Inside the Kremlin and Stalin's Bunker

Today we were supposed to see the inside of Lenin's Mausoleum, but Red Square was closed because the Police Academy was having its graduation ceremony. From what little I could see or hear, it seemed comparable to the US Service Academy Graduation ceremonies.

The ceremony concluded with the singing of Russia's National Anthem which resulted in a moment of shock because the anthem's melody is the same as it was under the Soviet Union. It turns out that there was a brief change of national anthems following the collapse of the USSR. However, the anthem was restored after a couple years, but the lyrics were significantly changed.

Although we didn't get to see Lenin's Mausoleum today, we did enter the Kremlin. In case you don't know, "Kremlin" means "fortress" in Russian, and most major cities in Russia have a Kremlin (although the Kremlin may be called a different name), so it's just a "fortress" inside a city.

The first thing we did inside the Kremlin was visit the Kremlin Armoury. The Armoury houses a significant portion of Russia's history from just before the Mongol occupation and Ivan the Terrible to Nicholas II. It holds 10 Faberge eggs, the thrones of the Tsars, carriages, crowns, dresses, weapons, and other royal and religious regalia. I was extremely impressed by the history and vastness of the Armoury's collection, and I think everyone interested in religious artwork would have a profound experience if they saw the Armoury's collection.

The Tsar Cannon was made in 1586 and is the world's largest bombard by caliber according to the Guinness Book of World Records. While it's presence is largely symbolic, it does bear traces of being fired at least once (likely a test firing). The ratio of it's barrel length to it's caliber technically makes it not a cannon, but more of a stylized mortar (but who am I to judge?).

The cannonball, which you can barely see in front of it, weighs one ton and was made in 1834 as a decoration. Legend has it the cannonballs were made in St. Petersburg in order to emphasize the nature of the friendly rivalry between Moscow and St. Petersburg. If it were fired again, the cannon would likely have to fire grapeshot because the cannonballs are too large to be fired from the cannon.

This was just a row of 2-pound cannons that I thought looked cool. There is a plaque behind it but I didn't have time to read it because I needed to catch up to my group.

This is the Tsar Bell. It's a massive, bronze 200-ton bell made in 1735 but was never rung because of a mistake during the casting process. A fire occurred and the flames were doused with water. However, the extreme change in temperature caused a massive crack to occur that led to an 11-ton piece of the bell to break off (it's on the other side). The artwork on the bell is filled with Baroque angels, plants, and near-life size representations of the Empress Anna and Tsar Alexey. Napoleon, when he occupied Moscow during the War of 1812, attempted to seize the bell as a trophy, but he couldn't because the bell was too heavy. It is said that the bell is so large that if it were rung, it's sound could be heard for 50 miles (roughly 70 km). 

This is the Grand Kremlin Palace which currently serves as the official residence of the President of the Russian Federation, and was previously the Tsar's official Moscow residence. However, the President and his family normally reside in the country than in the Palace. Personally, I think this palace looks a lot more impressive than the White House.  However, I could be biased in this regard because I used to live in Silver Spring, MD., which is a relatively short car ride to Washington, D.C. and it's major buildings.

This is one of the cathedrals in the aptly named "Cathedral Square." Cathedral Square features three major cathedrals, two churches, and the Palace of Facets. Cathedral Square is famous as the site of solemn coronation and funeral procession of all the Tsars, patriarchs, and Grand Dukes. Today, it is used as the site of the President's inauguration ceremony. The Cathedral of the Dormition is the site where many patriarchs and metropolitans of Russia are buried, such as Ivan the Terrible. 

And finally, there was a trip to Stalin's bunker. The above picture is the bunker, now converted into a museum, where Stalin hosted a famous meeting of the Red Army generals as the Nazis approached Moscow. This was the site where General Zhukov (hero of the Soviet Union) proposed that the Soviet Union gamble its fate and withdraw its armies from the East that were protecting Russia's border with the Japanese Empire and redeploy them in Moscow. The strategy worked and the Nazi invasion stalled. A few years later, the Nazis would be completely pushed out of Russia and would go on to lose the war.

The area in the middle of the room was designed to amplify Stalin's voice without a microphone. The farther you are in the center, the more your voice is amplified. To the left of the table is Stalin's private study which contains a map that shows the lines of the Red Army and the Nazi Army as the Battle of Moscow approaches. Once the Battle of Moscow was over, Stalin left the bunker and never used it again throughout the rest of the war.

I probably won't write a blog post after tomorrow's events because I'm only supposed to be going to Lenin's Mausoleum and the Russian equivalent of the Smithsonian's Air and Space Museum. Instead, I'll write a blog post Monday night as I'm returning to Petersburg that will recap tomorrow's and Monday's events (Monday will feature a visit to the Battle of Borodino Panorama). 

