The Kremlin Walls

The Kremlin is quite the fortress. This huge structure overlooks the north bank of the Moskva River and has been a strategic point of control for hundreds of years, dating back as far as the 2nd century. The Tsars turned it into a palace, and it's currently the residence of Russia's president. The flying buttresses are imposing and the span and size of the walls leaves no doubt that a formidable force lurks behind it. This architecture is not derivative of the democratic facades the ancient Greeks and Romans built, it seems more rooted in a purpose more medieval, when power was concentrated amongst the nobility and the Church... This building is suffused with mystery, not only because I'm a stupid tourist enchanted by it, but because the people who lived here for centuries were largely secluded from the struggles of the great unwashed by these high red walls. What intrigues unfolded behind them? What stories? What lineages constructed such an eternal monument to consolidated power? These walls are not walls that can be scaled with questions or ladder or logic. Only blood and treasure will get you in...