The Moscow Kremlin has 20 towers and they are all different, no two are the same. Each tower has its own name and its own history. And for sure, many do not know the names of all the towers. Let's meet?

Most of the towers are made in a single architectural style, given to them in the second half of the 17th century. The Nikolskaya Tower stands out from the general ensemble, which was rebuilt in the Gothic style at the beginning of the 19th century.

BEKLEMISHEVSKAYA (MOSKVORETSKAYA)

BEKLEMISHEVSKAYA (Moskvoretskaya) tower is located in the south-east corner of the Kremlin. It was built by the Italian architect Marco Fryazin in 1487-1488. The courtyard of the boyar Beklemishev adjoined the tower, for which it got its name. Beklemishev's courtyard, together with the tower under Vasily III, served as a prison for disgraced boyars. The current name - "Moskvoretskaya" - is taken from the nearby Moskvoretsky Bridge. The tower was located at the junction of the Moskva River with the moat, so when the enemy attacked, it was the first to take the hit. Related to this is architectural solution towers: a high cylinder is placed on a beveled white stone plinth and separated from it by a semicircular roller. The surface of the cylinder is cut through by narrow, rarely spaced windows. The tower is completed by machicolas with a combat platform, which was higher than the adjoining walls. In the basement of the tower there was a hiding place-a rumor to prevent undermining. In 1680, the tower was decorated with an octagon, carrying a tall narrow tent with two rows of eaves, which softened its severity. In 1707, expecting a possible offensive by the Swedes, Peter I ordered to build bastions at its foot and expand the loopholes to install more powerful guns. During the Napoleonic invasion, the tower was damaged and then repaired. In 1917, during the shelling, the top of the tower was damaged, which was restored by 1920. In 1949, during the restoration, the loopholes were restored in their original form. This is one of the few Kremlin towers that has not been radically rebuilt. The height of the tower is 62.2 meters.

KONSTANTINO-ELENINSKAYA (TIMOFEEVSKAYA)

The KONSTANTINOV-ELENINSKAYA tower owes its name to the church of Constantine and Helena that stood here in antiquity. The tower was built in 1490 by the Italian architect Pietro Antonio Solari and was used for the passage of the population and troops to the Kremlin. Earlier, when the Kremlin was made of white stone, another tower stood in this place. It was through her that Dmitry Donskoy with the army went to the Kulikovo field. new tower built for the reason that on her part, not the Kremlin had no natural barriers. It was equipped with a drawbridge, a powerful diversion archer and a passage gate, which after, in the 18th and early 19th centuries. were disassembled. The tower got its name from the church of Constantine and Helena, which stood in the Kremlin. The height of the tower is 36.8 meters.

alarm

The alarm tower got its name from the large bell - the alarm that hung above it. Once upon a time, sentinels were constantly on duty here. From a height, they vigilantly watched - if the enemy army was coming to the city. And if danger was approaching, the sentinels had to warn everyone, strike the alarm bell. Because of him, the tower was called Nabatnaya. But now there is no bell in the tower. Once, at the end of the 18th century, a riot began in Moscow at the sound of the alarm bell. And when order was restored in the city, the bell was punished for disclosing bad news - they were deprived of the language. In those days it was a common practice to remember at least the history of the bell in Uglich. Since then, the alarm bell fell silent and remained idle for a long time until it was removed to the museum. The height of the Nabatnaya tower is 38 meters.

TSAR

TSAR tower. It is not at all like other Kremlin towers. There are 4 columns directly on the wall, and on them there is a peaked roof. There are no powerful walls, no narrow loopholes. But they are of no use to her. Because they were built two centuries later than the rest of the towers and not at all for defense. Previously, there was a small wooden tower at this place, from which, according to legend, the first Russian Tsar Ivan the Terrible watched the Red Square. Previously, there was a small wooden tower at this place, from which, according to legend, the first Russian Tsar Ivan the Terrible watched the Red Square. Later, the smallest tower of the Kremlin was built here and called it the Tsarskaya. Its height is 16.7 meters.

SPASSKAYA (FROLOVSKAYA)

SPASSKAYA (Frolovskaya) tower. Built in 1491 by Pietro Antonio Solari. This name comes from the 17th century, when an icon of the Savior was hung over the gates of this tower. It was erected on the spot where in ancient times the main gates of the Kremlin were located. It, like Nikolskaya, was built to protect the northeastern part of the Kremlin, which had no natural water barriers. The passage gates of the Spasskaya Tower, at that time still Frolovskaya, were considered “holy” by the people. They did not pass through them on horseback and did not pass with their heads covered. Regiments marching on the march passed through these gates, tsars and ambassadors were met here. In the 17th century, the coat of arms of Russia, the double-headed eagle, was hoisted on the tower, and a little later the coats of arms were hoisted on other high towers of the Kremlin - Nikolskaya, Troitskaya and Borovitskaya. In 1658 Kremlin towers renamed. Frolovskaya turned into Spasskaya. She was so named in honor of the icon of the Savior of Smolensk, located above the gate of the tower from the side of Red Square, and in honor of the icon of the Savior Not Made by Hands, located above the gate from the Kremlin. In 1851-52. a clock was installed on the Spasskaya Tower, which we still see. Kremlin chimes. Chimes are called large clocks that have a musical mechanism. At the Kremlin chimes, bells play music. There are eleven of them. One large one, it marks the hours, and ten smaller ones, their melodious chime is heard every 15 minutes. There is a special device in the chimes. It sets the hammer in motion, it strikes the surface of the bells and the sound of the Kremlin chimes sounds. The mechanism of the Kremlin chimes occupies three floors. Previously, the chimes were wound by hand, but now they do it with the help of electricity. The Spasskaya Tower occupies 10 floors. Its height with a star is 71 meters.

SENATE

The SENATE Tower was built in 1491 by Pietro Antonio Solari, rises behind the Mausoleum of V.I. Lenin and is named after the Senate, whose green dome rises above the fortress wall. The Senate Tower is one of the oldest in the Kremlin. Built in 1491 in the center of the northeastern part of the Kremlin wall, it performed only defensive functions - it protected the Kremlin from Red Square. The height of the tower is 34.3 meters.

NIKOLSKAYA

NIKOLSKAYA Tower is located at the beginning of Red Square. In ancient times, there was a monastery of St. Nicholas the Old nearby, and an icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker was placed above the gate of the tower. The gate tower, built in 1491 by the architect Pietro Solari, was one of the main defensive redoubts in the eastern part of the Kremlin wall. The name of the tower comes from the St. Nicholas Monastery, located nearby. Therefore, an icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker was placed over the travel gates of the archer. Like all towers with entrance gates, Nikolskaya had a drawbridge across the moat and protective bars that were lowered during the battle. The Nikolskaya Tower went down in history in 1612, when militia troops led by Minin and Pozharsky broke into the Kremlin through its gates, liberating Moscow from the Polish-Lithuanian invaders. In 1812, the Nikolskaya Tower, along with many others, was blown up by Napoleon's troops retreating from Moscow. The upper part of the tower was especially damaged. In 1816, it was replaced by the architect O.I. Bove with a new needle-shaped dome in pseudo-Gothic style. In 1917 the tower suffered again. This time from artillery fire. In 1935, the dome of the tower was crowned with a five-pointed star. In the 20th century, the tower was restored in 1946-1950s and in 1973-1974s. Now the height of the tower is 70.5 meters.

CORNER ARSENAL (DOG)

CORNER ARSENAL tower was built in 1492 by Pietro Antonio Solari and is located further away, in the corner of the Kremlin. It received its first name at the beginning of the 18th century, after the construction of the Arsenal building on the territory of the Kremlin, the second comes from the nearby estate of the Sobakin boyars. There is a well in the dungeon of the corner Arsenal tower. He is over 500 years old. It is filled from an ancient source and therefore there is always clean and fresh water in it. Previously, from the Arsenal tower went underground passage to the Neglinnaya river. The height of the tower is 60.2 meters.

AVERAGE ARSENAL (FACETED)

The MIDDLE ARSENAL tower rises from the side of the Alexander Garden and is called so because right behind it there was a warehouse of weapons. It was built in 1493-1495. After the construction of the Arsenal building, the tower got its name. Near the tower in 1812 a grotto was erected - one of the attractions of the Alexander Garden. The height of the tower is 38.9 meters.

TRINITY

The TROITSKAYA tower is named after the church and the Trinity Compound, which were once nearby on the territory of the Kremlin. Trinity Tower - the most tall tower Kremlin. The height of the tower at present, together with the star from the direction of the Alexander Garden, is 80 meters. The Trinity Bridge, protected by the Kutafya Tower, leads to the gates of the Trinity Tower. The gates of the tower serve as the main entrance for visitors to the Kremlin. Built in 1495-1499. Italian architect Aleviz Fryazin Milanets. The tower was called differently: Rizopolozhenskaya, Znamenskaya and Karetnaya. It received its current name in 1658 after the name of the Trinity Compound of the Kremlin. The two-storey base of the tower housed a prison in the 16th-17th centuries. From 1585 to 1812 there was a clock on the tower. At the end of the 17th century, the tower received a multi-tiered tent superstructure with white stone decorations. In 1707, due to the threat of a Swedish invasion, the loopholes of the Trinity Tower were expanded for heavy cannons. Until 1935, an imperial double-headed eagle was installed on top of the tower. By the next date of the October Revolution, it was decided to remove the eagle and install red stars on it and the rest of the main towers of the Kremlin. The double-headed eagle of the Trinity Tower turned out to be the oldest - manufactured in 1870 and prefabricated on bolts, therefore, when dismantled, it had to be dismantled at the top of the tower. In 1937, the faded semi-precious star was replaced with a modern ruby ​​one.

KUTAFIA

KUTAFYA tower (connected by a bridge with Troitskaya). Her name is associated with this: in the old days, a casually dressed, clumsy woman was called a kutafya. Indeed, the Kutafya tower is not high, like the others, but squat and wide. The tower was built in 1516 under the leadership of the Milanese architect Aleviz Fryazin. Low, surrounded by a moat and the Neglinnaya River, with the only gate, which in moments of danger was tightly closed by the lifting part of the bridge, the tower was a formidable barrier for the besiegers of the fortress. She had loopholes of the plantar battle and machicolations. In the XVI-XVII centuries, the water level in the Neglinnaya River was raised high by dams, so that the water surrounded the tower from all sides. Its initial height above ground level was 18 meters. It was possible to enter the tower from the side of the city only on an inclined bridge. There are two versions of the origin of the name "Kutafya": from the word "kut" - shelter, corner, or from the word "kutafya", meaning a full, clumsy woman. The Kutafya Tower has never been covered. In 1685, it was crowned with an openwork "crown" with white stone details.

KOMENDANTSKAYA (KOLYMAZHNAYA)

The KOMENDANTSKAYA tower got its name in the 19th century, since the commandant of Moscow was located in the building nearby. The tower was built in 1493-1495 on the northwestern side of the Kremlin wall, which today stretches along the Alexander Garden. It was formerly called Kolymazhnaya after the Kolymazhny yard located near it in the Kremlin. In 1676-1686 it was built on. The tower is made up of a massive quadrangle with machicolations (mounted loopholes) and a parapet and an open tetrahedron standing on it, completed with a pyramidal roof, an observation tower and an octagonal ball. In the main volume of the tower there are three tiers of rooms covered with barrel vaults; vaults are covered and tiers of completion. In the 19th century, the tower was called “Komendantskaya”, when the commandant of Moscow settled in the Poteshny Palace of the 17th century near the Kremlin. The height of the tower from the Alexander Garden is 41.25 meters.

