List of Moscow Kremlin towers

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Kremlin towers in the 19th century

The following is a list of towers of the

Moscow Kremlin
, recognizable by the characteristic notches and its towers. The original walls were likely a simple wooden fence with guard towers built in 1156. The Kremlin is flanked by 19 towers with a 20th, the Kutafya Tower, not part of its walls.

Borovitskaya

Borovitskaya Tower

The Borovitskaya Tower (

Soviets installed a red star
on top of the tower. Following the closure of the Spassky Gate in Red Square to all traffic at the end of the 1990s, the Borovitsky Gate became the main vehicle passageway. Together with the star, its height is 54.05 metres (177.3 ft).

Geographical coordinates: 55°44′56″N 37°36′45″E / 55.748909°N 37.612520°E / 55.748909; 37.612520 (Borovitskaya Tower).

Vodovzvodnaya

Vodovzvodnaya Tower

The Vodovzvodnaya Tower (

Osip Bove
. Its height is 61.85 metres (202.9 ft).

Geographical coordinates: 55°44′53″N 37°36′49″E / 55.748106°N 37.613647°E / 55.748106; 37.613647 (Vodovzvodnaya Tower).

Blagoveschenskaya

The Blagoveschenskaya Tower (

Moscow River
to rinse porty, or underclothes. These gates were bricked up in 1813.

The height of the tower is 30.7 metres (101 ft) (32.45 metres (106.5 ft) together with the weather vane that replaced the original cross in 1932).

Geographical coordinates: 55°44′55″N 37°36′55″E / 55.748722°N 37.615192°E / 55.748722; 37.615192 (Blagoveschenskaya Tower).

Taynitskaya

The Taynitskaya Tower (

Soviets
bricked up the gateway and filled up the well. The Taynitskaya Tower is 38.4 metres (126 ft) in height.

Geographical coordinates: 55°44′58″N 37°37′04″E / 55.749374°N 37.617863°E / 55.749374; 37.617863 (Taynitskaya Tower).

First Unnamed

The First Unnamed Tower (

Osip Beauvais
. Its height is 34.15 metres (112.0 ft).

Geographical coordinates: 55°44′58″N 37°37′08″E / 55.749495°N 37.618968°E / 55.749495; 37.618968 (First Unnamed Tower).

Second Unnamed

The Second Unnamed Tower (Russian: Вторая Безымянная башня, romanized: Vtoraya Bezymyannaya bashnya) was built in the middle of the 15th century. It had purely defensive functions. In 1680, a quadrangular structure and a tall pyramidal tent roof with a watchtower were added to the top of the tower. It is crowned with an eight-sided hipped cupola with a weather vane.

Geographical coordinates: 55°44′59″N 37°37′13″E / 55.749615°N 37.620363°E / 55.749615; 37.620363 (Second Unnamed Tower).

Petrovskaya

The Petrovskaya Tower (

Osip Bove. The Petrovskaya Tower was used as a service building by the Kremlin's gardeners
. Its height is 27.15 metres (89.1 ft).

Geographical coordinates: 55°44′59″N 37°37′19″E / 55.749700°N 37.622015°E / 55.749700; 37.622015 (Petrovskaya Tower).

Beklemishevskaya

Main article: Beklemishevskaya Tower

The Beklemishevskaya Tower (

ford and the crossing over the Moscow River. There was the so-called "listening" vault underneath the tower, which was used for preventing the enemy from tunneling his way to the Kremlin. The Beklemishevskaya Tower is 46.2 metres (152 ft) in height. During the October Revolution
of 1917, the top of the tower was damaged by a shell. It was restored a year later by an architect I.V. Rylsky.

Geographical coordinates: 55°44′59″N 37°37′24″E / 55.749742°N 37.623239°E / 55.749742; 37.623239 (Beklemishevskaya Tower).

Konstantino-Eleninskaya

Konstantino-Eleninskaya Tower

The Konstantino-Eleninskaya Tower (

Soviets in 1928. The Konstantino-Eleninskaya Tower had its own gates and a lift bridge
, protected by guards at all times. In the late 18th century - early 19th century the gates were bricked up and the bridge was dismantled. The tower's height is 36.8 metres (121 ft).

Geographical coordinates: 55°45′04″N 37°37′20″E / 55.751179°N 37.622359°E / 55.751179; 37.622359 (Konstantino-Eleninskaya Tower).

