The Palace of Facets in the Moscow Kremlin was commissioned by Grand Duke Ivan III after fires ravaged the largely wooden Kremlin. The Italian architects Marco Ruffo and Pietro Solario built it between 1487 and 1492 in the Italian Renaissance style. It is the only surviving part of a larger royal palace, and it is made of white limestone. The eastern facade has horizontal rows of sharp-edged stones, which gave the building its name.
The vaulted main hall covers about 5,380 square feet (500 m²). Solomonic columns were added around the windows in 1684. It looks three stories high but is one story with a semi-basement.
Ivan the Terrible celebrated the conquest of Kazan there for three days in 1552, and the Zemsky Sobor met there in 1654. Stalin demolished the Red Porch staircase in the 1930s, and it was rebuilt in 1994. The presidential administration uses it for ceremonies, and it is open only on prearranged tours.
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