128 NORTH EASTERN EUROPE
For hotels and restaurants in this region see pp160–61 and pp162–3
Resurrection Gate, housing the
Chapel of the Iverian Virgin
Resurrection
Gate^7
Воскресенские ворота
Voskresenskie vorota
Krasnaya ploshchad. Map D2.
q Okhotnyy Ryad, Ploshchad
Revolyutsii.
Rebuilt in 1995, this gateway,
with its red twin towers
topped by green tent spires,
is an exact copy of the original
completed on this site in 1680.
The first gateway was demo-
lished in 1931 on Stalin’s
orders. There are mosaic icons
on the gate, one of which
depicts Moscow’s patron saint,
St George, slaying a dragon.
Within the gateway is the
equally colourful Chapel of the
Iverian Virgin, originally built
in the late 18th century to
house an icon. Whenever the
tsar came to Moscow, he
would visit this shrine before
entering the Kremlin (see
pp124–5). Visitors should try
to see the gate at night, when
it is impressively lit up.
The vast expanse of Red Square, with the Historical Museum at the far endRed Square^8
Красная площадь
Krasnaya ploshchad
Map E2. q Ploshchad Revolyutsii,
Okhotnyy Ryad. Historical Museum
Tel 692 4019. # 11am–6pm Mon,
Wed–Sat, 11am–8pm Sun. & 8
7 -
Towards the end of the 15th
century, Ivan III gave orders
for houses in front of the
Kremlin to be cleared to
make way for this square. It
originally served as a market,
locally called the torg, but the
wooden stalls burnt down so
often that the area later
became popularly known as
Fire Square. The current name
dates from the 17th century
and is derived from the
Russian word krasnyy, which
originally meant “beautiful”
but later came to denote
“red”. The association
between the colour red and
Communism is coincidental.
Red Square, which is almost
500 m (1,600 ft) in length,
was also the setting for public
announcements and execut-
ions. At its southern end, in
front of St Basil’s Cathedral
(see pp130–31), there is a
small circular dais. Called
Lobnoe Mesto, this is the
platform from which the tsars
and patriarchs would address
the people. In 1606 the first
“False Dmitry”, a usurper of
the throne, was killed by a
hostile crowd. His body was
finally left at Lobnoe Mesto.
Six years later, a second
pretender to the throne, who
like the first “False Dmitry”
was backed by Poland, took
power. He was expelled from
the Kremlin by an army led
by the Russian heroes Dmitriy
Pozharskiy and Kuzma Minin,
who proclaimed Russia’s deli-
verance at Lobnoe Mesto. In
1818, a statue was erected in
their honour which now
stands in front of St Basil’s.
Red Square has also long
been a stage for pageants
and processions. Before the
1917 Revolution, the patriarch
would ride a horse dressed
like a donkey through
Saviour’s Gate to St Basil’seach Palm Sunday to
commemorate Christ’s entry
into Jerusalem. Religious
processions were abolished
in the Communist era. Military
parades took their place
and were staged each year
on May Day and on the
anniversary of the Revolution.
Rows of grim-faced Soviet
leaders observed them from
outside the Lenin Mausoleum.
They, in turn, would be
keenly studied by profes-
sional kremlinologists in the
West trying to work out the
current pecking order.
Today, the square is used
for a variety of concerts,
firework displays and cultural
events. The red-brick building
facing St Basil’s Cathedral was
constructed by Vladimir
Sherwood in 1883 in the
Russian-Revival style. It
houses the Historical Museum,
which boasts over four
million exhibits covering the
rise and expansion of the
Russian state. In front of theLobnoe Mesto, the platform from
which the tsars would speak