n and magnificence, Moscow was
endowed with her richest monuments. It was then the numerous churches
arose, the Kremlin, and the palaces of the boyars. At that time the
city consisted of the Kremlin and the three walled-in enclosures
which encircle it and each other as the several skins and shell
inclose the kernel of a walnut. It appears to have been built in a
haphazard fashion, though the old plans, with the houses sketched
in rows, exhibit an uniformity of streets and buildings. They show
us also that the houses were for the most part of wood, having each
a covered outside staircase leading to the upper stories. Built
so much of wood it was exposed to frequent conflagrations, the last
being the great burning at the time of the French invasion in 1812.
But so quickly was it always rebuilt and on the same lines that it
has ever retained its original and irregular aspect. The Kremlin
was at first of wood, but under the two Ivans it was surrounded by
the solid stone walls of white stone cut in facets, which have
given to the city the name "White Mother," or "Holy Mother Moscow
with the white walls."

[Illustration: MOSCOW.]

The Kremlin is at the same time a fortress and a city contained
within itself, with its streets and palaces, churches, monasteries,
and barracks. Eighteen towers and five gateways garnish the long
extent of the inclosing wall; two of the gateways are interesting;
that of the Saviour built by Pietro Solario in 1491, and that of
the Trinity by Christopher Galloway in the Seventeenth Century.
Here, among the churches are those of the Assumption and of St.
Michael; here are the new palace of the Tsar, the restored Terem
(what is left of the old palace), the sacristy and library of the
patriarchs, the treasure and regalia, the great tower of Ivan Veliki
in which hangs the largest bell in the world that will ring, and
beneath it the "Tsar Kolokol," the king of bells, which it is supposed
has never been rung and the king of cannons which has never been
fired.

The ancient "Kazna," or treasury of the Kremlin, where the riches
of the Tsars have been preserved from time immemorial was in the
reign of Ivan III. situated within the walls of the Kremlin, between
the Cathedrals of St. Michael and of the Annunciation. Here it
remained until the great fire of 1737. The treasure had already
suffered a heavy loss: in the early part of the Seventeenth Century,
at the time of the war with Poland, a large quantity