The Armoury Chamber in Moscow Kremlin

The most popular and most visited museum in Moscow according to TripAdvisor is The Kremlin Armoury. If there is one museum that tourists should not miss while visiting the capital of Russia – it is this museum.

The Armoury Chamber has a long history dating back to 1508 when the Royal Russian Arsenal was established. Throughout the years the Arsenal merged with the Fiscal Yard (depository of Royal Treasures) and Master Chamber (in charge of sewing clothes and bedclothes for the tsars) and was renamed into Arms and Master Chamber. Under Alexander I the Armoury became one of the first public museums in Moscow – opening its doors in 1813.

As with the Diamond Fund there is some controversy on what happened to the Armoury during and soon after the Russian Revolution. Nevertheless, the Armoury Chamber became an official museum of the Kremlin in 1960 and currently houses ancient state regalia, ceremonial royal clothes, coronation dresses, vestments of Russian czars, ceremonial arms and armour, carriages, horse ceremonial harness and much more.

This is one of the Museums were we would highly recommend getting a private tour as the tickets to the Chamber are almost always sold out and the vast amount of historical artifacts will be much better understood with a professional guide.