Entering the Kremlin by the Nikolski gate, to the right is the arsenal, to the left the Senate (Law Courts), reaching the transverse route from the Troitski gate, the barracks are in front, the buildings of the service corps to the right, the Chudov monastery to the left; continuing straight on, a large open space is reached; then on the left is the smaller palace, on the far side of the square is the Alexander memorial; close by, on the right, the Synod, then, railed off, the Sobornia Ploshchad with the cathedrals and beyond them the Grand Palace. In the centre rises Ivan Veliki tower which serves as belfry for all the cathedrals.
The cathedrals are, for the most part, described in detail in "Moscow of the Ecclesiastics"; the palaces in the chapter on "Moscow of the Tsars," and the Chudov and Vossnesenski monasteries in chapter xii.; here the other buildings and sights of the Kremlin may be mentioned.
First and foremost to treat of Ivan Veliki; of Moscow and its bells.
According to tradition the tall bell tower has a very ancient origin but as a matter of fact it was constructed at the close of the sixteenth century to find employment for a starving population. Its foundations are on a level with the river bed, 120 feet below the surface; its height above is 320 feet, built in five storeys, the first four octagonal, the topmost cylindrical. In the eighteenth century it was considered one of the wonders of the world, and to this day the orthodox invariably cross themselves when passing it. Dedicated to St John and containing in the basement a chapel to the same saint, it is supposed to owe its name to this, but tradition states that it was constructed by one John (Ivan) Viliers whose patronymic has been corrupted into Veliki--that is, "great" or "big."
There are 450 steps to the gallery under the cupola, whereon is an inscription of which the following is a translation:--
"Under the protection of the Holy Trinity and by order of the Tsar and Grand Duke Boris Theodorovich autocrat of all the Russias, and of his son the Tsarevich and Grand Duke Theodore Borisovich, this church has been completed and gold-crowned the second year of their reign. A.M. 7180."[A]
Adjoining Ivan Veliki is another tower, that of the Assumption, in which are hung the larger bells, and still further to the north a third belfry with a pyramidal spire, known as the Tower of Philaret.