The ancient "Kazna," or treasury of the Kremlin, where the riches
of the Tsars have been preserved from time immemorial was in the
reign of Ivan III. situated within the walls of the Kremlin, between
the Cathedrals of St. Michael and of the Annunciation. Here it
remained until the great fire of 1737. The treasure had already
suffered a heavy loss: in the early part of the Seventeenth Century,
at the time of the war with Poland, a large quantity of plate was
melted down to provide for the payment of the troops. The fire
of 1737 caused a further and greater loss and destroyed also a
large part of the armoury. At the time of the French invasion in
1812 the whole of the treasure, together with the regalia, was
removed to Novgorod, and thus escaped destruction of seizure. On
its return to Moscow in 1814, systematic arrangements were made
for its preservation, and for the formation and arrangement of
the museum in which it is now exhibited. In the year 1850 the new
building of the Orujenaia Palata which forms part of the modern
palace of the Kremlin was completed, and to this the entire collection
was transferred.
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