Of the five gates of the Kremlin, which connected it with the settlement, the main ones were Spassky. It was the front gate of the Kremlin. In the old days they were called "saints", and they were very revered by the people.
Through this gate, the great princes and tsars entered the Kremlin and went to Red Square to the Execution Ground for the announcement of state letters; foreign ambassadors and envoys with a large retinue arrived through them, and from the 18th century until the October Revolution, Russian emperors solemnly entered. On the days of great church holidays, a ceremonial procession of the highest clergy took place through the Spassky Gate to Red Square to the Place of Execution and to St. Basil's Cathedral, religious processions were made. It was not allowed to pass through the Spassky Gates with a covered head and ride a horse; even the kings, approaching the gates, dismounted and walked on foot, taking off their hats.
The Spassky Gates have not lost their leading role even today. They are now the front gates of the Kremlin. Every year, on the occasion of the Great October Socialist Revolution, the commander of the Armed Forces of the country travels through them to take a military parade on Red Square, through them the changing of the guard of honor to the Lenin Mausoleum passes to Red Square.
Until 1658, the Spasskaya Tower was called the Frolovskaya Strelnitsa, as it is believed, after the church of Frol and Lavr, located in the suburb not far from the tower. In 1658, by royal decree, it was renamed into Spasskaya - in the image of the Savior of Smolensk, written over the gate of the diversion archer from the side of Red Square, in memory of the liberation of the city of Smolensk by Russian troops. This ancient fresco is still preserved under a special protective layer in a white stone frame above the gate of the tower.
The Nikolskaya tower with a passage gate was named in antiquity after the icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, placed in a white stone frame above the gate of the diversion archer from the side of Red Square. This ancient image in a white stone frame has also survived to this day.
The name of the tower was also associated with Nikolskaya Street, which branched off from the tower in a northern direction (now 25 October Street), on which there was a monastery with the Church of St. Nicholas the Old (on the site of the current building of the Historical and Archival Institute). Through the Nikolsky gates they passed to the Kremlin to the boyar and monastic farmsteads, which occupied the northeastern part of the Kremlin.
The name of the Trinity Gate is associated with the Trinity Compound located in the Kremlin nearby. Until the 17th century, the gates, like the tower, were called either Kuretny, then Rizpolozhensky, then Znamensky, then Epiphany. The name Troitsky has been attached to them since 1658. These gates served as passage to the patriarchal court and the female half of the royal palace, the mansions of queens and princesses.
All the economic supply of the Kremlin and the entrance to the Grand Duke's court were carried out through the Borovitsky Gates. Near them was the Grand Duke's court, and near the Kremlin wall, facing the Neglinnaya River, there were fodder, living quarters and stables. In the 17th century, the tower was renamed Predtechenskaya, but this name was not consolidated behind it.
The Tainitskaya tower on the banks of the Moskva River and the gates in it got their name from the cache-well that was in the tower. The gates of the tower were used only for passage to the Moscow River and for the passage of the procession to the blessing of water.
In the 70s of the XVIII century, the Taynitskaya Tower was dismantled in connection with the construction of the Grand Kremlin Palace, designed by V.I. Bazhenov. Upon the termination of construction, the tower was restored anew, but without a diversion archer. In 1862, according to the project of the artist A. S. Campioni, a retractable archer was attached to the tower, ending with teeth and a special platform inside, on which cannons were installed for firing on holidays. In 1930, the archer was dismantled, and the gates were laid. The arch of the gate, bricked up, is still clearly visible on the facade of the tower from the side of the Moskva River.
The name of the Konstantin-Eleninskaya Tower and the passage gates in it is associated with the Church of Konstantin and Helena, located in the Kremlin not far from the tower. Previously, the gates were called Timofeevsky - after the name of the governor Dmitry Donskoy. In the 17th century the gates were laid. The tower and the diversion archer began to be used as a prison. In the XV-III century, the diversion archer was dismantled, and later, when planning the Vasilyevsky descent to the Moscow River, both the moat in front of the tower and the lower part of the tower with the gate were filled up. The upper part of the gate arch with a niche for the icon above the gate is still visible on the facade of the tower.
The remaining towers of the Kremlin were deaf, that is, impassable, and their name sometimes changed depending on the purpose, use, and the buildings that appeared behind them in the Kremlin. So, for example, the alarm tower got its name from the alarm bell, which was placed on it until 1771. Despite the fact that the bell on the tower has long been gone, the name has been preserved. The Beklemishevskaya Tower, whose name goes back to ancient times, is sometimes now called the Moskvoretskaya Tower, since next to it is the Moskvoretsky Bridge across the Moscow River. The Petrovskaya Tower was named in the 18th century from the Church of Peter the Metropolitan, which was moved to the tower after the abolition of the courtyard of the Ugreshsky Monastery, located in the Kremlin.
The name of the Annunciation tower is associated with the icon of the Annunciation placed on it, as well as with the Church of the Annunciation.
The Armory Tower is so named because of its proximity to the Armory. Before the construction of the chamber in the 19th century, it was called Konyushennaya - from the royal Stables Yard, located near the tower. The commandant's tower got its name in the 19th century, when the commandant lived behind the tower in the Poteshny Palace. Prior to that, it was called Kolymazhnaya - after the Kolymazhny yard, where wagons, carriages and chariots were kept.
After the construction of the Arsenal building in the Kremlin in the 18th century, the Corner Dog Tower became known as the Corner Arsenal Tower, and the Faceted Tower became the Middle Arsenal Tower. In the same century, the Senate Tower was also named. The 1st and 2nd Nameless towers remained without a name.
The Tsar's Tower was built in 1680 on the site of a wooden turret on which the Spassky alarm bell hung. According to legend, from this wooden tower, Ivan the Terrible watched various ceremonies that took place at the Execution Ground and at St. Basil's Cathedral.
The name of the bridge tower Kutafya is still a mystery. In the old days, it was called the Borisoglebskaya, Vladimirskaya and Patriarchal Gates, but these names were not consolidated behind it. This tower closes the Trinity Bridge and is located outside the Kremlin. In ancient times, it was surrounded by a moat and had gates on the sides for passage to the bridge. Drawbridges spanned the moat from the gates of the tower. In 1780, due to decay, the brick vault covering it was dismantled, a direct passage through the tower to the Trinity Bridge was arranged, and the side gates were laid. During the restoration of the tower in 1975, the side passages were opened.
In Moscow, on Red Square, we see the Kremlin towers, and immediately notice how different they are. But at the same time, each of them is unique and beautiful in its own way. And besides, each tower has its own name, and not random, but arising in the process of historical development and changes in the architectural appearance of the city.
A total of 20 towers are concentrated throughout the Kremlin in Moscow. Each of them has its own name and its own history of construction. According to the features of the architecture, the buildings are divided into round and square towers.
At the same time, only three towers have a circular cross section - these are Vodovzvodnaya, Beklemishevskaya and Arsenalnaya Corner. All other buildings are square in plan. Most of the towers are made in the same architectural style, which allows you to create a single building ensemble. The integrity of the ensemble was given by the decoration, which was produced in the 17th century.
