Top 10 Castles in Russia
Russia's castle tradition differs from Western Europe's in both form and function. The kremlin — a walled citadel at the centre of a Russian city — is the primary defensive form, analogous to the Western European castle but serving a municipal as much as a feudal function. The great kremlins of Novgorod, Pskov, Vladimir, and Moscow were the political and military centres of their cities; their walls defined the city as much as they defended the ruler. The result is a series of fortified cities rather than isolated feudal strongpoints. Find them on the map.
1. Moscow Kremlin
The Moscow Kremlin — its name is simply the Russian word for citadel — is the political, historical, and symbolic centre of Russia. The current walls, of red brick with distinctive swallow-tail battlements, were built by Italian architects brought to Moscow by Ivan III from 1485-1495: Antonin Fryazin, Aleviz Fryazin, and Pietro Antonio Solari. Within the walls: the Cathedral of the Assumption (coronation church), the Cathedral of the Archangel (burial church), the Cathedral of the Annunciation, the Palace of Facets, and the Grand Kremlin Palace. The Tsar Bell and the Tsar Cannon — the largest of each in the world — stand in the grounds.
2. Peter and Paul Fortress, St Petersburg
The Peter and Paul Fortress, on Zayachy Island in the Neva delta, was begun by Peter the Great in 1703 as the founding act of Saint Petersburg. The six-bastion Vauban-style fortification became a political prison almost immediately: Alexei Petrovich, Peter's son, was the first notable prisoner; Fyodor Dostoyevsky and Leon Trotsky were confined here. The Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul within the fortress is the burial church of the Russian Tsars from Peter the Great to Alexander III.
3. Novgorod Kremlin (Detinets)
The Novgorod Kremlin — the Detinets — is one of the oldest surviving kremlin structures in Russia. Novgorod was the most commercially significant city in medieval Russia, trading with the Hanseatic League; its independence from Moscow until 1478 is reflected in the kremlin's distinct character. The red brick walls date from the 15th century; within them, the Cathedral of Saint Sophia (begun 1045) is the oldest stone building in Russia outside the Moscow region.
4. Pskov Kremlin (Krom)
Pskov's kremlin — the Krom — at the confluence of the Velikaya and Pskova rivers is among the most extensive medieval fortifications in northern Russia. The city of Pskov was a significant commercial and military centre on the route between Novgorod and the Baltic; its walls, built and rebuilt from the 13th to 15th centuries, include some of the most technically sophisticated medieval Russian military architecture.
5. Izborsk Fortress, Pskov Oblast
Izborsk, west of Pskov near the Estonian border, is one of the best-preserved medieval stone fortresses in Russia. The fortress dates from the 14th century — its Lukovka Tower is particularly well preserved — and controlled the western approach to Pskov against the Livonian Knights and later the Lithuanians.
6. Koporye Fortress, Leningrad Oblast
Koporye, in the Leningrad Oblast west of Saint Petersburg, is a well-preserved 13th-14th century fortress on a rocky hill above the Koporka river. Built by Alexander Nevsky after the battle of the Neva (1240), it was a key position on the northwestern Russian frontier. The towers and gates survive to substantial height.
7. Ivangorod Fortress, Leningrad Oblast
Ivangorod, on the Narva river directly opposite the Estonian city of Narva, was founded by Ivan III in 1492 as a counterpart to the Teutonic Narva castle. The fortress grew through the 16th century into a substantial complex; together with the Estonian Narva Castle across the river, it forms the most impressive pair of facing fortifications in the Baltic region.
8. Kazan Kremlin
The Kazan Kremlin, seat of the Russian Federal Republic of Tatarstan, occupies the site of the former Tatar capital of the Kazan Khanate. After Ivan the Terrible's conquest in 1552, the Tatar khanate's buildings were demolished and replaced with Russian Orthodox churches and administrative buildings within a new kremlin wall. The result is a UNESCO World Heritage Site (2000) that makes visible the cultural superimposition of Russian power on Tatar territory.
9. Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin
Nizhny Novgorod's kremlin, above the confluence of the Oka and Volga rivers, was built from 1500-11 with Italian architectural assistance. Its 13 surviving towers (of an original 16) and the curtain walls command the confluence below: the geographical and commercial significance of the position is immediately legible from the walls.
10. Solovetsky Monastery Fortress, White Sea
The Solovetsky Monastery, on an archipelago in the White Sea north of the Arctic Circle, is one of the most remarkable fortified monasteries in the world. Founded in the 15th century and fortified with massive boulder walls in the 16th century, it served as a Tsarist political prison and as the first Soviet GULAG camp. UNESCO listed it in 1992.
Explore on the map
Russia's kremlin landscape, from Moscow and Saint Petersburg through the medieval principalities of Novgorod and Pskov to the Volga cities, is fully represented on the interactive map.