Kremlin Armoury
Encyclopedia
The Kremlin Armory is one of the oldest museum
Museum
A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...

s of Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...

, established in 1808 and located in the Moscow Kremlin
Moscow Kremlin
The Moscow Kremlin , sometimes referred to as simply The Kremlin, is a historic fortified complex at the heart of Moscow, overlooking the Moskva River , Saint Basil's Cathedral and Red Square and the Alexander Garden...

 (map).

The Kremlin Armoury
Armory (military)
An armory or armoury is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, issued to authorized users, or any combination of those...

 originated as the royal arsenal
Arsenal
An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, issued to authorized users, or any combination of those...

 in 1508. Until the transfer of the court to St Petersburg, the Armoury was in charge of producing, purchasing and storing weapons, jewellery and various household articles of the tsars. The finest Muscovite gunsmith
Gunsmith
A gunsmith is a person who repairs, modifies, designs, or builds firearms. This occupation is different from an armorer. The armorer primarily maintains weapons and limited repairs involving parts replacement and possibly work involving accurization...

s (the Vyatkin brothers), jewellers (Gavrila Ovdokimov), and painters (Simon Ushakov
Simon Ushakov
Simon Fyodorovich Ushakov was a leading Russian graphic artist of the late 17th-century. Together with Fyodor Zubov and Fyodor Rozhnov, he is associated with the comprehensive reform of the Russian Orthodox Church undertaken by Patriarch Nikon.-Biography:We know almost nothing about the early...

) used to work there. In 1640 and 1683, they opened the iconography
Iconography
Iconography is the branch of art history which studies the identification, description, and the interpretation of the content of images. The word iconography literally means "image writing", and comes from the Greek "image" and "to write". A secondary meaning is the painting of icons in the...

 and pictorial studios, where the lessons on painting and handicrafts could be given. In 1700, the Armoury was enriched with the treasures of the Golden and Silver chambers of the Russian tsars.

In 1711, Peter the Great
Peter I of Russia
Peter the Great, Peter I or Pyotr Alexeyevich Romanov Dates indicated by the letters "O.S." are Old Style. All other dates in this article are New Style. ruled the Tsardom of Russia and later the Russian Empire from until his death, jointly ruling before 1696 with his half-brother, Ivan V...

 had the majority of masters transferred to his new capital, St.Petersburg. 15 years later, the Armoury was merged with the Fiscal Yard (the oldest depository of the royal treasures), Stable
Stable
A stable is a building in which livestock, especially horses, are kept. It most commonly means a building that is divided into separate stalls for individual animals...

s Treasury (in charge of storing harnesses and carriages) and the Master Chamber (in charge of sewing clothes and bedclothes for the tsar
Tsar
Tsar is a title used to designate certain European Slavic monarchs or supreme rulers. As a system of government in the Tsardom of Russia and Russian Empire, it is known as Tsarist autocracy, or Tsarism...

s). After that, the Armoury was renamed into the Arms and Master Chamber. Alexander I of Russia
Alexander I of Russia
Alexander I of Russia , served as Emperor of Russia from 23 March 1801 to 1 December 1825 and the first Russian King of Poland from 1815 to 1825. He was also the first Russian Grand Duke of Finland and Lithuania....

 nominated the Armoury as the first public museum in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...

 in 1806, but the collections were not opened to the public until seven years later. The current Armoury building was erected in 1844-1851 by the imperial architect Konstantin Ton. The director of the museum from 1852 to 1870 was the writer Alexander Veltman
Alexander Veltman
Alexander Fomich Veltman was one of the most successful Russian prose writers of the 1830s and 1840s, "popular for various modes of Romantic fiction—historical, Gothic, fantastic, and folkloristic." He was one of the pioneers of Russian science fiction....

.

