The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1883-12-29 00:00:00

THE KREMLIN, MOSCOW.

A wall two miles in length encloses the triangular
portion of the city, called the Kremlin—the fortress,
the :oyal dwelling-place, the sacred shrine of Moscow.
To countless pilgrims, that spot of ground is the holiest
on earth; on every side are seen peasants prostrate in
adoration on the bare stones. Here stand the three
cathedrals respectively associated with the cox onatione,
marriages, and funeral eolerrnities of a long line of
Czars. Here too is the Imperial Palace, and within it
"a labyrinth of fourteen chapels, multiplied by sove-
reign after sovereign, till the Imperial residence has
been more like the dwelling-place of a Pope than a
Prince; whilst the Tartar-like building in which these
chapels are embedded—itself crabbed, ribbed, low-
browed, painted within and without in the old barbaric
grotesqueness of medimval Russia—is encased with
the external magnificence of modern civilisation and
European grandeur." From the opposite side of the
Moskwa, as well as from the stone bridge that crosses
that river, the external view of the Kremlin is very
striking. The varied-coloured buildings, the water,
the foliage, and the long white walla combine to make
up a charming picture. Walls of solid oak originally
surrounded the Kremlin, but these were replaced by
stone by Demetrius the Don in 1367. Against these
ramparts, on several oceas:ons, the Tartar hosts
dashed themselves in vain, and sometimes they over-
came all resistance and sacked the city. The intro-
duction of "villainous gunpowder " into warfare made
stronger fortifications necessary. Towards the cleats
of the fifteenth century the present walls were
erected, and passed unscathed through the ter-
rible fire that devastated the Kremlin 1737. Five
gates pierce the Kremlin raise At the Spaski
or Redeemer Gate, a comparatively modern Gothic
tower, which does rot harmonise with the Italian
battlements, has been added to the old gate built
by the Milanese, Pet-r Solarius, in 1491. Every
oue, be his rank what it may, who pa-sea through
this gate, uncovers his head to the picture
of the Redeemer of Smolensk, hung above.
Anciently, the emission to perform this rite resulted in
fifty compulsory prostratione. To that picture have
been addressed the last prayers of many a wretched
criminal about ta be executed in front of the gate,
Here perished the Streltzi, when Peter the Great be-
headed twenty with his own hand, quaffing huge
draughts of port wine in the intervals of his gory
work, The Nikolski, or Nicholas Gate, is under the
special protection of the miraculous image of St.
Nicholas of alojaisk. Here oaths were formerly ad-
ministered, for the punishment of perjurers was con-
sidered one of the saint's specialities. The tower,
although often restored, is of great antiquity ; it has
witnessed many battles and sieges, and the armed hosts
of Tartans, Poles, and French have passed beneath it
in their attacks on Holy Moscow. At Napoleon's fiat,
endeavour was made to blow the whole structure to
pieces ; the tower was fissured as far as the frame of
the picture of St. Nicholas, and no farther—picture,
glass, and lamp remained uninjured. The pious in.
scription put up by Alexander I, of course proves that
at least so late as 1812 the age of miracles had not
passed.—Cities of the Work/.