For several centuries the river Neglinnaya run through the today Alexander Garden. It was a terrain barrier in front of the walls of the ancient Moscow Kremlin. But by 19 century the Neglinka lost its defense importance.
In 1812, within the reconstruction of the center of Moscow after the fire, which took place during the invasion of Napoleon, the architect Joseph Bové suggested to cover the river Neglinnaya with a masonry vault. Above the river it was decided to create the Kremlin Park (now the Alexander Garden). Today it is a small but very comfortable park near Manezhanya Square.
On one side the Alexander Garden is dominated by the wall of the Moscow Kremlin. The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier devoted to the soldiers killed during the Great Patriotic War is at this wall. The obelisks to the hero cities, the cities, which came off the worst during the war, are near the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
Every hour the changing of the guard took place at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. For many years this ceremony took place at the doors of Lenin`s Mausoleum. But in the 90th of the past century it was moved to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the Alexander Garden. The changing of the guard is still attended by dozens of tourists.
You can see several monuments from different centuries at the Alexander Garden: the Stella In Honor Of The 300th Anniversary Of The Reign Of The Romanov Dynasty, the monument to Patriarch Hermogenes, the monument to Alexander I, the «Ruins» grotto, and the fountain with four horses representing four seasons with the appropriate name. In 2017 in the south of the Alexander Garden, near Paskov`s House, there was installed a large monument to Vladimir the Great, the baptizer of the Kievan Rus`.
Kutafya Tower is in the middle of the Alexander Garden. Now it is the main tourist entrance to the Moscow Kremlin. You can buy tickets at the Middle Garden and enter the Moscow Kremlin through the Kutafya Tower.
