Moscow Guide
Red Square
The Resurrection Gate
Most people approach Red Square from the north, via one of the cobbled streets that slope uphill beside the Historical Museum, for a thrilling first glimpse of Lenin's Mausoleum alongside the Kremlin wall, and St Basil's Cathedral looming at the far end of the square. The view of St Basil's is framed by the Resurrection Gate (Voskresenskie vorota), a 1990s replica of a sixteenth-century gateway that was pulled down in 1931 as part of Stalin's campaign to rid Moscow of its holy relics and churches. While its twin towers with their green spires topped by Tsarist eagles could be described as something from a fairytale, the external chapel, with its portal flanked by gilded reliefs of SS Peter and Paul, is simply kitsch. The chapel of the original gateway held a revered icon, the Iberian Virgin, to which every visitor to Moscow paid their respects before entering Red Square. Today, Russian tourists have their photo taken standing on a brass relief set into the ground in front of the gate, marking Kilometre Zero, whence all distances from Moscow are measured.
Passing through the gate, your eyes will inevitably be drawn to the diminutive Kazan Cathedral (Kazanskiy sobor), on the corner of Nikolskaya ulitsa. The original cathedral was built in 1636 to commemorate Tsar Mikhail Romanov's victory over the Poles, and dedicated to the Virgin of Kazan, whose icon was carried into battle by Prince Pozharsky during the Time of Troubles. Demolished on Stalin's orders and replaced by a public toilet, its belated reconstruction owed much to the architect Pyotr Baranovsky, who secretly made plans of the building even as it was being pulled down. The modern-day Kazan Cathedral sports a strawberry-and-cream coloured exterior replete with the ornate window frames (nalichniki) and ogee-shaped gables (kokoshniki) characteristic of early Muscovite church architecture, crowned by a cluster of green and gold domes. Inaugurated in 1993 on the feast day of the Icon of Kazan (Nov 4), the cathedral is open daily from 8am–7pm. As at all Orthodox places of worship, you are not allowed in wearing shorts.