Kolomenskoye (Russian: Коло́менское) is an old palace located a few kilometers to the southeast of Moscow's city center, Russia. It is on the old road that leads to the town of Kolomna, which is where the name comes from. The 390-hectare area has beautiful views of the steep banks of the Moskva River. It was added to Moscow in the 1960s.

The White Column of Kolomenskoye

Kolomenskoye village was first recorded in the will of Ivan Kalita in 1339. Over time, the village became a popular summer residence for important rulers of Muscovy. The oldest surviving building is the Ascension Church, constructed in 1532 from white stone. It was built to celebrate the birth of a future heir to the throne, Ivan the Terrible. This church was the first of its kind in Russia, featuring a tent-like shape made of stone, which was different from the styles used in Byzantium.

The church stands on a low, cross-shaped base called a podklet. Above this is an octagonal body known as a chetverik, followed by an octagonal tent topped with a small dome. Narrow pillars on the sides of the chetverik, pointed window frames, three levels of kokoshniks (decorative roof elements), and the pattern of stair-like arcades and open galleries show the church's dynamic design. The vertical structure is thought to have been inspired by wooden churches with hipped roofs found in northern Russia. In 1994, UNESCO added the church to the World Heritage List because of its great historical and cultural importance.

The great palace and other structures

Tsar Alexis I ordered the removal of all wooden buildings in Kolomenskoye and built a large wooden palace in their place. This palace was known for its imaginative, fairy-tale-style roofs. Visitors from other countries called the palace, which had many complex hallways and 250 rooms, "the Eighth Wonder of the World." Though mainly used during warm months, it was Tsar Alexis I's favorite home. The future Empress Elizabeth Petrovna was born there in 1709, and Tsar Peter the Great spent part of his childhood in the palace. When the royal family moved to Saint Petersburg, the palace was left to fall into poor condition. Because of this, Catherine II did not choose it as her residence in Moscow. At her request, the wooden palace was taken down in 1768 and replaced with a simpler stone and brick building.

Plans for the palace built by Tsar Alexis I were preserved. In 2010, the Moscow Government rebuilt the palace. The new structure is located about 1 kilometer (0.62 miles) south of its original site near the White Column to protect the historic ground. The palace built by Catherine the Great in 1768 was later removed in 1872, leaving only a few gates and buildings.

During the early Soviet era, architect and restorer Pyotr Baranovsky helped move old wooden buildings and historical items from across the USSR to Kolomenskoye for protection. Today, Kolomenskoye Park includes many different buildings and historical objects.

• Church of John the Baptist in Dyakovo, 16th century. This church is on Dyakovo Hill, southwest of Kolomenskoye Hill. It has five tent-like structures and was likely built around 1547. It is believed to have been designed by Postnik Yakovlev, the architect of Saint Basil's Cathedral on the Red Square.
• Church of Saint George, 16th century
• Standalone belltower for the church of St. George, 16th century
• Standalone refectory for the church of St. George, 16th century
• Church of Our Lady of Kazan, 17th century
• Watertower, 17th century
• Front gates, 1671–1673
• Polkovhichyi chambers, 17th century
• Prikaznye chambers, 17th century
• Sytny yard, 17th century
• Back gates, 17th century
• Park pavilion, 1825
• Park gates, 19th century

• Barbican church of the Nikolo-Korelsky Monastery
• Bratsk Stockade Tower
• Boris stone from Belarus
• Kurgan stele, from a Polovtsian burial mound
• Chasovoy pole, 17th century
• Tower from the Sumskoy Ostrog fortress, 17th century
• Memorial pole from Shaydorovo village, 19th century
• Mead making facility, 18th century
• Peter the Great house (18th century) from the Northern Dvina
• Lion's Gates from the Moscow Kremlin (surviving fragments)

• Water mill on the Zhuzha River

• Oak-trees grove (one of the oldest oaks in Moscow)
• Golosov Ravine with sacred stones and springs in it
• Zhuzha River, emerging from underground
• Kolomenskoye Stream, in Golosov Ravine
• Kolutushkin Stream, in the ravine of that name
• Dyakovskaya Stream, in the ravine of that name, into which several other ravines empty (all on the left: Vospenkov, Lekseev, Bazarihin, Radyushin)

• Dyakovo settlement