# Kremlin Armoury, Moscow

> The Kremlin’s treasure house: Monomakh’s Cap, tsars’ thrones, gilded carriages and ten Fabergé eggs — about 4,000 objects in nine halls. A ticket costs 1,400 ₽ (800 ₽ for children 7–16, free under 7). Open 10:00–18:00 with timed entry at 10:00, 12:00, 14:30 and 16:30; closed on Thursdays. Allow about 90 minutes inside.

Web page: https://yesgo.io/russia/moscow/kremlin-armoury

- City: [Moscow](https://yesgo.io/russia/moscow), Russia
- YesGo score: 44/100 (Yes, if nearby)
- Time on site: 1 h 30 min
- With kids: Fine with kids
- Ticket: 1,400 ₽
- With audio guide or tour: 1,900 ₽
- Children 7–16: 800 ₽, any nationality
- Under 7: Free — but they still need a ticket
- Entry sessions: 10:00, 12:00, 14:30, 16:30
- Opening hours: 10:00–18:00, closed Thursdays
- Ticket offices: Alexander Garden, 9:30–16:30
- Online sales: Open 17 days ahead; swap your voucher at the ticket office at least 45 min before your session
- Entrance: Borovitsky Gate of the Kremlin
- Photos and video: Not allowed
- Metro: Borovitskaya, Biblioteka imeni Lenina, Aleksandrovsky Sad, Arbatskaya
- Payment: Visa and Mastercard issued abroad don’t work in Russia
- Coordinates: 55.74958, 37.61341
- Facts checked: 29.10.2026

## Key facts

- **About 4,000** — objects on display, 12th to early 20th century (source: Official website of the Moscow Kremlin Museums; Russian Wikipedia, “Armoury Chamber”)
- **10** — Imperial Fabergé Easter eggs — the largest collection of them anywhere (source: English Wikipedia, “Kremlin Armoury”; Moscow Kremlin Museums, “Fabergé. Easter Gifts”)
- **Late 13th–early 14th c.** — Monomakh’s Cap, the oldest piece of Russian regalia (source: Armoury Chamber official website, showcase 50; English Wikipedia, “Regalia of the Russian tsars”)
- **1806** — Alexander I made the Armoury a museum — one of Moscow’s first public museums (source: English and Russian Wikipedia)
- **1508** — the royal arsenal was set up as a separate treasury under Vasily III (source: English and Russian Wikipedia)
- **1851** — the current building by Konstantin Thon was completed (source: Official website of the Moscow Kremlin Museums; Russian Wikipedia)
- **9 halls** — in the permanent display (source: Russian Wikipedia, “Armoury Chamber”; Tourister.ru guide)
- **698 g** — the weight of Monomakh’s Cap, the lightest Russian crown (source: Armoury Chamber official website, showcase 50; English Wikipedia)
- **1682–1684** — the double throne made for the boy tsars Ivan and Peter (source: Armoury Chamber official website, showcase 48; Moscow Kremlin Museums catalogue)
- **English coach** — the oldest carriage in the collection, a gift from James I to Boris Godunov (source: Armoury Chamber official website; Victoria and Albert Museum)
- **Since 1967** — the Diamond Fund exhibition has been in the same building — with separate tickets (source: Russian and English Wikipedia)

> **Closed on Thursdays — and you can only enter at your session time** The Armoury, like all Kremlin museums, shuts every Thursday. On other days entry is timed: 10:00, 12:00, 14:30 or 16:30, and the time on your ticket is when you go in. Miss it and the next slot is two hours later — if it hasn’t sold out.

## Kremlin Armoury tickets and prices

**An adult ticket is 1,400 ₽; with an audio guide or a guided tour it is 1,900 ₽.** Children aged 7–16 of any nationality pay 800 ₽, and under-7s go free but still need a ticket. Other discounts — for students, pensioners and 16–18-year-olds — are for Russian citizens only, so most foreign adults pay the full price.

