
- a place with strong walls built to keep the people inside safe
- cathedral
- a large, important church
- dome
- a round roof shaped like half a ball
- tsar
- a title used by the rulers of Russia in the past
- Renaissance
- a time, starting in Italy, of new ideas in art, science and building
Discovery challenge
-
How many towers are on the Kremlin's walls?
How many towers strengthen the Kremlin's walls?
How many towers reinforce the Kremlin's triangular enceinte?
- 4
- 20
- 100
Show the answer
20
20 towers! The walls also have 4 gates.
There are 20 towers and four gates.
Twenty towers; the enceinte is pierced by four gates.
-
What were the very first Kremlin walls made of?
What were the Kremlin's first walls, from about 1156, made of?
What material were Yuri Dolgoruki's fortifications of about 1156 made of?
- Wood
- Glass
- Steel
Show the answer
Wood
Wood! Later walls were made of stone.
They were wooden. Log walls and then the first stone wall came in the 1300s.
Timber; Dmitri Donskoi's 14th-century log enceinte and first stone wall followed.
-
Where did many Kremlin builders come from?
From which country were the architects of many Kremlin churches invited?
Which country's architects brought Renaissance influence to the Kremlin's churches and towers?
- Italy
- Japan
- Mexico
Show the answer
Italy
Italy! They came a long way to build.
Italy: Fioravanti built the Cathedral of the Assumption and Alevisio Novi the Church of the Archangel. Solari and Fryazin, also from Italy, built the Palace of the Facets.
Italy: Fioravanti, Solario, Marco Fryazin and Alevisio Novi.
-
Which is the tall white tower in the Kremlin?
Which tower, 82 meters tall, was once the tallest building in Russia?
Which building of 1505 to 1508 became the focal point of the Kremlin ensemble?
- Big Ben
- Ivan the Great Bell Tower
- The Eiffel Tower
Show the answer
Ivan the Great Bell Tower
The Ivan the Great Bell Tower!
The Ivan the Great Bell Tower, 82 meters tall, built from 1505 to 1508.
The Ivan the Great Bell Tower, 82 m high, then the tallest building in Russia.
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For parents & teachers
What children will learn
- Locate Moscow and explain what a kremlin is.
- Describe how the Kremlin's walls changed from wood to logs to stone, and when today's walls and towers were built (1485 to 1516).
- Name some Kremlin buildings, including the Cathedral of the Assumption, the Ivan the Great Bell Tower and the Grand Kremlin Palace.
- Explain how Italian architects influenced the Kremlin's buildings.
Recommended ages: 3 to 17 · About 15 minutes
Talk about it
- Why might people build a fortress on a hill where two rivers meet?
- Moscow's rulers invited architects from Italy. What can happen when builders from different places share ideas?
- The Kremlin is both a museum and a working government center. What is good, or hard, about a place that is used in both ways?
Try at home or in class
- Build a triangle-shaped fort from blocks or cardboard with towers at the corners and along the walls, and give it four gates.
- Look at pictures of onion domes and Italian Renaissance domes, then draw a building that mixes both shapes.
Key vocabulary: kremlin, fortress, cathedral, dome, tsar, Renaissance
Where these facts come from
- Wikidata , Wikimedia Foundation (CC0 1.0)
- UNESCO World Heritage List , UNESCO World Heritage Centre (Linked as a reference; site facts come from Wikidata)
- Kremlin and Red Square, Moscow , UNESCO World Heritage Centre
- the Kremlin , Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Wikimedia Commons , Wikimedia Foundation (Per file (public domain, CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA); see each media record)
Checked, not yet human-reviewed. Last updated October 27, 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.