However, the Nikolskaya Tower, which was rebuilt in pseudo-Gothic style at the beginning of the 19th century, stands out noticeably against this background. Consider the distinctive features of each tower, as well as the historical conditions for the construction of buildings.
Beklemishevskaya tower.
The second name of the Beklemishevskaya Tower is Moskvoretskaya. It is located in the southeastern corner of the Moscow Kremlin and is just over 46 meters high. The construction was built during the reign of Tsar Ivan III Vasilievich in 1487-1488.
The tower project was developed and implemented by the Italian Marco Ruffo (Mark Fryazin). The Beklemishevskaya Tower has a round shape in plan. At first, the tower got its name by the name of the boyar Beklemishev, whose courtyard was located next to the tower. Later, the building was renamed after the name of the nearby bridge.
Borovitskaya tower.
This tower was built in 1490 by the architect Pietro Antonio Solari during the reign of Tsar Ivan III Vasilyevich. The Borovitskaya Tower is located at the mouth of the Neglinnaya River. The tower got its name from the name of the hill on the slope of which it was built. In ancient times, a dense forest was located on the hill - a small pine grove. And probably. this is what gave rise to the name.
However, in 1658, by royal decree, the tower was given the name Predtechenskaya in honor of the nearby Church of the Nativity of John the Baptist. The height of the Borovitskaya tower is 54 meters, and its spire is decorated with a ruby star at the top. To date, the gates of the Borovitskaya Tower are used for ceremonial passages of government motorcades.
Weapon tower.
The Armory Tower following it is located next to the Armory Chamber, from which its name arose in the middle of the 19th century. Once upon a time, there were passage gates in the lower part of the tower, and then it was called Konyushennaya, because the royal stable yard was located nearby, and from there it was possible to pass the gates of the tower on horseback.
The armory tower was built in two years, from 1493 to 1495. The height of the structure reaches almost 39 meters. The buildings fit the general style of the ensemble and fit harmoniously into the appearance of the Kremlin wall.
Command tower.
The commandant's tower began to be called so only from the 19th century. Then in the Kremlin Poteshny Palace, next to the tower, there was the commandant of Moscow, and in ancient times it was called Kolymazhnaya, because there was a rattle yard nearby, where the royal carriages, wagons and rattlets stood.
The Commandant's Tower was built in 1495 during the reign of Ivan III Vasilyevich. The height of the building is 41 meters.
Trinity tower.
From afar you can see the giant wall of the highest tower of the Kremlin - Troitskaya. Perhaps, like no other Kremlin tower, it impresses with its harsh power and impregnability. The Trinity Tower was built in 1495 by the Italian architect Aloisio da Milano (Aleviz Fryazin).
Troitskaya Tower is the highest Kremlin tower, because the height of the structure is 80 meters. Also, this tower also has an entrance and passage, and in terms of its significance it ranks second after Spasskaya.
The name of the tower has changed many times, but since 1658 it has been called Troitskaya after the name of the Trinity Compound, which was located near it on the territory of the Kremlin. But even earlier it had other names - Bogoyavlenskaya and Znamenskaya.
At the moment, the gates of the Trinity Tower are the main entrance to the territory of the Kremlin, and the graceful spire of the building is decorated with a luxurious ruby star.
Kutafya tower.
In front of the Trinity Tower, right behind the bridge, the Kutafya Tower proudly protrudes forward. It is much smaller in height and size, but at the same time very solid, squat, stocky and strong. Its name is associated with the word "kut" - corner, but even more often historians associate the name of the structure with the word "kutafya". So in some places in Russia they called a wrapped from head to toe or clumsy woman.
The Kutafya tower is so different from all the others in the features of its architecture that it cannot be confused with any other of the towers of the Kremlin ensemble. It was built in 1516 by the architect Aleviz Fryazin during the reign of Vasily III.
The height of the tower is small - only 13.5 meters, and today it is the only one of the surviving free-standing, and not built into the wall, Kremlin towers. In the old days, such bridge towers served to protect bridges, through which it was possible to penetrate into the fortress. The Kutafya Tower is located opposite the Trinity Tower, and between them there is an inclined bridge.
Corner Arsenal tower.
In the northern corner of the Kremlin wall in 1492, the architect Pietro Antonio Solari built a round tower, which was called Arsenalnaya. This building is the most powerful tower of the Kremlin, although it reaches a height of only 60 meters.
The Arsenal Tower got its name at the beginning of the 18th century after the building of the Arsenal - the "Arsenal House" - was built on the territory of the Kremlin. The second name - the Dog Tower - was obtained as a result of the fact that not far from the building was the estate of the boyars Sobakins. A distinctive feature of the Corner Arsenal Tower is that there is a well inside it.
Middle Arsenal Tower.
The second name of the Middle Arsenal Tower is the Faceted Tower. The building received it due to some characteristic features of the building. The tower was erected in 1493-1495 during the reign of Ivan III Vasilyevich.
The height of the structure reaches almost 39 meters. The Middle Arsenal Tower is located on the northwestern wall of the Moscow Kremlin, which stretches along the Alexander Garden. It is noteworthy that the Faceted Tower was built on the site where the corner tower, built back in the time of Dmitry Donskoy, used to be.
Nikolskaya tower.
One of the most beautiful towers of the Moscow Kremlin is Nikolskaya with Nikolsky gates. Once upon a time, the icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker was placed above them, and even earlier, not far from here was the monastery of St. Nicholas the Old.
The Nikolskaya Tower is located on the eastern wall of the Kremlin in Moscow. It was built in 1491 under Tsar Ivan III Vasilyevich. The architect Pietro Antonio Solari designed the building with a height of just over 70 meters.
At the same time, the Nikolskaya Tower is also a travel card - through the gate in it you can get to the territory of the Moscow Kremlin. The architectural appearance of the Nikolskaya Tower is somewhat different from all other buildings, because in the 19th century it was rebuilt in pseudo-Gothic style. To date, the majestic spire of the Nikolskaya Tower is also crowned with a ruby star.
Senate tower.
Immediately behind the mausoleum of V. I. Lenin rises the Senate Tower with the building of the former Senate located behind it. This tower was built on the eastern part of the Kremlin wall in 1491 during the reign of Ivan III Vasilyevich.
The height of the tower reaches 34 meters, and it was built under the guidance of the architect Pietro Antonio Solari. The tower received its modern name only three hundred years after its construction. This happened after the Senate Palace was built on the territory of the Kremlin in 1787.
Spassky Tower.
A little further is the tower, which everyone knows. This is the Spasskaya Tower with the Spassky Gates, the spire of which is crowned with a ruby star. It has been called Spasskaya since 1658 thanks to the icons of the Savior, which used to be on both sides above the gate. At the moment, the gate is decorated with only one restored image of the Savior.
The second name of the Spasskaya Tower is Frolovskaya. The building received it in honor of the nearby church of Frol and Lavr. On the Spasskaya (Frolovskaya) tower, the most important clock of the country is installed - the Kremlin chimes, under the melodic sound of which the Russians see off the outgoing and celebrate the new year.