The Armoury ticket covers the Armoury only. Cathedral Square, with the Kremlin cathedrals, the Tsar Cannon and the Tsar Bell, is a separate 1,100 ₽ ticket, and the Diamond Fund in the same building is another one again.

Tickets are sold on the official Moscow Kremlin Museums website from 17 days before your date and at the ticket offices in the Alexander Garden (9:30–16:30). Online payment needs a Russian bank card: **Visa and Mastercard cards issued abroad have not worked in Russia since March 2022**. If you don’t have one, bring roubles and buy at the ticket office on the day, or book a guided tour that includes the ticket.

Resellers often charge several times the face value. YesGo’s view: the only add-on worth paying for here is a real guide.

> **An e-ticket still has to be swapped for a paper one** Online vouchers must be exchanged at the Alexander Garden ticket offices on the day — in the general queue, with the buyer’s passport, and no later than 45 minutes before your session. Aim to arrive an hour early: after the swap you still walk to the Borovitsky Gate and go through security.

## Opening hours and session times

The Armoury is open **10:00–18:00 every day except Thursday**, with entry sessions at **10:00, 12:00, 14:30 and 16:30**. Once you are in, there is no set route or time limit — you can stay until closing.

Ticket offices close at 16:30, the same time as the last session, so buying a walk-up ticket for 16:30 is cutting it fine. Cathedral Square keeps its own hours: 10:00–17:00 from 1 October to 14 May and 9:30–18:00 from 15 May to 30 September, also closed Thursdays.

The Kremlin occasionally closes to visitors around state events and public holidays, so check the official calendar the day before you go.

## How to get to the Kremlin Armoury

1. Take the metro to **Borovitskaya** (grey line 9), **Biblioteka imeni Lenina** (red line 1), **Aleksandrovsky Sad** (light-blue line 4) or **Arbatskaya** (dark-blue line 3). The four stations are linked by passages and all exit by the Alexander Garden.
2. If you bought online, go first to the ticket offices in the Alexander Garden by the Kutafya Tower and swap your voucher — at least 45 minutes before your session.
3. Walk along the Kremlin wall through the Alexander Garden to the **Borovitsky Gate** at the Kremlin’s south-west corner — about 7–10 minutes. This is the Armoury entrance; the Kutafya Tower is for Cathedral Square.
4. Coming from [Red Square](https://yesgo.io/russia/moscow/red-square), pass the State Historical Museum into the Alexander Garden and walk past the Eternal Flame to the ticket offices — about 10 minutes — then on to the Borovitsky Gate.
5. There is a security check at the gate. Large bags, backpacks, scooters and bikes aren’t allowed; there is a left-luggage room, but it takes extra time.

## Is the Kremlin Armoury worth it?

Yes, if you like history, craftsmanship or jewellery: nowhere else in Moscow puts this many famous objects in one place, and 90 minutes is enough to see every hall without rushing. If you can only pay for one Kremlin ticket and you love museums, YesGo would pick the Armoury over Cathedral Square.

Skip it if you have one day in Moscow and would rather be outdoors. The timed ticket, the ticket-office queue and the security check add 30–60 minutes, and you can’t take a single photo inside. In that case Red Square and the [Kremlin](https://yesgo.io/russia/moscow/moscow-kremlin) cathedrals give you more Moscow for the time.

Get the audio guide. Labels are brief and mostly in Russian, and the stories behind the objects are the whole point. The museum’s own guided tours are in Russian or with an interpreter you bring, so a private English-speaking guide is the easier option.

