Kremlin

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search

For other uses, see Kremlin (disambiguation).

The Moscow Kremlin seen from the river.

A wall of Smolensk Kremlin in 1912.

Remains of the Kolomna Kremlin.

Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin.

Kremlin (Russian: Кремль, Kreml Russian pronunciation: [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 metonymically to 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 environment, although this is not a part of the Moscow Kremlin.

The name Kremlin (or Kreml) has 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]

Russia's presidential administration is located in the Kremlin. During the Soviet era the government of the USSR was located in the Kremlin, but now the Russian government occupies a building outside it.

[edit] List of Russian cities and towns with kremlins

World Heritage Sites

Extant

In ruins

Unwalled

Only traces
- Borovsk
- Opochka
- Zvenigorod
- Starodub
- Tver – burned down by Muscovites during the Golden Horde occupation
- Sknyatino – underwater since flooding during the 1930s.
- Fortress of Jama
- Fortress of Radonezh
- Old Ryazan (60 km from modern Ryazan)

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.