The Spasskaya Tower was built on the eastern wall of the Kremlin and is the main entrance to the Kremlin. The height of the tower reaches 71 meters, and therefore it is one of the tallest buildings in the Kremlin ensemble. And at the same time one of the most beautiful towers throughout the Moscow Kremlin.
The development of the project and the process of building the structure was led by the Italian architect Pietro Antonio Solari. The Spasskaya Tower was built in 1491 during the reign of Tsar Ivan III Vasilyevich. Today, the building is one of the most recognizable symbols of Russia.
Royal tower.
The smallest of the Kremlin towers is Tsarskaya, located south of Spasskaya. This small turret was installed on the eastern Kremlin wall in the 80s of the 17th century, during the reign of Peter I and then Ivan V.
The Tsarskaya Tower reaches a height of almost 17 meters, which is much less than all the tower structures. It was built in the 1680s on the site of a wooden tower with an alarm bell "Vspolohom" and used to be called "Vspoloshnoy".
The Tsarskaya Tower was built almost 200 years later than all the other towers on the site of a small wooden tower, in which Tsar Ivan the Terrible watched the city and admired the view. That is why the erected structure of an elegant design got its name.
Nabat tower.
The Nabatnaya Tower got its name thanks to the bells of the Spassky alarm located in it. This tower once had an important practical purpose. It served as an observation tower, from which the control over the fire safety of the city was carried out.
The Nabatnaya Tower is square in cross section, and it is 38 meters high. The construction was built in 1495 during the reign of Ivan III Vasilyevich.
First of all, the Nabatnaya Tower owes its name to the largest bell that used to hang in its upper part. This bell is famous for the fact that, by order of Catherine II, it was deprived of its tongue as punishment for the fact that the Muscovites who rebelled in 1771 called on the people to a “plague riot” by striking this bell. Now this bell is stored in the Armory.
Constantino - Yeleninskaya tower.
Yeleninskaya Tower also has a second name - Timofeevskaya. It is located on the eastern wall of the Moscow Kremlin and reaches a height of just over 36 meters. Konstantino - Yeleninskaya Tower was built in 1490, during the reign of Tsar Ivan III Vasilyevich.
The square tower was designed by the Italian architect Pietro Antonio Solari. At first, the tower was named after the nearby church of Saints Constantine and Helena. But later it was renamed in honor of the Timofeevsky Gates, which were part of the white-stone Kremlin in the 14th century.
Petrovskaya tower.
On the southern part of the Kremlin wall is the Petrovskaya, or Ugreshskaya tower. Both of its names are explained very simply: here, in the Kremlin, on the former courtyard of the Ugreshsky monastery, there was the church of Metropolitan Peter.
The Petrovskaya Tower was also built during the reign of Ivan the Terrible, and the time of its construction dates back to the 80s of the 15th century. The height of the tower is 27 meters. Its roof is crowned with a hip-shaped octagonal dome.
Unnamed towers.
But the next two towers for many centuries could not come up with names, but this does not mean at all that they were left without a name. Therefore, these towers are called so: the First Nameless and Second Nameless Towers. Both of them were built in the 80s of the XV century during the reign of Ivan the Terrible.
The height of the First Nameless Tower is 34 meters, and the Second - just over 30 meters. Both buildings have a square section in plan, and the buildings are completed with a tent-shaped dome. Only at the First Tower the dome consists of four faces, and at the Second - from eight.
Tainitskaya tower.
The height of the Tainitskaya tower is just over 38 meters. It is noteworthy that this tower, built in 1485 by the architect Anton Fryazin, is the very first in the Kremlin ensemble. Previously, this tower was a travel tower, but today its gates have been laid.
The Tainitskaya Tower got its name thanks to a secret passage that passes through it and leads to the banks of the Moscow River. And in the tower there was a well with water, which would have helped, if necessary, to withstand a long siege of the enemy. Also in the Kremlin there is the Tainitsky Garden.
Annunciation tower.
Immediately behind Taynitskaya is Blagoveshchenskaya Tower. During the time of Ivan the Terrible, it was used as a prison building, where rebels and criminals were kept. The Annunciation Tower was built in 1487-1488, and its height is over 32 meters.
The tower got its name thanks to the icon of the Annunciation, which, according to legend, suddenly appeared on one of the walls of the tower. The Annunciation Tower is located between the Vodovzvodnaya and Taynitskaya towers in the southern part of the Kremlin wall, which runs along the coastline of the Moscow River.
Water tower.
This tower was erected one of the very first in the ensemble of the Moscow Kremlin. The Vodovzvodnaya Tower was built in 1488 by Italian architect Antonio Gilardi (Antonio Fryazin).
The design features of the tower are that a well was located in it, as well as a secret passage leading to the banks of the Moscow River. The height of the Vodovzvodnaya Tower is 61 meters.
The name "Vodovzvodnaya" tower was given in 1633, when a lifting mechanism was built in the building, with the help of which water was supplied to the gardens of the Kremlin. The second name - Sviblov Tower - comes from the name of the boyar Sviblov, who was responsible for its construction.
Twenty majestic towers surround the Moscow Kremlin, and each of them has its own amazing history. Built at different times, the Kremlin towers nevertheless form a single harmonious ensemble, which at all times has been a source of pride for Muscovites and admired by guests of the capital.
The modern Kremlin was built at the end of the 15th - beginning of the 16th century. The impregnable fortress was surrounded by water on all sides: from the south - the Moskva River, from the north and west - the Neglinnaya River, from the east - a moat 10 m deep and 32 m wide, lined with white stone.
The length of the fortifications is more than 2 kilometers, the height is from 5 to 19 m, the thickness is from 3.5 to 6.5 m. 18 combat towers protrude from the walls. The distance between them made it possible to shoot through the entire protected perimeter. Initially, the towers were flat on top, only sheds covered the soldiers from rain and snow.
In the 17th century, when the borders of the state moved away from Moscow, and the Kremlin gradually lost its military significance, the towers were decorated with decorative tents.
Several times the Moscow Kremlin was threatened with destruction. At the end of the 18th century, by order of Catherine II, the architect V.I. Bazhenov designed the demolition of the ancient walls and the construction of a new palace in their place. In 1812, Napoleon wanted to blow up the shrine of Russia. In 1917, the Red Guards fired on the fortress with three-inch guns in order to drive the junkers out of it. In 1945 the Germans bombed the city. However, fate preserved the Kremlin, and in our time it has become a symbol of
Here is a diagram of the Kremlin, where all the towers are indicated. There are only 20 of them. All of them are different in form, construction history and meaning.
The oldest tower of the Kremlin Taininskaya. Its name is associated with a secret well and an underground passage to the Moscow River, which were dug there in case of a siege. The tower was built in 1485. Antonio Fryazin.
The symbol of the Kremlin has become the famous Spasskaya tower with chimes, built in 1491 by Pietro Antonio Solari. Until the middle of the 17th century, it was called Frolovskaya, and when the image of the Savior Not Made by Hands was placed above the gate, it received the name Spasskaya. The Spassky Gate is the main gate in the Kremlin, through which, according to tradition, Russian tsars and emperors entered the Kremlin. According to legend, in 1521. During the invasion of Moscow by the Crimean Khan Mengli-Girey, a blind nun of the Ascension Monastery had a vision: to the sound of bells, Moscow saints came out of these gates, whose relics already then rested in the Assumption Cathedral of the Kremlin. In front of them they carried the miraculous icon of the Vladimir Mother of God. On the same day, the Tatars suddenly retreated from Moscow. In the 17th century, a clock was installed on the tower.