ARMORY(STABLE)

The ARMORY tower, which once stood on the banks of the Neglinnaya River, now enclosed in an underground pipe, was named after the nearby Armory, the second comes from the nearby Stables Yard. Once upon a time, ancient weapons workshops were located next to it. They also made precious dishes and jewelry. The ancient workshops gave the name not only to the tower, but also to a wonderful museum located next to the Kremlin wall - the Armory. Many Kremlin treasures and simply very ancient things are collected here. For example, helmets and chain mail of ancient Russian warriors. The height of the Armory Tower is 32.65 meters.

BOROVITSKAYA (PREDTECHENSKAYA)

Built in 1490 by Pietro Antonio Solari. Travel card. The first name of the tower - the original, comes from the Borovitsky hill, on the slope of which the tower stands; the name of the hill apparently comes from ancient forest that grew up in this place. The second name, given by the royal decree of 1658, comes from the nearby Church of the Nativity of John the Baptist and the icon of St. John the Baptist, located above the gate. At present, it is the main passage for government motorcades. The height of the tower is 54 meters.

VODOVZVODNAYA (SVIBLOV)

WATER TOWER - so named because of the car that was here once. She raised water from a well, arranged at the bottom to the very top of the tower into a large tank. From there, water flowed through lead pipes to the royal palace in the Kremlin. Thus, in the old days, the Kremlin had its own water supply system. He worked for a long time, but then the car was dismantled and taken to St. Petersburg. There it was used for the device of fountains. The height of the Vodovzvodnaya tower with a star is 61.45 meters. The second name of the tower is associated with the boyar surname Sviblo, or Sviblovs, who were responsible for its construction.

BLAGOVESCHENSKAYA

Blagoveshchenskaya tower. According to legend, the miraculous icon of the Annunciation was previously kept in this tower, and in 1731 the Church of the Annunciation was attached to this tower. Most likely, the name of the tower is associated with one of these facts. In the 17th century, for the passage of laundresses to the Moscow River, a gate was made near the tower, called Portomoinny. In 1831 they were laid down, and in Soviet times the Church of the Annunciation was also dismantled. The height of the Annunciation Tower with a weather vane is 32.45 meters.

TAINITSKAYA

TAYNITSKAYA tower - the first tower laid down during the construction of the Kremlin. It was named so because a secret underground passage led from it to the river. It was intended to be able to take water in case the fortress was besieged by enemies. The height of the Tainitskaya tower is 38.4 meters.

PETROVSKAYA (UGRESHSKAYA)

The PETROVSKAYA tower, together with two nameless ones, was built to reinforce the southern wall, as it was the most frequently attacked. Like the two nameless ones, the Petrovsky Tower did not have a name at first. She received her name from the church of Metropolitan Peter at the Ugreshsky Compound in the Kremlin. In 1771, during the construction of the Kremlin Palace, the tower, the church of Metropolitan Peter and the Ugreshskoye metochion were dismantled. In 1783 the tower was rebuilt, but in 1812 the French destroyed it again during the occupation of Moscow. In 1818, the Petrovsky Tower was restored again. It was used for their needs by the Kremlin gardeners. The height of the tower is 27.15 meters.

20 towers and they are all different, no two are the same. Each tower has its own name and its own history. Only two towers did not get names, they are called that First Nameless and Second Nameless. Behind them is the Petrovsky Tower, but the rightmost tower has two names at once. Nowadays it is called Moskvoretskaya and once called Beklemishevskaya by the name of the person next to whose yard it was laid. Somehow it turned out that the enemies most often attacked from the direction of the Moskva River, and the Moskvoretskaya Tower had to be the first to defend itself. Therefore, it is so formidable and with so many loopholes. Its height is 46.2 m.

The first tower, which was laid during the construction of the Kremlin, was Taynitskaya. Taynitskaya tower so named because a secret underground passage led from it to the river. It was intended to be able to take water in case the fortress was besieged by enemies. The height of the Tainitskaya tower is 38.4 m.

Vodovzvodnaya tower- so named because of the car that was here once. She raised water from a well, arranged at the bottom to the very top of the tower into a large tank. From there, water flowed through lead pipes to the royal palace in the Kremlin. Thus, in the old days, the Kremlin had its own water supply system. He worked for a long time, but then the car was dismantled and taken to another city - St. Petersburg. There it was used for the device of fountains. The height of the Vodovzvodnaya tower with a star is 61.45 m.

At the Vodovzvodnaya Tower, the Kremlin wall turns away from the river. Here on the corner stands another tower - Borovitskaya. This tower stands near Borovitsky Hill, on which a pine forest grew a long time ago. From him came its name. The height of the tower with a star is 54.05 m.

Next to Borovitskaya is weapon tower. Once upon a time, ancient weapons workshops were located next to it. They also made precious dishes and jewelry. The ancient workshops gave the name not only to the tower, but also to the wonderful museum located nearby behind the Kremlin wall -. Many Kremlin treasures and simply very ancient things are collected here. For example, helmets and chain mail of ancient Russian warriors. The height of the Armory tower is 32.65 m.

Kutafya and Trinity towers of the Moscow Kremlin

If we go a little further along the walls of the Kremlin, we will see the Trinity Bridge. It was thrown across the Neglinnaya River many centuries ago, even before it was hidden underground. Troitsky Bridge leads to the gates of one of the tallest Kremlin towers - Trinity. The bridge connects the Trinity Tower with another - a low and wide tower. This is . In the old days, this was the name of a clumsily dressed woman. The tower was decorated already in the seventeenth century. Prior to this, Kutafya was very harsh, with drawbridges at the side gates and hinged loopholes. She guarded the entrance to the Trinity Bridge. Previously, there were more such bridge towers. But only one has survived to this day. The height of the Trinity Tower with a star is 80 m. This is the highest tower of the Moscow Kremlin. The Kutafya Tower is only 13.5 m high. This is the lowest tower of the Kremlin.

We go further along the Kremlin wall. She turns again. There is another tower here. From a distance, it seems round, but if you get closer, it turns out to be not so at all, because it has 16 faces. This is corner arsenal tower. Once she was called Sobakina, by the name of a person who lived nearby. But in the 18th century, it was erected next to it, and the tower was renamed. There is a well in the dungeon of the corner Arsenal tower. He is over 500 years old. It is filled from an ancient source and therefore there is always clean and fresh water in it. Previously, there was an underground passage from the Arsenal Tower to the Neglinnaya River. The height of the tower is 60.2 m.

Middle Arsenal Tower. It was built in 1493-1495. After the construction of the Arsenal building, the tower got its name. Near the tower in 1812 a grotto was erected - one of the attractions of the Alexander Garden. The height of the tower is 38.9m.

alarm tower. Once upon a time, sentinels were constantly on duty here. From a height, they vigilantly watched - if the enemy army was coming to the city. And if danger was approaching, the sentinels had to warn everyone, strike the alarm bell. Because of him, the tower was called Nabatnaya. But now there is no bell in the tower. Once, at the end of the 18th century, a riot began in Moscow at the sound of the alarm bell. And when order was restored in the city, the bell was punished for disclosing bad news - they were deprived of the language. In those days, it was a common practice to remember at least history. Since then, the alarm bell fell silent and remained idle for a long time until it was removed to the museum. The height of the alarm tower is 38 m.

To the right of the Nabatnaya Tower is Royal Tower. It is not at all like other Kremlin towers. There are 4 columns directly on the wall, and on them there is a peaked roof. There are no powerful walls, no narrow loopholes. But they are of no use to her. Because the tower was not built for defense at all. According to legend, Tsar Ivan the Terrible liked to look at his city from this place. Later, the smallest tower of the Kremlin was built here and called it the Tsarskaya. Its height is 16.7 m.

Constantino - Yeleninskaya Tower (Timofeevskaya). It was built in 1490 and used for the passage of the population and troops to the Kremlin. Earlier, when the Kremlin was made of white stone, another tower stood in this place. It was through her that Dmitry Donskoy with the army went to the Kulikovo field. The new tower was built for the reason that there were no natural barriers on its side outside the Kremlin. It was equipped with a drawbridge, a powerful diversion archer and a passage gate, which after, in the 18th and early 19th centuries. were disassembled. The tower got its name from the church of Constantine and Helena, which stood in the Kremlin. The height of the tower is 36.8m.

Senate Tower at first it did not have a name, and received it only after the construction of the Senate building. After that, they began to call her the Senate. The tower was built in 1491, its height is 34.3 m.

Nikolskaya tower. It was built in 1491. architect Pietro Antonio Solari to strengthen the northeastern part of the Kremlin, not protected by natural barriers. It had a gate, it had a retractable archer with a drawbridge. Retractable shooter or a barbican was a tower outside the fortress walls, guarding the approaches to the gate or bridge. For example, the barbican is the Kutafya Tower. The name of the Nikolskaya Tower comes from the name of the icon of St. Nicholas, installed above the gates of her barbican. This icon resolved controversial issues. In ancient times, a clock was also installed on the tower. Now they are not there, but the top of the tower is crowned with a red star. The height of the tower with a star is 70.4m.

Petrovskaya tower along with two nameless ones was built to strengthen the southern wall, as the most frequently attacked. Like the two nameless ones, the Petrovsky Tower did not have a name at first. She received her name from the church of Metropolitan Peter at the Ugreshsky Compound in the Kremlin. In 1771 During the construction of the Kremlin Palace, the tower, the church of Metropolitan Peter and the Ugreshskoe metochion were dismantled. In 1783 the tower was rebuilt, but in 1812. the French during the occupation of Moscow destroyed it again. In 1818 The Petrovsky tower was restored again. It was used for their needs by the Kremlin gardeners. The height of the tower is 27.15m.

Commandant's Tower (Kolymazhnaya). It was built in 1495. Its first name - Kolymazhna - received from the Kolymazhny courtyard of the Kremlin. In the 19th century, when the commandant of Moscow began to live in the Kremlin, not far from it, they began to call it Komendantskaya. The height of the tower is 41.25m.

Annunciation tower. According to legend, the miraculous icon of the Annunciation was previously kept in this tower, as well as 1731. the Church of the Annunciation was attached to this tower. Most likely, the name of the tower is associated with one of these facts. In the 17th century for the passage of laundresses to the Moscow River, a gate was made near the tower, called Portomoyny. In 1831 they were laid down, and in Soviet times the Church of the Annunciation was dismantled. The height of the Annunciation Tower with a weather vane is 32.45 m.

Spasskaya Tower (Frolovskaya) was erected on the site where in ancient times the main gates of the Kremlin were located. It, like Nikolskaya, was built to protect the northeastern part of the Kremlin, which had no natural water barriers. The passage gates of the Spasskaya Tower, at that time still Frolovskaya, were considered “holy” by the people. They did not pass through them on horseback and did not pass with their heads covered. Regiments marching on the march passed through these gates, tsars and ambassadors were met here. In the 17th century the coat of arms of Russia was erected on the tower - a double-headed eagle, a little later the coats of arms were hoisted on other high towers of the Kremlin - Nikolskaya, Troitskaya and Borovitskaya. In 1658 The Kremlin towers have been renamed. Frolovskaya turned into Spasskaya. She was so named in honor of the icon of the Savior of Smolensk, located above the gate of the tower from the side of Red Square, and in honor of the icon of the Savior Not Made by Hands, located above the gate from the Kremlin.