## What to see inside the Armoury

- **Monomakh’s Cap** — the gold, sable-trimmed cap of the late 13th–early 14th century used to crown Russian rulers from Ivan the Terrible until the late 1600s. Where it was made is still debated; the museum calls it oriental work.
- **Fabergé eggs** — ten Imperial Easter eggs, the largest such collection anywhere, including one hiding a tiny clockwork model of the Trans-Siberian express.
- **Thrones** — the silver double throne of the boy tsars Ivan and Peter (1682–1684), with a hidden window at the back for an adviser to whisper answers, and Tsar Alexei’s Persian “Diamond Throne”, covered in turquoise and diamonds.
- **Carriages** — a hall of coaches and sledges from the 16th to the 18th century. The oldest is an English coach sent by King James I to Boris Godunov, the only one of its type left in the world.
- **Coronation dresses** — including Catherine the Great’s wedding and coronation gowns.
- **Arms and armour** — the 13th-century helmet of Prince Yaroslav Vsevolodovich, Russian and oriental sabres, Turkish and Persian diplomatic gifts.
- **Silver** — the world’s largest collection of 16th–17th-century Western European silver, much of it gifts from English, Dutch and Swedish embassies.

## Is the Diamond Fund part of the Armoury?

No. The Diamond Fund exhibition has been in the **same building** since 1967, but it is a separate museum with its own tickets, sessions and entrance. An Armoury ticket won’t get you in, and vice versa.

The Imperial crowns, the sceptre with the Orlov diamond and the giant gold nuggets are in the Diamond Fund; Monomakh’s Cap, the thrones, the carriages and Fabergé are in the Armoury. To do both on one day, book two sessions at least 90 minutes to two hours apart.

## A short history

The royal arsenal became a separate treasury in **1508**, under Vasily III. In the 17th century the Armoury was the Kremlin’s main workshop, where craftsmen forged weapons, made jewellery and painted icons.

When Peter the Great moved the capital, the craftsmen went to St Petersburg and the Armoury became a storehouse. Alexander I turned it into a museum in **1806**, and the treasures were evacuated ahead of Napoleon’s army in 1812.

In **1851** the collection moved into Konstantin Thon’s new building by the Borovitsky Gate, where it still is. The Soviet state sold part of it abroad in the 1920s and 1930s, but ten of the Imperial Fabergé eggs stayed.

## Before you go: checklist

- [ ] It isn’t Thursday
- [ ] Ticket for a session — or at the ticket office before 16:30
- [ ] Voucher swap planned 45+ minutes before the session
- [ ] Passport of the person who bought the tickets
- [ ] Roubles in cash or a Russian card — foreign Visa and Mastercard won’t work
- [ ] No large bag or backpack
- [ ] Phone away inside — no photos allowed
- [ ] A separate ticket if you also want the Diamond Fund

## Armoury vs Cathedral Square vs State Historical Museum

|  | Kremlin Armoury | Cathedral Square | State Historical Museum |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| What it is | Treasure house: regalia, thrones, carriages, Fabergé | Cathedrals, bell tower, Tsar Cannon and Tsar Bell | Russian history from prehistory on, on Red Square |
| Ticket | 1,400 ₽, timed entry | 1,100 ₽, no time slot | Separate ticket |
| Entrance | Borovitsky Gate | Kutafya Tower | From Red Square |
| Photos | Not allowed | Allowed, no flash | — |
| Time needed | ≈ 1.5 h | 1–1.5 h | 2–3 h |

Choosing one in the Kremlin? Cathedral Square gives you more open-air Moscow; the Armoury gives you more treasure. Both fit in one day: cathedrals in the morning, the 14:30 Armoury session after lunch.

## Moscow’s historic sights compared

Every historic place in Moscow rated by YesGo.

