List of Moscow Kremlin towers
The tower was constructed in 1490 on the spot of an old Kremlin gate by Italian architect Pietro Antonio Solari (Petr Fryazin, from fryaz or fryag as Italians were called at that time) by order of Vasili III of Russia.
In the 17th century, the Portomoyniye Gates were built nearby so that palace laundresses could go to the Portomoiny raft on the Moscow River to rinse porty, or underclothes.
It was built in 1485 by Antonio Gilardi on the spot of the gates to Dmitry Donskoy's whitestone Kremlin.
In 1812, the tower was blown up by Napoleon’s retreating troops, but it was soon restored to its original form by architect Osip Beauvais.
The Second Unnamed Tower (Russian: Вторая Безымянная башня, romanized: Vtoraya Bezymyannaya bashnya) was built in the middle of the 15th century.
In 1680, a quadrangular structure and a tall pyramidal tent roof with a watchtower were added to the top of the tower.
The tower was built in 1487-1488 by an Italian architect Marco Ruffo (known as Mark Fryazin in Russia).
It was named after a boyar Ivan Bersen-Beklemishev, whose house had been adjacent to the tower from the Kremlin side.
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 Konstantino-Eleninskaya Tower (Russian: Константино-Еленинская башня, romanized: Konstantino-Eleninskaya bashnya) is a tower on the eastern wall of the Kremlin, overlooking the so-called Basil Descent (Васильевский спуск), which begins at the Red Square and ends at the Moscow River.
The tower was built in 1490 by an Italian architect Pietro Antonio Solari on the spot of gates to the whitestone Kremlin.
It was named after the Church of Constantine and Helene in the Kremlin (second half of the 17th century), which would be demolished by the Soviets in 1928.
Traditionally, there has always been a bell on top of the Nabatnaya Tower, used for notifying citizens of fires and other misfortunes in the Kremlin or on the Red Square (hence, the name Nabatnaya, which derives from the old Russian word набат - nabat, meaning "alarm" or "tocsin").
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.
Initially, it was named the Frolovskaya Tower after the Church of Frol and Lavr in 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.
It is usually referred to as the Kremlin chimes (Кремлёвские куранты) and designates official Moscow Time.
[3] The gate of Spasskaya Tower was used to greet foreign dignitaries, and was used during formal ceremonies or processions held on Red Square.
The Senatskaya Tower (Russian: Сенатская башня) was built in 1491 by an architect Pietro Antonio Solari and was purely defensive in nature: it guarded the Kremlin on the Red Square side.
In 1860, the flat tower was topped with a stone tent roof crowned, in turn, with a gilt weather vane.
The Nikolskaya Tower was once again severely damaged by the artillery fire in October 1917 and was later restored by an architect Nikolai Markovnikov.
The construction of this tower completed the Kremlin's line of defence from the side of the Red Square.
In 1707, due to a threat of Swedish invasion, the gun slots of the Corner Arsenalnaya Tower were enlarged to fit heavy cannons.
In 1821, when the Alexander Garden was laid out, an ancient-style grotto was built at the foot of the tower, designed by Osip Bove.
The Troitskaya Tower was built in 1495–1499 by an Italian architect Aloisio da Milano (known in Russia as Aleviz Fryazin Milanets).
It received its current name in 1658 from the Troitskaya Coaching Inn (Троицкое подворье) in the Kremlin.
In 1707, due to a threat of Swedish invasion, the gun slots of the Troitskaya Tower were enlarged to fit heavy cannons.
Prior to Soviet rule the tower had an icon of the Holy Trinity atop its outward face.
Built in 1516 under the leadership of the Milanese architect Aloisio da Milano, in order to protect one end of the Neglinnaya River bridge that comes out of the West side of the Kremlin wall under the Troitskaya Tower.
