| 1. Nicholas Gate 2. Redeemer Gate 3. Secret Gate 4. Borovitski Gate 5. Trinity Gate 6. Belfry 7. Cathedral of the Assumption 8. " " Archangels 9. " " Annunciation 10. Granovitaya Palace 11. Grand Palace 12. Terem 13. St Saviours in the Wood 14. Ch. of the Holy Vestments 15. Ch. of St Saviour behind the Golden Gates 16. Ch. of the Nativity of the Virgin 17. Ch. of St Lazarus 18. Ch. of the Resurrection 19. Ch. of St Catherine the Martyr 20. Ch. of the Apostles 21. The Synod 22. Ch. of John the Baptist 23. Ch. of the Annunciation 24. Ch. of Constantine and Helen 25. Chuduv Monastery | 26. Convent of Ascension 27. Pleasure Palace 28. Treasury 29. Tsarevich’s Appartments 30. Place of the Boyards 31. Grand Entrance 32. Ch. of St Alexis 33. Cathedral Square 34. Tsar’s Square 35. Monument to Alexander II. 36. Alarm Bell 37. Tsarina’s Tower 38. Tower of Constantine and Helen 39. Oubliette 40. Water Tower 41. Ch. of St Michael 42. Ch. of Acsension 43. Ch. of the Miracles 44. Hall of Catherine II. 45. Ch. of St Catherine 46. Ch. of St Peter and Paul 47. Ch. of St Philip 48. Senate Square 49. State Court-yard 50. Arsenal Tower |
in the State Courtyard; on the left a gateway communicates with the quadrangle in which is the old church “Spass na Boru;” the last door on the right is the public entrance to the Treasury. Traversing the courtyard and turning to the left he will reach the grand entrance of the Great Palace and enter there. Passing from the vestibule by the escalier d’honneur the Hall of St George will be reached. It contains sixteen allegorical groups commemorative of the conquests by Russia of Perm, Kazan, Siberia, Kamchatka, Tartary, the Caucasus, etc. The military order of St George was founded by the Empress Catherine II. in 1769, but the effigy of St George, on his white horse, slaying the Dragon, as already mentioned is of Norse origin and was the device used by Yaroslaf the Great in the eleventh century and definitely adopted as the arms of the principality of Moscow by Dmitri after his victory over the Tartars at Kulikova (1380); it figured on the coins, and April 23 (old style) this Saint’s day, is observed throughout Russia. The names inscribed on the wall are those of the individuals admitted to the order, and of the regiments likewise decorated; in short, this Hall of St George Pobiedonosets (the Conqueror) is the Russian Valhalla. The adjoining Hall of Alexander Nevski, is remarkable apart from its richness and beauty, for the six pictures by Müller illustrating the chief events in the life of the Saint: beyond is the Throne room—Griffins, the device of the Romanofs, conspicuous in the decorations—and next the Hall of St Catherine, the state room of the Tsaritsa. The older palaces will be reached directly from the Hall of St Vladimir, or, after passing through the personal apartments of the Tsar, by the Holy Corridor, so named because there the clergy attend to conduct the Tsar to state services in the Cathedrals. It dates from the reign of Ivan III. (15th cent.) and is, in short, a continuation of that terrace which fronts the eastern side of the Great Palace, and has its counterpart in the principal approach to every old-fashioned Russian house. The Krasnœ Kriltso—how hateful the vulgar, and absolutely incorrect, translation, “Red Steps!”—is simply the state entrance to the reception rooms, in contradistinction to the Postyelnœ Kriltso (Back stairs) or private entrance, communicating with the personal apartments of the sovereign, or boyard. To comprehend the importance of the Terem rightly, it must be remembered that actually the state apartments of the sovereign were where the Great Palace now is, and that this corridor served both as a rendezvous for courtiers and the Tsar’s way of communication from his private to his official suites. Another staircase, to which the boyards had not access, led directly from the inner court, near the Postyelnœ Kriltso, to the Terem. The state suite in the seventeenth century comprised: an audience chamber (the middle Golden Palace); a smaller Golden Palace, once the audience chamber of the Tsaritsa; the Stolovia Izba, or saloon for fêtes; the Krestavia, for the celebration of solemn ceremonies by the clergy and household; the Otvietna Palace, where illustrious visitors were entertained; and the Higher Golden Palace, a council chamber for the consideration of grave questions of state. For most of these purposes the buildings still in existence have served temporarily at different periods.
Descending seven steps from this corridor, the Palace of the Tsaritsa Irene, or lesser Golden Palace, is entered. Sneguirev is of opinion that this was originally the apartment of the Archbishop. The Slavonic inscription over the portal is merely to the effect that the decorations were made by order of Tsar Alexis Mikhailovich, and restored on the coronation of the Emperor Paul. It was here that in 1653 the Tsaritsa Marie Ilyinichna received the Tsaritsa of Georgia, and later the Tsaritsa Natalia Kyrilevna received the homage of the Princes of Kasimof and Siberia. On the vaulted roof are representations of Olga’s journey to Constantinople, Helena obtaining the true cross, the Council convened by the Emperor Theophilus the Iconoclast, and portraits of the Tsaritsas, Irene, Theodora, Sophia, and Olga. A vaulted corridor leads to an entrance from the square behind the Uspenski Sobor. It is called the “Passage of the Patriarchs” from the seven portraits of the Russian Patriarchs which adorn the walls.