Editing Kremlin (fortification)

{{short description|Major fortified central complex found in historic Russian cities}}
{{about|the type of fortification|other uses|Kremlin (disambiguation)}}
{{missing information|history and common features|date=August 2017}}
A '''kremlin''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|k|r|ɛ|m|l|ɪ|n}} {{respell|KREM-lin}} {{IPA||||LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-Kremlin.wav}}; {{lang-rus|кремль|r=kreml’|p=ˈkrʲemlʲ|a=LL-Q7737 (rus)-Cinemantique-кремль.wav}}) is a major fortified central complex found in historic [[Russia]]n cities.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gDhpqYwg7MgC&q=%22a+kremlin%22+castle&pg=PA24|title=Stalin's Folly: The Tragic First Ten Days of World War II on the Eastern Front|last=Pleshakov|first=Constantine|date=2006|publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt|isbn=0618773614|pages=24|language=en|access-date=2020-11-06|archive-date=2023-12-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231216065428/https://books.google.com/books?id=gDhpqYwg7MgC&q=%22a+kremlin%22+castle&pg=PA24#v=snippet&q=%22a%20kremlin%22%20castle&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l3SKDgAAQBAJ&q=%22a+kremlin%22+citadel&pg=PT150|title=A Travel Guide to Jewish Russia & Ukraine|last=G|first=Frank, Ben|date=2010-09-23|publisher=Pelican Publishing|isbn=9781455613281|pages=150|language=en|access-date=2020-11-06|archive-date=2023-12-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231216065428/https://books.google.com/books?id=l3SKDgAAQBAJ&q=%22a+kremlin%22+citadel&pg=PT150#v=snippet&q=%22a%20kremlin%22%20citadel&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref> The word is often used to refer to the [[Moscow Kremlin]]<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n60tAwAAQBAJ&q=%22a+kremlin%22+citadel&pg=PA5|title=A History of Russian Christianity, Vol. I: From the Earliest Years through Tsar Ivan IV|last=Shubin|first=Daniel H.|date=2004|publisher=Algora Publishing|isbn=9780875862873|pages=5|language=en|access-date=2020-11-06|archive-date=2023-12-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231216065429/https://books.google.com/books?id=n60tAwAAQBAJ&q=%22a+kremlin%22+citadel&pg=PA5#v=snippet&q=%22a%20kremlin%22%20citadel&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref> and [[metonymic]]ally to the [[Government of Russia|government]] based there.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CjVntUCGcqsC&q=%22kremlin%22+metonym+russian+government&pg=PA234|title=Defining Metonymy in Cognitive Linguistics: Towards a Consensus View|last1=Barcelona|first1=Antonio|last2=Benczes|first2=Réka|last3=Ibáñez|first3=Francisco José Ruiz de Mendoza|date=2011|publisher=John Benjamins Publishing|isbn=978-9027223821|pages=234|language=en|access-date=2020-11-06|archive-date=2022-11-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221122214607/https://books.google.com/books?id=CjVntUCGcqsC&q=%22kremlin%22+metonym+russian+government&pg=PA234|url-status=live}}</ref> Other such fortresses are called ''[[detinets]]'', such as the [[Novgorod Detinets]].

==Etymology==
The Russian word is of uncertain origin. Different versions include the word originating from the [[Turkic languages]], the [[Greek language]] or from [[Baltic languages]].<ref>Toporov V.N. "Baltica" of the Moscow region // Balto-Slavic collection: collection of articles. - M .: Nauka, 1972. - pp . 276–277 .</ref><ref>Кремль, городская цитадель // Энциклопедический словарь Брокгауза и Ефрона : в 86 т. (82 т. и 4 доп.). — СПб., 1890—1907</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.voskres.ru/architecture/kremlin2.htm|title=Кром — Кремник — Кремль - Архитектура - РУССКОЕ ВОСКРЕСЕНИЕ|website=www.voskres.ru|access-date=2018-09-25|archive-date=2017-02-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170228031618/http://www.voskres.ru/architecture/kremlin2.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.etymonline.com/word/kremlin|title=kremlin {{!}} Origin and meaning of kremlin by Online Etymology Dictionary|website=www.etymonline.com|language=en|access-date=2018-09-26|archive-date=2018-09-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180926085846/https://www.etymonline.com/word/kremlin|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://freetoursaintpetersburg.com/blog/russian-kremlins/|title=The Russian Kremlins|date=2016-01-13|work=Free Tour Saint Petersburg|access-date=2018-09-26|language=en-US|archive-date=2018-09-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180926052235/https://freetoursaintpetersburg.com/blog/russian-kremlins/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=Oxford essential Russian dictionary : Russian-English, English-Russian|page=89|editor-last=Thompson|editor-first=Della|date=2009|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=9780199576432|location=Oxford|oclc=502676920}}</ref> The word may share the same root as ''kremen''' ({{lang-rus|кремень|r=kremenj|p=krʲɪˈmʲenʲ|a=LL-Q7737 (rus)-DomesticFrog-кремень.wav}}), meaning '[[flint]]'.<ref>[http://vasmer.narod.ru/p321.htm Russian Etymological Dictionary by] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171027030517/http://vasmer.narod.ru/p321.htm |date=2017-10-27 }} [[Max Vasmer]]</ref>

