Address: Moscow Kremlin, between the Middle Arsenalnaya and the Commandant towers
Build date: 1499 year
Tower height: with a star 80.1 m.
There is a ruby star on the tower
Coordinates: 55 ° 45'08.1 "N 37 ° 36'53.0" E
Content:
Short story
Troitskaya Tower is one of the original buildings of the Moscow Kremlin. The project for its construction was developed by the Italian architect Alois Fryazin.
However, the talented architect, who had no equal throughout the territory of ancient Russia, supervised the construction of many other Kremlin buildings. And now the result of his next work was the Trinity Tower, the construction of which took 4 years (work was carried out from 1495 to 1499).
The Trinity Tower is considered the tallest structure in the Kremlin ensemble - it reaches a height of 80 m... Its construction contains a gate that serves as an entrance for those wishing to visit the Moscow Kremlin. And you can approach them along the Troitsky bridge, located next to the Kutafya tower.
As for the name of the tower, it became Trinity only in 1658, when Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich decided to give it such a name because of the nearby courtyard of the Trinity Monastery. Before that, the tower changed 4 names. Initially named as Epiphany, later it had such names as the Robe of the Robe, Znamenskaya and Karetnaya. Znamenskaya was once named after the cathedrals located on the territory of the Moscow Kremlin, and Karetnaya - because of the Karetny Dvor.
View of the tower from Troitsky bridge
Purpose of the Trinity Tower, features of its architecture
Today the Troitskaya Tower is a kind of base for the Presidential Orchestra of Russia. However, it was not always used for such a purpose - for two centuries (XVI and XVII) it housed a prison building.
At the end of the 17th century, the Trinity Tower underwent some changes in terms of architecture. The best masters of Moscow supplemented it with a multi-tiered hip-roof superstructure and decorated it with ornaments made of white stone. A few years later (in 1707) the loopholes of the Trinity Tower were expanded so that they could accommodate solid cannons. These changes were not groundless, because in those distant years the threat of an invasion of the Swedes was brewing.
View of the tower from the Kutafya tower
Many years later (1870 - 1895), the Trinity Tower began to be used for other purposes. Now it was not a defensive structure, but an archive building belonging to the ministry of the royal court. The changes in the purpose were reflected in the external appearance of the tower - it was slightly rebuilt.
For a long time, the tower was decorated with a clock (1585 - 1812). Then they were replaced by the icon of the Kazan Mother of God, and only after a while the crown of the structure was a two-headed eagle - a symbol of the Russian Empire. However, on the eve of the next date of the October Revolution, the Soviet government decided to remove the eagle, and a red star was to take its place. But it was not so easy to remove the two-headed eagle. Since it was the oldest (it was made in 1870) and assembled with bolts, it had to be dismantled right at the top of the tower.
View of the tower from the Alexander Garden
Gradually, red stars have crowned many other Kremlin towers - a majestic historical monument of Russia. By 1937, the semi-precious star faded, and it was replaced by the ruby one, which flaunts on the tower to this day.
Today, the Trinity Tower in Moscow looks like an old 6-storey building, 2 floors of which are occupied by deep basements (it was in them that the prisoners of the tsarist prison once languished). To move between floors of the tower, a branched staircase system is installed in it. You can recognize the Trinity Tower from the outside by the decorative turrets and pointed arches that serve as its decorations. The "head" of the structure is a small quadrangle with an octagon, equipped with an observation deck and complemented by an elongated tent. To quickly get to the Trinity Tower of the Moscow Kremlin, you should approach it from the side of the magnificent Alexander Garden, located opposite the Manege.
View of the tower tent with a ruby star
The very same Trinity Tower is located between the Middle Arsenalnaya and the Commandant Towers - equally valuable historical monuments of Russia that have survived to this day.
