Moscow Governorate

The Kremlin (Russian: Московский Кремль, tr. Moskovskiy Kreml', IPA: [ˈmɐˈskofskʲɪj krʲemlʲ], lit. 'Moscow Kremlin') is a fortified complex in the center of Moscow founded by the Rurik dynasty. It is the best known of the kremlins (Russian citadels), and includes five palaces, four cathedrals, and the enclosing Kremlin Wall with Kremlin towers. In addition, within this complex is the Grand Kremlin Palace that was formerly the Tsar's Moscow residence. The complex now serves as the official residence of the President of the Russian Federation and as a museum with almost 3 million visitors in 2017. The Kremlin overlooks the Moskva River to the south, Saint Basil's Cathedral and Red Square to the east, and the Alexander Garden to the west. The name "Kremlin" means "fortress inside a city", and is often also used metonymically to refer to the government of the Russian Federation. It previously referred to the government of the Soviet Union (1922–1991) and its highest members (such as general secretaries, premiers, presidents, ministers, and commissars). The term "Kremlinology" refers to the study of Soviet and Russian politics. The Kremlin is open to the public and offers individual and group guided tours. Visible are the Armoury Chamber, Tsar Cannon, Tsar Bell, artillery pieces, and the exposition of Russian wooden sculpture and carvings.

The Patriarchal Chambers and the Church of the Twelve Apostles (Russian: церковь Двенадцати Апостолов) is a minor cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin, commissioned by Patriarch Nikon as part of his stately residence in 1653 and dedicated to Philip the Apostle three years later. Now it is used by the Moscow Kremlin Museums. The church is almost as prominent as neighbouring grand cathedrals of the 15th century, due to its placement upon a high podium, pierced by two large arches allowing passage from the Cathedral Square to the patriarch's courtyard. The exterior walls are decorated with two belts of columned arches which reference both the neighbouring cathedrals of the Cathedral Square and the great churches of the 12th-century Vladimir-Suzdal school which had been their inspiration. The rigorous outline of five helmeted domes, in keeping with Nikon's conservative architectural tastes, serves to accentuate the church's Byzantine pedigree.

The Tsar Cannon (Russian: Царь-пушка, Tsar'-pushka) is a large early modern period artillery piece (known as a bombarda in Russian) on display on the grounds of the Moscow Kremlin. It is a monument of Russian artillery casting art, cast in bronze in 1586 in Moscow, by the Russian master bronze caster Andrey Chokhov. Mostly of symbolic impact, it was never used in a war. However, the cannon bears traces of at least one firing. Per the Guinness Book of Records it is the largest bombard by caliber in the world, and it is a major tourist attraction in the ensemble of the Moscow Kremlin.

The Ivan the Great Bell Tower (Russian: Колокольня Иван Великий, Kolokol'nya Ivan Velikiy) is a church tower inside the Moscow Kremlin complex. With a total height of 81 metres (266 ft), it is the tallest tower and structure of the Kremlin. It was built in 1508 on Cathedral Square for the three Russian Orthodox cathedrals, namely the Assumption (closest to the tower), the Archangel and the Annunciation, which do not have their own belfries. It serves as a part of Moscow Kremlin Museums.

Ivanovskaya Square (Russian: Ивановская площадь) is the largest Kremlin square. Its name comes from the Ivan the Great Bell Tower. In the 16th and 17th centuries, many government bodies were situated in the Ivanovskaya Square. It was the site of the Prikazy, the equivalent of today's Ministries. Yamskoi Prikaz, one of the offices, handled the delivery of private letters. Thus, it became the first postal address in Moscow. Court services and chanceries of various departments were also situated here. At the end of the 1920s and early 1930s, the square was enlarged after the demolition of the Lesser Nicholas Palace and the Ascension Convent. Today, the square is cobbled like most of the territory of the Kremlin. It offers a view of one of the three corners of the Kremlin Senate.

