Ivan the Great Bell Tower

I recently made a post about Ivan the Great Bell Tower, but this photo is from my first ever trip to Russia two years ago. It was a much less sunnier day, but one of the very first sights that I ever visited in Moscow was the Kremlin and Armoury Chamber, after a quick breakfast from Prime cafe on Nikolskaya. We took to browsing the museums before taking a short walk round to Cathedral Square. It is one of my favourite parts of the city and I absolutely love a slow stroll through the Taynitsky Garden with a warm cup of tea.

Ivan the Great Bell Tower was completed in 1508 to serve the Kremlin cathedrals which didn’t have their own belfry. With 22 bells and typically beautiful gold domes, the tower is a wonderful sight. It was the tallest building in Russia for almost 400 years and remains the tallest in the Kremlin. While retreating from Moscow following the unsuccessful invasion of Russia in 1812, Napoleon’s Army attempted to destroy the tower and failed again. Thankfully, the main pillar of the bell-tower survived, and its Belfry restored to original dimensions in 1819. I took this photo while walking through the Taynitsky Garden with Victoria.