The Armory Museum The Armory building, located in the Northwestern section of the Kremlin, was built in 1851 as a factory for making weapons and armor. Today the Armory houses a museum, in which an enormous collection of Soviet national treasures, including the famous Faberge eggs, is on display. Some of the oldest pieces in the Kremlin collection are found in the Armory exhibit. Other exhibits within the Armory give us glimpses of day to day life for the Czars and their families. Food was served on elaborate gold and silver dishes, including this platter, a gift from Ivan the Terrible to one of his wives. Wine was served from enormous silver urns, then drunk from bejeweled goblets. When it came to travel, the Imperial Family rode in only the most extravagant carriages of the day. The Kremlin Museum contains a collection of 16th, 17th, and 18th Century coaches. Jewelry,worn by the Imperial Family, constitutes some of the finest work of Russian Craftsman over the centuries. This Russian gold filigree, an enamel barme, a neck ornament dates to the end of the12th Century. Later, pieces of jewelry are studded with precious and semi-precious stones. Religious scenes in enamel. Portraits of Czars. Perhaps the most spectacular Russian craftsmanship was reserved for the Imperial headpieces. Most of the early Czars chose to wear headpieces lined with sable fur. These were called "caps". Peter the Great was the last Czar to wear a cap. All succeeding Czars favored the European fashion of wearing fur-less headpieces called crowns. Some of the most spectacular displays in the Kremlin museum contain various religious items from chalices, to elaborate covers for Bibles, to ornate icons like the Virgin of Smolensk. And these are perhaps the most familiar items in the Armory-the Faberge eggs. Those Easter trifles, commissioned by the Imperial Family from the workshops of Peter-Karl Faberge. In 1891, the Imperial "Pamyat' Azova" egg was created to commemorate Czar Nicholas II's voyage around the world. Virtually every Faberge egg was accompanied by a surprise. For the Trans-Siberian Railway egg, a miniature platinum and gold train was the extra. To celebrate the 300th anniversary of Romanov rule, Czar Nicholas II commissioned this egg. Eighteen round miniatures of the Romanov rulers are set into the egg. Inside, a blue steel globe of the world shows the growth in the Russian Empire from 1613 to 1913.