(1552). The monument standing in front of the Cathedral tells us of the people's victory over the
Polish invaders in 1612. The inscription on the monument reads: "To Citizen Minin and Prince
Pozharsky from a grateful Russia". The monument is the work of I. Martos (1752—1835). Not far
from the Cathedral is what is called the Lobnoye Mesto, a platform of white stone more than 400
years old. The tsar's edicts were proclaimed there. Public executions were carried out on a wooden
scaffold erected nearby. To the right of the Cathedral on the territory of the Kremlin we can see a tall
tower, more like a column, over 80 metres high. It is the Bell Tower of Ivan the Great built in the
15th century. There are twenty-two large bells and over thirty small ones in it. For centuries the
eastern side of Red Square had been associated with trading. The first stone shops were built here in
the 16th century. Today on their site stands the State Department Store, better known as GUM.
If we walk up from St. Basil's to the opposite end of the square we face a red brick building.
This is the History Museum. In the west Red Square is adjoining the Kremlin. Just on the other side
of the Kremlin wall we can see the building of the former Senate, an outstanding architectural
monument built by Matvei Kasakov (1738—1813), now the seat of the Administration of the
President. A number of watch-towers protect the Kremlin bridges. The white Kutafya Tower is the
best survivor of all of them. The tallest one is the Trinity Tower (80 m high). But the Spasskaya
Tower with the Kremlin clock has long since become one of the symbols of Moscow.
Memory Work
Sonnet Composed upon Westminster Bridge
Earth has not anything to show more fair:
Dull would he be of soul who could pass by
A sight so touching in its majesty:
This City now doth like a garment wear
The beauty of the morning; silent, bare,
Ships, towers, domes, theatres, and temples lie
Open unto the fields, and to the sky:
All bright and glittering in the smokeless air.
Never did sun more beautifully steep
In his first splendor, valley, rock or hill;
Ne'er saw I, never felt, a calm so deep!
The river glideth at bis own sweet will:
Dear God! the very houses seem asleep;
And all that mighty heart is lying still!
William Wordsworth
ESSENTIAL VOCABULARY (II)
Words
adjoin υ
defeat υ
jewel n
architecture n
dome n
mansion n
armour n
erect υ
residence n
avenue n
float υ
seat n
bury υ
fortress n
shady adj
change υ
guard υ
specimen n
cathedral n
huge adj