History of the Moscow Kremlin: Senate Tower

2024 Author: Harold Hamphrey | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:06

The Senate Tower is part of the Kremlin ensemble, the main attraction of Moscow. It is located on the eastern wall and overlooks Red Square. The Senate Tower of the Kremlin was built at the end of the 15th century, during the reign of Ivan III. It was erected according to the project of the Italian master Pietro Solari.

The appearance of the Kremlin

In plan, the architectural ensemble has the shape of a triangle, along the tops of which there are three towers of circular cross section. Corners were once considered the most important and were intended for all-round defense. The Kremlin has 20 towers in total. Senate - one of the oldest.

The total length of the Kremlin walls is more than two thousand meters with a height of five to twenty. On the outside, they are equipped with teeth in the form of a dovetail.

The highest tower, Troitskaya, reaches a height of nearly 80 meters. It is through its gates that visitors enter the Kremlin across the bridge today. At the entrance stands the lowest tower of the ensemble - Kutafya.

It is worth adding that the height of some Kremlin towers increased significantly at the beginningXVII century. Then characteristic tents were built over them.

The most famous of the towers is Spasskaya. Its height is 71 meters. It contains the main entrance to the territory of the Kremlin - the Spasskiye Gates, named after the over-gate icon of the Savior of Smolensk. In the old days they were ceremonial - foreign ambassadors were met here.

The chimes of the Spasskaya Tower are known all over the country. The first mention of them dates back to the 16th century. True, then the clock was not at all like the current one. The role of the arrow in them was played by the image of the sun with a long beam.

Deaf Tower

In the eighties of the 15th century, large-scale construction began. The tsar wished to have a fortress in Moscow that would symbolize the greatness and power of the Russian state, for which he ordered skilled craftsmen from abroad.

The Russian capital is called Belokamennaya for a reason. Before there was a red brick fortress in the center of the city, there was a building made of white stone.

So, the Senate Tower was built at the end of the 15th century. But then it didn't have a name. In some documents it was listed as "Deaf Tower". But more often she was called Nameless. The Senate Tower received its modern name in the 18th century.

Architect Pietro Solari supervised the construction of the entire eastern wall. A tower was built into this wall, which did not have a gate - the Senate. The Moscow Kremlin was surrounded by a fortification moat. For added protection, battlements were built along its edges.

In the Kremlin along the Senate Towerthe house of the princes Trubetskoy was located. There were also several churches and palace orders.

The article presents photos of the Senate Tower. It is worth knowing that in the 16th century this building looked very different. The Senate tower was less ornate. There was something stern, gloomy in the appearance. There were three tiers of loopholes inside, with cannons at the top.

Modernization

In 1680, 17 Senate Tower was rebuilt. Now its height reached 34 meters. A tetrahedral tent was attached to the lower quadrangle, after which the appearance of the structure changed significantly.

In 1787, the Senate Palace was built on the territory of the Kremlin. It was then that the tower received its modern name.

1812

Moscow, as you know, was badly damaged by the fire set by the French. Leaving the Russian capital, the soldiers of the Napoleonic army mined part of the Kremlin ensemble. Later, many legends arose, according to which the French commander failed to wipe the Kremlin off the face of the earth only thanks to a miracle. One way or another, the Senate Tower was not damaged by the fire.

5 years after the end of World War II, the Russian emperor signed a plan for the reconstruction of the capital. Red Square was restored. And in 1818, a monument to Minin and Pozharsky was also erected on it.

The Senate Tower is located in the very center of the eastern wall. It, of course, has not been performing fortification functions for many centuries. This tower once served as a kind of decoration during ceremonial events,especially the coronation of monks. When Alexander III ascended the throne, the state emblem was installed on the building.

20th century

After the revolution, the Bolsheviks occupied the Kremlin. New objects appeared on the territory of the ancient fortress. So, on both sides of the Senate Tower, urns with the ashes of statesmen were laid. At the foot of the structure are the graves of Dzerzhinsky, Frunze, Kalinin, Zhdanov.

“To those who fell for peace and the brotherhood of peoples” - this is the name of the bas-relief installed on the Senate Tower in 1917. Before the formation of the Soviet state, another restoration of the Kremlin towers was carried out. In 1922, a monument to the proletarian was erected near the Senate Tower. In the forties, a passage was built in this building to the Mausoleum, which was used exclusively by members of the Central Committee.

In the middle of the 20th century, one of the sculptors proposed to shorten the Senate Tower and install a monument to Lenin on it. Fortunately, this idea was not supported. The last restoration was carried out in 2016.

Senate Square is depicted on the canvases of famous artists. For example, in Surikov's painting "Morning of the Streltsy Execution".

Every time brought something new to the Kremlin. So, under Peter, the construction of the Arsenal began, along the facade of which Napoleon's captured cannons are exhibited. At the end of the 18th century and in the first half of the 19th century, the Kremlin was replenished with two palaces: the Senate, after which one of the towers is named, and the Great Kremlin, built by Nicholas I. In the 1840s, a new building of the Kremlin's treasury museum - the Armory,whose name comes from the name of one of the Kremlin treasuries.