[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.

[3] The gate of Spasskaya Tower was used to greet foreign dignitaries, and was also used during formal ceremonies or processions held on Red Square.

In fact, legend has it that Napoleon himself could not prevent his horse from taking fright as he rode through the gates, having failed to show his respect, and the French Emperor's hat was said to have fallen from his head.

After the rise of the Soviet Union, in 1936, Joseph Stalin replaced the two-headed eagle on top of the Spasskaya Tower with a red star because he wanted to remove all evidence of the former Tsarist period.

The tradition of dismounting the horse and removing the cap ended during the Soviet era, when the Kremlin became the center of government and politics.

[citation needed] The daughter of Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin is the current director of the Kremlin Museums, Elena Gagarina.

[citation needed] The Spasskaya Gate posed an issue following in the 1990s, as the passage of vehicles disrupted the flow of pedestrians to GUM and other shopping centers.

In August 2014, Russian president Vladimir Putin suggested an idea for restoring Ascension Convent and Chudov Monastery, which were demolished by the Soviet regime in the 1930s.