The gardens run along the west wall of the Kremlin. Their history goes back into the distant past. At one time the River Neglinnaya, a tributary of the Moskva, flowed along here protecting the Kremlin walls. There were two bridges over the Neglinnaya, a drawbridge by the Pine-Grove Tower and a stone arched bridge linking the Trinity and Kutafia towers. At the end of the fifteenth century on the orders of Ivan III the buildings on the right bank of the river were pulled down for defensive purposes, and at the beginning of the next century three dams were set up on the Neglinnaya in the form of ponds on one of which there were swans.
      In the sixteenth century Ivan the Terrible ordered an Apothecary Garden to be planted on the right bank of the Neglinnaya with fruit trees and medicinal plants. This existed for about a century and a half. In 1707-08, when Moscow faced the threat of invasion by the army of King Charles XII of Sweden, earthen bastions were erected on the site of the garden. The River Neglinnaya was diverted into an artificial moat, and five pentahedral bastions were erected on its former bed. The Apothecary Garden was moved to the edge of the town, now the Mir (Peace) Avenue district.

Alexandrovsky Gardens

      During the extensive reconstruction of Moscow which took place after the Patriotic War of 1812, the River Neglinnaya was enclosed in an underground pipe, the earthen bastions demolished (traces of them can be seen by the Armoury Tower from the side of the gardens) and in their place from a design by the architect Osip Bove the Alexandrovsky Gardens were laid out, consisting of three sections: the Upper Garden (from Revolution Square to the Trinity Tower), the Middle Garden (from the Trinity Tower to the Pine-Grove Tower) and the Lower Garden (from the Pine-Grove Tower to the Kremlin Embankment). This work took from 1819 to 1822.
      The Alexandrovsky Gardens are most attractive. In designing them, the architect sought to make use of the finest achievements in the art of garden and park planning. The basis of the regular plan was three avenues running parallel to the Kremlin wall. In his desire for maximum diversity Bove combined regular planning with the free arrangement of trees and elements of romantic-style gardens.
      The gardens are surrounded by splendid decorative iron railings. Note the north side facing the History Museum: the monumental iron gate, the symmetrical row of tall posts in the form of fasces of Ancient Rome (bundles of rods bound with ribbons and an ax in the middle), the crossed arrows in octahedrons with antique masks in the huge panels, and the pike heads. The composition and decorative details remind one of the military valour of the Russian people in the Patriotic War of 1812. On the side bordered by Ma-nezhnaya Square the Gardens' iron railings were designed by the architect Fyodor Shestakov.
      Among the items of interest in the gardens is a Ruined Grotto with splendid iron railings by the Middle Arsenal Tower. The powerful Doric colonnade seems to be supporting the vault formed by piles of stone. This type of edifice in the style of romantic ruins was very popular in Russia at the beginning of the last century. The portico and ornamental details designed by Osip Bove have been restored.