Royal the tower is located to the left of Spasskaya, right on the Kremlin wall. According to legend, it was from her that Ivan the Terrible watched the executions carried out on Vasilyevsky Spusk.
Corner -Arsenalnaya (Sobakina) The tower was built in 1492.
Antonio Solari and had a spring with clean water inside, which has survived to this day. Because of the nearby courtyard of the boyar Sobakin, the tower was called by his last name. And after the construction of the arsenal in the 18th century, the tower became the Corner-Arsenal. Its height is 60.2 meters. In the gloomy underground passage under the tower, sexton Konon Osipov was looking for the famous library of Ivan the Terrible. But even today the disputes of the mysteriously disappeared “liberia”, as the library was called in the Middle Ages, do not subside.
In the 19th century, the commandant of Moscow settled in the Poteshny Palace of the Kremlin and the tower, located nearby, began to be called Commandant's. The height of the tower is 41.25 meters.
Between the Borovitskaya and Komendantskaya towers is located Armory, which used to be called Konyushennaya because of the proximity of the royal stables. The Armory Tower got its name in 1851, when the Armory Board was built on the territory of the Kremlin.
Borovitskaya the tower was the "rear" gate of the Kremlin. It was used for household needs, since there was a living and stable yard nearby. The name comes from the forest forest on the site of which this tower was erected. The tower had a drawbridge across the Neglinnaya River and a grate that protected the entrance. But when the Neglinnaya River was enclosed in pipes, the bridge was removed, only cuts in the wall for chains were preserved from it. In 1658 The tower was renamed Predtechenskaya, but the name did not stick.
Nabatnaya the tower had an alarm bell, the ringing of which raised Muscovites in moments of trouble. Catherine the Great had his tongue torn out because the bells were the signal for the Plague Riot in 1771.
Troitskaya the tower was built in 1495, and at the end of the 17th century it was crowned with a slender tent, reminiscent of the top of the Spasskaya Tower. In 1686 chimes were also installed on the Trinity Tower, which died in a fire in 1812.
Name Kutafya tower comes from the word "kut", which means cover. It protected the entrance to the Kremlin, was surrounded by a moat, and in moments of danger the only gates were tightly closed. It could only be reached by a drawbridge.
Vodovzvodnaya (Sviblovskaya) The tower was built in 1488.
and had a well inside and a secret passage to the river. A water-lifting machine was arranged in it, which raised water through pipes for the entire Kremlin. In 1812 during the retreat of the Napoleonic troops, the tower was blown up. But she, under the leadership of O.I. Beauvais was rebuilt and restored.
Blagoveshchenskaya the tower has a deaf structure and is placed between the Taininskaya and Vodovzvodnaya towers. Chronicles say that the icon "Annunciation" was kept in the tower and the Church of the Annunciation was attached to it, which was later dismantled. The tower is famous for its deep dungeons.
V Nikolskaya the tower had a passage gate and an archery with a drawbridge. The name is associated with the icon of St. Nicholas, which hung over the gates of this tower. There was a tradition to resolve disputes under this icon. In 1612, during the struggle against the Polish-gentry invaders, troops led by Minin and Pozharsky broke through these gates and liberated the Kremlin. During the days of the October Revolution, the tower was badly damaged by shelling, but in 1918. was repaired at the direction of Lenin.
The remaining towers: Konstantin-Eleninskaya, Senate, Beklemishevskaya, Sredny-Arsenalnaya, 1st and 2nd Unnamed, Petrovskaya, all of them were named due to the location of a monastery, church nearby or by the name of the boyars living nearby, or in honor of nearby constructed buildings. The towers played the role of protecting the Kremlin from enemies, and subsequently an aesthetic and cultural role, since they are very beautiful and attract the eye with architectural forms.
The Kremlin fortress with its emerald tents, "swallowtails" and ruby stars is one of the brightest, most recognizable and, as it is customary to say in such cases, "dear to every Russian since childhood" symbols of the country.
The status of the symbol is well complemented by the note: the Moscow Kremlin is the largest active fortress in Europe.
As if to confirm the postulate of the largest active fortress, in 2013, mighty plastic checkpoints were built along the sides of the Kutafya Tower, completely hiding the side facades of the monument, but instead taking the place of ancient drawbridges and successfully reviving their function.
From space it is clearly seen that the main fortress of Russia forms an irregular triangle of walls with 20 towers: 1) Beklemishevskaya (Moskvoretskaya) in the southeastern corner of the Kremlin triangle, near the Moscow River and the Moskvoretsky Bridge. Counterclockwise from it: 2) Konstantin-Eleninskaya (Timofeevskaya), 3) Nabatnaya, 4) Tsarskaya, 5) Spasskaya (Frolovskaya), 6) Senate, 7) Nikolskaya, 8) Corner Arsenalnaya (Sobakina), 9) Middle Arsenalnaya (Faceted), 10) Troitskaya, 11) Kutafya, 12) Komendantskaya (Kolymazhnaya), 13) Armory (Konyushennaya), 14) Borovitskaya (Predtechenskaya), 15) Vodovzvodnaya (Sviblova), 16) Blagoveshchenskaya, 17) Taynitskaya, 18) First Nameless, 19) Second Nameless, 20) Petrovskaya (Ugreshskaya).
However, two of them are not quite towers: Kutafya is a separate bridgehead (in European “barbican”), and Tsarskaya is a small stone gazebo on the wall. But if you count them too, the figure comes out round, it's easier to remember.
The first full-fledged wooden fortress appeared on Borovitsky Hill in 1156. In 1367, Dmitry Donskoy built mighty walls and towers of white stone. Already in December 1368, the fortress withstood the first test and inspired the first horror: the Lithuanian pagans, led by Olgirdas, stood under the new wall for a week, were very upset by its impregnability and left themselves. For its time, the fortress was excellent, but after a hundred years it became necessary to replace it with a more modern design. Nevertheless, archaeologists confirm that at the base of the southern wall of the Kremlin, the white stone masonry of the XIV century has been preserved to a height of two meters.
The fortifications that we see today were built from 1485 to 1516 under Ivan III and Vasily III by a whole company of eminent Italian murol architects (from the Italian mura - wall). By the way, the very word "Kremlin", which replaced the Russian "detinets", comes from the term "kremalier", which goes back to the Late Latin cremaculus - a prong. The Kremlin was built by analogy with the best northern Italian fortresses of that time, in particular, with the Sforza castle in Milan.
Initially, the towers of the brick Kremlin were not as elegant and high as they are now, the fortress was more strict, but more powerful - a second, lower line of walls with brick bastions stretched from the south and east, from the east they were supplemented by the Alevizov moat 30 meters wide, from the west - Wide dams of the Neglinnaya River. In the 17th century, the walls of the Kremlin were whitewashed with lime several times, then they stopped, then they tried to revive this tradition shortly before the revolution, but it turned out that Moscow was too accustomed to the color red (all the more we know that in Moscow “red” is beautiful).
