Armoury

The Armoury dates back to 1511, when it was founded under Vasily III to manufacture and store weapons, imperial arms and regalia for the royal court. Later it also produced jewellery, icon frames and embroidery. During the reign of Peter the Great all craftspeople, goldsmiths and silversmiths were sent to St Petersburg, and the armoury became a mere museum storing the royal treasures. A fire in 1737 destroyed many of the items. In the early 19th century, new premises were built for the collection. Much of it, however, never made it back from Nizhny Novgorod, where it was sent for safekeeping during Napoleon’s invasion in 1812. Another building to house the collection was completed in 1851, but it was later demolished to make way for the Palace of Congresses, now the State Kremlin Palace. So the Armoury is now housed in the Great Kremlin Palace. Despite the disasters that have befallen this collection throughout the centuries, the Armoury still contains plenty of treasures for ogling, and remains a highlight of any visit to the Kremlin. The exhibit starts upstairs; your ticket will specify a time for entry. Here’s what you’ll find: Room 1 Stuffed to the gills with bling, especially gold and silver objects from the 12th to the 20th centuries. Don’t overdose, as there is plenty more to come. Room 2 Houses the renowned Easter eggs made from precious metals and jewels by St Petersburg jeweller Fabergé. The tsar and tsarina traditionally exchanged these gifts each year at Easter. Most famous is the Grand Siberian Railway egg, with gold train, platinum locomotive and ruby headlamp, created to commemorate the completion of the Moscow–Vladivostok line. Rooms 3 and 4 Armour, weapons and more armour and more weapons. Room 5 Here you will find all those gifts proffered by visiting ambassadors over the years. Each piece of gold or silver is yet another reason why the average peasant trying to coax some life out of a mouldy seed might get a little miffed. Ignoring the plight of the masses, you can enjoy the skill of the craftspeople who made these items. Room 6 Coronation dresses of 18th-century empresses (Empress Elizabeth, we’re told, had 15,000 other dresses). Room 7 Contains the joint coronation throne of boy-tsars Peter the Great and his half-brother Ivan V (with a secret compartment from which Regent Sofia prompted them), as well as the 800-diamond throne of Tsar Alexey, Peter’s father. The gold Cap of Monomakh, jewel-studded and sable-trimmed, was used for two centuries at coronations. Room 8 Only the best royal harnesses and equestrian gear. Room 9 Centuries’ worth of royal carriages and sledges line the aisles in this huge room, one of which surely could have kept a village of potential revolutionaries fed for several years. Look for the sleigh in which Elizabeth rode from St Petersburg to Moscow for her coronation, pulled by 23 horses at a time – about 800 in all for the trip.