== History ==
{{More citations needed section|date=July 2021}}

=== Kremlins in Rus' ===
The Slavs began to build fortresses to protect their lands from enemies in the ninth century. It is known that the Scandinavians called the Slavic lands the land of fortresses—"[[Garðaríki|Gardariki]]". Arabic geographer [[Al-Bakri]] wrote: "And that is how the Slavs build a large part of their fortresses: they head for meadows, rich in water and reeds, and there mark a round or rectangular place, depending on the shape they want to make a fortress, and they dig around the moat, and the dugout earth is dumped in a rampart, reinforcing it with planks and piles, like beaten earth, until the wall reaches the desired height. Then they measure the door at whichever side they want, and approach by a wooden bridge".<ref>{{Cite web|title=ЭСБЕ/Кремль, городская цитадель — Викитека|url=https://ru.wikisource.org/wiki/%D0%AD%D0%A1%D0%91%D0%95/%D0%9A%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%BC%D0%BB%D1%8C,_%D0%B3%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%B4%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B0%D1%8F_%D1%86%D0%B8%D1%82%D0%B0%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BB%D1%8C|access-date=2021-07-20|website=ru.wikisource.org|language=ru|archive-date=2021-07-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210720100931/https://ru.wikisource.org/wiki/%D0%AD%D0%A1%D0%91%D0%95/%D0%9A%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%BC%D0%BB%D1%8C,_%D0%B3%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%B4%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B0%D1%8F_%D1%86%D0%B8%D1%82%D0%B0%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BB%D1%8C|url-status=live}}</ref> In ancient times, a wooden fence was built on the crest of a rampart, a palisade or zapolot (the wall made of logs, vertically one above the other, and connected with horizontally laid timbers). The way of defending the settlement was primitive; later wooden fortress walls became more preferable.

In the 8th century, the earliest known stone and wooden fortress—Lubšanská fortress near [[Staraya Ladoga]] was built. The ancient stone and wooden kremlins include a fortress on Truvorov settlement near Izborsk (9th century) and the first Stara Ladoga Kremlin (the end of the 9th century, later rebuilt). Single stone towers, gates and bends of walls appeared in other cities ([[Vladimir, Russia|Vladimir]], [[Kyiv]], [[Veliky Novgorod|Novgorod]], [[Pereslavl-Zalessky|Pereyaslavl]]): the Golden Gate of Kievan citadel and the gate of the Vladimir Kremlin bearing the same name survived.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Kradin Nikolai|title=Russian wooden defensive architecture|publisher=Art|year=1998|location=Moscow}}</ref>

A special type of wooden and stone Kremlins appeared under the influence of architectural traditions of [[Poland]] and [[Hungary]]. They were characterised by the juxtaposition of wooden walls and towers with vezha—high stone towers standing inside the fortress, which were used as watchtowers. Constructions, called Volyn towers, were erected, for example, in the citadels of [[Kholmsky District, Novgorod Oblast|Kholmsk]], [[Kamianets-Podilskyi|Kamenets]] and Gorodeni.<ref name=":0" />

During the [[Mongol invasions and conquests|Mongol-Tatar invasion]], many Russian wooden and stone-wooden fortresses were taken and destroyed by the Mongols. The long-lasting Mongol-Tatar yoke slowed down the development of Russian fortification architecture for a century and a half, as internecine wars stopped and the need to build fortresses disappeared.

The tradition of fortress construction was preserved in [[Veliky Novgorod|Novgorod]] and [[Pskov]] lands which were not damaged by the [[Mongol invasions and conquests|Mongol invasion]]. Here are built not only kremlins ([[Izborsk]], [[Porkhov]]) but—for the first time in Russia—fortresses, which were not many cities in the full sense of the word, as defensive structures (Koporie, [[Shlisselburg|Oreshek]], Yam, [[Korela Fortress|Korela]], [[Ostrov, Ostrovsky District, Pskov Oblast|Ostrov]], Kobyla). The strongest of the Russian fortresses was the [[Pskov Krom|Pskov Kremlin]], which had no equal in Russia in the number of sustained sieges.<ref name=":0" />

=== Kremlins of the Russian state ===
The term Kremlin (in the variant Kremnik) is first encountered in chronicles of 1317 in accounts of the construction of the Tver Kremlin, where a wooden city-fortress was erected, which was clayed and whitewashed.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Yusupov E.|title=Dictionary of Architectural Terms|publisher=Leningrad Gallery Foundation|year=1994|pages=184}}</ref>

