Kremlin

Kremlin, Moscow. The Kremlin, a triangular fortified enclosure in the centre of Moscow, is now the seat of the Russian government and the centre of the Russian Orthodox Church. Red Square, at the foot of the Kremlin's eastern walls, has played a central part in the political life of Moscow and of the former Soviet Union.

The Kremlin (Russian, kreml', fortress) was founded in the 12th century as a fortress within the city. Today it comprises important government buildings, palaces, and cathedrals all contained within massive fortified walls dating from the 15th century and nearly 2.5 km (1.5 mi) in circumference. Among the most notable of the secular buildings within the Kremlin are the 19th-century Armoury Palace, housing one of the oldest and richest historical museums in Russia, and the vast Great Kremlin Palace, the base of the former Supreme Soviet of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Dominant among the numerous religious buildings is the magnificent onion-domed Cathedral of the Assumption, scene of the coronation of Tsars and the burial place of the patriarchs and metropolitans of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Red Square, a vast open space some 73,000 sq m (87,300 sq yds) in extent, dates from the 15th century and is dominated by two impressive buildings at either end: the cathedral of St Basil the Blessed, a 15th-century onion-domed building, and the late 19th-century Historical Museum. Red Square has been the scene of many popular disturbances and demonstrations, and was used by the Soviet government for its May Day military parades and celebrations to mark the anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution. Here also lies the embalmed body of Lenin, displayed for public viewing in a mausoleum designed by A.V. Shchusev and completed in 1930.