- [Red Square](https://yesgo.io/russia/moscow/red-square) — YesGo score 79/100 (Yes, go) · 30 min · Free
- [Lenin's Mausoleum](https://yesgo.io/russia/moscow/lenin-mausoleum) — YesGo score 72/100 (Yes, go) · 20 min · Free
- [Cathedral of Christ the Saviour](https://yesgo.io/russia/moscow/cathedral-of-christ-the-saviour) — YesGo score 72/100 (Yes, go) · 40 min · Free
- [Moscow Metro](https://yesgo.io/russia/moscow/moscow-metro) — YesGo score 70/100 (Yes, go) · 1 h 30 min · 75 ₽ on Troika
- [St Basil's Cathedral](https://yesgo.io/russia/moscow/st-basils-cathedral) — YesGo score 65/100 (Yes, go) · 45 min · 2,000 ₽ for foreign visitors
- [Moscow Kremlin](https://yesgo.io/russia/moscow/moscow-kremlin) — YesGo score 64/100 (Yes, go) · 2 h 30 min · from 1,100 ₽
- [Kitay-gorod](https://yesgo.io/russia/moscow/kitay-gorod) — YesGo score 58/100 (Yes, go) · 1 h · Free
- [Bolshoi Theatre](https://yesgo.io/russia/moscow/bolshoi-theatre) — YesGo score 56/100 (Yes, go) · 2 h · Tickets on bolshoi.ru, price varies by show
- [Patriarch's Ponds](https://yesgo.io/russia/moscow/patriarch-ponds) — YesGo score 53/100 (Yes, go) · 30 min · Free
- [Arbat Street](https://yesgo.io/russia/moscow/arbat-street) — YesGo score 50/100 (Yes, go) · 1 h · Free
- [State Historical Museum](https://yesgo.io/russia/moscow/state-historical-museum) — YesGo score 49/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h 30 min · 2,000 ₽ for foreign visitors
- [Tretyakov Gallery](https://yesgo.io/russia/moscow/tretyakov-gallery) — YesGo score 49/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 2 h 30 min · 700 ₽
- [Tverskaya Street](https://yesgo.io/russia/moscow/tverskaya-street) — YesGo score 48/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 45 min · Free
- [Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts](https://yesgo.io/russia/moscow/pushkin-museum) — YesGo score 48/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 2 h · 700 ₽ per building
- [Novodevichy Convent](https://yesgo.io/russia/moscow/novodevichy-convent) — YesGo score 48/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h · Free, museum 500 ₽
- [Kremlin Armoury](https://yesgo.io/russia/moscow/kremlin-armoury) — YesGo score 44/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h 30 min · 1,400 ₽
- [Chistye Prudy](https://yesgo.io/russia/moscow/chistye-prudy) — YesGo score 43/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 30 min · Free
- [VDNKh](https://yesgo.io/russia/moscow/vdnkh) — YesGo score 42/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 3 h · Free entry, pavilions paid
- [Kolomenskoye](https://yesgo.io/russia/moscow/kolomenskoye) — YesGo score 38/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 2 h · Park free, palace ≈ 700 ₽
- [Poklonnaya Hill](https://yesgo.io/russia/moscow/poklonnaya-hill) — YesGo score 36/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h · Park free; Victory Museum 450 ₽
- [Kuskovo Estate](https://yesgo.io/russia/moscow/kuskovo) — YesGo score 29/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h 30 min · Park 100 ₽, palace 500 ₽
- [Tsaritsyno](https://yesgo.io/russia/moscow/tsaritsyno) — YesGo score 26/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 2 h · Park free, palace 900 ₽

## Red Square, the Kremlin and the Armoury in a day

Start on Red Square, see Cathedral Square through the Kutafya Tower, take the 14:30 Armoury session after lunch, then walk 10 minutes from the Borovitsky Gate to the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour.

1. [Red Square](https://yesgo.io/russia/moscow/red-square) — YesGo score 79/100 (Yes, go) · 30 min · Free
2. [Moscow Kremlin](https://yesgo.io/russia/moscow/moscow-kremlin) — YesGo score 64/100 (Yes, go) · 2 h 30 min · from 1,100 ₽
3. [Kremlin Armoury](https://yesgo.io/russia/moscow/kremlin-armoury) — YesGo score 44/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h 30 min · 1,400 ₽
4. [Cathedral of Christ the Saviour](https://yesgo.io/russia/moscow/cathedral-of-christ-the-saviour) — YesGo score 72/100 (Yes, go) · 40 min · Free

## Good to know

In Russian it is Oruzheynaya Palata; English sources also call it the Armoury Chamber or the Kremlin Armory. It is not the Diamond Fund, and it is not the Kremlin Palace — the Grand Kremlin Palace next door is a state residence and is not part of a normal visit.

