Granovitaya Palata, The Faceted Hall, 1988 (photo)

Granovitaya Palata , The Faceted Hall, now incorporated in the Grand Kremlin Palace, Moscow, is a building in the Moscow Kremlin, Russia, which contains what used to be the main banquet reception hall of the Muscovite Tsars. It is the oldest preserved secular building in Moscow. Located on Kremlin Cathedral Square, between the Cathedral of the Annunciation and the Dormition Cathedral. Currently, it is an official ceremonial hall in the residence of the President of the Russian Federationand thus admission is limited to prearranged tours only. Cementing his ties with the church, Ivan the Great took his wife the Byzantine princess Sophia in 1472. Unhappy with the provincial character of his court, he hired Aristotle Fioravanti and other Italian architects to refurbish the Kremlin. Besides rebuilding the Assumption Cathedral, they erected the magnificent Palace of Facets. Designed in the Italian style, it was completed in 1491 making at the oldest secular building in the Kremlin. Perhaps the most celebrated room in the Kremlin, its main chamber served both as a throne room and a reception hall for Ivan and his successors. Photo by Cary Sol Wolinsky