In the 17th century, the towers were built on with tall tents. A very expensive, complex, magnificent and completely optional work in practical terms - most of the superstructures are purely decorative. They determined a new image of the capital city, revived after complete ruin in the Time of Troubles - it is not for nothing that the first tent (the clock tower above the Spassky Gates) appeared earlier than the first stone memorial churches erected in memory of the Time of Troubles.
In 1767, by decree of Catherine the Great, the dilapidated walls began to be dismantled, the Kremlin was to undergo a global rebranding project by Vasily Bazhenov. But soon the empress changed her mind and - either out of harm, or out of foresight - she ordered the recently destroyed towers of the southern wall to be restored. Thus, in the row of towers along the Moskva River, only the one on the far right (Beklemishevskaya, also known as Moskvoretskaya) and the second one on the left (Blagoveshchenskaya) remained ancient. The left corner of Vodovzvodnaya also survived then, but was later blown up by order of Napoleon. Then, in 1812, the Nikolskaya and Sobakin (Angular Arsenal) towers were partially destroyed. Otherwise, the Kremlin walls are mostly ancient, but you can hardly see the medieval masonry on their surface. The walls were repaired and refaced a huge number of times, and only on the southern wall, closer to the Moskvoretskaya tower, one can find hallmarks of the 17th century.
The arches of the ancient gates can be seen on the facades of the Tainitskaya and Konstantin-Eleninskaya towers. The Spasskaya, Nikolskaya, Troitskaya and Borovitskaya towers are still travel cards, but only the last two are open to the working population.
The inaccessibility of the walls and towers of the Kremlin for tourists and researchers is a separate problem. Photos of the interiors of the towers can only be found in books published before 1917. True, in recent years, footage of the interior of the Spasskaya Tower and the fighting passages of the walls has appeared on the Internet.
Local Features
The territory of the Moscow Kremlin and its museums are open to the public every day, except Thursday, from 10:00 to 17:00. Ticket offices are open daily, except Thursday, from 9:30 to 16:30.
Ordinary citizens can enter the territory of the Kremlin through the Troitsky and Borovitsky gates (landmarks are the Kutafya tower, "preceding" the Trinity, and the Borovitskaya tower, respectively).
If you need: Kremlin Palace, Cathedral Square, Kremlin temples, Ivan the Great Bell Tower. Tsar Cannon and Tsar Bell, then use Kutafya Tower and Trinity Gates to enter the Kremlin.
The nearest metro station to it is “Biblioteka im. Lenin" and "Alexander Garden". Next to the tower, on the right side, in the Alexander Garden.
cash desks are located. To enter the Kremlin, you must purchase a ticket. Visiting exhibitions and climbing the Ivan the Great Bell Tower are paid extra, and visiting cathedrals does not require a separate fee, this is included in the ticket price.
Entrance to the Kremlin through the Borovitskaya Tower - for those who have purchased an excursion to the Armory and / or the Diamond Fund. A fact that is not obvious to guests of the capital: the Borovitskaya Tower is located directly opposite the Borovitskaya metro station, but you won’t be able to walk straight - the road is very wide, the traffic is heavy, and there is no pedestrian crossing. It’s easier to get off at the metro station “Biblioteka im. Lenin” or “Alexander Garden”, walk to the ticket office to the right of the Kutafya Tower, from the ticket office another 300 meters along the Alexander Garden towards the Kremlin Embankment (that is, in the opposite direction from Red Square).
As a rule, excursion groups gather at the Borovitskaya Tower - it’s almost impossible to get into the Armory and the Diamond Fund just by buying a ticket at the museum’s box office, and even on a day off. Travel agencies buy all tickets in advance. During school holidays, you can not even try to break into these museums on your own, and the best time for a relatively quiet visit is weekdays and not in summer.
The length of the Kremlin walls is 2235 m. Compared to the world's largest fortress wall, the Great Chinese one, our Kremlin is small. Nevertheless, it is the largest active fortress in Europe. By the way, the title of the largest European fortress (according to the total length of the fortifications, about 9 km) belongs to our Pskov.
The thickness of the Kremlin walls ranges from 3.5 to 6.5 m, height - from 8 to 19 m. The famous Kremlin battlements, made according to the Italian fashion of the 15th century, reach 2–2.5 m. m).
Three towers, standing in the corners of the Kremlin triangle, have a round section, the rest are square. The Borovitsky Gates, placed on the bend of the wall, in the "fourth corner" of the Kremlin triangle, have an intricate polygonal layout.
Ruby stars on five Kremlin towers appeared in the 1930s. Prior to this, the Trinity, Spasskaya, Borovitskaya and Nikolskaya towers were crowned with symbols of Russian statehood - golden double-headed eagles. In 1935, all the eagles were melted down, their place was taken by five-pointed stars. The fifth, Vodovzvodnaya, was added to the four "chosen" towers. Initially, the stars were made of gilded steel and decorated with gems, but soon began to fade and were replaced with illuminated rubies.
The Kremlin stars went out twice: the first time during the German air raids of 1941, the second - in 1997 for the sake of filming the film "The Barber of Siberia" by Nikita Mikhalkov.
The first clock on the Spasskaya Tower appeared in the 16th century, but not much is known about them. In 1625, the English master Christopher Galovey installed the famous clock on the tower without moving hands (the dial itself rotated), they were located not in their current place, but in a large icon case on the tower's quadrangle. Under Peter I, a new clock with music was installed, playing the German melody "Ah, my dear Augustine." The chimes known to us, made by watchmakers brothers Johann and Nikolai Butenop, appeared on the tower in 1851–52. During the events of the October Revolution, the clock was pierced by a shell and restored only a year later, on the personal instructions of Lenin - the chimes performed "The Internationale" (at 12 o'clock) and "You fell a victim" (at midnight). Since 1938, the music on the Spasskaya Tower stopped playing - the clock only beat the chime every 15 minutes. Since 1996, the chimes have again become musical - at 9 o'clock (morning and evening) you can hear "Glory" from Glinka's opera "Life for the Tsar", and at noon and midnight - the Russian anthem.
Trinity Tower - the tallest tower of the Moscow Kremlin, located in the middle of the northwestern part of the Kremlin wall. The gate of the tower, to which the Trinity Bridge leads through the Alexander Garden from Kutafya towers, serve as the main entrance to the Kremlin for visitors to the fortress.
The tower was built in 1495-1499 under the direction of an Italian architect Aleviz Fryazin (Old) and is the second most important tower of the Kremlin after Spasskaya.
The height of the tower together with the star is 80 meters from the Alexander Garden and 69.3 meters from the Kremlin. The different heights are due to the difference in ground level inside and outside the Kremlin wall.
