Moscow, Russia ~ Part 5 ~ Red Square

On Monday we dedicated the day to walking through Red Square. Again, cold, wet, and yucky. I of course wore ballet flats instead of my boots because of massive blisters and OH BOY did the Russians have amusement with the crazy foreigner wearing summer shoes in winter. Pretty sure I ended up on Snapchat or Facebook somewhere of my feet in crazy shoes :-) Needless to say I did get cold and a trip to the mall for some shopping was in our future later that day. 

But anyway... Here is the lovely Red Square. There is so much to see and do that you need more than a day to go through it all. We did a complete crash course and I know we missed some things. 

State History Museum - The main focal point when entering Red Square

Museum to the War of 1812 - To those unfamiliar, this is the French invasion of Russia - We ran out of time and did not get a chance to walk through this museum

Orthodox church inside Red Square. Open to the public

The GUM (pronounced "goom") which is a huge department store filed with mid to high end shops

St. Basil's Cathedral

Walking outside the Moscow Kremlin walls. The is the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier very similar to United States. Guards stand watch and there is a Changing of the Guard ceremony. 

Monument to the Romanov Dynasty

We are now inside the Moscow Kremlin. I have never seen so many churches in such close proximity.  The above cathedral is the Archangel Cathedral. This Cathedral is the burial church of the Muscovite Princes and the first Czar's of Russia. 

These two pictures are the Annunciation Cathedral - This is a private church for the Grand Princes and Czars that was designed and built for private family ceremonies

Ivan the Great Bell Tower

Dormition Cathedral

Church of the Deposition of the Robe 

Czar Cannon

Czar Bell - This bell has a long standing history of falling and being damaged in several fires. Finally the bell was made bigger and of cast iron. The bell again was damaged in another fire and te guards threw cold water on it but caused 11 cracks. The broken slab fell to the ground and the bell was damaged. It remained on the ground since. The broken slab of this bell is 3X larger than the worlds largest bell hung for bell ringing in the Liverpool Cathedral

The Kremlin Clock Tower - I'm told this clock is more famous than the Clock tower in Times Square and Big Ben

Now we enter St Basil's Cathedral - Note the silly shoes on my feet. This is what I was talking about in the beginning. At one point I even asked Inna if I was offending the Russian culture because of the looks I was getting. Nope... They just thought I was crazy 

This Cathedral was so beautiful