Heart of Russia

Today I was asked a question. What is worth seeing in my country.
The first thing that came to mind is Moscow. And, of course, the Red Square and the Kremlin are a symbol of our state.

It is interesting that the Kremlin, its architecture is a work of Italian masters. If you look at the Sforza Palace in Milan, you can see the same shape of the teeth on the wall as in Moscow.

Moscow is an ancient city. It was not only one Kremlin there. There was not only a red brick Kremlin. There was a Kremlin made of white stones. But the first was wooden.

And of course I think you should visit Moscow and to see the Red Square and Kremlin. After it you can see all around Moscow. A lot of beautiful small cities like Sergiev-Posad, Vladimir, Kostroma, Yaroslavl and a lot of them :)
But first of all you should see Kremlin.

About Kremlin

The place of building the Kremlin was not chosen by chance. The Kremlin is built on a high hill, surrounded by rivers on both sides: Moscow River and Neglinnaya. The high location of the Kremlin made it possible to spot enemies from a greater distance, and the rivers served as a natural obstacle on their way.

Initially, the Kremlin was wooden. Around the walls there was an earthen rampart for greater reliability. The remains of these fortifications were discovered during the construction work already in our time.

It is known that the first wooden walls in place of the Kremlin were built in 1156 by the order of Prince Yuri Dolgoruky. These data were preserved in ancient annals. In the beginning of the 14th century Ivan Kalita began to rule the city. Kalita in ancient Russia called a bag for money. The prince was so nicknamed that he had accumulated great wealth and always carried with him a small sack with money. Prince Kalita decided to decorate and strengthen his city. He ordered the Kremlin to build new walls. They were cut down from strong oak trunks, so thick that they could not hold their hands.

In 1366-1368, under the Grand Duke of Dmitri Donskoi, the wooden walls of the Kremlin are replaced by walls and towers made of local white stone. From this period in the annals there is often a name - "Moscow white-stone".

Red Square is the main square of Moscow, located in the center of the radial-circular city layout between the Moscow Kremlin (to the west) and China-city (to the east). Also unofficially is the main square of the country. From the square to the bank of the Moskva River is the sloping Vasilievsky Descent.

The location of the future Red Square was determined after the construction of the walls of the Kremlin that was rebuilt in the reign of Ivan III (the end of the XV-beginning of the XVI century) and the placement of the Great Land with Torg from its north-eastern side. The construction of the village approached the Kremlin walls almost immediately. During the fire of 1493, a large space between the Torg and the Kremlin walls burned out and the territory was left unbuilt as a strip of shooting space with a width of about 240 m. Originally the place of the future square was called Pozhar (This word means fire), and its borders were delineated from the west by the Kremlin moat, from the north by the Resurrection Gate of China Town, from the east by Torg and from the south by a low hill - "Hack." The territory of the Fire was considered a part of Torg for a long time.

In the 16th century, the square actually consisted of three separate parts, separated from each other by the power of the streets - Nikolskaya, Ilyinka and Varvarka, running from the main gate of the Kremlin. Between them on the square there were small shops and churches. To prevent the expansion of Torg into the square, in 1596-1598, one-and two-story stone benches ("stone merchant's chambers") were built along its borders, the rows of which delineated the eastern border of the existing area and formed three quarters, later named Upper, Middle and Lower Trading Rows. However, seasonal and small-scale trade existed on the square for another two centuries. Architectural appearance of stone benches Torg - single-type cells, combined with arcades - eventually became a characteristic feature of trade facilities in Russia and for a long time was used in the construction of Gostiny Dvor, shops, merchant houses and estates. Merchant rows were repeatedly burned and rebuilt, but the division of the area into three parts persisted until the first half of the XVII century. After the superstructure in 1625 of the Spasskaya Tower of the Kremlin, a small section of the Fire between the Basil the Blessed Cathedral built in the middle of the 16th century, the tower and the Place of Execution began to be called Red (that is, a beautiful) square. By the end of the XVII century, the name "Red Square" spread to the entire undeveloped site.