After the Bolshevik Revolution, the Armoury collection was enriched with treasures taken from the Patriarch
Patriarch
Originally a patriarch was a man who exercised autocratic authority as a pater familias over an extended family. The system of such rule of families by senior males is called patriarchy. This is a Greek word, a compound of πατριά , "lineage, descent", esp...

 sacristy
Sacristy
A sacristy is a room for keeping vestments and other church furnishings, sacred vessels, and parish records.The sacristy is usually located inside the church, but in some cases it is an annex or separate building...

, Kremlin cathedrals, monasteries and private collections. Some of these were sold abroad on behest of Joseph Stalin
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...

 in the 1930s. In 1960, the Armoury became the official museum of the Kremlin. Two years later, the Patriarch chambers and the Cathedral of the Twelve Apostles were assigned to the Armoury in order to house the Applied Arts Museum.

Nowadays, the Kremlin Armoury is home to the Russian Diamond Fund
Diamond Fund
Diamond Fund is a unique collection of gems, jewelry and natural nuggets, stored and exhibited in Moscow Kremlin, Russia. The Fund dates back to the Russian Crown treasury instituted by emperor Peter I of Russia in 1719.-Imperial treasury:...

. It boasts unique collections of the Russian, Western European and Eastern
Eastern world
__FORCETOC__The term Eastern world refers very broadly to the various cultures or social structures and philosophical systems of Eastern Asia or geographically the Eastern Culture...

 applied arts spanning the period from the 5th to the 20th centuries. Some of the highlights include the Imperial Crown of Russia
Imperial Crown of Russia
The Imperial Crown of Russia, also known as the Great Imperial Crown, is the crown that was used by the Emperors of Russia until the abolition of the monarchy in 1917. The Great Imperial Crown was first used in a coronation by Catherine II, and was last used at the coronation of Nicholas II...

, Monomakh's Cap
Monomakh's Cap
Monomakh's Cap , also called the Golden Cap , is one of the symbols of Russian autocracy, and is the oldest of the crowns currently exhibited at the Kremlin Armoury...

, the ivory throne of Ivan the Terrible, and other regal thrones and regalia
Regalia
Regalia is Latin plurale tantum for the privileges and the insignia characteristic of a Sovereign.The word stems from the Latin substantivation of the adjective regalis, 'regal', itself from Rex, 'king'...

; the Orloff Diamond; the helmet of Yaroslav II
Yaroslav II of Vladimir
Yaroslav II , Christian name Theodor was the Grand Prince of Vladimir who helped to restore his country and capital after the Mongol invasion of Russia.-Prince of Pereyaslav:...

; the sabre
Sabre
The sabre or saber is a kind of backsword that usually has a curved, single-edged blade and a rather large hand guard, covering the knuckles of the hand as well as the thumb and forefinger...

s of Kuzma Minin and Dmitri Pozharski; the 12-century necklace
Necklace
A necklace is an article of jewellery which is worn around the neck. Necklaces are frequently formed from a metal jewellery chain. Others are woven or manufactured from cloth using string or twine....

s from Ryazan
Ryazan
Ryazan is a city and the administrative center of Ryazan Oblast, Russia. It is located on the Oka River southeast of Moscow. Population: The strategic bomber base Dyagilevo is just west of the city, and the air base of Alexandrovo is to the southeast as is the Ryazan Turlatovo Airport...

; golden and silver tableware; articles, decorated with enamel
Vitreous enamel
Vitreous enamel, also porcelain enamel in U.S. English, is a material made by fusing powdered glass to a substrate by firing, usually between 750 and 850 °C...

