Kremlin

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search

Categories: Fortification | Forts in Russia | Castles in Russia | Russian loanwords | Architecture stubs

For other uses, see Kremlin (disambiguation).

Image:Kremlintowers.jpg

Moscow Kremlin in the 19th century.

Image:Smolensk kremlin.jpg

A wall of Smolensk Kremlin in 1912.

Image:View01.jpg

Remains of the Kolomna Kremlin.

Kremlin (Russian: Кремль, IPA: [krʲɛmlʲ]) is the Russian word for "fortress", "citadel" or "castle" and refers to any major fortified central complex found in historic Russian cities. This word is often used to refer to the best-known one, the Moscow Kremlin, or the government that is based there. Outside Russia, the name "Kremlin" is sometimes mistakenly thought of as being Saint Basil's Cathedral because of its distinctive shape, although this is not a part of the Moscow Kremlin.

The name Kremlin (or Kreml) has also been allocated to various Soviet Navy vessels during construction. In each case, the name was changed prior to commissioning. Vessels which have briefly carried this name included Admiral Kuznetsov and Ulyanovsk.^[1]

The Kremlin is the executive branch of the government of Russia (or formerly Soviet Union). They are especially concerned with foreign affairs. The Kremlin is also referred to as the citadel of Moscow, which houses the chief offices of the Russian executive branch (or formerly, the Soviet Union).

1 List of Russian cities and towns with kremlins
2 See also
3 Other Uses
4 References

List of Russian cities and towns with kremlins

World Heritage Sites

Extant

In ruins

Unwalled
- Dmitrov
- Ryazan
- Vologda
- Yaroslavl

Only traces
- Borovsk
- Opochka
- Zvenigorod
- Starodub
- Tver – burned down by Muscovites during the Golden Horde occupation
- Sknyatino – underwater since flooding during the 1930s.

Unknown state
- Ostrov
- Volokolamsk

Many Russian monasteries have been built in a fortress-like style similar to that of a kremlin. For a partial list, see Category:Monasteries in Russia.

Error creating thumbnail: convert: unable to open image `/home/www/en.wikilib.com/images/0/0d/Kazankremlinnew.jpg': No such file or directory.
convert: missing an image filename `/home/www/en.wikilib.com/images/thumb/0/0d/Kazankremlinnew.jpg/800px-Kazankremlinnew.jpg'.

Kazan Kremlin harmoniously combines elements of Eastern Orthodox and Muslim cultures.

Other Uses

In the sense of impregnability and oppressive nature the word Kremlin is applied to other structures and organisations. For example, the regional headquarters on thr Woolworths Group PLC group in the UK were referred to as mini-Kremlins.