Discussions about Other Imperial Palaces > Palaces in Moscow

The Kremlin - general information

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gleb:
if anyone is intersted in seeing a plan of the Great Palace and a section of it, can contact me at my  personal email.

Arleen_Ristau:
Does anyone know the name of the horse Nicholas is riding in the picture Joanna posted?  I am interested in the different horses that he owned after the wonderful article on the Pensioners Grave Yard in King/Wilson's Atlantis Magazine this time.
How many different horses did Nicholas have and what were their names.       Many thanks, Arleen

Joanna:

--- Quote ---How many different horses did Nicholas have and what were their names.
--- End quote ---


Hi Arleen,

On Nikolai's site of the Anniversary Exhibition of Tsarskoe Selo of 1911, there are photographs of various horses one of which belonged to GD Nicholas Nicholaevich that are interesting to see. Of my translations I have not been able to identify any that belonged to Nicholas but I too would be fascinated to find out more not only of N's but of Alexandra's and the GD's. Of the Kremlin, where were the Tsar's stables located or were they kept within one of the regiments' stables? Did Nicholas transport his horses from St. Petersburg to Moscow for these revues or were familiar horse(s) maintained there for his infrequent visits?

http://geglov2.narod.ru/Foto/Raznoe/Ubileyn_vist_012.htm

http://geglov2.narod.ru/Foto/Raznoe/Ubileyn_vist_013.htm

Joanna




Dominic_Albanese:
http://english.pravda.ru/science/19/94/377/15934_Kremlin.html

Archeologists discover secret passages and rooms in Putin's Kremlin residence

08/06/2005 17:35

There has always been a bunch of legends about secret staircases and passages in the Kremlin

The Moscow Kremlin revealed another of its mysterious. A sudden discovery was made in the place where everything seems to have been discovered. Restorers found secret corridors and staircases in the walls of the Patriarchal Kremlin.

There has always been a bunch of legends about secret staircases and passages in the Kremlin. There was a strong belief in their existence but nobody knew where exactly to look for them. Their discovery can be considered a major archeological finding of recent years. It is possible that some of them may lead to a famous library of Tsar Ivan the Terrible.  

Palace's One-Pillar Chamber was under restoration. During the Soviet period there were public lavatories here. The voids were found when builders took the tile off the walls and sank a boring.

"As a rule, during the restoration unexpected discoveries are made which surprise specialists as well as restorers and architectural historians. In this building amazing in-stairs spaces and rooms were discovered", Alexey Levykin, director of the Kremlin Museum scientific department says.

Historians think that these walled up stairs connected Patriarch Nikon's Chambers with the backyard. They made it possible to hide from the danger or to leave the palace quickly. In the time of peace they could serve practical purposes.
 
"Meals which were cooked here were then brought to gala chambers through these stairs. Two of them were found during the restoration. They had not been used for a long time", the head of the Kremlin's department of architectural monument's restoration Tatiana Krasheninnikova explains.

Tiny rooms located in the walls could be used for storage. Archeologists scrutinized every brick and sifted the dust in discovered bays.

The rooms discovered are rather small but they will definitely serve as an extra space for the Kremlin's museums. The restoration actually was started in hopes to solve the problem of space. A new exhibition hall is to be opened in One-Pillar Chamber with some new objects on display. A researcher Marina Golovanova who holds a unique collection of banners says that some of them never left the repository. A banner, which was used during the coronation of Nicholas II, is worth exposing to the public other then being tucked away. Some of the banners are kept in such places you can hardly access them. "The exhibits are not always kept as they should be. It is better to keep staffs in a horizontal position", Marina Golovanova says.

The Moscow Kremlin Museum will celebrate its 200th anniversary next year. By this time the problem of space is going to be solved as they say. All the restoration workshops and storerooms are going to be removed from the territory of Kremlin. Rooms that they occupy at the moment are to be restored and then will be used as exhibition halls for more then 100,000 objects.

Alexander Rogatkin


Read the original in Russian: (Translated by: Anastasia Pulich)

Dominic_Albanese:
A recent article on (in?) the Spasskaya Tower in the Kremlin

http://english.pravda.ru/main/18/90/363/16730_Kremlin.html

World's most unique Kremlin tower clock celebrates 600 years
01/12/2006 14:57
Today, the Kremlin chimes are the only ancient mechanical tower clock in Russia and worldwide

In Russia, a new year begins after the old Kremlin tower chimes strike twelve on December 31. The clock is situated in the very heart of Moscow, the Red Square, that is known as the favorite place of interest among foreign and Russian guests of the capital. In 2005, the old clock turned 600.