Outwardly, the Trinity Tower resembles the Spasskaya Tower, but is distinguished by its greater height and less elegant decoration. The shape of the base of the tower is a quadrangle, which is crowned with a multi-tiered tent completion with rich decorative design; the upper part of the quadrangle is decorated with a lacy arched belt with turrets at the corners and figures of animals and birds, among which one can recognize bears and peacocks. Under the tent there is a belfry, the red star-weather vane crowns the tent. A massive diverting archer with the Trinity Gate adjoins the tower, to which the Trinity Bridge approaches from the Kutafya Tower.
History of the Trinity Tower
Trinity Tower was built in 1495-1499 under the guidance of an Italian architect Aleviz Fryazin (Old) and has changed several names over the years: Epiphany(original name) Rizopolozhenskaya, Znamenskaya and Karetnaya. The tower received its first 3 names in honor of the cathedrals located on the territory of the Kremlin, while Karetnaya was named after Karate yard. Its modern name - Trinity - the tower received in 1658 according to the nearby courtyard Trinity Monastery.
Initially, like other towers of the Kremlin, the Trinity Tower was built without a hipped roof, which appeared only at the end of the 17th century. Since the tower was of great defensive importance, during the preparation of Moscow for the Swedish invasion in 1707, by decree Peter I the turret loopholes were expanded to accommodate modern heavy cannons at the time. The next reconstruction awaited the Trinity Tower in 1870, when its defensive significance was lost, and the interior was adapted to accommodate the Archives of the Ministry of the Imperial Court.
In the past, in the icon case over the Trinity Gates, there was an icon of the Kazan Mother of God, damaged during the storming of the Kremlin in 1917 and missing in the Soviet years. At present, the place of the icon from the side of the Alexander Garden is occupied by a small clock.
Until 1935, the top of the tower was crowned with the coat of arms of Russia - a double-headed eagle, instead of which a gilded semi-precious star was installed, which already 2 years later - in 1937 - was replaced with a ruby one.
The double-headed eagle of the Trinity Tower turned out to be the oldest among the other towers of the Kremlin - made in 1870 - and prefabricated on bolts, so when dismantling it, it had to be dismantled right at the top of the tower and lowered down in parts.
Interestingly, in the 16-17 centuries, a prison was located in the two-story base of the tower.
Today, the Trinity Tower houses Presidential Orchestra of Russia: its interior houses recording studios, offices and a rehearsal room. In addition, the Trinity Gates are the main entrance to the Kremlin for citizens and tourists: passing kutafyu tower and trinity bridge, visitors pass through the Trinity Tower inside the fortress.
Trinity Tower overlooks the Alexander Garden. It can be reached on foot from metro stations. "Lenin's Library" Sokolnicheskaya line and "Alexander Garden" Filevskaya.
Towers and walls of the Kremlin
The second half of the 15th century is the time of the formation of the Russian national state. Ivan III united the Russian lands. By this time, the white-stone Kremlin had partially collapsed and no longer corresponded to the international position and wealth of the Moscow state.
For the first time, the white stone was replaced with red. They baked it in ovens like bread. And he weighed eight kilograms. A half-pound stone was taken with two hands.
Ivan III commissioned the construction in the Kremlin Vasily Dmitrievich Ermolin. Italian architects also built a lot in the Kremlin, but according to primordially Russian motives. The Kremlin was conceived by Ivan III not only as a reliable fortress, but also had to become the main place of Muscovite Russia. The architects were inspired by these ideas. And the walls, churches, towers rose ...
Everything in the Kremlin was then provided for protection from enemies. The plan is polygonal, in order to see the enemy from different sides, the distance between the loopholes does not exceed the range of the projectile weapon. The towers interrupt the progress on the wall. And they themselves are either round or polygonal, so that it would be more difficult to destroy them with battering rams.
First, fortifications were built: thick brick walls and watchtowers, and this was in the spring of 1485. The length of the entire building is 2235 meters. The walls were very thick, in some places their thickness reached 3.5 meters. The height of the walls was also different, reaching in some places up to 14 meters. This was probably due to the fact that Moscow "stands on seven hills." At the top, the walls were made in the form of a forked "dovetail", resembling the letter "M", they were equipped with loopholes. This gave the thick walls originality and decorative effect. On top of the battlements was a plank gable roof, covering the defenders of the Kremlin from rain and snow.
There were 20 towers, in ancient times they did not look the same as they do now, elegant and tall. The tents appeared two centuries later. Under Ivan III, they were built as formidable impregnable bastions. All of them are completely different from each other.
For four centuries, the Kremlin remained the only fortress in Moscow that protected Muscovites during the days of invasions. But in the 6th century, the overgrown and rapidly growing Moscow could no longer get by with these walls alone. The walls of Kitay-gorod joined the walls of the Kremlin, and these walls merged into one fortification of unprecedented power and size. The new walls and towers took up the architectural motif set by the Kremlin. Now the length of the walls has reached 15 km, and there are 50 towers!
Spasskaya (Frolovskaya) Tower
The main tower of the Kremlin is Frolovskaya, named after the neighboring church of Flora and Lavra. During the repair of the tower in 1464-1466, the architect V.D. Yermolin installed on it white-stone relief images of the patrons of the Moscow princes - St. George the Victorious and Dmitry Solunsky. The tower was built in 1491 by the architect Pietro Antonio Solari. The Frolovsky Gates were the main entrance to the Kremlin: in the 16th-17th centuries, tsars traveled through them, on holidays the patriarch went out with a procession of the cross, and foreign ambassadors who arrived in Moscow were met at the gates. In 1624 - 1625, the architects Bazhen Ogurtsov and the Englishman Christopher Galovey crowned the tower with a complex superstructure and a high stone tent. So this tower was the first to get its characteristic pointed silhouette. Clocks were built into the superstructure - the predecessors of the Kremlin chimes. In 1658, by decree of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, the Frolovskaya Tower was renamed into Spasskaya (in honor of the icons of the Savior of Smolensk and the Savior Not Made by Hands), which were placed on the outside and inside of the Kremlin. The Spassky Gates were especially revered by the people and considered "holy": men, entering the Kremlin through them, bared their heads, and the riders dismounted and led their horses on a leash.
Taynitskaya tower
According to the time of birth, this is the tower number 1. Over the long history, this guard of the Kremlin had many different names - Potainitskaya, Water Gates, Cheshkovy, Sheshkovy, Chushkovy Gates. In the 15th century, the court of Cheshka, the boyar Danil of Galitsky, stood nearby, hence the last three names, and Vodyanyye and Taynitsky - because there was an ancient well-hiding place here. It was also possible to enter the Kremlin through the Tainitskaya Tower. The Tainitskaya tower was large, it had not only a passage, but a clock and a bell. The watchmaker lived right on it, having built two wooden huts at the top. As the inventory of 1647 tells: "And there is a wooden closet on the tower, and a clock in the closet. Two wooden huts were placed on the same tower. And the watchmaker said that he put those huts on his own money and put them up without hitting his brow, without a decree." That is, he built huts without receiving official permission. The watchmaker's life was hard, the roof of the huts collapsed. Apparently, in the middle of the 17th century, the dilapidated tower was demolished and rebuilt. The tower stands, having risen in five tiers with a tent at 38.4 meters.
