This view from Ivanovskaya Square shows two of the most important and still active buildings within Moscow Kremlin. Consequently, they are off limits to tourists. On the right is the Kremlin Senate. After opening in 1787, it housed the legislative, judicial, and executive branches (Governing Senate) until the Russian Empire ended in 1917. Since 1998, the First Building has been the offices of the Presidential Administration of Russia including the President of the Russian Federation. On the left is the Kremlin Arsenal. Originally constructed in 1736, it was rebuilt twice: once after a 1737 fire and again after destroyed by Napoleon’s army in 1812. Today, it is occupied by the Kremlin Regiment, an elite military unit assigned to protect Moscow Kremlin and Russia’s president.