, niello
Niello
Niello is a black mixture of copper, silver, and lead sulphides, used as an inlay on engraved or etched metal. It can be used for filling in designs cut from metal...

 and engraving
Engraving
Engraving is the practice of incising a design on to a hard, usually flat surface, by cutting grooves into it. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or glass are engraved, or may provide an intaglio printing plate, of copper or another metal, for printing...

s; embroidery
Embroidery
Embroidery is the art or handicraft of decorating fabric or other materials with needle and thread or yarn. Embroidery may also incorporate other materials such as metal strips, pearls, beads, quills, and sequins....

 with gold and pearls; imperial carriages, weapons, armour, and the Memory of Azov
Memory of Azov (Fabergé egg)
The Memory of Azov Egg is a jewelled Easter egg made under the supervision of the Russian jeweller Peter Carl Fabergé in 1891 for Tsar Alexander III of Russia. It was presented by Alexander III as an Easter gift to his wife, the Czarina Maria Feodorovna...

, Bouquet of Lilies Clock
Bouquet of Lilies Clock (Fabergé egg)
The Bouquet of Lilies Clock Egg is a jewelled Easter egg made under the supervision of the Russian jeweller Peter Carl Fabergé in 1899, for Tsar Nicholas II as an Easter gift to his wife, the Czarina Alexandra Fyodorovna...

, Trans-Siberian Railway
Trans-Siberian Railway (Fabergé egg)
The Trans-Siberian Railway Egg is a jewelled Easter egg made under the supervision of the Russian jeweller Peter Carl Fabergé in 1900 for Tsar Nicholas II of Russia. It was presented by Nicolas II as an Easter gift to his wife, the Tsarina Alexandra Fyodorovna...

, Clover Leaf
Clover Leaf (Fabergé egg)
The Clover Leaf Egg is a jewelled Easter egg made under the supervision of the Russian jeweller Peter Carl Fabergé in 1902 for Tsar Nicholas II of Russia. It was presented by Nicolas II as an Easter gift to his wife, the Czarina Alexandra Fyodorovna...

, Moscow Kremlin
Moscow Kremlin (Fabergé Egg)
The Moscow Kremlin Egg is a jewelled Easter egg made under the supervision of the Russian jeweller Peter Carl Fabergé in 1906 for Tsar Nicholas II of Russia. It was presented by Nicolas II as an Easter gift to his wife, the Czarina Alexandra Fyodorovna...

, Alexander Palace
Alexander Palace (Fabergé egg)
The Alexander Palace Egg is a jewelled Easter egg made under the supervision of the Russian jeweler Peter Carl Fabergé in 1908, for the then Tsar of Russia, Nicholas II. Nicholas presented it as an Easter gift to his wife, Alexandra Fyodorovna...

, Standart Yacht
Standart Yacht (Fabergé egg)
The Standart Yacht Egg is a jewelled Easter egg made under the supervision of the Russian jeweller Peter Carl Fabergé in 1909 for Tsar Nicholas II of Russia. It was presented by Nicolas II as an Easter gift to his wife, the Czarina Alexandra Fyodorovna...

, Alexander III Equestrian
Alexander III Equestrian (Fabergé Egg)
The Alexander III Equestrian Egg is a jewelled Easter egg made under the supervision of the Russian jeweller Peter Carl Fabergé in 1910, for the last Tsar of Russia, Nicholas II....

, Romanov Tercentenary
Romanov Tercentenary (Fabergé egg)
The Romanov Tercentenary Egg is a jewelled Easter egg made under the supervision of the Russian jeweller Peter Carl Fabergé in 1913, for Tsar Nicholas II of Russia. It was presented by Nicolas II as an Easter gift to his wife, the Czarina Alexandra Fyodorovna...

, Steel Military
Steel Military (Fabergé egg)
The Steel Military Egg is one of a series of fifty-two Russian jewelled Easter eggs made by Alma Pihl under the supervision of the Russian jeweller Peter Carl Fabergé in 1916, for the last Tsar of Russia, Nicholas II. Tsar Nicholas presented the egg as an Easter gift to his wife, the Tsaritsa...

Fabergé eggs. The ten Fabergé eggs in the Armoury collection (all Imperial eggs) are the most Imperial eggs, and the second-most overall Fabergé eggs, owned by a single owner.
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