THE METAL-RICH GLOBULAR-CLUSTER NGC-6356

CCD photometry in the VRI and Gunn z bands was obtained for the populo us bulge globular cluster NGC 6356. The analysis of the red giant bran ch indicates that it is metal-rich, intermediate between 47 Tuc and NG C 6528; we estimate [Fe/H] almost-equal-to -0.4. The red giant clump i s clearly detected. The horizontal branch morphology is red and compac t. We derive a reddening of E(B - V) = 0.24 +/- 0.04 and a distance d = 15.0 +/- 0.4 kpc from the Sun. We also present VI colour magnitude d iagrams of 47 Tuc for comparison. NGC 6356 and 47 Tuc are important re ference objects for studies of more reddened metal-rich bulge clusters .