The unique architectural ensemble of the Moscow Kremlin is recognized all over the world due to its highest status and original appearance. Massive red walls with bifurcated battlements and diverse towers, high and low, slender and stocky, but all beautiful in their own way, made the appearance of the Kremlin so memorable.
Moscow was not built in a day
In the old days, a city protected by a fortress wall and towers with equipped loopholes was called the Kremlin. This name comes from the word "kremlevnik" - a coniferous forest with strong, large trees suitable for construction. The first wooden kremlin was built from such trees. There was also a wooden Kremlin in Moscow, but in 1365 it burned down to the ground, and henceforth it was decided to build defensive structures only of stone.
Two years later, a white stone Kremlin grew on the site of the ashes, which is why Moscow began to be called white stone. However, he also did not stand the test of time and war. At the end of the 15th - beginning of the 16th century, at the same place between the Moskva River and the Neglinnaya River, a third Kremlin was built - made of red brick.
Kremlin towers - how many and what are they
Conceived and embodied in stone as a fortress, the Moscow Kremlin was thoroughly protected by high towers from which defensive fire could be fired. There are 20 towers in total in the Kremlin, built at different times, but in the same style.
All towers are made in the architectural style of Italian classicism, except for the Nikolskaya tower. It was rebuilt in the 19th century in the Gothic style.
Initially, all the towers were of military importance and austere appearance, and the beautiful superstructures and tents were made when the enemies stopped harassing the Russian capital.
In the corners of the huge triangle of the fortress there are large round towers - Beklemishevskaya, Vodovzvodnaya and Angular Arsenalnaya. The power of these towers was supposed to withstand the onslaught of the enemy, and the round shape made it possible to fire around. The Beklemishevskaya tower was the first to take the blow during the invasion, as it was located at the junction of the Moskva River with a moat. At the base of the tower, an auditory cache was arranged to prevent a possible undermining. In the Vodovzvodnaya Tower, the first in Russia water pump was installed to supply water from the Moskva River to the Kremlin. The Arsenal Tower was one of the seven towers built by the architect Pietro Antonio Solari, and the most powerful of the ensemble of the old Kremlin.
The rest of the Kremlin towers are square. The towers with the passage gates were located where important roads approached the city. These towers - Spasskaya, Nikolskaya, Troitskaya, Borovitskaya, Taynitskaya, Konstantino-Yeleninskaya from the outside were defended by archers. The rest of the towers were adapted for defense.
The towers are fairly evenly distributed along the perimeter of the powerful walls, although they vary greatly in height. The largest Trinity Tower is 80 meters high. Nearby, on the other side of the Trinity Bridge, there is the lowest Kutafya tower - only 13.5 meters.
Taynitskaya was built by the first of the modern Kremlin towers in 1484. It owes its name to a well hidden in the base of the tower for the garrison in case of a siege.
The second highest, but the first in importance was and remains the Spasskaya Tower. It also belongs to the authorship of Pietro Solari, who opened the eastern line of the Kremlin's fortifications with the construction of this tower. Its gates were the main entrance to the capital of the Russian state - it was necessary to pass through them on foot and with an uncovered head. The tower has long been decorated with a clock, but the main clock of our country, the Kremlin chimes, was installed in 1852. Their mechanism occupies three out of ten floors of the Spasskaya Tower.
Kremlin stars made of ruby glass adorn the five tallest towers - Borovitskaya, Troitskaya, Spasskaya, Nikolskaya and Vodovzvodnaya. Previously, these towers, besides Vodovzvodnaya, were decorated with imperial double-headed eagles, but in 1930 the Bolsheviks who came to power decided to remove the legacy of the old regime. This is how, with the scarlet five-pointed stars, the Kremlin towers became famous all over the world.
