Old postcards The Moscow Kremlin

The brick walls and towers of the Moscow Kremlin were built under Italian architects from 1485 onwards. Slightly earlier, by 1479, Aristotele Fioravanti had completed the Assumption Cathedral; masters from Pskov built the Annunciation Cathedral in 1484–1489, and Aloisio the New raised the Archangel Cathedral, burial place of the Moscow rulers, in 1505–1508.

The 1985 set walks across Cathedral Square almost building by building. The Assumption, Annunciation and Archangel cathedrals are shown outside and in, including the carved west portal of the Annunciation Cathedral and the interior of the Assumption. Next come the Church of the Deposition of the Robe with its iconostasis, the Cathedral of the Twelve Apostles and the Ivan the Great Bell Tower with its belfry, raised to 81 metres under Boris Godunov.

These vintage postcards of the Moscow Kremlin also cover two famous feats of casting: the Tsar Cannon, cast by Andrey Chokhov in 1586, and the Tsar Bell by Ivan and Mikhail Motorin (1735), which weighs about 200 tonnes, was damaged in the fire of 1737 and was never used as a bell. The palace side is represented by the Grand Kremlin Palace (1838–1849, Konstantin Thon) with its St George Hall, the Armoury Chamber building, and the Kremlin Palace of Congresses, opened in 1961, together with its foyer.

A single set from 1985 thus spans buildings from the late 15th to the mid-20th century.