Nikolskaya tower
The Nikolskaya Tower resembles a Gothic cathedral. A slender red-white spire with lancet slit-like openings rises up from a rectangular, squat base. From red brick and white stone, Russian craftsmen built something like a bell tower with narrow window slits. On its sides there are four small turrets of the same type. This Gothic spire adorned the tower relatively recently, after 1812, when the Kremlin was being restored after a fire. It was then that the Nikolskaya Tower was built on with a high top. In the old days, disputes were resolved at the Nikolskaya Tower, which often arose on the trading floor. Disputants came here and kissed the cross, calling for witnesses the image of Nikolai Ugodnik hanging on the gate - "the intercessor and comforter of all those who mourn", who, as they believed, punishes perjurers. But this has happened as well. Once, during a religious procession in front of hundreds of people, a fearless rebel, captured and tried, threw a stick at this image. "Sankt-Peterburgskiye Vedomosti" reported that "the blasphemer and iconoclast of the Shuya district Vasily Zmiev, the peasant Ivashka Krasny, was burned on the square." And on the Nikolskaya tower, "watchmen" were on duty, and in the past there was a clock on it, last mentioned in 1612. Then, after the expulsion of the Polish interventionists, "the whole army and all the Orthodox peoples in the city of the Kremlin entered through this gate in a lot of joy."
Trinity Tower
The most massive tower of the Moscow Kremlin. Its bulk is best felt when you look at it from the foot in the Alexander Garden. A brick colossus rises up from the ground like a mountain. Asymmetric windows cut through the thickness of the walls, there are six of them in the upper tier. And although the tower is decorated at the top with white stone columns, figurines, arches like the Spasskaya Tower, it still has not lost its medieval severity. The height from the foot to the star is 80 meters. One meter below the Ivan the Great Bell Tower, nine meters above the Spasskaya Tower. When you enter this gigantic tower, you find yourself in a multi-storey building. He is inhabited. Musicians come here to serve with trumpets, clarinets, saxophones. The tower is full of sounds, like the orchestra pit of a theatre. Until now, well-known musicians and composers come to the Trinity Tower to listen to new works, to give them a start in life. In the same tower is the control panel of the Moscow stars. A shield similar to those found in power plants. Five switches, like five ruby stars. A constant voltage of 80 volts is maintained. They burn day and night, in any weather.
Corner Arsenalnaya (Sobakina) Tower
Before the Arsenal appeared here, this tower was called Sobakina, because here was the courtyard of the boyar Danila Sobaka. When the Kremlin exploded in 1812, half of the Arsenal flew into the air, and this tower only cracked. This is the strongest tower of the Kremlin. A feature of the architecture of the tower is its faces, there are eighteen of them, they merge into one powerful rounded pillar. It protected not only the walls of the Kremlin (located just at the corner of two walls), but also a source of water, so the tower was built doubly impregnable. At the end of the last century, researchers tried to find out what kind of water it was. For days they pumped it out with pumps and did not drain it - which means that the underground key is inexhaustible. Through a stone gutter, water from the spring flows into the Neglinka, which flows in a pipe underground. This spring is called one of the "miracles of the ancient Kremlin", and in order to see it, we open the iron door to the tower. We take a step forward - and the summer heat is replaced by darkness, eternal coolness and the breath of living water. She makes herself felt as soon as we cross the threshold. However, there is no moisture on the walls. And this made it possible in the last century to place a large archive inside the tower. The papers did not suffer from such a neighborhood. Before going down deeper, we stop at the window - loopholes. Standing near it, you see the incredible thickness of the masonry - four meters. The staircase that Peter Antonio Solario laid out in the thickness of the stone leads to the source. She goes down steeply. Its width is such that it allows you to pass one at a time without bending. After counting about forty steps, we carefully descend. The beam of the lantern highlights from the darkness underfoot a brick pipe growing out of the ground. Large bricks, excellent masonry, five meters in diameter. Above the head is a vault, as if we were in an underground temple. There is a round opening in the center of the vault. And on the side there is a narrow slot designed for overhead light. At the bottom of the pipe, bluish water, quiet and calm, sleeps in this underground vault guarded by a tower. How old is this spring? It is not known, perhaps he is the same age as Moscow itself. The water is delicious, cool and clear, purified by nature itself. There is another secret in the Corner Arsenal Tower. If you go along the same stairs that lead to the key, then turn to the side - we will find ourselves in a narrow side passage. Another turn - again a corridor in the thickness of a brick. In the beam of a lantern, a vaulted hall protrudes from the darkness. No windows, not even a narrow gap, reminiscent of the existence of light. Even a strong sound does not reach here. It's a dungeon to hide something in. When this dungeon was dug up, they hoped to find the library of Ivan the Terrible here. But it did not turn out, although there are still many possible secrets in the thickness of the walls and towers of the Kremlin.
Beklemishevskaya (Moskvoretskaya) Tower
This tower stands near the Moscow River. S.P. Bartenev writes about it like this: "The most elegant in proportions. With its beauty in the overall impression of the Kremlin, in the symphony of its architectural forms, the Beklemishev Tower gives a charming consonance." It was not immediately so harmonious, at first its height was 10 meters lower. Then it was built up. Maschikuli - openings for shelling the enemy from top to bottom - appeared much higher than the former ones, laid with bricks. Admiring the beauty of the tower, Bartenev was also amazed that for hundreds of years it had not undergone major repairs! The tower got its name from the courtyard of the boyar Vasily Beklemishev, located near it. The tower stands under a cliff in a strong wind, so it even leaned a little. The second name, of course, received from the proximity of the tower to the Moscow River.
Annunciation Tower
This is a big tower, there was a passage here, a "port washing gate". Through them they went to the river to wash clothes. The name of the tower comes from the nearby Church of the Annunciation, and the tower itself at one time was its chapel and bell tower. There were seven bells on it. All this appeared at a later time, when the Kremlin lost its role as a city fortress. In the 16th century, under Ivan the Terrible, there was a prison in the tower, where, according to legend, a miracle happened: the Mother of God appeared to one of the prisoners with the good news, advising him to file a petition to the tsar. After that, pilgrims began to come here, the Church of the Annunciation appeared.
Borovitskaya tower
Another star tower. By royal decree, it was given the name Predtechenskaya, but this name did not take root, they could not erase the old name from the consciousness of Muscovites at the location near Borovitsky Hill. It is not known why, but the builder of the Borovitskaya Tower built it unlike all the other corner and walk-through towers. This Kremlin archer is laid out according to the plan of a stepped pyramid. Above its lower rectangular main mass rise one another less than three more of the same form of volume. S.P. Bartenev called it the most original tower of the Kremlin. You enter the Borovitskaya tower and find yourself in a spacious house: eight floors with deep spacious cellars. On the lower floors there are whitewashed chambers flooded with light. We go to one, then we go up to another. Even on a gloomy day, it is light in it, because it is two-light, the rays enter through two tiers of windows. The Borovitsky Gate is the ancient door of the Kremlin, it served as a convenient exit to the river, where they went for water. Also, these gates were used when it was necessary to secretly pass to the Kremlin.
