Towers of the Moscow Kremlin: names. The scheme of the Moscow Kremlin with the names of the towers

Not even all Muscovites know the names of the 20 towers of the Moscow Kremlin, although the citadel itself, its walls and towers are one of the main attractions not only of the capital itself, but of the entire vast country.

Answer any question

The history and the cause of the appearance of towers, the appearance of a name, the role of each of them in the history of the capital, are held in school. But over time names are forgotten. It is very good that these days all the information about them is widely available, and at any time you can get answers to any questions, for example, how the towers of the Moscow Kremlin are located, the names of all towers, to which section of the wall any one refers, how they were used and so on.

One of the business cards

Long life (the first mention of the wooden fortress dates back to 1156) of the most important fortress of the country is very interesting. The Kremlin stands in line with such world historical monuments as the Great Wall of China, the Tower of London, the contours of the demolished Bastille, the Egyptian pyramids. On Earth, an infinite number of attractions, but significant, epoch-making objects are not so many. Few people do not know the Spassky Tower, and only a few at first sight will not recognize the symbol of Moscow, the capital of boundless Russia. But for the Russian, especially for the Muscovite, who since childhood goes on an excursion to the center of the capital, the main towers of the Moscow Kremlin are familiar. The names of each of them are taught from the third grade, but many preschool children can list without hesitation, if not all 20, then the most significant of them, and not just those that go to Red Square.

Uniqueness of the structure

The most important fortress of the country, located on the Borovitsky Hill, has always been the center of the public and political life of the state, and throughout most of Russia's history it was here that the residence of the rulers of the country was located. This is the heart of power. In addition, the fortress is extraordinarily beautiful. Millions of tourists from all over the world want not only to see one of the wonders of the world, but also to get acquainted with its history - in what century these walls were erected, by whom, the origin of the name is "the Kremlin". The towers of the Moscow Kremlin are of particular interest - they have no analogues in the world, they differ from each other. And only from the second half of the XVII century, some of them are kept in a single architectural style.

The essence of the name

In Ancient Rus until the XIV century, the city, surrounded by a wall with turrets-loopholes, was called "detinets", later there are names of crome, silicon, silicon, and Kremlin. The origin of the term "Kremlin" itself has several versions, but all of them denote a strongly fortified, inaccessible place. Located in an impenetrable forest or on an impregnable steep, it is often washed by a river or surrounded by a moat full of water. And any fortress is surrounded by high walls.

Inaccessible Fortress

The following diagram of the Moscow Kremlin with the names of the towers clearly demonstrates how successfully a place was chosen for one of the oldest Russian fortresses - the wrong triangle on the one hand is protected by the Moscow River. In the old days from the other side, where the Alexander Garden is now located, the wall was protected by the Neglinnaya River. Along the third rib of the triangle, which opens onto Red Square, was a deep ditch full of water. In addition, the scheme of the Moscow Kremlin with the names of towers shows that the angular towers (the old Russian name of the towers) are at their base round in shape, while all the others are square.

The subtleties of the construction of defensive structures

This form of the defensive tower is a fortification method, the trick of which is that shells of enemy guns ricochet from rounded walls, and can be fired from it round and round. When taking the fortress, the corner towers of the Moscow Kremlin were considered to be the priority. Their names are Vodovzvodnaya (Sviblova, Southwestern), Beklemishevskaya (known as the Moskvoretskaya, southeastern corner) and the most powerful Kremlin tower - the Corner Arsenal (Sobakina) tower, which closes the defensive line of the wall from the side of the Red Square. She controlled the crossing of the Neglinnaya River.

North-eastern section of the Kremlin wall

Each of these fortifications was intended for specific purposes. The plan of the Moscow Kremlin with the name of the towers demonstrates that all the towers on the side of Red Square, from Angular Arsenal to Beklemishevskaya (clockwise) contain, in addition to the two mentioned, six more of this type. This is the Nikolskaya and Senate, Spassky and Tsarskaya, Nabatnaya and Konstantin-Elenin towers.

Towers of the south and north-west sides

From Beklemishevskaya to the Vodovzvodnaya tower, that is, on the Kremlin wall section, which runs along the Moskva River, besides the corners, there are five more veins - Petrovskaya and Second Nameless, First Nameless, Tainitskaya and Blagoveshchenskaya. The third side of the wrong triangle running along the Neglinnaya River, taken from the previous sections, differs from the previous stretches by the only one preserved by a branch shooter called Kutafya Tower, which is connected by a bridge to the highest Kremlin tower - Troitskaya. In addition to the corners of Vodovzvodna and Arsenal, Troitskaya and Kutafia, Borovitskaya and Oruzheynaya, Komendantskaya and Srednyaya Arsenalnaya towers are located on this stretch.

Various in all

All the towers of the Moscow Kremlin, whose names were listed above, were built at different times by Italian craftsmen, at that time referred to as "Fryazhsky". The first was Tainitskaya, built in 1485. Over the next decade, all the fortifications were commissioned (the latter was built in Troitskaya in 1495), except for the smallest Tsar, built in 1680. The second most important - Troitskaya - is the highest tower of the Moscow Kremlin. She changed the names repeatedly. However, almost all the towers throughout their existence were called differently, and two are nameless. Epiphany and Rizopolozhenskaya, Znamenskaya and Kuretna - so in different periods of time was called the original Trinity Tower, whose height reaches 80 meters.

Reasons for the title

The Kremlin itself has not been studied thoroughly, it keeps many mysteries. The towers of the Moscow Kremlin, whose names sound especially unusual for the ear of a modern man, used to be called differently in the past. But modern names, if you look at it, are quite understandable - Spasskaya is called so because it was an icon of the Savior, Vodovzvodnaya - because the special water from the Moscow River flowed to its upper end and was distributed throughout the Kremlin. The name "Tsarskaya" speaks for itself - from there the king (especially Ivan the Terrible loved to do it) watched the events on Red Square.

By her own

Nikolskaya Tower, falling out of the general Kremlin ensemble and architecture and color, is called so because it kept the icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. This tower with a very interesting fate - through it in the Kremlin was a militia led by Dmitry Pozharsky and Kuzma Minin. She burned in 1737, she, fleeing the Kremlin, blew up the French. But with all these adversities the icon of St. Nicholas never suffered - in the explosion that blew out the windows in the neighboring streets, it did not even crack the glass.

Simple names

Why and how the towers of the Moscow Kremlin are called, it is extremely interesting to find out. And how wonderful that nowadays it is easy to get acquainted with the history of any of them. For example, Beklemishevskaya tower: why so called? After all, its other name - "Moskvoretskaya" - was clear and understandable: it is located above the Moscow River. Beklemishevskaya, like Sviblovskaya (Vodovzvodnaya) are called so because the courts of the boyars Beklemishev and Sviblova closely adjoined the Kremlin in these places. The Kremlin itself and everything connected with it is a sacred and symbolic place for any Russian.