Which tower is between the royal Senate. History of the Moscow Kremlin: Senate Tower

Senate Tower

But the Senate Tower adjacent to Spasskaya seems exaggeratedly modest against its background, almost Cinderella. In addition, in our time, it is half hidden by the Mausoleum located in front of it. But if we abandon comparison and look at the Senate Tower with an open mind, we will see that it is very good in its own way, and most importantly, after a stone tent was built over the Senate Tower in 1680, it has come down to our days practically unchanged. In appearance, the Senate Tower resembles the Nabatnaya Tower, which we have already met, as well as the Commandant and Armory Towers, which we have yet to get to know. Be that as it may, it seems unnecessary to describe in detail its rather typical architecture for small Kremlin towers. But it should be mentioned that this is one of the oldest towers of the Kremlin. It was intended to defend the line of walls from the side of Red Square. In those days, the tower did not have a specific name and received it only after the construction of the Senate building near it (1788, architect M.F. Kazakov). The height of the Senate Tower is 34.3 m.

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The Senate Tower is one of the first towers built in the Moscow Kremlin. The tower is very similar to other buildings and was built with a defensive purpose. The project was developed by the famous Italian architect Solari.

Tower characteristics:

Height - 34 meters

The shape of the tower is a quadrangle

Wall thickness - 4 meters

Erected - 1491

History of the tower

The oldest tower of the Kremlin, built in 1491 by the architect Pietro Antonio Solari. For a long time the tower was deaf and was called Nameless.

In 1680, it was built on, a tent was erected over the base with a parapet, simple, but with a slope, consisting of four faces. The top of the tower was crowned with a gilded weather vane flag.

The Senate received its first and final only full name after the construction of the Senate building in 1790. Another historian Sergei Bartenev noted that the tower has "a somewhat elongated shape of a tent, which gives the Senate Tower the appearance of severe inaccessibility." After the reconstruction, the tower was no longer significantly rebuilt.

In 1812, the tower was damaged by fires, and the explosions of other towers of the Kremlin, the retreating French army, in 1818, together with Red Square, the tower was restored to its former form.

(Modern view of the Senate tower and the Senate building with the Russian flag)

During the Soviet era in the middle of the 20th century, there were plans to change the appearance of the tower, its reconstruction, modernization, along with ambitious plans for the entire Kremlin and Red Square, so there were proposals to make a pedestal for the figure of Vladimir Lenin from the sculptor Sergei Merkulov, and another Soviet architect Arkady Mordvinov even proposed to install a sculpture of Joseph Stalin on the tower.

The tower has survived the historical decay of political changes and has remained itself in its almost original form over many centuries.

Located in the central part of the eastern fortress wall between the Spasskaya and Nikolskaya towers, behind the Mausoleum.

The tower was built in 1491 under the supervision of an Italian architect Pietro Antonio Solari(in the Russian tradition - Pyotr Fryazin) for defense purposes: to protect the approaches to the Kremlin from Red Square.

The height of the tower is 34.3 meters. The main volume has the shape of an elongated quadrangle, on top of which there is a combat platform equipped with machicolations - hinged loopholes for vertical firing. On top of the site, a tent completion with dormer windows and an observation deck was built on top of which a gilded flag-weather vane is installed. Since the tower was built for purely defensive purposes, its appearance is quite simple, but not devoid of decorative elements: the facades are decorated with semicircular columns and bolsters, and a belt of widths is placed on the parapet of the battlefield.

Inside the tower there are 3 tiers of vaulted rooms.

History of the Senate Tower

It is curious that initially the tower did not have any own name. The Senate Tower received its modern name in 1787, when construction was completed on the territory of the Kremlin. Senate Palace designed by architect Matvey Kazakov.

The tower was built in 1491 and at first did not have a modern tent finish: it was built on top of the battlefield in 1680, after which the Senate Tower acquired a modern look.

In the Soviet years, a vast necropolis was built in front of the tower on Red Square - a memorial cemetery near the Kremlin wall and in the wall itself, where participants in the October Revolution of 1917 were buried, then state, party and military figures of the USSR. In particular, Joseph Stalin, Felix Dzerzhinsky, Semyon Budyonny, Leonid Brezhnev and other famous Soviet figures are buried under the Kremlin wall. In 1918, in honor of the first anniversary of the Revolution, a memorial plaque "To those who fell for peace and the brotherhood of peoples" was placed on the wall of the Senate Tower, made by sculptor Sergei Konenkov, but in 1948 it was removed and transferred to the fund of the State Russian Museum.

As a separate building in the necropolis in 1924 was erected Mausoleum of Vladimir Lenin where the embalmed body of the leader of the world proletariat was placed. The mausoleum was built according to the design of the architect Alexei Shchusev - first wooden (temporary), then rebuilt in stone. In addition to the main function, the building of the Mausoleum served as a tribune for Soviet leaders during holidays and parades. The mausoleum was located right in front of the Senate Tower, and in 1948 a passage was built from the tower to it so that high-ranking members of the Central Committee of the CPSU could climb the podium directly from the Kremlin, bypassing Red Square and not intersecting with mere mortals.

Thus, to date, the Senate Tower has actually become the background of the Mausoleum and the surrounding necropolis.

Senate Tower The Moscow Kremlin is located on the eastern side of the Kremlin wall and overlooks Red Square behind the Mausoleum of V.I. Lenin. It can be reached on foot from metro stations. "Okhotny Ryad" Sokolnicheskaya line and "Revolution square" Arbatsko-Pokrovskaya.

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, on the tops of which there are three round towers. Corners were once considered the most important and were intended for all-round defense. The Kremlin has 20 towers in total. The Senate is 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 reaches a height of almost 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 beginning of the 17th 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.

It is not for nothing that the Russian capital is called Belokamennaya. Before the red brick fortress appeared in the city center, 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.

The 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 additional protection, battlements were built along its edges.

On the territory of the Kremlin, along the Senate Tower, there was the house of the princes Trubetskoy. 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. Inside there were three tiers of loopholes, at the top were guns.

Modernization

In 1680, Senate Tower 17 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 Kremlin was built on the territory. It was then that the tower received its modern name.

1812

Moscow, as you know, was badly damaged by a 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 solemn 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” 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 took place in 2016.

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

Each 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. from the name of one of the Kremlin treasuries.