The old clock is situated in the Spasskaya Tower of the Kremlin at the height of about 60 meters. One has to climb a cast-iron tracery staircase with cast footsteps to get to the clock. People who maintain technical support and secure the clock have to climb the long staircase several times a day.

Head of the group for the Kremlin chimes restoration, Alexander Starodubov, is an accurate Time Keeper. This is the name under which the man is known in the Kremlin. He has to examine parts of the chimes regularly and lubricate them with machine oil. The Time Keeper says that he adjusts the clock twice a day because the chimes go five-six seconds fast every 24 hours.

One who manages to climb the staircase and reach the rarity clock mechanism on the eighth circle of the Spasskaya Tower risks to remain thunderstruck when the chimes begin to sound. Everyone who wants to have an excursion about the Kremlin clock needs to have earplugs. The very heart of the Kremlin clock consists of perpetually moving pinions, levers and other clock mechanisms. Today, the Kremlin chimes are the only ancient mechanical tower clock in Russia and worldwide.

In previous centuries only emperors and their confidants were allowed to come inside the Kremlin clock. Sometimes, foreign ambassadors were permitted to come and see the wonderful clock from the inside. Today, the main clock of the country is guarded as a strategic object. It is not open for public excursions.  

Nobody knows how much exactly the mechanical wonder weighs. It is not easy to know absolutely everything about the huge construction. The Kremlin chimes are the national standard time for the whole of Russia.

The musical chime is what makes common tower clock particular. Some time ago, there were over 30 of working bells while there are just 14 bells there today. It was just once over the modern history of Russia that the bells kept silent. In 1974, the bells did not ring for 100 days, two hours and 58 minutes because of complex restoration of the clock.

The belfry is situated some circles above the heart of the clock. Some unique bells even have the brands of makers who moulded them. One bell weighing 21 poods (one old Russian pood equals 16.3 kg) has an engraving saying it was made in 1769 and mentions the name of the maker. Best bell ringers of the Moscow Patriarchy put the Kremlin bells' ringing right. These bells have small hammers instead of tongues to make the sound short and resonant. It slightly resembles the organ sound with its polyphony. People must not stay for too long under the hipped roof of the tower otherwise they may have headache. There is a legend saying that some members of the imperator family even lost conscience staying there. Probably it happened because of fear caused by another legend saying that ghosts haunted the Spasskaya Tower. Today, guards of the chimes say they from time to time feel uncomfortable staying in the tower as if someone is watching them.

In 2004, the Kremlin chimes turned 600. Monk Lazar Serbin from Afon made the first clock mechanism and mounted it in the Moscow Kremlin in December 1404. Today's chimes were made under Peter the Great. But the original sight of the chimes was transformed several times within the centuries. Parts of the clock were changed three times within the 20th century.

Igor Ganswindr from the Russian Academy of Sciences Center for Geoinformation says the tower clock made by Monk Lazar survived many fires and restorations. It was mysteriously discovered a year ago. In 1624, some merchants from Yaroslavl bought a clock that served its time on the Spasskaya Tower and restored it. It became a real scientific sensation when researchers supposed that the chimes of the Spassky monastery in Yaroslavl were probably the rarity clock made in the epoch when Monk Lazar lived. However, this fact is not yet determined for certain.

The first bells were made for the chimes in 1624. The face of the clock was divided into twelve hours under Peter the Great. Earlier, it was divided into 24 hours.

In 1917, Bolsheviks changed the czar melody of the chimes for The Internationale and a revolutionary song popular at that time. In 15 years, the chimes sounded only The Internationale. In 1938, the Kremlin clock sounded no music at all and only rang chimes to mark every hour.

In 1995, the authorities charged experts with reviving the melodious sound of the main clock of Russia and making it sound two melodies as it had been in previous years. So, experts of the clock industry research institute performed a unique job. At first, they recorded the chimes of the bells remaining on the Spasskaya Tower to determine the musical tone of each bell. Then they made the frequency analysis of the bell sound. The sound of the chimes was restored in 1996. Today, the Kremlin bells sound two melodies; Russia's national anthem composed by Alexandrov is one of the two.

During the last restoration of the clock the face and the hands were covered with special protective substance to resist the soot and gases of the megapolis.  

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