Why is Red Square in Moscow called Red Square?

Originally called Trinity Square by it's founder, Tsar Ivan III in honor of the Trinity Cathedral on it's border, which he had constructed, it was from the 17th century onward called by its current name, “Krasnaya Ploschad.” The name is derived from the word krasnyi, which meant beautiful in Old Russian and only later came to mean red.

Hence the name "Red Square."

Although the battle between the Reds and the Whites raged for several years (The Russian Revolution), the naming of Red Square had nothing to do with the Bolsheviks, the Reds.

Ivan V actually had St. Basil's Cathedral built in honor of victory over the Khanate, uniting all the Russias, and had the cathedral built on the perimeter of Red Square in red stone, as in the picture. He was the first "Tsar of all the Russias."

The original fort, The Kremlin had wooden walls, and no brick surface surrounding it. The land was cleared by Ivan III, which was inhabited by slums and shantytowns and criminals.