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In 1849 the Great Kremlin palace was
built under Konstantin Ton's project. It used to accommodate the
emperor family's chambers, front halls with magnificent furniture,
crystal and porcelain. In the famous Georgievsky hall ceremonial receptions and handing state awards by the President are held now. Red Square is the main square of
Moscow, the place of military parades and mass celebrations. It came
into being at the end of the XV century. The real name of the square in
English must sound not Red, but Beautiful, as the Russian word «red»
meant «beautiful» in the ancient Russian language. In old times the
most important decrees were announced in Red square, the tsars and
patriarchs addressed the nation from here. Lenin's Mausoleum - a
multigraded building in the constructivist style (arch. Shusev, 1924) -
and the Cathedral of Vasily Blazhenny (Basil the |
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| Blessed) are situated here. In recent years Red Square has become the venue of concerts of
the world famous musicians: Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo,
Moncerrat Cabalie and Mstislav Rostropovich. |
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The intricate towers and walls of the
Moscow Kremlin were built to a design of Italian architects. The
Russian Government works in the Kremlin, so tourists are only allowed
to the part of its territory where the cathedrals, the oldest Russian
museum, the Armoury Chamber, and the Diamond Fund with its unique
collection of precious stones and jewelry are located.
In the Kremlin, close to the 81 -
meter tall Bell-Tower of Ivan the Great - once the highest building in
Russia - the Tsar-Bell is on display, the largest bell in the world.
Its weight is 202 tons and height 6.14 meters. It has never rung: soon
after being founded it broke during a fire in 1737. A huge chunk which
came off, lies next to it now. Not far from the bell, there is the
40-ton Tsar-Cannon - a masterpiece of the 16th century foundry - which
also has never been used for its purpose. |
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| Moscow is a real megapolis: more than 40 km from north to south, more than 30 from east to west. The Tsar-Cannon in the Moscow Kremlin
is a memorial of ancient Russian artillery and founding art, a piece of
ordnance of the biggest caliber in the world. Master of the Cannon-yard
Andrey Chokhov cast it of bronze in 1586. The length of the cannon is
5,34 m, the caliber is 890 mm, the thickness of the barrel is 15 cm,
and it weighs 40 tons. In the XVI-XVIl centuries the cannon was placed
in Kitay-Gorod for defense of the Kremlin and the passage across the
Moskva-river. However, the Tsar-Cannon has never shot. The decorative
gun-carriage and empty-bodied cast-iron cannon-balls lying at the foot
of the cannon were cast in 1835.
In the Kremlin, near the 81-meter
Belltower of Ivan the Great which was once the tallest building in
Russia, there stands the biggest bell in the world - the Tsar-bell. Its
weight is 202 tons and the height is 6,14 m. The bell was never rung:
soon after the casting, during the fire of 1737, a big piece fell out
of it and now lies beside it.
There is a legend that architects
Barma and Postnik were blinded on an order of tsar Ivan the Terrible so
that they could never create a wonder like that.
In 1936 Lazar' Kaganovich, Stalin's
associate, suggested to pull down the Cathedral of Intercession
(Pokhrov). They say he made a special model of the Red Square with a
removable Cathedral of Pokhrov and brought it to Stalin showing how the
cathedral impeded the demonstrations and the traffic. «We shall do it
once!..» - he said and tore the cathedral away from the square. Stalin
looked at him, thought a little and slowly said: “Lazar'! Put it in its
place”.
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Lenin's Mausoleum is a memorial
burial-vault in Red Square in Moscow in the Mourning hall of which
there stands a crystal sarcophagus of Vladimir Lenin, organizer of the
October socialist revolution of 1917. The first building of the
burial-vault (1924) was wooden. The modern Mausoleum was built in 1930
from the design of Alexander Shusev of granite and labradorite in the
constructivist style. Above the entrance of the Mausoleum there is a
tribune on which, for more than 70 years now, the first persons of
first the Soviet Union and now Russian Federation used to stand during
military parades and mass celebrations.
The Bolshoi Theatre is one of the most
well-known musical theatres along with “La Scala” of Milan and “Grand
Operas” of Paris. It was founded in 1776. The building from the design
of architect Bove was |
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erected in 1825 and the quadriga at the front was
made by sculptor Peter Klodt. Such famous singers as Feodor Shaliapin,
Sergey Lemeshev, Galina Vishnevskaya, Irina Arkhipova, Elena
Obraztsova, dancers like Galina Ulanova, Maya Plisetskaya, Michail
Baryshnikhov, Vladimir Vasiliev, Maris Liepa used to appear on the
stage of the theatre. There are always the «sold out» notices when the
Bolshoi tours abroad. |
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