The Moscow Kremlin is a fortified complex in the heart of Moscow, with five palaces, four cathedrals, an enclosing wall and many towers. Dmitri Donskoi built a white limestone citadel here in 1366 to 1368. Between 1485 and 1495 Italian masters rebuilt the walls, with Pietro Antonio Solari designing them and Marco Ruffo a palace. Aristotele Fioravanti designed the Dormition Cathedral, completed in 1479.
The wall encloses about 68 acres (275,000 sq m), runs roughly 7,300 feet (2,235 m) and stands 16 to 62 feet (5 to 19 m) high, with twenty mostly square towers. Cathedral Square holds the Dormition, Annunciation and Archangel Michael cathedrals beside the 266-foot (81 m) Ivan the Great Bell Tower, completed in 1600. The Grand Kremlin Palace, built from 1839 to 1849, is the largest structure.
Soviet rule destroyed 28 of 54 historic buildings. UNESCO listed the complex in 1990, and visits are by supervised tour.
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