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.
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).
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.
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).
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