In 1851-52. a clock was installed on the Spasskaya Tower, which we still see. Kremlin chimes. Chimes are called large clocks that have a musical mechanism. At the Kremlin chimes, bells play music. There are eleven of them. One large one, it marks the hours, and ten smaller ones, their melodious chime is heard every 15 minutes. There is a special device in the chimes. It sets the hammer in motion, it strikes the surface of the bells and the sound of the Kremlin chimes sounds. The mechanism of the Kremlin chimes occupies three floors. Previously, the chimes were wound by hand, but now they do it with the help of electricity. The Spasskaya Tower occupies 10 floors. Its height with a star is 71 m.

As promised, with today's entry, I am starting a cycle of stories about the sights of our capital in my blog. Without claiming to be absolute truth (nevertheless, I am not a professional guide, not a historian and not a local historian), I will tell you about interesting places Moscow, about the historical events connected with them. I hope that this cycle will be as interesting and popular as the dental one. Well, when it gets a little warmer outside, I would like to invite you on excursions to these very places.

This and the next few posts will be dedicated to the Moscow Kremlin - a real gem Russian capital. I understand that even a 500-page book will not suffice even for brief overviews of the Kremlin, but I will try to embrace the immensity - albeit in small portions.

So, the first photo tour will tell you about the Towers of the Moscow Kremlin. For even without getting into its territory, you can inspect them in the most thorough way.

Introduction

The Kremlin was not always the way we see it now. Over the centuries, it has repeatedly changed, its outlines, meaning and purpose have changed. Previously it was impregnable fortress, stopping the enemy with only one appearance, and all its purpose was dictated by one goal - to withstand the siege.

Today, the Moscow Kremlin has already lost its defensive function and has become, rather, a symbol of power and decoration of our capital. Its walls seem to have become the boundary between the authorities and the people, showing how far they are from each other.
Ivan III, enclosing the Kremlin Hill with a wall, attached even more importance to it - he ignored the order of the Golden Horde, which forbids building stone walls around cities and, thereby, laid the foundation for the independence of the Russian state. And these walls, together with the towers, more than once saved this very independence.

Since the Kremlin towers were built exclusively for defensive purposes, they looked something like this:

High spiers and tents were built on them later, when the Kremlin walls and towers lost their military purpose and became just a decoration of Moscow.

In addition, the towers, like all the buildings of the Kremlin, were repeatedly reconstructed and rebuilt.

During the Patriotic War of 1812, Napoleon set out to blow up the Kremlin, surrounding it with explosives from all sides. He even sent a mocking letter to Emperor Alexander I: "Your Kremlin is no more!" But at that moment, when the French soldiers had already set fire to the fuse, suddenly, in the middle of a clear day, a heavy downpour came, which put out the fire. As a result, only a small part of the charges went off, several towers were destroyed and the fortress walls were damaged. But the Kremlin itself resisted.
After this, how can one not say that Russia is protected by God?

We will start our tour from Red Square, from its main attraction. Then we will go down to the Moscow River, go around the Alexander Garden and return to Red Square. This is a route that takes less than one hour at a fast pace.

1. Spasskaya Tower.

The most recognizable and, perhaps, the most important of all the towers. It houses the entrance gate through which tsars and metropolitans entered the Kremlin during solemn events and holidays. Through them they went through the procession. And now all of Russia checks the time on them.

Previously, they were called Frolovsky, after the church of St. Frol and Laurus, located behind them. The special status of the Frolovsky Gates is also evidenced by their location - opposite the Execution Ground.

By decree of Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich (grandfather of Peter I), a pyramidal clock tower was built on the site of the gate. True, the clock was located one tier below.

Later, it was forbidden to pass through the Frolovsky Gate with a covered head, as well as to accompany animals or pass on wagons. It should be noted that the royal decree simply legitimized the tradition, because these gates were already revered among the people, so no one in a hat dared to pass through them.

In the 17th century, an image of the Savior Not Made by Hands, brought from Vyatka, was installed above the gate, and an inscription in Latin was made under it (now there is no icon, but you can see the place where it was - a white rectangle). And the gates, and with them the tower, began to be called Spassky.
The current clock on the Tower (chimes) was installed in the 19th century and occupies three floors. Prior to the installation of the clock on the Moscow State University building, it was the largest analogue clock in Russia.

2. Tsar's tower.

The smallest and one of the youngest towers of the Kremlin. From it, the tsar appeared during ceremonial events on Red Square.

Some researchers believe that royal decrees and orders were also announced from the Tsarskaya Tower. However, I personally am skeptical about this, because it is far and inconvenient to shout from there, and for decrees and the royal will there was a Execution Ground.

Later, this tower housed the fire service bells. This is indirectly evidenced by the X-shaped beams in the vault, apparently intended for hanging bells.

3. Alarm tower.

As the name implies, it was intended for Nabat - a signal bell announcing a fire and some disturbing and important events in the life of the city. For the fact that the alarm bell in the 18th century called the people to the "plague riot", it was removed and exiled to Siberia. Now this repressed bell is in the Armory.

4. Constantino-Eleninskaya Tower.

Previously, this place was the Konstantinovsky Gate (named after the Church of the Blessed King Constantine, which was nearby). Through these gates, which were then the main ones in the Kremlin, Grand Duke Dmitry Donskoy went to war with Mamai, through them he returned with a victory after the Battle of Kulikovo.

Under Mikhail Fedorovich, the gates were walled up (on the outer wall you see the remains of gate structures), and under Peter the Great, the Church of St. Konstantin and Helena was built behind them, which gave the name to the tower - Konstantin-Eleninskaya.

5. Beklemishevskaya tower.

The tower got its name by the name of the boyar Beklemishev, whose courtyard was located in this part of the Kremlin. In the tower, as in all the corner ones, there is a well that provided the besieged with water.

In modern guidebooks, this tower is sometimes called Moskvoretskaya.

6.Petrovskaya tower.

Guess who it was named after?

Little is known about this tower. In the 18th century, Catherine II decided to reshape the Kremlin and build a huge palace in it. For this, part of the wall and several towers, including this one, had to be demolished. The palace was never built (a common thing), and the demolished towers were restored according to old drawings.

7. The second nameless tower.

This tower also fell under demolition due to the construction project started by Catherine II, but was later restored. She never came up with a name.

8. The first nameless tower.

And this tower inherited from Catherine... A true manifestation of the Russian mentality: first we demolish, therefore we think, then we restore what was demolished.

9. Taynitskaya tower.

This tower is known primarily for the fact that through it there was a secret exit to the Moskva River, which was used both to replenish supplies of provisions and water, and for partisan attacks. Some historians have an opinion that the underground passage led from the Tainitskaya tower all the way to the other side of the river, but there is no documentary or any other evidence of this theory.

In the tower itself, in its upper tier, at one time there was a cathedral of the Chernigov miracle workers, and now their relics have been transferred to the Archangel Cathedral.

Previously, there was a gate of the same name, closed up under Mikhail Fedorovich. However, you can see the remains of these same gates on the wall.

10. Annunciation tower

It is named so because of the Annunciation Cathedral, which was once nearby, and was later moved to Cathedral Square.

It should be noted that many buildings of the Kremlin "moved" across its territory, were demolished, rebuilt and rebuilt, so the name of some towers may not be entirely clear.

11. Vodovzvodnaya tower.

In this tower, as well as in all the corner ones, there was a well that supplied water to the besieged Kremlin. Later, pumps (water-lifting machines) and reservoirs with water were installed here, which entered the Grand Kremlin Palace - this is how the first water supply system in Moscow appeared. Hence the name of the tower - Vodovzvodnaya.

In 1812, Napoleon blew up the tower, but it was soon restored with a complete identity.

After the revolution, when the two-headed eagles were removed from the gate towers and replaced with five-pointed stars, a luminous star was also installed on Vodovzvodnaya.

12. Borovitskaya Tower.

Today, the Borovitskaya Tower is the only entrance to the Kremlin territory, moreover, it is carefully guarded. They didn't let me get close to her.

It owes its name to the dense forest that once covered this part of the Kremlin hill.

Previously, it was called Predtechevskaya, after the church of John the Baptist, which was later demolished and transferred to the tent of the Borovitskaya tower. There were gates leading to the economic part of the royal court - in other words, everything that, for ideological reasons, could not be transported through the Spassky gate was imported from here. As, however, and now ...

Many historians believe that it was from this place that the Kremlin began, Moscow began, and, in fact, the whole of Russia. Here in ancient times there was a settlement of Kuchkov, which belonged to a nobleman Stepan Kuchko, who was forced to cede the Kremlin Hill to Yuri Dolgoruky. It was also here that the first Church of the Transfiguration of the Savior on Bor was erected in Moscow, which became the beginning of Russian Orthodoxy.

So, the Borovitsky Gates and the adjacent territory are the source, a special place, a small piece of land, which later grew to one sixth of the land.

13. Gun tower.

It got its name because of the Armory adjacent to it. And before the construction of the main treasury of the Kremlin, stables were located here, so the tower was called Konyushennaya.

14. Commandant's tower.

Also called so relatively recently - because of the adjoining Commandant's Office of the Kremlin. And earlier workshops, forges and craftsmen's houses were located here, so the tower was called Kolymazhnaya (from the word "kolyma" - to work) or Deaf. The origin of the last name is still unknown to me. Maybe someone will tell?

15. Trinity tower.

Naturally, it was also not always called Trinity.

Previously, in this part of the Kremlin there was a royal chicken coop, and the gates themselves were called Kuryatnye. Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich decided to ennoble this place and ordered to build a tower with chimes on the site of the Chicken Gate. There was not enough money for the chimes, but the tower, as you can see, was built. It received its name from the image of the Holy Trinity, which hung from its inner side. And outside hung the image of the Sign (where the clock is now hanging - the rectangle from the icon remained).

One of the six gates of the Kremlin is also located here, and they are active (two gates are walled up, one is used as an entrance, two are almost always closed). Most of the visitors get to the Kremlin through them.

16. Middle Arsenal Tower.

It owes its name to the Arsenal building built behind it. Previously, when there was no Arsenal on this site, it was even a corner tower, and then, with the expansion of the territory of the Kremlin and the construction of the Coal Tower, it took its place in the wall.

17. Corner Arsenal Tower

Its former name is Coal (from the word "corner") or Sobakina (apparently, in honor of Marfa Sobakina). If you look closely, you will see that this is not an ordinary tower - unlike the square and round towers, it is sixteen-sided.

This is the most powerful tower of the Moscow Kremlin, its task was to control the crossing over the Neglinnaya. The tower also housed a well in case of a siege and had a secret exit to the river.

18. Nikolskaya tower.

The tower owes its name to the image of St. Nicholas, installed on it immediately after its construction (the icon was located where the white rectangle is now. The street of the same name began from it - one of the most important in Moscow. It is also the gate to the Kremlin, now locked.

An interesting story happened to the Nikolskaya Tower.

In 1812, Napoleon managed to blow up the Nikolskaya Tower, and the destruction was colossal - less than one third of it remained. It is surprising that the image of St. Nicholas not only did not fall, but even the glass covering the icon did not crack.
Later, the tower was restored in the image of Spasskaya and old drawings.

19. Senate tower.

It owes its name to the Senate located behind it. There is nothing special about this tower. Unless they almost called her Movzoleina ...

