A kremlin (Russian: кремль, kreml;, fortress; same root as in kremen (Russian: кремень, kremen;, flint)) is a major fortified central complex found in historic Russian cities. This word is often used to refer to the most famous one, the Moscow Kremlin, or metonymically to the government that is based there. Outside Russia, the name Kremlin is sometimes mistakenly thought of as being Saint Basil's Cathedral because of its distinctive environment, although the cathedral is not a part of the Moscow Kremlin.
Russia's presidential administration is located in the Moscow Kremlin. During the Cold War the government of the USSR was located in the Moscow Kremlin but now the Russian government occupies a building outside it.
Read more about Kremlin: The Short List of Russian Cities With Kremlins, Kremlins Outside Borders of Modern Russia, Further Reading
Famous quotes containing the word kremlin:
“Next week Reagan will probably announce that American scientists have discovered that the entire U.S. agricultural surplus can be compacted into a giant tomato one thousand miles across, which will be suspended above the Kremlin from a cluster of U.S. satellites flying in geosynchronous orbit. At the first sign of trouble the satellites will drop the tomato on the Kremlin, drowning the fractious Muscovites in ketchup.”
—Alexander Cockburn (b. 1941)