The Kremlin Armoury Museum is located in the Moscow Kremlin. It is one of the oldest museums of Moscow. The museum itself built in 1851. In 1508, the building of Kremlin Armoury originated as the royal arsenal. It was in charge of several functions. The functions include producing and storing weapons, jewelry and other household things of the tsars. The place itself used to be the workplace of the finest Muscovite gunsmiths which is the Vyatkin brothers.
It was also a workplace for Gavrila Ovdokimov, a jeweler, and Simon Ushakov, a painter. In 1640 and 1683, they opened studios on the building. The studios consist of iconography and pictorial studios. The lessons of painting and handicrafts are given there at that time.
In 1700, the Russian tsars give a big amount of Golden and Silver chambers to the museum. The Kremlin Armoury Museum also got another mass of collection as a gift. It was after the Bolshevik Revolution. The Armoury got collections from treasures taken from Kremlin cathedrals and the Patriarch sacristy. Some of the treasures are also originated from monasteries and private collections. On behest of Joseph Stalin, some of the collections were sold abroad. It happened in the 1930s. The Armoury became the official museum of the Kremlin around the year of 1960.Around 1962, some of the buildings are assigned to the museum. They were the Patriarch chambers and the Cathedral of the Twelve Apostles. The reason for that is in order for them to house the Applied Arts Museum.
As one of the oldest museum in the Moscow, the Kremlin Armoury museum surely have some interesting facts. There will be 3 facts about the Kremlin Armoury Museum in Moscow, Russia. The facts about the museum that will be covered is on the history of Kremlin itself. And then there will be informations about the collections inside the Kremlin Museum. Last, we will talk about the architecture of the museum which is one of the main reason for tourist to come.
1. History of Kremlin
The Kremlin is a fortified complex located in the capital city of Russia, Moscow. It was built along the Moskva River. And also the home of the Russian president. The Kremlin complex found in 1100 by Prince Yuri Dolgokury. The word ‘kremlin’ translated to ‘fortress’. The Kremlin is often referred to as the Moscow Kremlin. Since 500BC, the grounds where the Kremlin stands had been inhabited. But, in 1146 the first wall was built. The wall is made of wood and built to fortify the area.
A lot of the buildings inside the Kremlin were built between 1482 to 1495. But, it only includes the original Kremlin buildings. The buildings consist of the Cathedrals of the Assumption and also the Palace of Facets. Later on, a lot of structures were added to the Kremlin to make it a better place. It includes Saint Basil’s Cathedral that was added at that time. The Kremlin itself for the following years has added more building including cathedrals to the complex.
Nowadays, the Kremlin complex itself consist of Armoury Chamber, Patriarch’s Palace and some cathedrals and church. The cathedrals and church are Archangel Cathedral, Annunciation Cathedral, Church of The Disposition of The Virgin’s Robe and Assumption Cathedral. There is also “Ivan The Great” Bell Tower Complex. The Kremlin complex itself has survived many attacks. In the time of World War II, even the entire of Kremlin was camouflaged. The camouflage is made to make it more difficult for the soldiers to find and to bomb the place. In 1990 the Kremlin complex is recognized as UNESCO World Heritage Site. To see more famous site in Moscow you can see 5 Famous Place in Moscow and 5 Most Famous Restaurants Visited by Tourists in Moscow,Russia.
2. Huge Collections
The second out of 3 facts of the Kremlin Armoury is the huge collections inside the museum. In the year of 1806 to 1917, the museum’s collections only filled by items given from the palace. It includes palace property and gifts to Russian Emperors. There are also archaeological findings and special purchases from private collections. At that time, the artillery collection was also registered. The artillery collection is one of the biggest in the world. In 1917, the Octobr Revolution happened. After that, the collections got replenished. It got replenished by valuables of Russian Orthodox Churches. It includes closed and also destroyed churches and cathedrals. Some were also taken from the monasteries. The transfer of the valuable has one reason which is to keep the collections sold abroad and destroyed.
The Kremlin Museums have several collections including Russian State Regelia which is one of the most valuable collection. The armor collections reached 8 thousands that come from different centuries starting from the XI-th century. There are also gold and silver originating from Russian artwork and foreign artworks. The museum also has royal carriages, oil paintings and numismatics collection. The royal carriages is one of the main attraction of the museum. The reason is because it has a collection of rarest ancient carriages of Russian rulers. Many of the collections for the numismatics brought from the early XVIIIs century. Up to this days, the numismatics collection reached more than 7000 exhibits.
There are also architectural details collections that contains up to 4,000 exhibits. The collections come from the early XIV to the mid XX century. The majority belongs to architectural monuments in Moscow. And some of the collections are ceramics. The ceramics link not only to places in Moscow but also other region in Russia.
3. Architecture
The Kremlin Armoury museum building was erected in the year of 1844 to 1851. It included to the Grand Kremlin Palace Complec on the architect K.A. Ton’s project. It erected on place of the dismantled Stables Court in the 17th century. The architecture of the museum building itself is similar to the Grand Kremlin Palace. The two store-eyed construction placed on thick basement. The construction placed of variable height. Details styles inspired by the 17th century used in the facades’ decor. But there are some contradictions from the design to the 17th century style. The contradictions are the design is free from coldness and meagerness. The main adornment of the facades are columns. The columns are white-stone with vegetable ornament.
The composition of the Armoury building is filled with symmetrically located exposition halls. The front entrance also has a staircase. In the center there is a round hall. The round hall in the center of the building bossed into the yard. Also, there are unusual design of vaults. In which it has high floor vaults bearing against big columns inside the room. It creates the feeling of magnificence of the interior design.
Closure
That is all for 3 Facts of the Kremlin Armoury Museum in Moscow. The place is one of the oldest museum in Moscow. It has great history that lies within it, that give this place a point to attract more people to come. Not only the history of the Kremlin Museum in Moscow, but also the history of Kremlin itself. The Museum has a huge collections varied from art collections and also gold and silver artworks. Also the architecture of the museum is one of the main reason for tourist to come visit the place.
Those information about the museum surely will attract you to come to the place by yourself. For more information about Russia, you can browse this site depends on the tags and categories. You can also read more about Moscow, the capital city of Russia, through the following articles:7 Best Places in Moscow For Muslim Travelers, 8 Most Popular Halal Restaurants in Moscow, and 16 Types of Most Popular Cuisines in Moscow, Russia