KREMLIN, Cathedral Of The Annunciation

For centuries, the Cathedral of the Annunciation was the royal family's private chapel.

To the right of the cathedral, stop for a moment to admire two important buildings of majestic beauty that are unfortunately not open to the public: the Palace of Facets and, just visible behind it, the Terem Palace, one of the most spectacular buildings in the whole Kremlin.

The first one owes its name to the particular limestone cladding of its facade that almost seems made from hundreds of protruding points. The name of the second probably recalls the building’s original purpose; in noble palaces, the "terem" was the wing intended for women and children of the family.

If it were possible to visit them you would be fascinated by the ornately decorated interior, but sadly, unless you’re an important political figure, you can only imagine what you're missing.

The Cathedral you are about to visit, unlike the others, is the work of Russian architects. Its current appearance is the result of several construction phases that have transformed it from a small church with three domes, to the much larger building with nine domes and several side chapels that it is today. The oldest part, dating back to the end of the 15th century, was built on the site of an earlier church from the 14th century, and the cathedral’s most recent parts were built at the end of the 16th century.

The decorations and frescoes outside are remarkable, but they are just a prelude to the magnificence that awaits you inside. The interior is filled with icons and paintings and embellished with a wonderful floor of small blocks of flint with inserts of different colored stones: red jasper and agate.

The icons in this temple are invaluable, in fact some are the work of the most famous Russian icon artists, such as Theophanes the Greek, Prohor of Gorodec and Andrej Rublëv.

But there is another treasure waiting for you in the basement of this architectural masterpiece: the permanent exhibition "Treasures and Antiquities of the Moscow Kremlin" which collects interesting archaeological artefacts from 1100 to 1600 found within the Kremlin.

An interesting fact: Although the Orthodox Church only allowed two divorces, Ivan the Terrible divorced three times and married a fourth wife. He was then excommunicated and it is said that he had to "settle for" attending functions from an external staircase.