20. Kutafya tower.

Historians are still arguing about the origin of the name of this tower - either from the word "skufya" or from the word "tafya". Considering that both of these words denote hats, the difference is not fundamental - the tower really looks like a hat.

To date, this is the only surviving defensive structure designed to protect the bridges leading to the Kremlin (well, there is only one bridge left - Troitsky). And before, such turrets stood at every bridge leading to the gate, except perhaps for the Tainitsky ones.

There is also a story about this tower during the Patriotic War of 1812.

When the French entered Moscow, their vanguard, led by Murat, hastened to occupy the Kremlin. On the way to the Kutafya Tower they were met with fierce fire. Murat was very surprised, because there was a ceasefire agreement between the warring parties. It turned out that local residents, townspeople, settled in the Kutafya tower, ready at the cost of their own lives to protect a place sacred to every Russian person. It was possible to expel them from there only after the advance detachment received reinforcements.

Unfortunately, I cannot tell you everything I know about the towers and the Moscow Kremlin in general. It would take an entire blog, if not an entire resource. However, I still hope that this little information will be useful to you, and next time, walking near the walls of the Moscow Kremlin, you will feel the spirit of history, those events that these walls witnessed.
After all, every building, every brick and every cobblestone on the pavement is our history. Our Russia is with you.
Thank you for your attention.
Sincerely, Stanislav Vasiliev.
Ps. As always, I welcome questions if something was not clear.

Kremlin towers. Secrets and secrets. 1 part.

It's great to see the extraordinary in the ordinary. It would seem that the majority of Russians were in the Kremlin and Red Square. What's new there? Tourists, pavement, zero kilometer. In fact, the Kremlin is full of mysteries. For example, each of the towers of the complex is fraught with its own secrets.

1. Taynitskaya tower

The Tainitskaya Tower The Tainitskaya Tower is a tower of the Kremlin, a former passageway, the middle one on the southern wall.

It was from the south that the Tatars attacked Moscow, and this tower controlled the fords both at Vasilyevsky Spusk and at the mouth of the Neglinka. According to the cache laid in it - a secret well in case of a siege - the tower was named Taynitskaya. As can be seen on the map, the original tower was a powerful entrance complex with a stone bridge and a diversion (retracted from the fortress at a distance) archery. The modern tower is a remake of the 18th century, built after Catherine II abandoned the idea of ​​the Grand Kremlin Palace.

The first tower, which was laid during the construction of the Kremlin, was Taynitskaya. In the last quarter of the 15th century, Ivan III launched a grandiose reconstruction of the walls and towers of the Kremlin.

The beginning of new construction is closely connected with the name of the Italian architect Anton Fryazin (Antonio Gilardi). The Italian "architect" arrived in Moscow back in 1469 as part of the embassy of Cardinal Vissarion to prepare the marriage of Grand Duke Ivan III and Sophia Paleolog. In 1485, Anton Fryazin laid the foundation stone for the Tainitskaya Tower of the Moscow Kremlin and for the first time used brick for fortification construction. This marked the beginning of the renovation of the Kremlin fortifications.

The Tainitskaya tower had two combat tiers, on the upper platform there were loopholes for hanging battles (mashikuli). From the side of the river, the gate was covered by a second tower, connected to the Taynitskaya tower by a stone arched bridge.

A cache-well and an underground passage to the river (hence the name) were arranged in the Tainitskaya tower. At the end of the XVII century. The Taynitskaya tower is crowned with a tent. In 1770, it was dismantled in connection with the construction of the Kremlin Palace according to the project of V.I. Bazhenov. Restored in the 1770s.

In 1862, a diversion archer was attached to the Tainitskaya tower, on the upper platform of which guns of a saluting battery were installed. In 1930-33, the archer was dismantled, the gates were blocked, and the hiding place was filled up. The current height of the tower is 38.4 m. Moscow. (Encyclopedic reference book. - M .: Great Russian Encyclopedia 1992)

2. Vodovzvodnaya tower

Vodovzvodnaya (Sviblova) tower is the southwestern corner tower of the Moscow Kremlin. It is located on the corner of the Kremlin Embankment and Alexander Garden, on the banks of the Moskva River. Erected in 1488 by the Italian architect Anton Fryazin (Antonio Gilardi). The name Sviblov Tower comes from the boyar surname Sviblo (later Sviblov), whose courtyard adjoined the tower from the Kremlin

A year later, the right flank of the southern wall was covered by the Sviblova tower. The map shows that the Kremlin is protected from the south by a double wall. It was dismantled as a result of the post-fire reconstruction of Moscow.

It received its modern name in 1633 after the installation of a water-lifting machine in it, made under the direction of Christopher Galovey, to supply water from the Moscow River to the Kremlin.

It was the first water supply system in Moscow from tanks placed in the upper tiers of the tower. Water from it was carried out "to the Sovereign Sytny and Stern Palace", and then to the gardens.

On the Moskva River, near the Vodovzvodnaya Tower, there was a washing raft for rinsing clothes. On the bank of the river there was a port-washing hut with accessories for the raft. In the Kremlin wall, small port-washing gates were arranged, through which linen was carried.

The water tower was built in the classical style. Up to the middle of the height, it is lined with alternating belts of protruding and sinking masonry.

A narrow strip of white stone, covering the tower in its middle part, as if emphasizes the arched belt. The turret is completed with dovetail crenellations with slots for shooting. Arcature belt, mashikuli, "dovetails" had not previously been found in Russian architecture of fortifications and were used here for the first time. The tent over the tower was erected at the end of the 17th century. In 1805, due to dilapidation, it was dismantled and rebuilt.

In 1812, the army of Napoleon Bonaparte, retreating from Moscow, blew up the tower. Restored in 1817-1819 by the architect Osip Ivanovich Bove. The walls are treated with rustication, the loopholes are replaced by round and semicircular windows. Dormer windows are decorated with Tuscan porticoes with columns and pediments.

Sviblova tower on a hundred rubles
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Unlike other towers with ruby ​​stars, Vodovzvodnaya did not previously have an eagle-shaped top. A star with a diameter of 3 meters was installed on the tower in 1937 and is the smallest of the Kremlin stars.

Interesting Facts.

In 1633, an unprecedented construction project was started in the Kremlin. Royal plumbing. And they made it - according to Roman custom, from lead. Through lead pipes, the water of the Moskva River, with the help of a horse-drawn pump, was pumped into large tanks located in the upper part of the tower (already - Vodovzvodnaya). These tanks were lined with a thin lead sheet for tightness. Through the same lead pipes, water from the reservoirs was diluted to kitchens, soaps, for watering the royal gardens, as well as to Konyushenny, Khlebny, Kormovaya and other courtyards of the Kremlin. Each consumer had his own water-folding chest. For a long, long time (from 1633 to 1706), the royal palace was supplied with “impotent”, lead-poisoned water.

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Scientists who calculated the level of saturation of water with lead, argue that lead in the water should have contained more than one hundred current limits. allowable norms. According to the calculations of scientists, the water in this water supply system was especially poisonous in the morning, after it had been infused in lead water-folding chests all night. People were poisoned by lead. And the service people of the Kremlin, and its inhabitants. Poisoned with lead and the king. Signs of chronic lead poisoning are memory loss, apathy, lethargy. People look older than their age and degrade mentally and physically. All these signs were observed by contemporaries of Tsars Alexei Mikhailovich (1629-1676), Fyodor Alekseevich (1661-1682) and Ivan V (1666-1696). According to contemporaries, Alexei Mikhailovich did not know how and did not like to work, he was "much quiet."

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His character was lethargic and incapable of decisive actions and creativity. About himself, he himself said: "To me, a sinner, the local honor is like dust." He had a rather contemplative nature, preferring to observe the activities of others - to work itself. In general - the clinical picture of chronic lead poisoning, starting from childhood, and not just a quiet character.

About Fedor Alekseevich they said "Not a tenant." He lived little, was always lethargic, was often unhealthy and died young, while looking much older than his years. Ivan V was weak in body and mind, incapable of vigorous activity, was constantly in prayer and fasting. By the age of 27 he looked like an old man. By the age of 30, he was paralyzed and died - as imperceptibly as he lived.

If Alexei Mikhailovich was subjected to lead poisoning from childhood, then his children were poisoned with lead even in the womb. They were already the second generation of lead-poisoned tsars of Russia. What saved Peter the Great? Opala! It turns out that opal sometimes saves life and health. He spent his childhood and adolescence not in the Kremlin. He was the first son of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich from his second wife, Natalya Naryshkina. And he was born not in Moscow, but in one of the estates. They say that either in Kolomenskoye, or in Izmailovo. Peter was still small when his father died and his mother fell into disgrace. This is what saved the life of the future emperor. He did not consume powerless water and was not poisoned constantly with lead since childhood.

The life of young Peter passed outside the Moscow Kremlin, and this saved him from the fate of his father and brothers. True, having already become king, in 1706 Peter ordered the lead pipes to be removed from the Kremlin for their transportation to Piterburh. Lead pipes and other things were dismantled and sent to St. Petersburg, but ... It is known that the first water supply system in St. Petersburg, which supplied palaces and fountains with water from the Neva summer garden, had pipes from drilled tree trunks. Most likely, Peter just needed lead for bullets and buckshot. And he seized the much-needed metal. After all, he was the one who melted the bells into cannons, although this caused a much stronger reaction!

Against this background, the melting of pipes into bullets and buckshot remained completely unnoticed by contemporaries. And the fact that by doing this Peter saved so many inhabitants and servicemen of the Kremlin from lead poisoning remained completely unknown to people. How often it turns out that over time, people's actions are evaluated in a completely different way than when they were performed.

3. Borovitskaya tower

The Borovitskaya Tower (Predtechenskaya) is located in the southwest of the Moscow Kremlin. It is easily visible from the Alexander Garden and Borovitskaya Square. The building offers a wonderful view of the Bolshoy Kamenny Bridge.

Borovitskaya Tower
1490, Pietro Antonio Solari

As you can see on the map, the gates were originally built in the tower itself (compare with the modern photo, where the gate is in the retractable shooter). A wooden bridge was thrown across the Neglinka.

The first quarter of the tower (height 16.68 meters) is divided into two tiers, which are covered with barrel vaults. From the first tier there is a passage to the partially filled basement of the tower. In the second tier, elements of church decor were partially preserved, and the tower church itself was destroyed in 1917. The second quadrangle is low - only 4 meters, its closed arch has stripping for windows. The third and fourth quarters (3.47 and 4.16 meters, respectively) form a single volume and are also covered with a closed vault with window formwork. An octagon (4.16 meters) with a tent (18.07 meters) are also combined into one room: their walls are cut through by long narrow dormer windows. All levels communicate with each other by means of stairs located in the thickness of the eastern and northern walls. A spiral staircase runs from the basement to the second quarter in the southeast corner of the tower.

On the side of the tower, taking into account the turn of the wall, a retractable archer was attached to cover the gate. The gates were closed with iron bars. In plan, the archer has the shape of a triangle. Strelnitsa communicates with the basement of the main quadrangle. Until now, in the passage of the gate, you can see the longitudinal grooves for the gate grate.

Retractable shooter

According to legend, it owes its name to its location - it was erected on Borovitsky Hill, from where the name came from. According to another legend, it was built by masters from Borovsk, and therefore it was named in memory of them.

