The Armory Museum

 

9/24

Monday morning, very cool, a little drizzly, and man, I’m glad I have my fuzzy lined sweater with the fur around the hood.  We heard lots of Russian history on the way to the Kremlin.  I am discovering that the locals don’t use “articles” like a, an, and the.  So  “Going to Kremlin” is the way they’d say it. 

 

On with the Russian history in a day.--- the Kremlin is a fortress (not a building) where rulers of Russia have lived.  Ivan the Great ( Ivan III) is the tsar who united the Russian principalities in the 15^th Century.  Altho not all have lived in Moscow/Kremlin, they have ALL been crowned here.  The Kremlin at one time contained 17 churches and 2 monasteries, but most were destroyed by either Napoleon or Stalin.    Part of the Kremlin complex is the Armory museum which houses many of the treasures of the country.   

And this is where we began our day.    The Russian church (Orthodox from Constantinople) was very rich with much gold and silver as well as precious jewels.    We were not allowed to take pictures inside the museum,  which I understand, but since this is the end of their tourist season, their supply of postcards/ pictures of most of the treasures was depleted.  So we came away with vivid pictures in our minds, but nothing to share to explain what we enjoyed. 

We began the tour looking at clerical robes, which had been encrusted with jewels and pearls by young women, (nuns) who worked by candlelight boring holes in gems to sew onto the vestments.  Most of the fabric was imported from Europe and Asia, since Russian skills in textile making were not of a high caliber at that time.  We saw dresses of the tsarinas through their history—one of them being Catherine the Great’s coronation dress (made of Chinese silk with the two headed eagle symbol embossed on the fabric)   She was 34 when she was crowned and the dress shows the figure of a mature woman, while her wedding dress (age 16)  gives the impression of a small young woman.  Peter the Great’s clothing displayed here shows that he was very tall (6’8”) but slightly built.  He was interested in all sorts of crafts, shipbuilding, woodworking as well as making shoes.  A pair of his boots, made supposedly by his own hands was on display—he didn’t know how to make a left or right boot, so both are identical.  

After the clothing displays we saw thrones, which really looked uncomfortable, made of wood covered with ivory,  with gold and silver, and most of these were gifts from rulers of Persia.  Along with the thrones were items of royal regalia, scepters and orbs and crowns.  Before crowns were used in Russia, a royal hat was worn which had sable around the brim area.   There were actual hats and crowns from the two boy prince/ tsars Ivan and Peter- ages 3 and 9.

Carriages were displayed next with design ranging from quite simple and functional (think Cinderella) to ornate Rococo and Baroque styles.  There were sledges (sleds) for traveling on frozen rivers and vehicles with wheels that didn’t turn, so servants had to manually turn the carriage.  One especially interesting winter sledge enabled a tsarina to travel 450 miles in dead of winter in 3 days.  She went through over 700 horses on that trip.

Much armor shown had an Asian influence (chain mail), but giant European suits of armor were also displayed.  Of special interest was the cone shaped helmet to ward off sword blows, protecting the soldier’s head.

Icons are very important to Orthodox believers and many many examples of these holy images were shown, along with frames for icons stored elsewhere.  Many jeweled testaments were in evidence.  It was mentioned that Russian craftsmen were good at polishing the precious stones, but did not have the expertise to cut or shape the gems.

Rooms of gifts to royalty were next with silver and gold table items as well as porcelain dishes. Many of the gifts shown were from Elizabeth I of England to Ivan III.  He had asked her to be his 8^th wife and she refused, but wanting to keep relations friendly between two important countries, she sent him many pieces of gold and silver ware.  When Cromwell melted all the 16^th Century gold to pay for his government, all the examples of this art was destroyed.  Today, when England wants to display items such as this they borrow from the Armory in Russia.

Faberge made the famous eggs as gifts from Nicholas, last tsar of Russia for his family as Easter gifts.  Each egg was unique with a hidden surprise inside.  Fifty-two eggs were made, but they have been scattered through the world.  At the Armory museum only 10 are on exhibit.  They are made of gold, silver, iron, encrusted with precious jewels.  Several had icons painted on them. 

Sadly much of the art and treasure of early Russia was sold by Lenin and Stalin to Europeans to finance their governments.

This is one of the most enjoyable museums we have toured on our travels. 

Sorry I have no pictures to share, but......

On to the rest of the Kremlin.