Travel Russia Today

During my last visit to Moscow, I had the pleasure of visiting the Grand Kremlin Palace, the Faceted Chamber and Terem. This is the official residence of the Russian president and is completely closed to the public. Except for Exeter guests, of course! While Russian President Dmitry Medvedev does not actually live there, this is where he entertains his guests and where he hosts visits and meetings. Our own President was there just a week before us! In fact, our guide at the Grand Kremlin Palace was very fond of Obama and very excited about his visit.

One of the first rooms we saw was the Faceted Chamber, which used to be the main banquet and reception hall of the Tzars. This beautiful room, which now holds receptions, is covered with murals that were painted by Palekh craftsmen in the 19th century and that capture the most important events of Russian history.

One of the things you will notice is that all throughout the Grand Kremlin Palace the parquet floors are very well taken care of and absolutely flawless. They are essentially an attraction on their own. We were asked to stand on the red carpet in order to preserve the beautiful floor.

Two halls in particular took my breath away. First, I entered St. Alexander Hall, created in honor of Alexander Nevsky. Its walls are decorated with artificial pink marble and gilded bust columns. This room was one of the most exquisite places I had even been in.

But… just as I thought I had seen the most beautiful room in my life, I entered St. Andrew’s Hall – the throne room. This room was restored in the 1990’s and is so powerful and overwhelming that even if I was allowed to take a picture, it would never do it justice. While the whole palace is stunning, this room was by far my favorite and the most breathtaking one. I literally could have sat there for hours just staring.