The Tsar Bell (Russian: Царь–колокол; Tsar'-kolokol), also known as the Tsarsky Kolokol, Tsar Kolokol III, or Royal Bell, is a 6.14-metre-tall (20.1 ft), 6.6-metre-diameter (22 ft) bell on display on the grounds of the Moscow Kremlin. The bell was commissioned by Empress Anna Ivanovna, niece of Peter the Great. It has never been in working order, suspended, or rung. The present bell is sometimes referred to as Kolokol III (Bell III), because it is the third generation.

The Cathedral of the Dormition (Russian: Успенский собор, romanized: Uspensky sobor), also known as the Assumption Cathedral or Cathedral of the Assumption, is a Russian Orthodox church dedicated to the Dormition of the Theotokos. It is located on the north side of Cathedral Square of the Moscow Kremlin in Russia, where a narrow alley separates the north from the Patriarch's Palace with the Twelve Apostles Church. Separately in the southwest, also separated by a narrow passage from the church, stands the Palace of Facets. The cathedral is regarded as the mother church of Muscovite Russia. In its present form it was constructed between 1475 and 1479 at the behest of the Moscow Grand Duke Ivan III to a design by the Italian architect Aristotele Fioravanti. From 1547 to 1896 the coronation of Russian monarchs took place here. In addition, the cathedral is the burial place for most of the Moscow Metropolitans and Patriarchs of the Russian Orthodox Church; it also serves as a part of Moscow Kremlin Museums.

The Moscow International Film Festival (Russian: Моско́вский междунаро́дный кинофестива́ль, translit. Moskóvskiy myezhdunaródniy kinofyestivál; abbreviated as MIFF) is a film festival first held in Moscow in 1935 and became regular since 1959. From its inception to 1959, it was held every second year in July, alternating with the Karlovy Vary festival. The festival has been held annually since 1999. In reaction to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the FIAPF (Fédération Internationale des Associations de Producteurs de Films, translated as the International Federation of Film Producers Associations) paused the accreditation of the festival until further notice. The festival's top prize is the statue of Saint George slaying the dragon, as represented on the Coat of Arms of Moscow. Nikita Mikhalkov has been the festival's president since 2000. Over the years, the Stanislavsky Award—"I Believe. Konstantin Stanislavsky" for acting achievements was awarded to Jack Nicholson, Jeanne Moreau, Meryl Streep, Harvey Keitel, Fanny Ardant, Daniel Olbrychski, Gérard Depardieu, Oleg Yankovsky, Isabelle Huppert, Emmanuelle Beart, and Helen Mirren. In 2012, this prize was awarded to French actress Catherine Deneuve. In 2012 the jury was headed by the Brazilian director Hector Babenco. Among the members of the Jury were prominent filmmakers from different countries: the famous French director and actor Jean-Marc Barr; the Bulgarian director Javor Gardev; Adriana Chiesa di Palma, a producer from Italy; Sergei Loban from Russia. The "Perspectives" Jury was chaired by the filmmaker Marina Razbezhkina (Russia). The program director of the Festival is Kirill Razlogov.

Cathedral Square or Sobornaya Square (Russian: Соборная площадь, or Sobornaya ploshchad) is the central square of the Moscow Kremlin where all of its streets used to converge in the 15th century.The square owes its name to the three cathedrals facing it – Cathedral of the Dormition, Cathedral of the Archangel, and Cathedral of the Annunciation. Apart from these, the Palace of Facets, the Church of the Deposition of the Robe and the Church of the Twelve Apostles are placed there. The tallest structure on the square (and formerly in all of Russia) is Ivan the Great Bell Tower, which also separates Sobornaya Square from Ivanovskaya Square. Cathedral Square is famous as the site of solemn coronation and funeral processions of all the Russian tsars, patriarchs, and Grand Dukes of Moscow. Even today, the square is used in the inauguration ceremony of the President of Russia.

