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Kremlin Armoury

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 190.195.146.6 (talk) at 09:08, 20 April 2023 (no citation provided for contentious claims. Plus British Museum doesn't say "valuables stolen from occupied countries" even though this is the entire contents). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Kremlin Armoury or Armoury Chamber
Оружейная палата
Moscow Armoury
Location in the Moscow Kremlin
General information
Coordinates55°44′58.25″N 37°36′47.90″E / 55.7495139°N 37.6133056°E / 55.7495139; 37.6133056
Construction started1508
OwnerGovernment of Russia

The Kremlin Armoury,[Note 1] (Russian: Оружейная палата) is one of the oldest museums of Moscow, located in the Moscow Kremlin, now a part of Moscow Kremlin Museums.

Kremlin Armoury interior
Persian Arms and Armours at the Kremlin Armoury Museum

The Kremlin Armoury originated as the royal arsenal in 1508. Until the transfer of the court to St Petersburg, the Armoury was in charge of producing, purchasing and storing weapons, jewelry and various household articles of the tsars, and valuables stolen[citation needed] from occupied countries[citation needed]. The finest Muscovite gunsmiths (the Vyatkin brothers), jewelers (Gavrila Ovdokimov), and painters (Simon Ushakov) used to work there. In 1640 and 1683, they opened the iconography and pictorial studios, where the lessons on painting and handicrafts could be given. In 1700, the Armoury was enriched with the treasures of the Golden and Silver chambers of the Russian tsars.

History

In 1711, Peter the Great had the majority of masters transferred to his new capital, St Petersburg. 15 years later, the Armoury was merged with the Fiscal Yard (the oldest depository of the royal treasures), Stables Treasury (in charge of storing harnesses and carriages) and the Master Chamber (in charge of sewing clothes and bedclothes for the tsars). After that, the Armoury was renamed into the Arms and Master Chamber. Alexander I of Russia nominated the Armoury as the first public museum[1] in Moscow in 1806, but the collections were not opened to the public until seven years later.

Ten of the 44 surviving Fabergé imperial Easter eggs are displayed at the Armory Museum.[2] After the Russian Revolution, the imperial family's palaces were ransacked and their treasures moved to the Kremlin Armoury on order of Vladimir Lenin.[2]

Russian Diamond Fund

Beside the Armoury Chamber/Museum, the Kremlin Armoury is also currently home to the Russian Diamond Fund. It holds unique collections of the Russian, Western European and Eastern applied arts spanning the period from the 5th to the 20th centuries.

Notes

  1. ^ Officially called the "Armou/ory Chamber" but also known as the cannon yard, the "Armou/ory Palace", the "Moscow Armou/ory", the "Armou/ory Museum", and the "Moscow Armou/ory Museum" but different from the Kremlin Arsenal.

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kremlin Armoury.
  1. ^ "About The Kremlin Armoury Museum [In English]".
  2. ^ a b "Faberge Eggs – the fate of the eggs". Pbs.org. Archived from the original on 25 May 2012. Retrieved 26 March 2012.
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