Taking into account the star, the height of the Borovitskaya Bashi of the Moscow Kremlin is 54.05 meters, excluding - 50.7 meters. It was built the ninth in a row among all the towers of the Kremlin. Its construction was carried out by the architect Pyotr Fryazin by decree of Ivan III in 1490. At the same time, Pietro Solari (Peter Fryazin) built a wall between it and the Sviblova tower (Vodovzvodnaya). He also designed the Spasskaya Tower.

According to the chronicles, another structure was located in its place, but it was also called. In 1658 it was renamed Predtechenskaya. The name was given after the Church of the Nativity of the Forerunner. With this name, it did not last long and soon the former name was returned.

Church of John the Baptist, Borovitskaya Tower and Konyushenny Prikaz. 1800.
If earlier the Borovitsky Gate of the Kremlin was a kind of "back entrance" (used exclusively for economic purposes), now it is used as a front gate. President enters through the Borovitsky Gate Russian Federation, host international guests and guests of the Armory.

Initially, the tower, like most of the structures of the Moscow Kremlin, was made of oak. In 1340, Ivan Kalita built a mighty oak fortress, with walls from 2 to 6 m thick and over 7 m high. The oak citadel protected Moscow for almost three decades, but was destroyed as a result of a fire in Moscow in the summer of 1365. In 1367, thanks to Dmitry Donskoy, the construction of the Kremlin began from white stone, which was mined not far from Moscow (after which Moscow began to be called "White Stone"). In 1485-1495. the walls of the Kremlin acquired, familiar to us today, a dark red color. The Kremlin received the red brick after the grandiose reconstruction of Ivan III.

Above the Borovitsky Gates in the icon case was the icon of St. John the Baptist. The lampada was looked after by the parable of the temple of St. Nicholas Streletsky, located on Borovitskaya Square. The temple was destroyed in 1932 during the construction of the Sokolnicheskaya subway line. The icon was lost in Soviet times. Her place above the gate is occupied by a clock.

"The Church of St. Nicholas, called Streletskaya, near the Borovitsky Gates, in Moscow."

Year Built: Between 1682 and 1810.

Year of loss: 1932 (demolished)

In 2006, a memorial chapel was erected on the site of the temple.

There were up to 210 archery households in the parish. After the dissolution of the archers by Peter I, the temple became impoverished - in 1716 there were only 4 yards in its parish. In 1812 it was looted and burned, but after that it was restored and then completed and repaired several times by the city. During the laying of the Sokolnicheskaya metro line in an open way in 1932, the temple was demolished along with the foundations.

Chapel of Nicholas the Wonderworker on Borovitskaya Square

Church of St. Nicholas Streletsky.

The Borovitskaya Solari tower was based on a quadrangle, which crowned a wooden tent. Then in 1666-1680s. the wooden tent was removed and three more quadrangles, one octahedron and a stone tent were built on. Therefore, the Borovitskaya Tower has a peculiar stepped (or pyramidal) shape. In addition, a diversion archer with a passage gate was attached to the side of the tower. The gate had an iron grate, and a drawbridge was thrown across the Neglinnaya River.

At the beginning of the XVI century. the Neglinka river flowed along the western wall of the Kremlin and had rather swampy and swampy banks. In addition, from the Borovitskaya Tower, it turned sharply to the southwest, moving away from the Kremlin walls. Near the Borovitsky Gate, a stone arched bridge was thrown across the river.

In 1510, they decided to straighten the channel and bring it closer to the walls. A canal was dug from the Borovitskaya Tower to the Moskva River past the Vodovzvodnaya Tower. This made this section of the Kremlin difficult to access militarily, but also forced the construction of a drawbridge to the Borovitskaya Tower, which has a gate. The lifting mechanism was located on the second tier of the tower.

In 1821, Neglinka was taken into the chimney, the Alexander Garden was laid out in its place, and the drawbridge of the tower lost its significance and was dismantled.

During the construction of the Borovitskaya metro station, a very interesting discovery was made. When the builders were working, they found a brick house in almost perfect condition. It turned out that the house was built in the 16th century, and it got there because of the failure of the soil under the house. Surprisingly, all the furniture and things were preserved inside the house.

In the XVIII century. the tower was repaired and decorated with white stone details in pseudo-Gothic style. When the French army led by Napoleon entered Moscow in 1812, many architectural monuments Moscow suffered or were destroyed as a result of fires and explosions. So, they also blew up the Vodovzvodnaya tower adjacent to Borovitskaya. During the explosion, the top of the tent fell from the Borovitskaya Tower.

In 1816-1819. the tower was repaired by O. I. Bove. Apparently, at the same time, a clock appeared on the tower, at least on the drawings that have survived from that time, the gate and the clock are indicated.

In 1848, after the destruction of the Church of the Nativity of the Forerunner near Bor, the tower was turned into a church. The throne was moved there from the church and the pseudo-Gothic decorations were destroyed.

From the outside Kremlin wall coats of arms carved from white stone are visible on the folds of the gate, obviously ancient origin, - Lithuanian and Moscow. Experts still have not given an answer about the time and reasons for their appearance on the Borovitskaya Tower. Noteworthy is the dialectic of the three coats of arms of the Borovitskaya Tower

In Soviet times, it was crowned with a red star (1935) instead of a double-headed eagle, and on the star, as was customary at that time, there was an image of a sickle and a hammer. And two years later, a ruby ​​star shone at the top.

Today it has five tiers, connected by a system of stairs. A spiral staircase in the southeast corner permeates the entire quadrangle.

Near the tower is the Armory - the State Museum of the Moscow Kremlin. The building was built by K. Ton in 1547 (he also built the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in 1883). Previously, this building was called the Great Treasury. Like most of the buildings of old Moscow, the Armory burned during fires and, unfortunately, many valuable exhibits were lost.

The building of the Armory houses the Diamond Fund, which has collected unique precious stones and metals of historical value. The fund began to form under Peter the Great, and the doors of the Diamond Fund exhibition opened in 1967.

Curious facts

Guests of foreign states on official visits are received in the Grand Kremlin Palace - the Guest Residence of the Kremlin. If you notice the flag of another country on the palace, this means that the President of the Russian Federation is receiving guests of honor.

On January 22, 1969, a misfortune occurred near the Borovitsky Gate - an attempt on the life of L. I. Brezhnev. The officer on duty, having penetrated the cordon at the gate, fired 11 shots at the motorcade of the general secretary. As a result, the driver of the car died and several people were slightly injured. The offender was caught and put on trial.

One of the towers of the Kazan Kremlin, the tower of the Tatar queen Syuyumbike, is similar to the Borovitskaya tower.

After the Church of the Nativity of the Forerunner near Bor was demolished in 1848, the Borovitskaya tower turned into a church. The throne of the temple was moved here, and the pseudo-Gothic decorations were destroyed. During the renovations carried out in 1860, many other decorative elements that adorned the tower were removed.

MOSCOW CHURCH OF THE NATIVITY OF JOHN THE BAPTIST IN THE KREMLIN

The legendary Kremlin Church of the Nativity of John the Baptist was the very first Moscow church founded in Moscow at the dawn of its history - in the 12th century, when Moscow itself appeared. It stood right in front of the Grand Kremlin Palace and was demolished in 1847 by the personal order of Emperor Nicholas I.

The foundation of this church is often associated with the struggle in Russia against paganism in the very first centuries after the adoption of Christianity. Feast of St. John the Baptist also coincided in date with the pagan festivities of the day of Ivan Kupala, and at that time the Christian Church often replaced the pagan folk with its holidays and customs to facilitate the conversion of the people to the true faith.
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The Church of the Nativity of John the Baptist - the very first Moscow church - was founded on Bor, where the first wooden fortress wall of the city around the main Borovitsky hill appeared at the same time - the future Moscow Kremlin. It is noteworthy that this church was built of wood, and, as ancient historians have long argued, from the same local tree, pine, with which the Kremlin hill was densely covered, which received its historical name from this forest - Borovitsky.
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Over time, the first Moscow church ended up next to the Borovitskaya tower of the Moscow Kremlin, and in April 1658 the pious Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich ordered that the tower be renamed Predtechenskaya after the temple. Only the new name did not take root - even in official documents the tower continued to be called Borovitskaya, and to this day it is the only Kremlin tower that bears the most ancient historical name.

Near the Forerunner Church, on the site between the temple and the Borovitskaya Tower, from the first year of the founding of Moscow, there was a princely court. Since then, the princely court has remained on this site for centuries. In the 1320s, it was given with honor to St. Peter, Metropolitan of Moscow. Having moved to Moscow, St. Peter founded the Assumption Cathedral here.

But before that, it was the Predtechenskaya Church that had the status of the All-Russian Metropolitan See. So for a short time she was not only the very first, but also the most important temple in Moscow, and with her - in all of Russia.

The wooden Baptist Church stood until 1461. Only the Grand Duke Vasily II the Dark ordered to build it for the first time in stone. But this church building turned out to be short-lived, and was soon replaced by another after a fire in 1493. Then, finally, the Forerunner Church acquired its final form - in 1509, the Kremlin court architect, Italian Aleviz Fryazin, built a new stone Forerunner Church.

It was this building that survived until the 19th century (!) and was demolished during the construction of the Grand Kremlin Palace in 1846. The church in the tower was consecrated in May 1848. Service in the new building of the temple with a high five-tiered iconostasis took place only once a year - on the day of the patronal feast.

The demolition of the church did not add to the beauty of the place. An empty, unformed square has opened up with wastelands and various buildings that have not yet been brought into a single architectural ensemble. And in order to hide the impartiality of this, an elegant lattice with huge cast-iron gates was built as a facade. It still stands between the Grand Kremlin Palace and the building of the Armory, erected by the same architect K. Ton. If you look deep into this grating, then on the left, behind the building of the Armory, you can see a travel arch leading to the courtyard of this building - the sign "Beware of the car" is still placed there. In 1918, the Kremlin garage of the Auto-Battle Detachment was located in this courtyard, and on September 4, Fanny Kaplan, who attempted to kill Lenin, was secretly shot here: from the basement of the Grand Kremlin Palace, where Kaplan was kept on the orders of Sverdlov, she was taken to this arch, allegedly for to get into the car. There, without a verdict, the commandant of the Kremlin, Malkov, shot her in the back.

In November 1917, the Borovitskaya Tower with the Baptist Church was badly damaged during the battles for the Kremlin. Several bullets hit local icons. After the revolution, the temple in the tower was completely closed and dismantled. Only salt remained from it - and the chapel of St. Uara in the Archangel Cathedral.

4. Gun tower

To the north of the Borovitskaya Tower, on a hillock, rises the slender Armory Tower. It got its name in the last century from the Armory, built here in 1851. Prior to that, it was called the Konyushennaya, since in ancient times the royal Stables Yard was located behind it.

The height of the tower is 32.65 m.

The Kremlin of the 1880s in the photographs of Barshchevsky

It is possible that the Italian architect Aleviz Fryazin (Old) took part in its construction.

The Armory or Konyushennaya Tower is 38.9 m high. It underwent architectural changes in the period from 1676 to 1686 - at that time it was supplemented with a tent top. In general, the design is represented by a massive square-shaped quadruple, the organic completion of which is a combat platform equipped with a parapet. This is followed by an open quadrangle, and its crown is a tent with an observation tower (the neighboring Commandant's Tower has a similar appearance).

The internal layout of the Armory Tower of the Moscow Kremlin is designed in the form of two tiers of rooms, which are joined by vaults of ceilings. The entrance to the lower tier is from the side of the Kremlin.