The Chudov Monastery (Russian: Чу́дов монасты́рь; more formally known as Alexius’ Archangel Michael Monastery) was founded in the Moscow Kremlin in 1358 by Metropolitan Alexius of Moscow. The monastery was dedicated to the miracle (chudo in Russian) of the Archangel Michael at Chonae (feast day: September 19 [O.S. September 6]). The Monastery was closed in 1918, and dismantled in 1929. The construction of the monastery together with its katholikon (cathedral) was finished in 1365. The katholikon was replaced with a new one in 1431 and then once again in 1501–1503. It was traditionally used for baptising the royal children, including future Tsars Feodor I, Aleksey I and Peter the Great. The monastery’s hegumen (abbot) was considered the first among the hegumens of all the Russian monasteries until 1561. Alongside Simonov Monastery and Trinity-St. Sergius Lavra, the Chudov Monastery was the biggest center of the Muscovite book culture and learning. Prominent monks of the monastery, who dedicated their lives to translating and correcting ecclesiastic books, include Maximus the Greek, Yepifany Slavinetsky and Karion Istomin. Gennady, who as Archbishop of Novgorod, patronized the first complete codex of the Bible in Slavic in 1499, was hegumen of the monastery prior to his archiepiscopate. Patriarch Hermogenes was starved to death by the Poles in the monastery vaults in 1612. The Time of Troubles over, they opened the Greek-Latin School with support from Patriarch Filaret. In 1744–1833, the cloister accommodated the Moscow Ecclesiastic Consistory. As time went by, new churches were added to the monastery complex. These included the Church of St Alexius the Metropolitan and the Church of the Annunciation (both built in 1680) and the Church of Saint Andrew (1887). During the French invasion of Russia (1812), the French Marshal Louis Nicolas Davout commandeered the monastery for his own use. A painting by Vasili Vereshchagin shows Davout desecrating the cathedral, using the sanctuary itself as his office. Following the Bolshevik Revolution, the Chudov Monastery was closed down in 1918. All of its structures were dismantled in 1929, as part of the Soviet Union's ongoing policy of state atheism. On the spot of the Chudov Monastery and the nearby Ascension Convent the Soviets built the Red Commanders School. All of the monastery’s manuscripts of the 11th-18th centuries were transferred to the State Historical Museum. The relics of Metropolitan Alexius were first moved from the Church of St. Alexius (which he had built) to the Cathedral of the Dormition and then to another church in Moscow. Of the hundred or so other interments in the monastery (including Archbishop Gennady), their remains were lost and their whereabouts are still unknown.A scene in Mussorgsky's opera Boris Godunov is set at the monastery.

The Cathedral of the Archangel (Russian: Архангельский собор, romanized: Arkhangel'skiy sobor) is a Russian Orthodox church dedicated to the Archangel Michael. It is located in Cathedral Square of the Moscow Kremlin in Russia between the Great Kremlin Palace and the Ivan the Great Bell Tower. It was the main necropolis of the Tsars of Russia until the relocation of the capital to St. Petersburg. It was constructed between 1505 and 1508 under the supervision of an Italian architect Aloisio the New on the spot of an older cathedral, built in 1333. Now it also serves as a part of Moscow Kremlin Museums.

The Red Porch or Red Staircase (Russian: Красное крыльцо, Krasnoe Kryltso), decorated with stone lions, leads into the Palace of Facets in the Kremlin, Moscow. In old Russian the word krasny meant "beautiful", but today it means "red". This is the same word used for "Red Square". On the morning of his coronation, the Tsar was met at the Red Porch, where he took his place beneath a large canopy held by thirty-two Russian generals, with other officers providing additional support. Accompanied by his consort (under a separate canopy) and the imperial regalia, he proceeded slowly toward the Cathedral of the Dormition, where his crowning and anointing would take place. After the service, the Emperor and Empress proceeded under canopies back to the Red Porch of the Kremlin, where they rested and prepared for a great ceremonial meal at the Kremlin's Hall of Facets. During their procession back to their Kremlin palace, later rulers (starting with Nicholas I) stopped on the Red Staircase and bowed three times to the assembled people in the courtyard, symbolizing what one historian has called "an unspoken bond of devotion" between ruler and subjects. In the 1930s the porch was destroyed, and its place was taken by an unimpressive Kremlin canteen. In 1994 the Red Porch was the first of Moscow’s monuments to be restored. .