Introduction

The Moscow Kremlin is the country's largest museum ensemble. It preserves unique monuments of Russian history and culture spanning eight centuries, such as the Cathedral of the Dormition, the Archangel Cathedral, the Cathedral of the Annunciation, the Church of the Deposition of the Robe, the Bell-Tower of Ivan the Great with a Belfry, the Patriarch's Palace with the Cathedral of the Twelve Apostles, the Palace of Facets, the Terem Palace, the Grand Kremlin Palace, the Armoury and the Arsenal. Some of them have been turned into museums displaying masterpieces of early Russian monumental and easel painting and pieces of applied decorative art. Apart from permanent exhibits, displays of specimens from the stocks of the Kremlin museums are arranged in the Belfry.