Today, the Armory Tower is a historical monument of medieval Russia - it perfectly preserved the forms of that time. You can find it between

Commandant and Borovitskaya towers, located near Borovitskaya Square. And in order to get to these sights of Moscow faster, it is better to approach them from the direction of the Alexander Garden.

5. Kutafya and Trinity Towers

The Trinity Tower is a travel tower with a branch archer, the main one on the western side of the Kremlin.

Its construction in 1495-1499 completed the construction of fortifications from the side of the Neglinnaya River, later the Alexander Garden. In 1516, a stone Trinity Bridge was built from the Trinity Tower across the Neglinnaya River, and the Kutafya Tower was built behind it. In the 16th-17th centuries, the Trinity Gates were considered the second most important after the Spassky Gates - they served to get to the Kremlin to the courts of the patriarch, queens and princesses.

View, Kutafya tower and church
Nicholas in Boots. 1817.

Trinity Tower (formerly Rizopolozhenskaya, Znamenskaya, Karetnaya according to the churches located in the Kremlin and Karetny Dvor) is a tower with a gate in the middle of the northwestern wall of the Moscow Kremlin, facing the Alexander Garden.

Troitskaya Tower is the tallest tower in the Kremlin. The height of the tower at present, together with a star from the side of the Kremlin, is 65.65 m, with a star - 69.3 m from the side of Alexander Garden - 76.35 m, with a star - 80 m. The Trinity Bridge, protected by Kutafya, leads to the gates of the Trinity Tower tower. The gates of the tower serve as the main entrance for visitors to the Kremlin.

tower before restoration

Currently, it is the main entrance for visitors to the Kremlin.

Built in 1495-1499. Italian architect Aleviz Fryazin Milanets (Italian: Aloisio da Milano). It received its current name in 1658 by decree of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, according to the nearby courtyard of the Trinity Monastery. The two-storey base of the tower housed a prison in the 16th-17th centuries. From 1585 to 1812 there were chimes on the tower, which were not restored after the fire of 1812. In the years 1870-1895, when the archive of the Ministry of the Imperial Court was transferred to the tower, it was rebuilt, while many ancient details were lost.

The tower is six-story, with deep two-story cellars that served for defense purposes, and in the 16th-17th centuries were used as a prison. All floors of the tower are connected by a system of stairs located along the perimeter of the tower. The archer in the second tier has a room with a flat ceiling.

The tower is completed by a small quadrangle, resolved in the character of the main volume, above which rises an octagon with a through viewing part crowned with a tall, slender tent.

Troitskaya Tower of the Moscow Kremlin. Viewpoint

Decorative turrets and pinnacles at the corners of the parapets, lancet arches form the basis of a rich decor. Previously, from the side of the entrance to the Kremlin, the tower looked even more elegant, since the archer had similar decorations.

Trinity tower and bridge. Ser of the 19th century. Unknown artist.

At the end of the 17th century, the tower received a multi-tiered tent superstructure with white stone decorations. In 1707, due to the threat of a Swedish invasion, the loopholes of the Trinity Tower were expanded for heavy cannons. At the end of the 19th century, the restoration of the tower was carried out by the architect N. A. Shokhin.

Old photographs of Moscow 1883

Until 1935, an imperial double-headed eagle was installed on top of the tower. By the next date of the October Revolution, it was decided to remove the eagle and install red stars on it and the rest of the main towers of the Kremlin.

Drawbridges across the moat that surrounded the tower led to the side tower gates. To this day, at the side gate, you can see the preserved slots for chains of lifting mechanisms.

Trinity bridge. It was thrown across the Neglinnaya River many centuries ago, even before it was hidden underground. The bridge connects the Trinity Tower with another - a low and wide tower. This is the Kutafya tower.

In 1870, the archives of the Ministry of the Imperial Court were transferred to the Trinity Tower. In order to accommodate it, the tower had to be rebuilt, and during the reconstruction, many ancient decorative details were destroyed.

The archive was located here until 1895. In the 19th century, the Neglinnaya River was hidden in a pipe, and the white stone ramp to the Kutafya Tower was replaced with a brick one. In 1901, a new Trinity Bridge was built.

The double-headed eagle of the Trinity Tower turned out to be the oldest - manufactured in 1870 and prefabricated on bolts, so it had to be dismantled at the top of the tower during dismantling. In 1937, the faded semi-precious star was replaced with a modern ruby ​​one.

The Presidential Orchestra of Russia is based in the Trinity Tower.

Tower from Alexander Garden

Kutafya (Bridge) Tower

Kutafya tower opposite Troitskaya, at the end of Troitsky bridge. The tower was built in 1516 under the leadership of the Milanese architect Aleviz Fryazin.

Low, surrounded by a moat and the Neglinnaya River, with the only gate, which in moments of danger was tightly closed by the lifting part of the bridge, the tower was a formidable barrier for the besiegers of the fortress. It had loopholes of the sole fight (loopholes of the lower level in the fortress walls and towers) and machicols (hinged loopholes located in the upper part of the fortress walls and towers).

In the XVI-XVII centuries, the water level in the Neglinnaya River was raised high by dams, so that the water surrounded the tower from all sides. Its initial height above ground level was 18 meters.

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Kutafya and Troitskaya towers. Right - Kremlin Palace of Congresses

It was possible to enter the Trinity Tower from the side of the city only on an inclined bridge passing through the Kutafya Tower.

There are two versions of the origin of the name "Kutafya": from the word "kut" - shelter, corner, or from the word "kutafya", meaning a full, clumsy woman. The Kutafya Tower has never been covered. In 1685, it was crowned with an openwork "crown" with white stone details.

The tower had no cover, consisted of two combat tiers, on the upper platform there were hinged loopholes. In 1685, the tower was decorated with an openwork decorative top. Drawbridges across the moat that surrounded the tower led to the side tower gates. To this day, at the side gate, you can see the preserved slots for chains of lifting mechanisms.

40.1993. The reverse side of the banknote: 200 rubles

Church of the Saint in Boots

Saint Myr of the Lycian Nicholas - one of the most revered saints Orthodox Church. All over the world there are temples consecrated in the name of this saint. In Moscow, many churches with such a dedication have survived: in Kuznetsy, Pyzhy, Tolmachi, Klenniki, Khamovniki, Podkopayy, in Zayaitsky, on Three Mountains, on Bolvanovka ... Many churches were destroyed after the revolution, but it happened in the history of Moscow and this: temples dismantled, and the throne was transferred to the prosperous tsarist time. This happened to the temple, on the site of which, probably, every person who visited the Kremlin at least once was. Coming out of the metro and heading towards the Kutafya Tower, we pass through the square between the Manezh and house number 1 on Vozdvizhenka Street. It was on this square that there was once a temple in the name of St. Nicholas in Sapozhki (or "in the Sapozhka").

Fedor Alekseev. Kremlin wall, Trinity bridge, Trinity and Kutafya towers. On the right is the Church of St. Nicholas in Sapozhka. 1800s

Two pictures showing the Church of St. Nicholas in Boots. Her throne was transferred to a new church at the Manezh, and the icons and utensils were transferred to the former Holy Cross Monastery on Vozdvizhenka in the new chapel of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. Here we see the church in a rebuilt form - originally it was with a hipped bell tower.


V. Sadovnikov. Talyzin's house on Vozdvizhenka. 1840s. On the left is the Church of St. Nicholas in Boots.
In this place, near the Trinity Gates of the Kremlin, in the 15th century there was Semenovskaya Square, which got its name from the church of St. Simeon, built in 1470. In 1493, the church was probably damaged by fire and was demolished. In the middle of the 16th century, under Ivan the Terrible, the square began to be gradually built up. In 1648, on the site of the Simeonovskaya church, a stone church “on two tents” was erected with a dedication to St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. This temple became one of the last temples erected in the Moscow state, the main volume of which ended with tents, since in the same 1648, Patriarch Nikon banned the construction of tented churches, ordering them to return to the domed completion. The hipped form continued to be used only to complete the bell towers.

The history of the origin of the name "in Boots" is interesting. Usually the temples were named after the area, settlement, street where they were located: in the Kuznetskaya settlement - "in Kuznetsy", in Kadashevskaya - "in Kadashi". But there was no "shoemaker's" settlement in this area of ​​the city. The name “in a boot”, “with a boot”, later - “in boots” the church received from the temple icon, on which St. Nicholas was depicted in a robe, from under which the toe of his boot looked out. The surrounding quarter got its name from the temple, so already in the 17th century the tavern on the square was called “under the boot”.

In 1788, a new one was built to replace the dilapidated bell tower. The appearance of the temple at the beginning of the 19th century is beautifully conveyed in watercolors by Fyodor Alekseev and Maxim Vorobyov. In 1814, the St. Nicholas Church was assigned to the Vozdvizhensky Church of the abolished Exaltation of the Cross Monastery.

In 1817, on the occasion of the five-year anniversary of Russia's victory in the Patriotic War of 1812, next to the Church of St. Nicholas in Sapozhki, on the site between Mokhovaya Street and Alexander Garden, a huge structure was laid, intended for military maneuvers and parades - Exertsirgauz, now better known as the Manege.

The project engineers A.A. Betancourt, L. Carbonier and A. Kashperov faced a difficult task: the building had to accommodate a freely maneuvering infantry regiment of 2 thousand people, as well as large horse dressage. This meant that there were no internal supports, that is, the roof structure, spanning a 45-meter width, had to rest only on the outer walls of the building. To create unique rafters, huge larches were brought to Moscow, from which 30 roof trusses were assembled. The artistic appearance of the Manezh was created by one of the best Russian architects of the Empire era - the famous Osip Ivanovich Bove. The construction was carried out at an accelerated pace and was completed in 8 months, which may have affected the quality: over the next few years, the roof structure had to be corrected.

Photo from the 1890s In the middle of the Manezh building is the semi-rotunda of St. Nicholas Church

Post-fire Moscow received one of its best buildings, unique both in its technical design and in its magnificent, subtly sustained stylistic solution. However, for the temple in Sapozhki, this grandiose construction was fatal: the already dilapidated temple building interfered with the movement of military units and crowded the square, so it was dismantled by imperial order. This was a great loss for the architectural appearance of the capital, where there were not so many temples with a hipped roof.

Icons and church utensils from the St. Nicholas Church were transferred to the newly built Nikolsky chapel of the Exaltation of the Cross Church, to which the church was assigned. However, the throne was not completely abolished. In 1838, work began on the construction of a house church at the Manege, where, in the language of the military ministry that controlled the Manege, the St. Nicholas Church in Sapozhki was to be “relocated”. Thus, the throne is preserved, but moved to the Exertsirhaus building.

Photo from the late 1900s. Semi-rotunda of St. Nicholas Church.
The belfry is visible on the right

The task of supplementing the grandiose building of the Manege with a church was by no means an easy one. Bove's authority was unconditional for Tyurin. It was unthinkable to cause any damage to the creation of a person under whose leadership he took his first steps in the profession. Tyurin treated the Beauvais building not just as a talented work, but as a masterpiece of a recently deceased teacher.

The surviving photographs show that the difficult task of adding a new volume to the Manezh monolith was solved very carefully, with minimal interference with the architectural design of Beauvais. A semi-rotunda of the church was added to the side facade facing the Alexander Garden, the roof of which is the same height as the roof of the Manege (to erect a dome here would not only be inappropriate, but also technically dangerous). A semicircular colonnade was placed inside the church, repeating the curve of the outer wall.

