Faceted Palace (Granovitaya Palata)

This Kremlin building is Moscow's oldest secular structure. It is also the only surviving part of the palace complex of Ivan III. Architects Marco Ruffo and Pietro Antonio Solari definitely drew on the palazzi architecture of northern Italy for inspiration when building the palace between 1487 and 1491. The faceted limestone blocks and regularly spaced rectangular windows on the main facade conjure up images of renaissance buildings in Italy. As always russian architecture can blow your mind away and this is certanly not and exception.