May 20 – Moscow, Russia-The Kremlin. Today's our last day in Moscow for this part of the trip. The ship sails tomorrow afternoon. This morning we're heading down to the Kremlin again, but this time we're going inside not only the Kremlin Walls but the Armory too. The Armory is now a museum, one of the oldest in Moscow. It has an amazing amount of czarist artifacts, crowns, scepters, jewelry, vestments, gowns, shoes, furniture, china, tableware, icons, bibles, carriages, thrones, weapons and armor. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Best to start at the beginning.
Diana and I are in Group 4D. Viking assigns all their ships numbers, the Helgi is #4. The passengers are broken down into manageable groups by letters A-F on the Helgi. What you don't know is that when you arrive you self-assign to a group by which bus you board on the first off ship tour. They ask you your room as you board and that's it. You have to be a little careful about who you board with on the first day. You're pretty much stuck with them for the rest of the trip.
We've got our old friend Sergei (I've learned how to spell his name since our first meeting.) as a guide again today and that's just fine. He's personable, knowledgeable and funny, the supreme trifecta of guide qualities for me. We got off the bus in front of the former Military Riding School just outside the Kremlin Wall. We walked the length of the wall to the Borovitskaya Tower and entered through the gate there. Just inside the gate is our first objective, the Armory. It actually started out as a factory to manufacture military equipment in the 16th century, now it's a museum holding treasures of Russia's past. No pictures are allowed inside now so you won't be seeing anything from the collection.
The crowns were outstanding, most of the early crowns had fur on them, something very warm looking about a soft gold, jeweled crown with a fur border. The later crowns conformed to the usual British or French style, no fur and a lot more jewels. The Patriarch's vestments once again ranged from fairly plain to extremely ornate. One had piping and designs on it stitched with pearls. The guide said there were so many that it took over 6 months for them to be sewn on. I have to say it was gorgeous. The low key colors and use of pearls had an elegance and richness that other more gaudily decorated cloaks and miters fell far short of. Fabergé eggs, richly decorated gifts from foreign nations, tableware and silver, religious artifacts and coronation gowns and suits, all a fantasy of riches.
Some of the artifacts we saw were truly amazing. A necklace from the 1200s that was a string of large elongated beads that were constructed of very fine gold filigree. Hanging from the necklace were 5 large gold disks. The three in the center had enameled pictures of saints done in the icon style the outer two had large gems in the center. Around the border of each forming a circular frame are elaborate gold designs that appeared to be surface applied gold filigree filaments and smaller stones of a variety of colors.
The crown, scepter and orb of Czar (Alright, sometimes I use Czar and sometimes I use Tsar. Well so do the Russians) Mikhail Fyodorovich are golden, jewel encrusted beauties. His crown is one of those fur-ringed affairs I found so attractive. All made in the 1600s. Atop the orb is a large cross. There are lots of pearls on Russian royal and religious regalia. (Sometimes I am very slow. It just occurred to me that we bought postcards of some of my favorites and, while it is not ideal, I can take photos of them to show you. The older, by 200 years) crown of Monomachus is a much simpler affair and to my eye more attractive.
The miter commissioned by Czar Fyodor Alexeevich in the mid-1600s also has many pearls. Between the pearl borders it has enameled pictures of saints and designs with a few containing flower shaped arrangements of gems.
Russian women of this era tended to be rather rubenesque. The coronation dress of Catherine I is a perfect example. She was obviously a substantial woman.
After leaving there we walked past the Grand Kremlin Palace to Cathedral Square. There are five churches here, three of them cathedrals. On the corner where we entered is the Archangel Michael Cathedral and across from it the Cathedral of the Annunciation. Directly ahead is the Cathedral of the Assumption. Behind that is the Church of the Distribution of the Robe. Across from the Assumption is the Ivan the Great Bell Tower attached to the Assumption Belfry. A little past the tower is the Patriarch's Palace (The historic home of the Patriarch/Metropolitans of Russia) with its attached Church of the Twelve Apostles. There's one more church in the Kremlin. It's attached to the Terem Palace (The residence of Russian rulers up to Peter the Great) right where the second story enclosed walkway connects to the Grand Kremlin Palace (The residence of the princes and other high ranking officials that ran Russia). Lots of churches for a place where so much skullduggery took place.
