55 44:34N  37 36:55E

Sunday 7th October, 2012 – Moscow

The Kremlin as it was 150 years ago and as it is now below

After the 1917 Revolution, the Kremlin regained its place as the seat of the Russian Government, and the legacy of the Communist era is still visisble in the large red stars that top many of the defensive towers and in the vast, modern State Kremlin Palace, originally the Palace of Congresses.  Two thirds of the citadel territory are closed to visitors.  It is the official residence of the President of the Russian Federation.

Kremlin means fortified city

Russias capital city, has a population of about 13 million (could be double due to unaccountable immigrants) making it the most populous cit in Europe.  The Moskva River bends its way through the city, with most of the main sites on the Northern Bank. 

Under Ivan the Great at the end of the 14th Century, the cidtadel was fortified with stone walls.  It became the center of a unified Russian state and the base of the twin powers of state and religion.

Dodging the rain and cold weather, we go to the GUM Shopping gallery, on the LHS of this photo in the Red Square

They had put bicycles all along the rails of the 1st floor!

The 2nd floor offred less expensive designer shops for us to browse,

And the top floor even had a reasonably priced buffet restaurant Otherwise everything was telephone number prices!  The architecture of elegant steel framework and gass roof is reminiscent of the great turn of the century train stations of Paris and London!

The Gum (meaning Main Universal Store) is a vast ornate shopping gallery, taking up nearly the entire eastern side of the Red Square, and looks far more like a palace than a shipping centre.  Built between 1890 and 1893.

I cannot imagine what they could possibly have sold here after the Russian Revolution of 1917, but friends who visited in the 1970’s said that there were just stands with the odd bits of food on them, which everybody was scrambling for during the 1980’s during the Perostroika time of Gorbachov!

Caught with my camera at the entrance to the Gum shopping gallery!

A bit of a wobble on the cobbles in Red Square!

And then finally the sun came out, and we enjoyed the saturated colours