The Kremlin
Monday, 4th July 2005 by Alex Turnbull
This is the Moscow Kremlin, which is commonly referred to simply as The Kremlin (which in Russian means 'citadel'). The complex is the seat of Russian power, as it serves as the official residence and principal workplace of the President of the Russian Federation (Wikipedia entry).
The irregular triangle of the Kremlin walls encloses an area of 275,000 square metres, and is home to some of Russia's most popular tourist destinations, including Cathedral Square. The Cathedral of the Dormition is the oldest structure (1479), which was built to be the main church of Moscow and is where all the Tsars were crowned. In our thumbnail it is the building capped with five golden cupolas. (Wikipedia entry, and a good ground level shot.)
Just outside the Kremlin walls lies Red Square, which is around 695 meters long and 130 meters wide. In our thumbnail you can see the south side of the square and Lenin's Mausoleum (Wikipedia entry), which is the final resting place of Vladimir Lenin, the first Premier of the Soviet Union, and the founder of the ideology of Leninism. Lenin's embalmed body has been on public display there since he died in 1924. Though supposedly 'rejuvenated' annually, Lenin's body looks so waxy that many people wonder if the body is still real. Some parts might be fake, or partially fake for the needs of presentability.
Finally for this visit to Moscow, we can see Saint Basil's Cathedral. It's a shame that it's so unimpressive from up here, especially given how stunning it is when seen from ground level (Wikipedia entry).
There's far too many things here to point them all out, so for further information, check out this detailed map of the area 🙂
Thanks to Alekseev Vladimir, Alan, Todd Holden, Nels N Nelson, Nathan, Caius Toneriko, Patrick, Ben, Tom D, Vaclav Papousek, Adam, Julian, Terry Foster, Aaron, DJ Swammi, Stephen Train, Stephan Segraves, Max, Steve, Lee Bennett, Efreet, fedor, Patrick Kent, Hendrik Dacquin, Akos Vagi, seamus and Adam Parker.
About the author
Alex has decided that his title will be Senior Vice President of Stuff.
In Russia the Google Maps watch you.
Nice post – I’m going to have to check this out. Is any of the transyberian railway on highrez?
Lol! Except you forgot to say first post 😉 One person did submit a link to some of the Transyberian railway, but they got the link wrong unfortunately :-/ Anyone else got it?
I found two cosmodromes in Russia (Baikonur & Plesetsk) but they are all in baaad lowres 🙁
On the Transsiberian railway: well, one of the end points is definitely in high res, as it’s the Yaroslavsky terminus in Moscow: View Placemark
There are two other big railway stations nearby, all sharing the same square.
The other end point is Vladivostok, 7 time zones away: View Placemark The railroad can be seen as one of the lines running northeast out of the city.