Kremlin Senate

Kremlin Senate
Сенатский дворец
Location in the Moscow Kremlin
General information
Architectural style	Neoclassical
Coordinates	55°45′12″N 37°37′9″E / 55.75333°N 37.61917°E / 55.75333; 37.61917
Current tenants	Russian presidential administration
Construction started	1776
Completed	1788
Design and construction
Architect	Matvey Kazakov.

The Kremlin Senate (Russian: Сенатский дворец) is a building within the grounds of the Moscow Kremlin in Russia. Initially constructed from 1776 to 1787, it originally housed the Moscow branch of the Governing Senate, the highest judiciary and legislative office of Imperial Russia. Currently, it houses the Russian presidential administration and is a highly secured and restricted area closed to the public. At present, only the southern corner façade, opposite the Tsar Cannon can be viewed.

The Kremlin Senate is located in the northern part of the Kremlin grounds, between the Kremlin Arsenal and Kremlin Presidium. It is shaped like an isosceles triangle with each side approximately 100 metres (330 ft) in length, and with one side directly adjacent to the Kremlin Wall parallel to Red Square. The building has three floors and is painted in the same yellow color as many other administrative buildings within the Moscow Kremlin.

The triangular structure has an inner courtyard, and is divided by hallways into a central pentahedral portion and two side trihedral portions. In the middle of the main façade is an arched passage fashioned like a triumphal arch leading to the inner yard. Inside is Rotunda Hall (diameter 24.6 metres (81 ft), 27 metres (89 ft) internal height), once called The Pantheon of Russia. Its green dome, carrying the state flag as seen from the Red Square, would later become a Soviet propaganda icon. However, originally it carried a statue of St. George, then a statue of Justice (destroyed by French troops in 1812). The exterior styling of the building is an unusual mix of Doric and Ionic order columns.

Inside the building, the large “Catherine Hall” is designed as a parade room, where especially important ceremonies are held. This is a circular hall, with a 24.7 meter diameter under extensive bas-relief ornamentation depicting Catherine as the Greek goddess Minerva.