From Petersburg, with Love

It's just over the halfway point in my 8 week study program. It's hard to believe that August 11th is only a month away and then I'm flying back to the United States. One thing's for sure, I'm growing to love Petersburg, which is a first because cities have never favorite.

I've lived within easy reach of Seattle, Washington DC, San Antonio, Columbia, Boston, and many more and I've never felt particularly interested in being there for an extended stay. But Petersburg is different and I'm not quite sure why. I've been developing relationships with Russians in the city and they've been extremely great, and in some ways, Petersburg isn't like my normal idea of a city

The skyline historical center of the city is much smaller than most normal US cities since no building can be taller than Peter and Paul's Fortress. Since the city is more spread out as a result, it feels less cramped (although, this impression goes out the window if you ride on the metro during rush hour). But the longer I'm in Petersburg, the more interested I am in trying to spend at least a year here after Dartmouth.

But enough of that. The real reason you're reading this blog is to learn what I'm doing in Moscow at the moment. We're here in the capital of Russia for a grand total of 4 days, having arrived this morning by the night train (it was the first non-metro, non-tourist attraction train I've ridden since I was 4 and my family was living in Germany). The bed on the train was surprisingly comfy, much more so than my roll-out couch that I'm currently sleeping on.

Upon arriving in Moscow, the first major location we stopped by was Red Square.

The top building is the State Historical Museum whose towers closely resemble the Kremlin's and the bottom building is St. Basil's Cathedral. We also stood next to Lenin's Mausoleum and saw different statues. There's also a statue of Field Marshal Zhukov from World War II that has caused controversy in the past because of the presence of the Nazi Swastika at the feet of Zhukov. Apparently, the controversy is more of a misunderstanding because the symbolism of the statue is to show how Zhukov helped defeat Nazi Germany and bring about its collapse.

Red Square was our major stop of the day but we continued to visit some other places (when I say visit, I mean drive by or maybe stop for a couple minutes to take a break from riding the bus). However, we did spend about 45 minutes in Novodevichy Cemetery, Moscow's most famous cemetery (excluding Red Square). While there, I visited the graves of famous Russians like Chekhov, Gogol, and Bulgakov.

The grave that impressed me the most though, and stood alone from all the other graves, was Boris Yeltsin's, whose grave was covered by this representation of the flag of the Russian Federation.

Tomorrow will be just as interesting, if not more, as we'll be visiting the Kremlin itself! 

Things get more interesting every day

I think I'm long overdue for another blog post considering everything that's happened. I completed a weekend trip to Novgorod, starting volunteering to help teach English, and visited the Museum of Artillery, which stands across the street from Peter-Paul's Fortress.

Oh, and yeah, there was also a visit to the Baltika Beer Factory as well. But I'll leave the details to your imagination. I will tell you though, that they gave me a glass tankard with "Baltika" written on the side, which will likely be going to my dad.

Last weekend, we visited Novgorod for two days. On our tour around Novgorod, we saw Saint Sofia's Cathedral, the Millenium of Russia monument, walked around the outer wall, experienced some fountains (one of which we could walk on), and a small World War II memorial that listed the names of people from Novgorod who died in the war. Next to the list of Novgorod's fallen, there was a tank and two artillery pieces (howitzer sized). On the hill behind the memorial, there was a large monument that memorialized the Red Army and Partisans who fought in WWII as well as soldiers from Russia's pre-industrial age.

After the tour, I decided to take my couple hours of free time to purchase some souvenirs for my family. I purchased a green scarf, a matrushka doll, and some magnets since my mother collects them. Then I hung out with my friends on the beach right behind the Novgorod walls where many of them were taking the time to soak up some sun or jump in the water.

On Sunday, we visited a monastery and saw the inside of another Eastern Orthodoxy church. I took the opportunity to purchase a couple of icons, one for my mom and one for me. My icon is of Saint Gregory defeating the dragon. We then visited a small village where we had dinner (and I was pulled into a dance by a performance group) before heading back to Petersburg.

The next day, Monday, I started volunteering at a foreign languages center on Vasileyevsky Island. So far, I've attended four classes, and I intend on helping at every class. However, I will be forced to miss one because I'll be in Moscow that night.

But I've met some very interesting and extremely nice people in the class. I've already been able to have long conversations with some of them about our respective cultures, politics, and what I think about Petersburg. And at the beginning of class for at least the new two weeks, I'll be giving short 10-minute presentations about American culture and my experiences. My biggest hope is that I'll actually be an effective enough teacher that they'll improve their English comprehension and knowledge by a lot.

And finally, this afternoon I visited the Museum of Artillery with my friends. It was a pretty fun and interesting experience, and because I'm currently a student at St. Petersburg State University, I was allowed to enter for free.

Next weekend, I'll be going to Moscow for four days. Something that I'm curious about though: In Russia, the name is "Moskva" but in the US, we say "Moscow." I wonder what lead to this word transformation.