The Armoury Chamber of the Russian Tsars

The collection of weapons of the State Historical and Cultural Museum-Reserve Moscow Kremlin can not be attributed to the category of the largest in Russia. It has only a few thousand storage units. However, in the world, not to find a single historian of weapons, not a single collector who would not know about him and would not want to visit the Armory of the Moscow Kremlin, where for several centuries, the amazing samples of Russian, Western European and Eastern weapons are stored under the protection of powerful fortress walls. XI-XX centuries.
The basis of this assembly is two historical complexes: a large states of the gunsmith treasury - a collection of Russian kings of the XVI-XVII centuries and the Imperial Rural Camera - a collection of the main and hunting weapons of Russian self-containers of the XVIII - early XIX century.

The history of the first of these historically prevailing complexes is rooted in the depths of centuries. Five hundred years ago, almost simultaneously with the formation of a Russian centralized state, with the construction of walls, towers, palaces and councils of the Moscow Kremlin, with the court of the great princes of all Russia, the department has been created, which has stored and manufactured by the princess, and then royal weapons. For a long period of its existence, this agency has repeatedly changed its name: Wersetern Chambers", a brona order, a weapon order, the order of a large sovereign weapon chamber, the workshop and weapon chamber, but his main function has never changed - the function of the repository of the royal weapon. "Academy of Arts of Doparyrovskaya Rus", "Main Delegation of Russia for the Production of Weapons and Equipment", "Treasury" - these and other equally enthusiastic epitats awarded the unique institution of Russian and Soviet researchers. Its value was so great that created at the beginning of the XIX century by decree of the emperor Alexander I on the territory of the Moscow Kremlin the museum was called the Armory Chamber.
Unfortunately, for a long time in our country, not a single significant publication was issued, a specially dedicated to the meeting of the ancient state weapon chamber.
This album is the first book in which the widespread circle of readers is invited to familiarize themselves with the history of the sovereign weapon chamber and with the most famous samples of cold and firearms stored both in the windows of exposition halls and in the museum closed for visitors.
We hope that this book will cause great interest not only from specialists, but also at a wide range of readers who are interested in the history of Russia and weapons".
Scientific leader of the Museums of the Moscow Kremlin, Candidate of Historical Sciences A.K.levykin