The history of the Moscow Kremlin
Time of grand construction in the Kremlin
(second part of the XVth-first half of the XVIth century)

The Assumption Cathedral was erected in 1475-1479 by Italian architect Aristotle Fioravanti on the place where two older churches once stood.
All the stages of the main state cathedral’s construction were described in chronicles.
The Italian architect was suggested to follow the model of the Assumption Cathedral of Vladimir, the 5 domed cross-and-cupola church of the XII century.
Working on the cathedral, Aristotle Fioravanti managed both to repeat the main points of the well-known cathedral and to combine them with the Renaissance’s idea of architectural space.

 

In 1485-1495, Italian masters erected new Kremlin walls and. Since that time, foreigners started calling the Kremlin a castle.  In fact, the towers and the top of the walls remind of those of the Castle of Scaligers in Verona (Castello Scaligero) and the famous Castle Sforza (Castello Sforzesco) of  Milan. However, the likeness deals only with their look as the Italian castles were closed for citizens and could be neither place for a safe escape nor center of their social life.
In distinction from them, the Moscow Kremlin, constructed in accordance with the latest European fortification technology, was a fortress to protect the citizens. Since the higher secular and spiritual power as well as the most revered churches, monasteries and all-Russian Christian holies were concentrated there, the Kremlin was considered the place of “particular state holiness” for the whole Russian land.