Wooden fortresses were erected everywhere in the Russian state—from the Far East lands to the Swedish borders. They were numerous in the South, where they served as a link of fortified fortification zones cutting off the way to the central regions from [[Crimean Tatars]]. Aesthetically wooden fortresses were not inferior to stone ones—and we can regret that the towers of wooden kremlins have not survived to this day. Wooden fortresses were built quickly: in 1638 in [[Mtsensk]] fortress walls of Bolshoi Ostrog and Pletny Gorod with a total length of about 3 kilometres with 13 towers and almost one hundred meters long bridge over the River [[Zusha]] were erected in 20 days. The town of [[Sviyazhsk]] was built similarly during the [[Kazan]] campaign in the spring of 1551: fortress walls about 2.5 kilometres long, many churches and houses were erected in a month.

Later on, many Kremlins were rebuilt and strengthened. Thus, the [[Moscow Kremlin]] under [[Ivan III of Russia|Ivan the Third]] was reconstructed of bricks.

In the 16th and 17th centuries, about 30 stone fortresses were built in the Russian State. New Kremlins have regular geometric forms in plan ([[Zaraysk|Zaraisky]] and [[Tula Kremlin]]s). The [[Tula Kremlin]] is unique because it was built in a valley (which was possible because of undeveloped siege artillery of nomad Tatars).

Construction of the Kremlin lasted until the turn of the 17th and 18th centuries. The last Kremlin structure was built of stone between 1699 and 1717 in the town of [[Tobolsk Kremlin|Tobolsk]] (the easternmost Kremlin in Russia).

== In Russia ==
===World Heritage Sites ===
[[File:Moscow Kremlin (8281675670).jpg|thumb|The [[Kremlin|Moscow Kremlin]], better known simply as the ''Kremlin'', the most famous of the kremlins]]

* [[Kremlin|Moscow Kremlin]] (better known simply as the ''Kremlin'')
* [[Novgorod Detinets]]
* [[Solovetsky Monastery]]
* [[Suzdal Kremlin]]
* [[Kazan Kremlin]]

=== Intact ===
* [[Astrakhan Kremlin]]
* [[Kolomna Kremlin]]
* [[Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin]] [[File:Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin by aircraft.jpg|thumb|right|250px|[[Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin]]]]
* [[Pskov Kremlin]]
* [[Rostov Kremlin]] (a [[bishop]]'s residence, not formally considered a kremlin)
 [[File:Rostov19.jpg|thumb|250px|The bishop's residence in [[Rostov, Yaroslavl Oblast|Rostov]], sometimes called a kremlin]]
* [[Smolensk Kremlin]] [[File:Smolensk kremlin.jpg|thumb|250px|A wall of [[Smolensk]] Kremlin in 1912]] [[File:View01.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Remains of the [[Kolomna]] Kremlin]]
* [[Tobolsk Kremlin]] (the sole stone kremlin in [[Siberia]])
* [[Tula Kremlin]]
* [[Zaraysk Kremlin]]
* [[Ivangorod Fortress]] (not formally considered a kremlin)
* [[Shlisselburg|Oreshek Fortress]] (not formally considered a kremlin)
* [[Staraya Ladoga]]
* [[Alexandrov Kremlin]] (a [[czar]] residence, not formally considered a kremlin)
* [[Korela Fortress]] (not formally considered a kremlin)
* [[Izborsk|Izborsk Kremlin]]

=== In ruins ===
* [[Gdov Kremlin]]
* [[Porkhov Kremlin]]
* [[Serpukhov Kremlin]]
* [[Velikie Luki Kremlin]]
* [[Torzhok Kremlin]]
* [[Mozhaysk Kremlin]]
* [[Koporye|Fortress of Koporye]] (not formally considered a kremlin)
* [[Vyazma|Vyazma Kremlin]] (one tower)
* [[Syzran Kremlin]] (one tower, 1683)
* [[Ufa]]

=== Existing and unwalled ===
* [[Vladimir, Russia|Vladimir Kremlin]] (Tower Golden Gate and bank)
* [[Dmitrov]]
* [[Ryazan]]
* [[Vologda]] (a bishop residence, not formally considered a kremlin)
* [[Yaroslavl|Yaroslavl (two towers)]]
* [[Pereslavl-Zalessky]]
* [[Kirov, Kirov Oblast|Khlynov (Vyatka)]]
* [[Volokolamsk]]

