Arsenal

The Arsenal was built between 1702 and 1736, with some interruptions in the work, on the site of the Granary, which burned down in 1701. The general plan of the building was sketched out by Peter the Great himself; the architects were Dmitry Ivanov, Christoph Konrad and others.

The Arsenal was partly destroyed by fire in 1737, and was reconstructed in 1786-96 by the engineer Gerard under the supervision of the architect Kazakov. It was given its present aspect between 1815 and 1828, after the French attempts to blow up the Kremlin before abandoning Moscow made radical rebuilding necessary. The work was begun under the direction of Osip I.Bove, who erected a plain Neo-classical building, with wings laid out in trapezoid form round a pentagonal central courtyard. The Baroque portico was added by Dmitry V. Ukhtomsky.

After the rebuilding it was intended that the Arsenal would be used as an army museum: hence the 875 cannon lining the outside walls. The stucco reliefs of military trophies on the walls reflect the same intention.