1. It Was Designed by Italian Architects
While the Kremlin is the ultimate symbol of Russian architecture and statehood, its current walls and towers were actually built by Italians. In the late 15th century, Ivan the Great wanted to upgrade his aging white-stone fortress. He invited master architects from Renaissance Italy, including Aristotele Fioravanti and Pietro Antonio Solari, who designed the distinctive red brick walls, the swallowtail battlements, and many of the iconic towers we see today.
2. The Walls Used to Be White
Today, the Kremlin is famous for its striking red brick walls, but for centuries, it was entirely white. In the 17th century, the red bricks were heavily whitewashed to protect them from the elements and to give the fortress a gleaming, pristine appearance. It remained white throughout the 18th and 19th centuries. It was not until the 1880s, and later during the Soviet era, that the walls were scrubbed and painted red to maintain a consistent, imposing color.
3. It Is the Largest Active Fortress in Europe
The Moscow Kremlin is not just a palace; it is a massive, highly fortified medieval citadel. Covering over 27 hectares (roughly 275,000 square meters), its imposing walls form the shape of an irregular triangle. Enclosing five palaces, four cathedrals, and twenty distinct defensive towers, it holds the title of the largest fully active fortress in all of Europe.
4. The Giant Bell That Has Never Rung
Inside the complex sits the Tsar Bell, the largest and heaviest bell ever cast in human history, weighing an astonishing 202 tons. Commissioned in the 1730s by Empress Anna Ivanovna, the bell never actually rang a single time. While it was still in its casting pit, a massive fire broke out in the Kremlin. When guards threw cold water on the flames, the sudden temperature change cracked the hot metal, causing a massive 11.5-ton piece to permanently break off.
5. The Giant Cannon That Never Fired
Sitting near the Tsar Bell is its artillery equivalent: the Tsar Cannon. Cast in 1586, it weighs nearly 40 tons and holds the Guinness World Record for the largest bombard by caliber. Despite its terrifying size and the massive stone cannonballs stacked neatly next to it, the weapon was built entirely to intimidate foreign ambassadors. Modern metallurgical analysis confirms that the cannon was never fired in combat.
6. Napoleon Tried to Blow It Up
When Napoleon Bonaparte invaded Russia in 1812, he briefly captured Moscow and took up residence in the Kremlin. However, forced to retreat due to the harsh winter and a burning city, a spiteful Napoleon ordered his troops to completely destroy the fortress with explosives. Fortunately, three days of heavy, torrential rain ruined many of the fuses, saving the majority of the complex, though several towers and walls were severely damaged and later rebuilt.
7. It Was Camouflaged During World War II
During World War II, the Soviet government realized the Kremlin was a massive, highly visible target for Nazi bomber planes. To protect it, architects executed an elaborate camouflage operation. The golden domes of the cathedrals were painted a dull gray, the red walls were painted to look like rows of standard residential apartment blocks, and fake wooden roofs were built over the squares to completely disguise the fortress from the air.
8. The Glowing Ruby Stars Replaced Imperial Eagles
Before the Soviet era, the highest towers of the Kremlin were crowned with massive, golden double-headed eagles, the ultimate symbol of the Romanov Empire. In 1935, Joseph Stalin ordered the imperial eagles dismantled. They were replaced by massive, illuminated five-pointed stars made of genuine ruby glass. The stars are mounted on special bearings that allow them to rotate easily in the wind, preventing them from being blown down during storms.
9. The President Does Not Live There
Despite being synonymous with the Russian presidency, the Kremlin is not actually the president’s home. It serves exclusively as the official working residence and the administrative center of the government. The Russian president typically lives in Novo-Ogaryovo, a highly secured state estate located in a wealthy suburb outside of Moscow, commuting into the fortress for official state business.
10. A Helipad Was Built to Stop Traffic Jams
Because the president does not live in the Kremlin, commuting through central Moscow historically required shutting down major highways to allow the heavily armored presidential motorcade to pass, causing agonizing daily traffic jams for millions of residents. To solve this, a massive helipad was constructed within the Kremlin walls in 2013, allowing the president to fly directly to work without completely paralyzing the city’s traffic.
11. The Legend of the Secret Metro-2
For decades, persistent rumors have surrounded the existence of “Metro-2” (codenamed D6), a massive, highly classified underground bunker and subway system built deep beneath the Kremlin by Joseph Stalin. Supposedly connecting the fortress to the FSB headquarters and an underground bunker city outside Moscow, its existence is an open secret. While never officially confirmed by the Russian government, numerous urban explorers and former Soviet officials have testified to its existence.
12. Removing Your Hat Was Punishable by Death
The main entrance to the Kremlin is the Spasskaya Tower, which overlooks Red Square. For centuries, a sacred icon of the Savior was hung over the gates. An official imperial decree demanded that any man passing through the gate, regardless of his wealth or social status, had to remove his hat in reverence. If someone refused or forgot, they were severely punished, and in extreme cases during the medieval era, faced execution.
13. The Cathedrals Were Spared by Lenin
When the Bolsheviks took power, they were fiercely anti-religious and destroyed thousands of churches across Russia. However, Vladimir Lenin ordered the spectacular cathedrals inside the Kremlin walls to be preserved. Instead of tearing them down, the Soviet government simply banned religious services and converted the beautiful ancient buildings into state museums, inadvertently saving some of the finest examples of Russian Orthodox architecture.
14. “Red Square” Has Nothing to Do with Communism
The massive plaza bordering the eastern wall of the Kremlin is known globally as Red Square, a name inextricably linked in the West with the Soviet Union and the Red Army. However, the name predates communism by centuries. In old Russian, the word krasnaya meant both “red” and “beautiful.” The plaza was originally named “Beautiful Square,” and the meaning of the word simply evolved to mean “red” in modern Russian over time.
15. The Deep Underground Diamond Fund
Hidden deep within the complex is the Armory Chamber, which houses one of the most heavily guarded rooms on the planet: The Diamond Fund. This collection contains the most precious surviving jewels of the Russian Empire, including the Orlov Diamond (a 189-carat gem set in the Imperial Sceptre) and the Great Imperial Crown of Catherine the Great, which is encrusted with nearly 5,000 diamonds.