The solution of the outer wall of the semi-rotunda is fully consistent with the strict order decoration of the side facades of the Manezh, so that with a strictly frontal view, the protruding part of the attached church is almost unreadable.


Photo 1930 Demolition of St. Nicholas Church

St. Nicholas Church was consecrated in 1843, but, unfortunately, it did not last long in the new place either. After the October Revolution, the Manege began to be used as a garage of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee. It is hard to imagine that the Bolsheviks could allow the existence of a temple on the territory of such an institution, and even a stone's throw from the Kremlin. The church at the Manezh was closed in 1920, and in 1930 it was destroyed, since the semi-circular ledge in the plan, where the temple was located, allegedly interfered with the laying of tram tracks.

Here is the place on the facade of the Manege where the church was built.

For more than a hundred years, reviews and military exercises have not been held in the Manezh, for the sake of which the temple of the 17th century was dismantled. Trams have not run across the square for a long time, and the house church at the Manege, which once overlooked the Alexander Garden, would not at all interfere with a trio of horses rushing somewhere from the depths of the fountain and other bronzed representatives folk tales, for some reason settled opposite the walls of the Kremlin.

"Who knew that Moscow would be the kingdom,
who knew that Moscow was reputed to be a state?
(Chronicle of the 17th century, author unknown)

In the summer of 6666 from the creation of the world, the Grand Duke of Kyiv Yuri Vladimirovich, nicknamed Dolgoruky, the son of Grand Duke Vladimir Vsevolodovich Monomakh, went with his squad from capital Kyiv to his son Andrei Yuryevich Bogolyubsky in the city of Vladimir-on-Klyazma, where he reigned father's will.
And suddenly, in the middle of one vast swamp, Prince Yuri Vladimirovich saw a huge wonderful beast. That beast had three heads and a motley coat of many colors. And the whole squad, and all the companions of the prince saw this beast and stood up in amazement. Appearing to people, the wonderful beast then disappeared, melted away like morning mist.

Then Prince Yuri Vladimirovich asked one of his companions, a learned Greek philosopher:
- What does the appearance of this wonderful beast signify?
- Elementary, Grand Duke, - answered the learned Greek. - This phenomenon marks that near these places a great triangular hail will rise and a great kingdom will spread around it. And the variegation of the skin of an animal means that people of different tribes and peoples will converge here.

The prince thought for a moment, then asked again:
- Is your interpretation true, learned philosopher?
“True,” answered the learned philosopher, “because even at the foundation of the great city of Rome there was a sign. When they began to dig a ditch under city ​​wall, then they dug out a human head, as if alive, and this meant that Rome should be the head of many cities. Which came true. And when Constantinople was being built, a snake crawled out of its hole, and at the same moment an eagle fell on it from a height, and they began to fight. And the sage of the bookman therefore said: "The city of Constantine will be king of other cities, as the eagle is the king of all birds, and it will be subject to invasions of the infidels." Which also happened. Therefore, the sign shown to you today will also come true.
(The previous text is taken from "The Tale of Bygone Years", "The All-Beautiful Place of Moscow", the author is unknown).

Then there were many historical events, about them another time, but in the end Dolgoruky set up a wooden fortress on Borovitsky Hill, and named it after the local river - Moscow. So appeared best city on the ground. Huge, colorful from all nationalities, and the Kremlin has a triangular shape, as seen in the pictures above and below. The two photos below are not mine, the first one belongs to Marina Lystseva photographersha
But why "Moskva" and not, say, Komsomolsk-on-Amur? Everything is simple here. Tradition says that at the first meeting of the prince with the local boyar Kuchka, the following conversation took place:
- What is the name of this river? - asked the prince.
- Moscow.
- What does this name mean?
- Named not by us, but by those who lived before us, - answered Kuchko, - but we don't know what it means. From the century it has become so customary: we say "Moscow" - and that's it.
“So you say that the name was given to those who lived before you,” the prince said, and thought to himself: “Once you replaced those who lived here before you, and now your turn has come to give way to me. And Moscow, not Moscow, what the hell is the difference? and I will command the name of the city."

The walls and towers of the Kremlin form an irregular triangle in shape. There are twenty towers in the Kremlin, three round towers are located in the corners. Each such tower protected the corner of the fortress and both adjoining walls. The rest of the towers are square.
Almost all are made in a single architectural style 17th century, only Nikolskaya is out of order, which was rebuilt in the pseudo-Gothic style at the beginning of the 19th century.
The walls and towers of the Kremlin, which still stand today, were built under the Grand Duke of All Russia Ivan III Vasilyevich in 1485-1495. They were erected by Italian architects Anton Fryazin (Antonio Gilardi), Marco Fryazin (Marco Ruffo), Pyotr Fryazin (Pietro Antonio Solari), Aleviz Fryazin Stary (Aloisio da Carcano). All these architects, oddly enough, are not brothers and not even namesakes. It’s just that in Russia at that time Italians were called “friags” or “friazins”.
We will go around the Kremlin clockwise, starting from the metro.

Corner Arsenal Tower

Height - 60.2 m.
The most powerful tower of the Moscow Kremlin. Its lower array consists of 18 faces, and the base is greatly expanded. This gives it great stability. In the upper part there are hinged loopholes - machicols. The walls are up to 4 meters thick. Built in 1492 by Pietro Antonio Solari.
A well was dug in the tower, which, in the event of a siege, could be used by the garrison of the fortress (it has survived to this day). From the Corner Arsenal Tower there was a secret passage to the Neglinnaya River (later it was laid). In the 15th and 16th centuries, the tower was reinforced with an additional wall that encircled it in a semicircle.

Nikolskaya tower

Height with a star - 70.4 m.
Built in 1491 by Pietro Antonio Solari. It is named after the icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, located above the entrance gate of the diversion archer. According to the existing tradition, at this tower in front of the icon of St. Nicholas - the holy saint of God, the most revered in Russia - the townspeople resolved their controversial issues.
In 1612, it was through the gates of the Nikolskaya and Spasskaya towers that the militia, led by Prince Dmitry Pozharsky and Kuzma Minin, solemnly entered the Kremlin on November 1. Muscovites and residents of the surrounding villages greeted the winners with jubilation. (On October 27, an agreement was signed on the surrender of the Polish garrison).
In 1702-1736 the building of the Arsenal was built. The building adjoins the Kremlin wall between the Nikolskaya and Corner Arsenal towers. The Nikolskaya Tower acquires a baroque decor, as well as the original design of the Arsenal.

In 1812, the French retreating from Moscow blew it up, the tent collapsed, part of the gate was damaged, but part of the quadrangle with the overhead icon of St. Nicholas of Mozhaisky was not touched. In the book of Alexei Remizov, one can find a mention: “It exploded so that it knocked out the windows and doors of all the houses in the district. Only ruins remained of the Arsenal. And half the tower collapsed. But Nikola - with a sword and hail - resisted! Even the glass on the icon did not crack. Even the lantern with the candle continued to hang.
The news of the miracle soon reached the emperor. Arriving in Moscow, Alexander I was personally convinced of the safety of the icon and ordered, first of all, to restore the tower, and hang a marble plaque under the icon, the words for which he had drawn himself. It was later dismantled.

During the battles in October 1917, the gate image of St. Nicholas of Mozhaisk was riddled with bullets and shrapnel, but the face itself was not damaged, which was perceived by the faithful Muscovites as a miracle.
At the end of April 1918, before the first official celebration of the proletarian May Day, the facade, including the icon, was all draped with red calico. According to the official version, strong gusts of wind, having twisted the panels, freed the view of the image. However, according to the recollections of people, the weather was calm and the red canvas was torn as if it had been cut with a sword.

Senate Tower

Height - 34 m.
Built in 1491 by the architect Pietro Antonio Solari. The tower received its name after the completion of construction on the territory of the Kremlin in 1787 of the Senate Palace. In 1680, a stone tent was built over the tower, ending with a golden weather vane. In front of the tower is the Lenin Mausoleum.
In 1948, a passage was made from the tower to the Mausoleum, so that members of the Central Committee of the CPSU could enter the stands directly from the Kremlin, bypassing Red Square.

The Spasskaya Tower

Height with a star - 71 m.
It was built in 1491 during the reign of Ivan III by the architect Pietro Antonio Solari. The name is associated with the icon of the Savior Not Made by Hands, placed above the gate from the side of Red Square. The icon itself has not been preserved, but the place where it hung is clearly visible. With the coming to power of the Bolsheviks, the image above the gate, as well as the icon of the Savior Not Made by Hands, were lost. However, in June 2010, the icon painter Dmitry Vinokurov wrote an exact list of the famous miraculous icon.
If the enemy penetrated the archer, iron gratings were lowered, and the enemy was locked in a kind of stone bag. He was fired upon from the upper gallery of the archer.
Fantastic figurines - an element of decor - under Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich, whose nakedness was bashfully covered with specially tailored clothes. In the middle of the 17th century, main tower The Kremlin erected the first double-headed eagle.

Spassky gates were revered as saints. It was impossible to ride through them, and the men passing through them had to take off their hats in front of the image of the Savior, which was illuminated by an unquenchable lamp. Anyone who disobeyed the holy rule had to make 50 prostrations.
There is a legend that when Napoleon was passing through the Spassky Gates in captured Moscow, a gust of wind pulled the famous cocked hat off his head. During the retreat of the French army from Moscow, the Spasskaya Tower was ordered to be blown up, but the Don Cossacks who arrived in time put out the already lit fuses.
They were also the main entrance to the Kremlin, regiments went to battle from here, and foreign ambassadors were met here. All religious processions from the Kremlin went through these gates, all the rulers of Russia, starting with Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich, solemnly passed through them before the coronation.

The famous chimes have been in existence since the 16th century. They were made in 1625 under the direction of the English mechanic Christopher Galloway. In 1705, by decree of Peter I, the Spassky Clock was remade in the German style with a dial at 12 o'clock. Modern chimes were made by the brothers Nikolai and Ivan Budenop in 1851-1852 and installed on 8-10 tiers of the Spasskaya Tower. From that time on, the chimes performed at 12 and 6 o'clock the "March of the Preobrazhensky Regiment", and at 3 and 9 o'clock the hymn "How glorious is our Lord in Zion." After the revolution of 1917, the clock began to be performed at 12 o'clock "The Internationale", at 24 o'clock - "You fell a victim ...". Nowadays, at 12 and 6 o'clock, the chimes play the national anthem of the Russian Federation, and at 3 and 9 - the melody of the choir "Glory".

Royal Tower

Height with weather vane - 16.7 m.
This is the youngest and smallest tower of the Moscow Kremlin, built in 1680. Its octagonal tent on pitcher-shaped pillars resembles the lockers of the porches of stone residential choirs common at that time. Well kept its original form.
Strictly speaking, this is not a tower, but a stone tower, a tent placed on the wall. Once upon a time there was a small wooden tower from which, according to legend, Tsar Ivan IV (the Terrible) liked to watch the events taking place on Red Square - hence the name of the tower.

alarm tower

Height - 38 m.
The name comes from the Spassky alarm bell hanging on it, which served as a fire alarm. Erected in 1495. The tower is set very high - on the hill. It was a watchtower of the Kremlin-fortress. Columns of smoke indicated the approach of the steppe enemy, as the watchmen reported bell ringing. Muscovites of unprotected settlements hurried to take refuge, some behind the walls of the monastery, and some in the Kremlin.
In 1771, during the Plague Riot, the rebels struck the Spassky alarm and thus gathered the Muscovites to the Kremlin. At the end of the rebellion, Catherine II ordered to remove the tongue from the bell. For more than 30 years, the bell hung on the tower without a tongue.
The tower deviates from the vertical by one meter.