We are going inside the Church of the Disopsition of the Robe. It's the only one of the churches generally open to the public. It's a small church with only one dome. It has a link to the Assumption Cathedral called the Patriarch's Passage that was used only by the Czars and the Patriarchs to go there for prayer. To make this access easier it is also linked to the Grand Kremlin and the Terem Palace. It was considered to be the house temple of the Metropolitans of Moscow and Russia and from 1589 on, of the Patriarchs of the Russian Orthodox Church.
Built in the 15-16th centuries its name is based on the liturgical holiday of the Disposition of the Robe of Our Lady. It has 1644 murals that are mostly intact and depict scenes from the earthly life of Mary. Its murals cover almost every surface not covered by icons. It's a beautiful if not somewhat overwhelming sight. The lighting makes it difficult to see some of them and there's a blue light from some of the windows that messes with the color.
From there we walked across Cathedral Square to get to the Czar Bell. It's the largest bell in the world although I find it hard to consider it a bell since it broke before it was never hung nor rung. Maybe it should be called the largest metal statue in the world in the shape of a bell. No one can dispute that it's large. It weighs about 200 tons and is a little over 20 feet tall and almost 22 feet in circumference. The walls of it are 24.5 inches thick. The chunk that fell out when it cracked weighs 11.5 tons.
Just down the street from the bell is the Czar Cannon. Here again we have a bit of a dilemma. Is a large metal tube that was never intended to be, and in fact never was, fired really a cannon? I don't think so. Nevertheless it is impressive. Weighing in at 39.5 tons for the cannon and 34.5 tons for the carriage, made two and a half centuries later, it's pretty hefty. The barrel is 17.5 feet long and if it were actually able to shoot the projectile would be 980mm. The US Army's largest howitzer is 155mm and their rocket artillery is 270mm so you can see how impressive the Czar Cannon would be if it could actually be fired. However it may have served its purpose as it was built by future czar Boris Godunov to "amaze the common folk and inspire awe in the Tartars." In other words propaganda stunts not unlike the ones that some politicians still pull today.
From there we walked across Senate Square past the Senate Building, home of the supreme advisory council of the Russian government, and the State Kremlin Palace, intended for the use of the Communist Party, it actually became a multipurpose building for concerts, ballet, opera and other performances. This concrete and glass 1960s modern building was the reason the entire Kremlin was rejected by UNESCO for the World Heritage List. Only Cathedral Square and its associated building was listed as this building is so clashingly out of place inside the Kremlin's walls. However it has become Moscow's most prestigious performance venue in the opinion of some.
From there it was onward to the Trinity Tower and through the Trinity Gate back to the main street to reboard the bus. We depart for Saint Petersburg just after lunch today.
The sail away was fun. The Helgi moves nicely through the water. Of course the Moscow River is very smooth and the current is not swift here so it should ride well. I got my best look at the jet seaplane when the boat got to the middle of the river. It has jet engines in the nose, right under the cockpit that point outward on either side at about a 25 degree angle as well as a turboprop engine at the top of the tail where the stabilizers join it.
After we got a little way out of town there were people camping and fishing along the river. One couple was having a little picnic on the river bank. A very nice place and right near downtown. Soon we were quite a way from the city and started passing groups of little and not so little dachas. Most had a small plot of land with a garden and a few fruit trees on the old Communist governments standard lot. Some had obviously taken advantage of privatization to but several, and a few many, of the standard lots together to build a large dacha with swimming pool, tennis courts, etc. There were not many of them but a few.
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