THE KREMLIN

                                   The Kremlin

            St. Basil’s, a true Moscow landmark, is located on Red Square, and is surely recognized everywhere around the world. Ivan the Terrible built the church in 1561.  The original idea was to have a main chapel surrounded by seven others, but it ended up with nine chapels.  Legend says that the eyes of the builder were gouged out so nothing so beautiful could ever be built again. (I’ve heard that story in other places also.) The interior is now a museum. Except for the Kremlin, St. Basil’s is the oldest building on the square.

            The symbolic, historic, and geographic heart of Moscow is at the 69-acre Kremlin and Red Squar. In the 17^th century krasny meant beautiful, but over time the meaning has come to mean red. The Kremlin is a north-pointing triangle with sides 2460 feet long. Red Square lies along the east side while the Moscow River flows past on the south side. From here, Moscow spreads out in four distinctive rings of development, each area having its own collection of monasteries, museums, and elegant buildings. Most of the city’s sights are within the first circle, an area easily covered on foot.

The Kremlin not only represented the political power of the country from czars to Soviet prime ministers, but in earlier centuries it also was the religious heart of the Russian Orthodox Church. An air of mystery and intrigue surrounds the Kremlin, which has its roots in the fortified stronghold that defined medieval towns. Kremlin translates to the citadel. Its 12^th century wooden construction marked the birth of Moscow.  Fortified walls, over a mile in circumference, 65-feet high and 20-feet thick make it virtually impregnable. The current Kremlin dates to the 15^th century and the reign of Czar Ivan III. The red brick Kremlin wall has 20 towers, the highest 264 feet high, and five massive gates. In addition, the halls, palaces, and six cathedrals, the grave of Josef Stalin and urns along the Kremlin wall holding ashes of other famous Russians are impressive.

            This is where government decrees were read, and where czar opponents were slaughtered. It is also where potatoes and vodka were bartered and where Soviet leaders dutifully tributed their subjects during government sham pageants. Cobblestones cover the 70,000 square meter expanse. The Kremlin Wall is bordered by St. Basil’s Cathedral, the GUM department store and the red brick State historical Museum. Lenin’s mausoleum is in front of the Kremlin Wall. Historical artifacts are housed in the multi-spired museum, built in the late 1800s over the site of the original 1755 Moscow University. The tower clock chimes every 15 minutes and every three hours plays music.

            Over the centuries Moscow’s Kremlin has been witness to many tragic and famous events. Enemy guns have rattled its walls and celebrations and revolts have taken place. Now, the Kremlin is one of the largest museums in the world with its art and architecture being national treasures.

            The Spasskaya Tower, built in 1491, is considered to be the most beautiful and harmonious tower of the Kremlin.          Trade Square (Torgovaya) was its first name. In the 16^th century the name became Trinity Square after the church by the same name. In Russia the same area may have several different names, and by the 19^th century the square officially became Red Square. Stalin opened the Kremlin to the public in 1953.

            A description of its many buildings in the next post.

TIBET'S POTALA PALACE

                       The World's Highest Palace

            The first thing anyone arriving in Lhasa, Tibet notices is the Potala Palace, which dominates the Lhasa skyline. The extraordinary 13 story Palace, one of the grandest monuments in Asia and the world, towers over one of the world’s highest cities. Stretching 400-meters east to west and 350-meters north to south, it would be hard to miss! It stretches 400-feet toward the sky on top of the red hill and is 1000-feet above the valley floor. It definitely dominates the city. At an altitude of 12,359-feet it is the highest ancient palace in the world. The name translates into Buddha of Mercy.

            Built in the 17^th century it boasts 10,000 chapels, a labyrinth of mysterious dungeons and 1000 rooms, including the Red Palace, where the Dalai Lama once lived. It took 7000 workers and 1500 artists/craftsmen more than 50 years to build the adjoining Red and White Palaces that are known as the Potala Palace.

            A small bus drove us up the hill to the 5^th level of the palace. From there we walked up one level at a time until we eventually reached the top. There were not too many stairs and the climbs were not too steep.

            The palace has a complicated  layout of halls, chapels, libraries, small galleries, and winding passageways on several levels. The Great West Hall, the largest at 7800 square feet, is surrounded by three chapels. I thought the inside of the palace was dark, dank and dingy even  though it houses a stunning array of treasures including bright brocades, religious scrolls, murals, gold and jeweled-encrusted tombs, 200,000statues and hundreds of Buddhas. The Palace was designated a UNESCO site in 1994. Some restoration was in progress.

            The Red Palace is painted red to symbolize stateliness   and power. The White Palace  represents peace and serenity. The building was started by the 5^th Dalia Lama in 1645 and only two parts of the construction remain that date to the 7^th century.

            We spotted 3-4 of the ten resident cats of the palace that are kept to keep a rat population under control.

Sweeping views of the city below could be seen from various vantage points. It was a clear sunny day and at the very top of the world we were surprised to see how large the city actually is. At ground level it seemed smaller.

Top of the world was a perfect place for a group photo. We lined our cameras on a bench for our guide to take the pictures. We were the focus of many Chinese also visiting the temple and it was fun to see so many of them line up to take pictures of us. It was a new experience to be an attraction. But there was no way an American group could blend in to that society.

A walk down many many steps returned us to street level. However, for the most part the steps were not very steep and pretty easy to navigate.