Kremlin (Russia)

Kremlin (Russia). The Moscow Kremlin or simply the Kremlin is a fortified complex in Moscow, Russia. Kremlin also refers to the government of Russia, or in the past the government of the former Soviet Union.

The fortified complex is located in the center of the country’s capital city, it is the best known of the kremlins and includes five palaces, four cathedrals, and the enclosing Kremlin Wall along with the Kremlin towers.

Within the complex is the Grand Kremlin Palace, which served as the royal residence of the Emperor of Russia. It is now the official residence of the President of the Russian Federation. The Kremlin overlooks the Moskva River to the south, Saint Basil’s Cathedral and Red Square to the east, and Alexander Garden to the west.

The name kremlin means ‘fortress within a city‘ in Russian, and is often also used metonymically in international politics to refer to the Government of the Russian Federation. Likewise, during the Cold War, it referred to the Government of the Soviet Union, which operated out of the city in the erstwhile Russian SFSR. The term “Kremlinology” is related to the metonym and refers to the study of Soviet and Russian politics.