Kremlin and Red Square

Kremlin and Red Square
Both the Red Square and the seat of government Kremlin are located at the heart of Moscow.

The city of Moscow was founded in 1156 as a seat for the czars. The current Kremlin dates from the 19th century. It consists of several buildings: churches, palaces and places in political use. A red brick wall surrounds the complex.

The St. Basils Cathedral is the well known, colorful building with the towers that decorates the Red Square. It is an example of classical Russian building, and was founded by Iwan the Terrible. The colors were added later.

Year Decision Comments
1990 Inscribed Reasons for inscription



Visit July 1990

A visit to the Lenin-mausoleum here is of course a must. Procedures for visitors to the body / mummy are strict: lots of security at the entrance, no talking inside or standing still to take a closer look.

Moscow nowadays probably looks much different from when I was there, in the Gorbatshov-era. It still was quite communist then (boring, strict, cold). Everything looked the same. One evening, I roamed the streets for hours (after several trips with the subway), looking for my hotel that seemed to be 100% identical to all the other buildings.

Reviews

ahadalia sriwijayani (Indonesia):
I visited red square, gum, lenin musoleum, kremlin about last year. It seems like yesterday for me. I like this place, no wonder if UNESCO listed it to be world heritage list. There is one place where i was impressed more, it is tsaritsino. This was a palace where Queen Ekaterina lived. It's a one of beautiful place with nice views surround it. I will come again to visit next time when opportunity comes. Many wonderful, beautiful places and buildings in Moscow.
Date posted: August 2010
mukul kumar singh (india):
i was at kremlin red square at 10 th august 2009 , this time here atmosphere excellant like spring season, i like this place because of found something different here , this place took me the time soviet icon. i had made some memorable snaps infront of church & presidential palace.
i had moved around a big mall infront of palace.i was there with my company business trip. i was visited there with one of my russian galfriend. really i had enjoyed alot that was my unforgetable memory for me.
Date posted: August 2009
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I'm Russian. But i moved to the U.S. when i was only 9. So i never got to see the Red Square then. But last year (summer of '06) I got to see it up close and personal with my family when we visited russia. It was breath taking and very beautiful. If you love to travel and would like to visit Russia one day, i would recomend the Red Square. there is so much history. I did not know how importaint this place was at the time of my visit. I am not doing a college paper on St. Basils Cathedral and learned so much more. If you plan on visiting I would recomend on reading the history on the place and it will make your experience so much more fulfilling
 
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I was born in Russia with my twin sister. at age 3 i was adopted and now am an american citizen. i wish i rembered more than what my photos and videos share.
 
Emilia Bautista King (USA):
I went here in 1990, when it was still "the Soviet Union." To see the intricate details of St. Basil's Cathedral is quite special. I remember visiting Lenin's tomb and the long line to get in. I also celebrated the 4th of July in Moscow that year with other Americans in our hotel. Some of the most memorable points of my stay were going to the Moscow Circus and visiting an elementary school.
Date posted: February 2006
Paul Tanner (UK):
It is a surprise to discover both that, as of Jan 2006, no one has reviewed this site and that, despite being one of the unarguably great “iconic” sites of the world, it was not inscribed (as the first “Soviet WHS”) until as late as Dec 1990. The UNESCO inscription takes great trouble to explain that inclusion of a site is not permitted until the sovereign state, on whose territory it is, has ratified the convention and submitted an official application. This the Soviet ambassador to UNESCO did on 24/10/1989 (The USSR having ratified the convention on 12/10/1988). A few days after the submission the Berlin Wall came down – by the time UNESCO were inscribing the site at Banff in Dec 1990 the USSR had just 8 months left.

I would like to concentrate my review on just a part of the site - on what the UNESCO evaluation calls “the Soviet Union’s prime example of symbolic monumental architecture” – Lenin’s Tomb (photo)!! Whether it has “outstanding universal value” we won’t debate here! I visited it on several occasions during the Soviet period – there was always an enormous queue into which western tourists were inserted a respectful way back but not so far as to disrupt the Intourist arrangements for our other sightseeing! I often wondered what the Soviet citizens made of our queue jumping. How many were there out of genuine respect for the “great man”, how many to “demonstrate” their “loyalty” to the cause and how many as part of the necessary “cost” to be paid for getting a trip to Moscow with their work unit or other organisation.

Despite plans to remove it going back to early post Soviet days (you can vote for or against at the Mausoleum web site http://www.aha.ru/~mausoleu/index_e.htm !!!) it is still open to visitors, though the “honour guard”, whose arrival at the doorway was so perfectly timed to synchronise with the chiming of the Kremlin bell (or did they hold back the chime if necessary!), was removed in 1993. “Unfortunately” another wonderful building on Red Square which supported “Lenin mania” namely the Lenin Museum (the building from behind which all those ICBMs used to speed onto Red Square during the Mayday parade) was closed in 1992. It has just been reopened I understand to show Contemporary Art – together apparently, with some Lenin memorabilia.

Who knows how long Lenin himself will survive in his mausoleum - so go there whilst you can! As one of my many travel lists I “collect” visits to the mausolea and graves of dictators. Lenin is one of the “Communist quadrumvirate” with Mao Tse Tung, Ho Chi Minh and Kim Il Song who all lie embalmed in open coffins. But there are many others “worth” visiting - Napoleon, Causcescu and Franco to name but a few) – they always provide food for thought on the corruption of power, the inhumanity of man to man, the impermanence of human endeavour and on mankind's yearning for strong leaders despite so much bad experience!
Date posted: January 2006


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