## Tips

- Take the 10:00 session: the halls are quieter and you still have the whole day for the Kremlin and the centre.
- Start with the regalia and thrones while you are fresh — the carriages at the end are quick to see.
- Pair it with Cathedral Square: cathedrals in the morning, the 14:30 Armoury session after lunch.
- From the Borovitsky Gate it’s a 10-minute walk to the [Cathedral of Christ the Saviour](https://yesgo.io/russia/moscow/cathedral-of-christ-the-saviour) or 15 minutes to the [Pushkin Museum](https://yesgo.io/russia/moscow/pushkin-museum).
- No photos inside — the museum shop sells postcards and catalogues of the main pieces.
- The audio guide costs 500 ₽ on top of the basic ticket and is worth it if you aren’t with a guide.

## Questions

### How much is a ticket to the Kremlin Armoury?

1,400 ₽ for adults, 1,900 ₽ with an audio guide or tour. Children 7–16 of any nationality pay 800 ₽; under-7s are free.

### What are the Kremlin Armoury opening hours?

10:00–18:00, closed on Thursdays. Entry is by session at 10:00, 12:00, 14:30 and 16:30; ticket offices are open 9:30–16:30.

### Do I need to book Kremlin Armoury tickets in advance?

It’s wise. Sessions can sell out, especially at weekends. Online sales open 17 days ahead, but you need a Russian bank card; without one, buy at the Alexander Garden ticket office on the day.

### Can foreigners pay by card?

Not with Visa or Mastercard issued abroad — they don’t work in Russia. Bring roubles or a Russian card, or book a guided tour that includes the entrance ticket.

### How long do you need at the Kremlin Armoury?

About 90 minutes for all nine halls, plus 30–60 minutes for the ticket office, the walk to the Borovitsky Gate and security.

### Where is the entrance to the Kremlin Armoury?

At the Borovitsky Gate, the Kremlin’s south-west corner — not the Kutafya Tower. The nearest metro stations are Borovitskaya, Biblioteka imeni Lenina, Aleksandrovsky Sad and Arbatskaya.

### Are there Fabergé eggs in the Kremlin Armoury?

Yes — ten Imperial Fabergé Easter eggs, the largest such collection in the world.

### Can you take photos in the Kremlin Armoury?

No. Photography and filming are banned inside to protect the exhibits.

### Is the Diamond Fund included in the Armoury ticket?

No. It is in the same building but has its own tickets, sessions and entrance.

### Does the Armoury ticket include the Kremlin cathedrals?

No. Cathedral Square is a separate ticket (1,100 ₽) with its own entrance through the Kutafya Tower.

## How we checked

Prices, sessions, concessions, the Thursday closure, online sales dates, voucher rules, the photo ban, the Borovitsky Gate entrance and the metro stations come from the official Moscow Kremlin Museums website, 29.10.2026. The museum dates the building to 1851; encyclopedias give different start years (1844 or 1849), so we show only the completion year. The English coach is dated to 1603 or 1604 depending on the source, so we give no year. The count of ten Fabergé eggs is from English Wikipedia; the museum calls its Imperial egg collection the largest but gives no number on that page. Nine halls is from Russian Wikipedia and the Tourister.ru guide. Visit length and walking times are our estimate from the Kremlin map. The official site does not list payment methods at the ticket offices.

## Sources

- Official website of the Moscow Kremlin Museums: tickets, visitor guide, Armoury Chamber, how to get there, calendar, 29.10.2026
- Armoury Chamber official website (Moscow Kremlin Museums): showcases 47, 48 and 50; “Coach. England, late 16th century”
- Moscow Kremlin Museums: “Fabergé. Easter Gifts”
- English Wikipedia: Kremlin Armoury, Regalia of the Russian tsars; Russian Wikipedia: Armoury Chamber; Wikidata Q1304121
- Victoria and Albert Museum: the English coach presented to Boris Godunov
- Tourister.ru guide: Armoury Chamber
- Visa and Mastercard statements on suspending operations in Russia, March 2022

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