HALL 9. ROYAL CARRIAGES OF THE 16TH - 18TH CENTURIES

The Armoury collection of carriages includes works by leading European and Russian cartwrights as well as architects and artists. It allows to trace the development of carriage craft in Russia and Western Europe, enables to discover the changes in form, design and décor of ceremonial carriages from the most ancient, e.g. the carriage of Boris Godunov of the 16th century, to the late 18th-century graceful and comfortable ones, those belonging to Empress Catherine the Great. In total, there are seventeen carriages in the collections of the Kremlin Museums.

The carriage was considered to be a precious gift. There are carriages presented by King Jacob I, King Frederic II and others in the Armoury Chamber.

Royal kids were accustomed to carriages from their adolescence. In the collection of the Museum, there are so-called “amusement carriages”, which were made for amusement by the makers of the Kremlin workshops in the 17th century.

The collection is particularly valuable as all the carriages have survived without substantial alterations. Besides, the names of carriages' creators and Russian sovereigns owning them and members of their families are known.