The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1883-05-24
THE KREAILIN.
A Structure Comprising a Wonderful Com
bination of Strength and Beauty.

A Structure Comprising a Wonderful Com
bination of Strength and Beauty.
The Kremlin. about which so much is said
in st. Petersburg dispatches AZ the present
time, is not one palace but almost city in
itself, 1t occupies an elevation on the banks
of the Moskva, in the heart of Moscow. 1t
was the ancient citadel, and is a nearly tri-
angular inclosure surrounded with walls
from twenty eight to fifty feet in height, and
almost one and quarter miles in circuit.
Massive towers are at each angle, and numer-
Gus embrasures and smaller towers be-
tween. The walls are white the fortiica-
tions emerald green, the entrance rose-tinted
and the roofs of the cathedrals gilded, the
whole forming wonderful combination
The Kremlin contains the principal build
ings of this ancient capital of Russia-Mos-
cow-and was the imperial residence of the
czars until Peter the Great founded
st. Petersburg in 1902 Here lived
the reigning prince, surrounded by his
relatives, courters, superior clergy and
principal boyars. The Kremlin is entered by
five gates, the two most important being the
Redeemer's Gate and the st. Nicholas gate
to each of which a tradition is attached
Over the first has hung since the foundation
of the city picture of the Savior, which is
an object of the greatest reverence to every
Russian, from the Emperor to the lowest
peasant, and neither one nor the other would
dare to pass under it with covered head. The
princes in the same, the bearer of dispatches
w n in nf mo Af fn o,,l Al
all remove their hats till they have passed
from beneath the shadow of the arch
Through this gate all Russia's returning he
roes have passed in triumph, and up to this
gate, time after time, has the victorious
Tartar horde advanced, only to
be stayed by the sacred presence. The
French, at the capture of Moscow, tried to
remove the frame, believing it to be
solid gold, but every ladder thew placed
against the wall fell broken in two. They
tried to batter the wall and picture, but the
powder would not ignite; furious they then
built fire under the gun, and when it ex-
ploded, the charge was sent backwards, leav-
ing the picture unframed and killing every
artilleryman engaged in the sacrlege The
Nicholas Gate is guarded by a miraculous i'm
age of st. Nicholas 'the dread of periurers
and comfort of humanity" and is second
only in sanctity to the Redeemer's Gate. This
gate was partially destroyed by order Of Ma
poleon, whose powder trains were exploded
under it, but, though many neighboring
buildings were demolished. the tower was
only split up to the image OF the Saint, and
neither the glass that covered it nor the
lamp before it was injured in the least An
inscription to that effect was put over the
gate by Alexander l. Trinity Gate is inter-
esting as being that by which the French
army entered the Krelim and leftit
Descriptions of the splendors of the cathe-
dras and palaces within the walls would fiji
volume. The most interesting at the pres
ent moment is the Cathedral of the Assump-
ton, which occupies the site of a church
built by the Metropolitan Peter, in 1926
which was the place of sepulture of the
Patriarchs 1t has five domes, covered with
copper gilt, and supported by pillars enriched