Vodovzvodnaya tower
This tower went down in history by building the first water pipeline in Moscow. This is a corner tower, so it is much higher, smarter, larger than the other towers. Suffice it to say that its height to the star is 57.7 meters, that is, almost twice as high. "Vodovzvodnaya tower is an integral, completely finished work, its proportions are excellent, the architectural processing is rich and at the same time moderate," - this is how S.P. Bartenev characterizes this Kremlin peak. In appearance, it is very reminiscent of the architectural buildings of Italy. The tower stands almost at the very river, in the place where the Neglinka, which goes around the Kremlin, flows into the Moscow River, now hidden in a pipe, underground. The tower got its name from the fact that in 1663 it served as a water station. A water-driven machine appeared in it, the mechanisms of which pumped water from the well up, where there was a pond lined with lead. From here, water flowed by gravity through lead pipes to the Kremlin Palace. This overseas car cost several barrels of gold. The first Kremlin water supply system served until the fire in 1737.
Commandant (Kolymazhnaya) tower
The tower got its name because the commandant lived in the building next to it. This tower is taller than the Armory. Its foundation is located at the level of the Neglinnaya River, so it suffered the most from water. I had to strengthen it, so that the wall here lost its straightness, it thickens towards the base.
Armory Tower (Konyushenny)
This low tower stands on a high coastal hill. It has four tiers. Previously, it was called the Konyushenny - after the stables that stood here. This tower was also a travel tower. It began to be called the Armory from being near the Armory.
Petrovskaya (Ugreshskaya) tower
Unlike others, it has an octagonal top that crowns this four-story building. This is a tower-warrior, tower-watchman. On its second tier was the church of Metropolitan Peter, which belonged to the courtyard of the Ugresh monastery standing next to it. Therefore, the tower was also called Ugreshskaya, and even Nameless.
Senate Tower
Behind this tower is the building of the former Senate, hence the name. The somewhat elongated shape of the tent gives the Senate Tower an air of severe inaccessibility.
Kutafya tower
The name of the Kutafya Tower comes from the word kutafya, which means clumsy, unsightly. But the word kut has a different meaning - a corner, hence - a nook (V. Dal). The tower stood somewhat away from the Kremlin, which is why it was called Kutafya. And then she did not seem clumsy, unsightly. Once it looked like everyone else, and it was very similar to Troitskaya. But later they did not build a tent over it, the only one, moreover, even the vault that appeared later was dismantled, so that it stands uncovered by anything. This tower is a bridgehead - a bridge is thrown to it from the river.
The Moscow fortress was formed from the time of the first mention of it in 1156, when Prince Yuri Vladimirovich " lay the city of Moscow, at the mouth below the Neglinna, above the Auzy River". Then the first, still wooden walls of the Kremlin were built. Then, under Ivan III in 1339, according to the annals, the walls were replaced with oak, and under Prince Dmitry Donskoy, stone walls were built.
Modern walls and towers, still standing in our time, began to be erected during the reconstruction period of 1485-1495. At the same time, the first tower of the Kremlin, Taynitskaya, was built.
Who built the towers of the Moscow Kremlin?
The Kremlin towers were built by invited architects from Italy:
- Antonio Gilardi;
- Pietro Antonio Solari;
- Mark Fryazin and Aleviz Fryazin Stary.
By 1490, 7 towers had already been erected, and after the next three decades, the walls of the Kremlin adorned the rest of the towers. There are 20 towers in the Kremlin in total.
In the middle of the 17th century, 4 towers received double-headed eagles on their spiers. In the 20th century, with the advent of Soviet power, the emblem eagles were replaced by luminous red stars covered with a ruby composition. In 1935, the first star flashed on the Spasskaya Tower, then on the next four towers, and a fifth star was added to them - on the Vodovzvodnaya Tower. And now, in the Russian Federation, the Moscow Kremlin is decorated with 5 stars: on the Spasskaya, Nikolskaya, Troitskaya, Borovitskaya and Vodovzvodnaya towers.
Kremlin towers
Spasskaya
- is considered the main tower of the Moscow Kremlin. It overlooks Red Square and is visible from all sides. The main part was built in 1491, and in 1624 the top of the tower was completed. Later, in 1937, a star was installed at the top.
Royal
–
quite a small building. It was built in 1680, the name of the architect is unknown. It is not particularly different from other towers and is popularly called the “terem”.
Nabatnaya
–
was built at the end of the 15th century. Later, a bell was installed on it and sentinels were posted, who were on duty around the clock. But the bell rang only in rare cases, for example, the ringing of the bell notified Muscovites about a fire, the beginning of a war, or about riots.
Constantino-Eliniskaya
- was built on the site of the Timofeevsky Gates. The main purpose of the tower was to protect the capital. A huge ditch was dug around. But, soon, the need for protection disappeared and the tower was turned into a torture chamber, where dangerous criminals of that time were kept.
Beklemishevskaya (Moskvoretskaya)
- one of the main towers of the wall of the Moscow Kremlin. It was built in 1487. Named after boyar I. Beklemishev. His house was located near the Kremlin. There is another name for the tower - Moskvoretskaya.
Petrovskaya (3rd Nameless)
or 3rd Nameless - she received the name from the church of Peter. Since 1480 it has been destroyed many times, but it has been constantly restored. During the war with the French, it was completely destroyed; later, in 1818, it was restored according to historical drawings by famous architects of that time.
2nd Nameless
- was built as a defensive structure and initially did not differ much from others. But the craftsmen did their best, and the tower turned out to be not only a defensive point, but also an adornment of the Kremlin wall. It is located between the First Nameless and Petrovsky towers.
1st Nameless
or Powder - a simple structure, without a high tower. It was built for defensive purposes and does not differ much from other towers.
Taynitskaya
- is considered the central structure of the Kremlin walls. It was built according to the plan of the Italian architect and until 1783 it was completed.
Blagoveshchenskaya
- the year when the construction was carried out has not yet been established. An approximate date can be called 1488. It is named after the sacred icon of the Annunciation. For many years, she decorated the walls of the tower and protected the soldiers during the battle.
Vodovzvodnaya
so named because ,
that it was the first to be equipped with running water. Previously, it was called the Sviblova tower, because. the famous Sviblov boyars lived nearby. The talented architect of that time, Anton Fryazin-novy, was involved in the construction. Since 1937, the tower has been decorated with a ruby star.
Borovitskaya
- one of the towers that adorns the wall of the Moscow Kremlin. There are other attractions near the tower, for example, the Big Stone Bridge. There are many legends associated with the construction. One of them says that it was named so because Moscow was built on a hill, which was covered with a dense forest.
Armory (Stable)
(Konyushennaya) - the Italian architect Solari was involved in the construction. But he did not have time to complete the tower and died. For a long time the building was unfinished and there was a danger that it would collapse. It was completed by another famous master Carezano, who was invited to the capital by ambassadors. He not only completed the construction, but also strengthened the soil and solved the problems with the destruction.
Komendantskaya
- built under Tsar Ivan III. The original name was Kolymazhnaya, then the Deaf Tower. She received such a name not in vain, because. The building has almost no windows. Later, according to the Moscow commandant arranged in the courtyard, it received its current name.
Troitskaya
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