Post #1, Guard post at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Alexander Garden, Moscow, Russia

Post #1 is the ceremonial guard post at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Alexander Garden, Moscow, not on Red Square. It consists of a low rectangular red stone base with a polished dark top, set against the red brick Kremlin wall. Two sentries of the Presidential Regiment in dark uniforms, light belts and tall grey fur hats stand on the red stone pavement, each holding a rifle with a bayonet; a small fire burns in a rectangular recess in the pavement to the right.

The first honor guard was posted at Lenin's wooden mausoleum on 27 January 1924, with Grigory Koblov and Arseny Kashkin as the first sentries. In 1935 the duty passed to the Kremlin Regiment. Post No. 1 was abolished in October 1993 and restored in 1997 at the Eternal Flame in Alexander Garden.

The changing of the guard revives a ceremony developed under Paul I, with drum signals marking the time of day. The modern ritual was drawn up in 2005 by the Presidential Regiment and the President's protocol service, overseen by the Kremlin commandant and cleared with the Heraldic Council. Its high points are the parade march and the carrying out of the Russian flag.

The post stands by the Eternal Flame at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Alexander Garden, along the Kremlin's western wall, not on Red Square. Guards of the Presidential Regiment keep watch; the changing ceremony, revived in 2005, includes a parade and the carrying out of the Russian flag. Approach from the garden's main paths and expect crowds at the ceremony.

Guards rehearsed on a wooden model of the mausoleum, learning to march from the Spassky Gate to the post in exactly 2 minutes 35 seconds over 210 steps. The changing of the guard is timed to the second chime of the Kremlin bells.