=== Traces remain ===
* [[Borovsk]]
* [[Opochka]]
* [[Zvenigorod]]
* [[Starodub]]
* [[Tver]] – a wooden fortress was burned down in a fire in 1763
* [[Sknyatino]] – underwater since flooding during the 1930s.
* [[Yam fortress]] (not formally considered a kremlin)
* [[Radonezh|Fortress of Radonezh]]
* [[Ryazan]]
* {{ill|Old Ryazan|ru|Старая Рязань|vertical-align=sup}} (60&nbsp;km from modern [[Ryazan]])
* [[Ostrov, Ostrovsky District, Pskov Oblast|Ostrov]] (14th-15th centuries)
*  [[Belgorod|Belgorod (bank of fortress)]]
* [[Vereya]]
* [[Kaluga]]
* [[Kleshchin]]
* [[Kostroma]]
* [[Pustozyorsk]]
* [[Uglich]]
* [[Staritsa]]
* [[Sviyazhsk]]
* [[Cheboksary]]
* [[Yuryev-Polsky (town)|Yuryev-Polsky]]
* [[Aleksin]]
* [[Opochka]]
* [[Oryol]]
* [[Rurikovo Gorodische]]
* [[Mtsensk]]
* [[Raskiel]]

=== Modern imitations ===
{{explain|date=August 2017}}
* [[Izmaylovo Kremlin]]
* [[Yoshkar Ola]]

== Outside Russia ==
After the disintegrations of the [[Kievan Rus]], the [[Russian Empire]] and the [[Soviet Union|USSR]], some fortresses considered Kremlin-type, remained beyond the borders of modern Russia. Some are listed below:
* [[Belz]], Ukraine (only traces)
* [[Kyiv]], Ukraine (reconstructed [[Golden Gate, Kiev|tower of the Golden Gate]])<!--- Kyiv was a capital of Ancient Rus. Its fortress was a "kremlin", too. --->
* [[Putyvl]], Ukraine
* [[Novhorod-Siverskyi]], Ukraine
* [[Chernihiv]], Ukraine (only traces)
* [[Kamyanyets]], Belarus (shafts and [[Tower of Kamyanyets|Belaya Vezha tower]])
* [[Belgorod Kievsky]], Ukraine (now village Belgorodka)

The same structure in [[Novgorod Land|Novgorodshina]], [[Ukraine]] and other Old Russian territories is also called [[Detinets|dytynets]] ({{langx|uk|дитинець}}, from ''dytyna'' – child). The term has been in use since the 11th century. The term ''kremlin'' first appeared in 14th century in various Russian territories, where it replaced ''dytynets''.

Many Russian [[monasteries]] have been built in a fortress-like style similar to that of a kremlin. For a partial list, see [[:Category:Monasteries in Russia|Monasteries in Russia]].
<!-- Deleted image removed: [[File:Kazankremlinnew.jpg|thumb|center|800px|{{center|[[Kazan Kremlin]] harmoniously combines elements of Eastern Orthodox and Muslim cultures.}}]] -->

== See also ==
* [[Citadel]]

== References ==
{{more footnotes|date=August 2017}}
{{reflist}}

== Further reading ==
* Воронин Н. Н. Владимир, Боголюбово, Суздаль, Юрьев-Польской. М.: Искусство, 1967.
* Кирьянов И. А. Старинные крепости Нижегородского Поволжья. Горький: Горьк. книжн. изд., 1961.
* Косточкин В. В. Русское оборонное зодчество конца XIII — начала XVI веков. М.: Издательство Академии наук, 1962.
* Крадин Н. П. Русское деревянное оборонное зодчество". М.: Искусство, 1988.
* Раппопорт П. А. Древние русские крепости. М.: Наука, 1965.
* Раппопорт П. А. Зодчество Древней Руси. Л.: Наука, 1986.
* Раппопорт П. А. Строительное производство Древней Руси (X—XIII вв.). СПб: Наука, СПб, 1994.
* Сурмина И. О. Самые знаменитые крепости России. М.: Вече, 2002.
* Тихомиров М. Н. Древнерусские города. М.: Гос. изд. полит. лит-ры, 1956.
* Яковлев В. В. Эволюция долговременной фортификации. М.: Воениздат, 1931.

== External links ==
* {{commons category-inline|Kreml}}
* {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20091028154311/http://www.skypalace.org/europe/slavic/east_slavic/russia/kremlins.shtml Russian Fortification Architecture]}}
* [http://rbth.ru/articles/2010/12/23/twelve_russian_kremlins.html Twelve Russian Kremlins] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110119032920/http://rbth.ru/articles/2010/12/23/twelve_russian_kremlins.html |date=2011-01-19 }}
* {{cite web|title=Kremlin|url=http://www.wordsoftheworld.co.uk/videos/kremlin.html|work=Words of the World|publisher=[[Brady Haran]] ([[University of Nottingham]])|author= Cynthia Marsh}}

{{Fortifications}}

[[Category:Fortifications in Russia]]
[[Category:Kremlins| ]]
[[Category:Slavic architecture]]