Nabatnaya

The Nabatnaya Tower (

vestibule
.

Geographical coordinates: 55°45′07″N 37°37′19″E / 55.751843°N 37.621908°E / 55.751843; 37.621908 (Nabatnaya Tower).

Tsarskaya

The Tsarskaya Tower (Russian: Царская башня, translated as "Tsar's tower") is the youngest and smallest tower of all, built in 1680. It is not a tower per se, it is rather a stone terem, a tent-shaped chamber placed directly on top of the wall. Previously, there was a small wooden turret, from which, according to legend, tsar Ivan IV liked to observe what was happening on the Red Square. Hence the name, the Tsar's Tower. The white stone bands around the posts, tall corner pyramids with gilt flags and tent roof topped with an elegant gilt weather vane make the tower look like some structure from a fairy tale.

Geographical coordinates: 55°45′08″N 37°37′18″E / 55.752284°N 37.621608°E / 55.752284; 37.621608 (Tsarskaya Tower).

Spasskaya

Clock of the Spasskaya Tower
Main article: Spasskaya Tower

The Spasskaya Tower was built in 1491 by the

Kremlin, which is no longer there.[1] The tower's modern name comes from the icon of 'Spas Nerukotvorny' (Russian: Спас Нерукотворный) translated as 'The Saviour Not Made by Hands', which was placed above the gates on the inside wall in 1658 and removed in 1917. The tower is also named for the wall-painted icon of 'Spas Smolensky' (Russian
: Спас Смоленский) translated as 'Smolensky Saviour', which was created in the 16th century on the outside wall of tower, plastered over in 1937, but reopened and restored in 2010.

The Spasskaya Tower was the first tower of the many Moscow Kremlin Towers to be crowned with the hipped roof in 1624–1625 by architects Bazhen Ogurtsov and Christopher Galloway (a Scottish architect and clock maker).[2] According to a number of historical accounts, the clock on the Spasskaya Tower appeared between 1491 and 1585. It is usually referred to as the Kremlin chimes (Кремлёвские куранты) and designates official Moscow Time. The clock face has a diameter of 6 metres (20 ft).[3] The gate of Spasskaya Tower was used to greet foreign dignitaries, and was used during formal ceremonies or processions held on Red Square.

Senatskaya

The Senatskaya Tower (

Matvei Kazakov constructed the Kremlin Senate on the Kremlin’s territory, that it was given its present name. The dome of the Senate can be seen from Red Square. Inside the central part of the tower there are three tiers of vaulted chambers. In 1860, the flat tower was topped with a stone tent roof crowned, in turn, with a gilt weather vane
. The tower contains a through-passage that allows VIPs to travel from the kremlin to Red Square. Its height is 34.3 metres (113 ft).

Geographical coordinates: 55°45′12″N 37°37′10″E / 55.753449°N 37.619548°E / 55.753449; 37.619548 (Senatskaya Tower).

Nikolskaya

The Nikolskaya Tower (Russian: Никольская башня) is a tower with a through-passage on the eastern wall of the Moscow Kremlin, which overlooks the Red Square not far from the State Historical Museum.

The Nikolskaya Tower was built in 1491 by an

Soviets installed a red star on top of the tower. Its current height with the star is 70.4 metres (231 ft). The original icon of Saint Nicholas of Mozhaysk, placed above the entrance on Red Square had been plastered over by Soviet authorities and was uncovered and restored in 2010 - similar to what took place on the Spasskaya Tower.[4][5]

Geographical coordinates:55°45′16″N 37°37′04″E / 55.754421°N 37.617713°E / 55.754421; 37.617713 (Nikolskaya Tower.)

Corner Arsenalnaya

The Corner Arsenalnaya Tower (

Osip Bove
.

The tower's current height is over 60 metres (200 ft).

Geographical coordinates: 55°45′18″N 37°36′59″E / 55.755110°N 37.616469°E / 55.755110; 37.616469 (Corner Arsenalnaya Tower).

Middle Arsenalnaya

The Middle Arsenalnaya Tower (

Osip Bove
.

Geographical coordinates: 55°45′13″N 37°36′56″E / 55.753667°N 37.615525°E / 55.753667; 37.615525 (Middle Arsenalnaya Tower).

