Address: Moscow Kremlin, between the First Nameless and Annunciation Towers
Build date: 1485 year
Tower height: 38.4 m.
Coordinates: 55 ° 44'57.9 "N 37 ° 37'04.7" E
Content:
Short story
The appearance of the Taynitskaya Tower has its own interesting history. Shortly before the end of the 15th century, Ivan III decided to rebuild the walls and towers of the Moscow Kremlin. And Anton Fryazin, an Italian architect, helped the prince to bring it to life.
Arriving in the Russian capital city in 1469 as a member of the retinue of the Pole Cardinal Vissarion, the architect took part in the preparation of the wedding between Prince Ivan III himself and his beloved Sophia Palaeologus. So Fryazin took root in Moscow.
In 1485, he finally proceeded to lay the tower, or strelnitsa, choosing the place for the construction of the Cheshkovy gate of the fortress (they did not last long - from 1366 to 1368, and some sources call them Chushkovy).
View of the tower from the Kremlin embankment
When developing the project of the Taynitskaya Tower, the architect decided to arrange in it a well-cache with a hidden exit leading to the Moscow River. Why was it necessary? The architect understood that in the event of a siege of the Kremlin by enemies, the well would provide the building with water. For this "secret" the tower was named Taynitskaya.
Purpose of the Taynitskaya tower, features of its construction
Ivan III pinned such hopes on the construction of this structure - it was supposed to defend the Moscow Kremlin from the side of the river. To make the structure really strong, it was erected from bricks, although such material had not been previously used for fortification construction. However, the further appearance of the brick Taynitskaya tower was the impetus for the complete renovation of the Kremlin - the most beautiful sight in Russia.
So, the result of the skillful actions of the talented Italian architect was the Taynitskaya Tower, equipped with a passage gate and having a retractable arrow with a lifting mechanism.
Taynitskaya tower against the background of the cathedrals of the Moscow Kremlin
A stone bridge connected the tower with the arrowhead. To monitor the order in Zamoskvorechye, sentries were on duty on the tower. In the event of a fire, they notified the population of Moscow about the tragedy, using the bell ringing as an alarm signal. A striking clock served as the decoration of the tower, but only until 1674 - later they were removed.
Did the Taynitskaya Tower undergo changes in its architecture?
The decade between 1670 and 1680 was marked by the first changes for the Taynitskaya Tower of Russia. Already Russian masters supplemented the main quadrangle with a top of stone, constructing it as another, but open, arched quadruple. Now the modified tower ended with a tetrahedral tent, equipped with an observation tower.
Like all structures of the Moscow Kremlin, the Taynitskaya Tower has experienced its revival. Dismantled in 1770 on the eve of the construction of the Kremlin Palace, the construction of which was in charge of V.I.Bazhenov, in 1783 the beautiful tower again declared itself, but now it was without an arrowhead.
The fire started by Napoleon's troops during the retreat from Moscow (the event dates back to 1812) led to the explosion of the tower. But after 4 years, work began on its repair, which was carried out until 1818.... After another 44 years, the artist Campioni A.S. developed a new design for the arrow, and the two designs, which originally complemented each other, were reunited.
Despite the fact that at one time the clock was removed from the Taynitskaya tower, until 1917 it still played the role of a kind of time broadcaster, because every day, at noon, a cannon was fired from its arrow. In St. Petersburg, another large city in Russia, there was a similar tradition, only a shot at a certain time was carried out by the Peter and Paul cannon.
And from 1930 to 1933, the arrow was dismantled again and the well was filled up, but the passage gate was laid. At the moment, the archers at the 38-meter Taynitskaya tower does not exist.
