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The above photo is a panoramic shot of Red Square I did with my new digital camera.

This is Christina and me in front of St. Basils on Red Square. This was built under the reign of Ivan the Terrible who is rumored to have gauged out the eyes of the architect so that he could not build a church so beautiful for any other country.

In an interesting turn of events, the Russian Orthodox Church is considering making Ivan the Terrible a saint, making him perhaps Saint Terrible.

This was an entry arch for St. Basils.

This is Christina and me in front of Moscow University (alma mater of Gorbachev). Stalin had seven buildings like this constructed all around Moscow. They are very striking.

The below two photos are from the Novodevichy Convent and Monastery. Ivan the Terrible was married several times and would lock up his old wives here. Peter the Great's sister tried to overthrow him and he locked her up for life here too. It is rumored that when he would catch her coconspirators, he would hang them right outside her window so when she looked outside, she would see her friends hanging.

Above are the Tzars' Bell and Tzars' Canon located inside the Kremlin. The bell is the largest bell in the world, and the canon is the largest canon in the world. Neither have ever been used. In some ways, these have a lot of symbolism for the country as a whole.

It is rumored that invading Mongols once saw the canon in front of the Kremlin and were so terrified that they turned around and ran in fear.

If you didn't know, the Russian word for fortress is kremlin. Russia has many kremlins, but only one The Kremlin. The Kremlin used to house all the residents of Moscow.

The following churches are located inside the Kremlin Walls:

This is the Lenin Mausoleum