Konstantin-Eleninskayatower

Height - 36.8 m.
Built in 1490 by Pietro Antonio Solari. It received its modern name after the construction of the Church of Constantine and Helena nearby in the Kremlin in the 17th century (it was dismantled in 1928).
Previously, in its place was an ancient white-stone tower of the time of Dmitry Donskoy, called Timofeevskaya. Through its gates, in 1380, Dimitry Donskoy rode with his squads to the famous Battle of Kulikovo.
At the end of the 17th century, when the former defensive role of the tower came to naught, the archer was turned into a prison, the dungeons were nicknamed "Torture". The gates of the tower were closed.

Beklemishevskaya (Moskvoretskaya) Tower

Height - 46.2 m.
It is located near the junction of the Moskva River with the moat and performs an important defensive function. It was built in 1487-1488 by the Italian architect Mark Fryazin. The first name comes from the courtyard of the boyar Beklemishev adjoining the tower; later - from the nearby Moskvoretsky bridge.
Ivan Beklemishev was nicknamed "Bersen" for his sharp tongue, that is, gooseberries (hence the Bersenevskaya embankment). He led the boyar opposition to the grand duke's power. Vasily III, who sought to rule alone without the boyars, ordered to cut off his head, and his courtyard, along with the tower, was used as a prison for the disgraced boyars.
This is one of the few towers of the Kremlin, which were practically not rebuilt.

Petrovskaya tower

Height - 27.15 m.
The Petrovskaya Tower got its name from the church of Peter the Metropolitan, which belonged to the courtyard of the Ugresh Monastery. Therefore, it was sometimes called Ugreshskaya.
This tower, outwardly very different from the neighboring towers, was rebuilt many times. The time of the first construction of the Petrovsky Tower is not exactly known, it is assumed that it was erected along with other towers of the southern wall in the 1480s.
It is not difficult to recognize it - it is the only tower with a drainage pipe on the facade.

Second Nameless Tower

Height - 30.2 m.
It was built in the 1480s as an intermediate tower on the southern side of the Kremlin.
In 1701, the tower had a gate, which was later blocked. In 1771, in connection with the construction of the Kremlin Palace, it was demolished, then restored.
There is not much to tell about it, as well as about the First Nameless Tower, otherwise they would have had names.

First Nameless Tower

Height - 34.15 m.
This architecturally simple tower has been rebuilt many times. The first time it was erected in the 1480s. In 1547, the tower collapsed during the fire of Moscow from the explosion of a powder warehouse arranged in it (that's why it was also called the Powder Tower). It was rebuilt in the 17th century.
The tower was dismantled in 1770 in preparation for the construction of the Grand Kremlin Palace by V.I. Bazhenov. After the construction of the palace was completed in 1776-1883, the tower, together with the wall between it and the Second Nameless Tower, was rebuilt in a new place, closer to the Taynitskaya Tower.

Taynitskaya tower

Height - 38.4 m.
The central tower of the southern wall of the Kremlin, the construction of the existing Kremlin walls and towers began from it. The construction of the Kremlin fortifications began on the south side, since it is believed that the Tatars most often threatened the Kremlin from here, and the old white stone walls here were the most dilapidated.
Erected in 1485 by Anton Fryazin. It provided for a hiding place inside and a hidden exit to the Moskva River, in connection with which the tower was nicknamed Taynitskaya.
It is very easy to recognize it - this is the only tower on the side of the Moscow River, on which the immured gates are visible.

The third "cache", or rather a mystery, is connected with the fact that even if the enemies rammed the gates, they ended up not in the Kremlin, but only in an annex - in the archery. And the entrance to the tower itself is around the corner. But already in a close archery, the enemy could not turn around with a long ram, nor run up properly.
When erecting the tower, the architect for the first time used brick for fortification construction. Until 1674, the tower had a striking clock.
Until 1917, the Kremlin signal cannon was fired daily from the archer of the Tainitskaya Tower, informing Muscovites of the onset of noon - similar to the tradition of firing the Peter and Paul Cannon in St. Petersburg.

Annunciation tower

Height with weather vane - 32.45 m.
The name comes from the “Annunciation” icon that previously existed on the tower, presumably built in 1487-1488, for which the tower served as a bell tower. In the old days, there was an underground floor in the tower, now half-filled, which served as a prison.
There is such a legend: once Tsar Ivan the Terrible planted his governor in the Annunciation Tower. But the governor prayed so earnestly every day that the Mother of God appeared to him and promised to help. Soon the king's servants came to free the governor, and froze in surprise: on the wall of the tower was imprinted the miraculous image of the Virgin!

Vodovzvodnaya tower

Height with a star - 61.25 m.
Erected in 1488 by the Italian architect Anton Fryazin. The former name of the Sviblov Tower comes from the boyar family of the Sviblovs, whose courtyard adjoined the tower from the Kremlin side. It received its modern name in 1633 after the installation of a water-lifting machine in it to supply water from the Moscow River to the Kremlin. According to contemporaries, such a machine, made under the guidance of the Englishman Christopher Galoway, cost several barrels of gold. It was the first pressurized water pipeline in the history of Russia.
Unlike other towers with ruby ​​stars, Vodovzvodnaya did not previously have an eagle-shaped top. A star with a diameter of 3 meters was installed on the tower in 1937 and is the smallest of the Kremlin stars.

Borovitskaya Tower

Height with a star - 54.05 m.
The name of the tower, according to legend, comes from the ancient forest that once covered one of the seven hills on which Moscow stands. According to another legend, the tower got its name from the builders of the white-stone Kremlin under Dmitry Donskoy - the inhabitants of Borovsk built this part.
Before the construction of the modern Borovitskaya tower, there was another one in its place, which had the same name. This is evidenced by a record about the construction in 1461 of the Church of John the Baptist "on the forest", where it was written that this church stood at the "Borovitsky gates".
The new Borovitskaya tower was built by Pietro Antonio Solari during the renovation of the Kremlin in 1490, by order of Ivan III.

From the outer side of the Kremlin wall, on the folds of the gate, coats of arms carved from white stone are visible, clearly of ancient origin - Lithuanian and Moscow. Experts still have not given an answer about the time and reasons for their appearance on the Borovitskaya Tower.
Another interesting fact- if a flag of a foreign state is flying on a building near the Borovitsky Gate, this means that in the Kremlin in this moment there is a foreign president.
Today, the Borovitsky Gates are the only permanent gates of the Kremlin. Visitors to the Armory also pass through the Borovitskaya Tower. It is believed that they are the oldest of the Kremlin gates.

weapon tower

Height - 38.9 m.
Built in 1493-1495. At the beginning of the 17th century, it had a passage gate to the Konyushenny yard in the Kremlin. Hence her ancient name Konyushennaya. Own modern name the tower received in the 19th century according to the building of the Armory built on the territory of the Kremlin.
During its construction, grandiose hydraulic engineering work was required, because of the swampy floodplain, it was necessary to strengthen the creeping soil of the slope and rebuild the fortress wall above the river bank.

commandant's tower

Height - 41.25 m.
Built in 1493-1495 under Ivan III, it was formerly called Deaf or Kolymazhnaya (after the nearby Kolymazhny yard, where the royal carriages were stored and the stables were located). It received its current name in the 19th century, when the commandant of Moscow settled nearby in the Poteshny Palace.
This photo is not mine.

Kutafya Tower

Height from the side of the city - 13.5 m.
The only surviving archery tower. It was built in 1516 under the leadership of Aleviz Fryazin.
She has one gate, which in moments of danger was tightly closed by the lifting part of the bridge.
In the 16-17 centuries, the water level in the Neglinnaya River was raised high by dams, so that the water surrounded the tower from all sides.

Such diversion towers are called "barbican" (from the Arabic or Persian bab-khanah - "gate fortification"). Most often, the barbican was a tower, placed outside the perimeter of the walls of a fortress or castle and guarding the approaches to a bridge or gate. The barbican was connected to the fortress by a passage bordered by walls (or by a bridge if the barbican was moved beyond the line of the moat).
There are two common versions of the origin of the name "Kutafya": from the word "kut" - shelter, corner, or from the word "kutafya", denoting a full, clumsy woman.

Trinity Tower

Height with a star - 80 m.
This is the tallest tower in the Kremlin. The Trinity Bridge, protected by the Kutafya Tower, leads to its gates. The gates of the tower serve as the main entrance for visitors to the Kremlin. Built in 1495-1499. Italian architect Aleviz Fryazin.
During its history, she managed to change several names - Bogoyavlenskaya, Rizopolozhenskaya, Znamenskaya, Karetnaya. It received its current name in 1658 by decree of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich according to the nearby courtyard of the Trinity Monastery.
The two-story base of the tower housed a prison in the 16th and 17th centuries. A stone staircase led to it, a small hatch led from the upper rooms to the lower ones, through which only one person could climb. It was the only way out of these "stone bags". Air vents were made in them for air circulation - special slots.
In 1870, it was adapted to house the Archives of the Ministry of the Imperial Court.

Above the Trinity Gates in an icon case was the icon of the Kazan Mother of God, damaged during the storming of the Kremlin by the Bolsheviks in 1917. The fate of the over-gate icon in Soviet times is unknown. At present, the place of the icon above the Trinity Gate from the side of the Alexander Garden is occupied by a clock, and from the side of the Kremlin - the same empty architectural niche.
In terms of its administrative significance, it was the second after Spasskaya. The gates of the tower served as the entrance to the metropolitan's mansions, to the chambers of the queen and princesses, as well as the exit to the Volotsk road leading to the north, along which the princes, and later the kings, went on campaigns. Solemn meetings of the returning rulers also took place here.
Now the Presidential Orchestra of Russia is based here.

Middle Arsenal Tower

Height - 38.9 m.
It was built in 1493 - 1495 on the site of the corner tower of the time of Dmitry Donskoy. Previously, it was called Granena - from the facade dissected on the verge.
In the old days, it was connected by intra-wall passages with the Corner Arsenal and Trinity towers. The first passage was demolished in 1934. Another passage inside the wall was opened in June 1974, when during the restoration of the Kremlin wall from the side of the Alexander Garden, an entrance arch was found in it, next to the Middle Arsenal Tower.

From the 1600s until 1935, four towers were crowned with gilded double-headed eagles. In August 1935, it was decided to replace the eagles (they were installed on the Borovitskaya, Spasskaya, Nikolskaya and Troitskaya towers) with five-pointed stars with a hammer and sickle (a star was also installed on the Vodovzvodnaya tower). The sketches of the stars were developed by Academician Fyodor Fedorovsky. The first were made of high-alloy stainless steel and red copper. In the middle of each star, a sickle and a hammer covered with gold were laid out with Ural gems. But they quickly faded, and even looked ridiculous in the overall composition of the Kremlin, were bulky and severely disrupted the architectural ensemble. In 1937 they were replaced with ruby ​​and luminous ones. The power of the lamps in the star is 5000 watts.
Recently, public figures and the church have increasingly turned to the president with a request to replace the stars with eagles, but so far there have been no official speeches on this matter.

The topic used the materials of the Muscovite Tatyana Sykova.
P.S. Personally, the year of foundation of Moscow, 6666th from the Creation of the world, seems to me inaccurate. According to my calculations, this should be the year 6655.