Troitskaya

Main article:
Soviets installed a red star
on top of the Troitskaya Tower. Prior to Soviet rule the tower had an icon of the Holy Trinity atop its outward face. Because this tower was the formal entrance for huge Communist Party Congresses the icon was totally removed rather than just plastered over as were those on the Spasskaya and Nikolskaya Towers.

Komendantskaya

The Komendantskaya Tower (

coach yard, where carriages and coaches had been kept. It was given its present name, the Commandant’s Tower, in the 19th century when the commandant of Moscow took up residence in the Kremlin’s Poteshny – or Amusement – Palace. Like all Kremlin towers, it was supplemented with a tent roof and watchtower in 1676-1686. The height of the tower on the side of the Alexander Garden
is 41.25 metres (135.3 ft).

Geographical coordinates: 55°45′02″N 37°36′49″E / 55.750575°N 37.613518°E / 55.750575; 37.613518 (Komendantskaya Tower).

Oruzheynaya

Oruzheynaya Tower

The Oruzheynaya Tower (Russian: Оружейная башня, translated as Armory Tower) was built in 1495. It was given its present name in the 19th century after the construction of the Armory. Before then, it was known as the Konyushennaya Tower, a reference to the royal stables that stood behind it.

Geographical coordinates: 55°44′58″N 37°36′46″E / 55.749428°N 37.612714°E / 55.749428; 37.612714 (Oruzheynaya Tower).

Kutafya

The Kutafya Tower (

Neglinnaya River bridge that comes out of the West side of the Kremlin wall under the Troitskaya Tower. Initially, the Kutafya was surrounded by a moat and was the only access to the city through its lift bridge, nowadays the moat around the bridge has transformed into Alexander Garden. Kutafya is one of the lower height Kremlin towers which had two combat tiers and no spire, with the open-top upper landing equipped with arrowslits and machicolations
, which made it a formidable obstacle to the besieging of the Kremlin fortress.

Marking today the main public entrance to the Kremlin, the Kutafya tower was modified several times through the centuries:

  • in the 16th and 17th centuries, a system of dikes was built to raise the water level of the Neglinnaya river and create a moat that surrounded the tower from all sides, making its drawbridge the only entry point from the city;
  • In 1668 a causeway leading through the tower to the Troitskaya Bridge was built;
  • a delicate ornamental crown in the
    Muscovite baroque
    style was built in 1685;
  • the divider between the two tiers was destroyed in 1780;
  • in 1867, a through-passage to the Manezhnaya Street was built as well as the arched apertures on the sides and a guard house on the south side;
  • the guard house was dismantled during the restoration works of carried out in 1974-77.

The Kutafya Tower is currently 13.5 m high; it used to be 18 m but the lower part of the tower was "submerged" by successive constructions that heightened the street-level ground.

Geographical coordinates: 55°45′09″N 37°36′46″E / 55.752514°N 37.612649°E / 55.752514; 37.612649 (Kutafya Tower).

References

  1. ^ Zubacheva, K. (2019-12-30). "6 facts about Spasskaya - the Kremlin's main tower". Russia Beyond the Headlines. Retrieved 2020-01-29.
  2. ISBN 978-0-300-10912-2
    .
  3. ^ "Bigger Bens". go.galegroup.com.ezproxy1.lib.asu.edu. Spectator. p. 14. Retrieved 7 November 2017.
  4. ^ Chistykova-Yaroslavova, N.B. (11 November 2010). Как Мы возвращали Икону Николы Можайского и символы священной династии в Кремль [How We returned the Icon of St. Nicholas of Mozhaisky and symbols of the sacred dynasty to the Kremlin] (in Russian). Archived from the original on 2013-12-03.
  5. ^ ПРЕДСТОЯТЕЛЬ РУССКОЙ ЦЕРКВИ ОСВЯТИЛ ОТРЕСТАВРИРОВАННУЮ НАДВРАТНУЮ ИКОНУ НИКОЛЫ МОЖАЙСКОГО НА НИКОЛЬСКОЙ БАШНЕ МОСКОВСКОГО КРЕМЛЯ [The Primate of the Russian Church Consecrated the Restored Gate Icon of St. Nikolas of Mozhaisky on the Nikolskaya Tower of the Moscow Kremlin]. Православие (Orthodox Christianity) (in Russian). 4 November 2010.

External links

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