Faceted Palace. This is the Red Staircase. The Tsars passed down this staircase on their way to their coronations. The last such procession was Nicholas II in 1896. In 1682 several of Peter the Great's relatives were hurled down the staircase onto the spikes of the Streltsy guard. Demolished by Stalin in the 1930s, the staircase was rebuilt in 1994 at great expense.
(09.18 24Jun00)
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