The first oak fortress on Borovitsky hill on the banks of the Moscow River appeared during the time of Ivan Kalita. The Grand Duke constantly fought the rebellious Tver princes, transferred the throne of the Metropolitan from Vladimir to Moscow and built a fortified detinet. The walls of the protective structure were set by experienced Moscow carpenters from oaks of immense width. Then they called it the Kremlin.
The origin of the name is unclear. There is an assumption that the timber was called the “Kremlin”. This word is associated
with flint stone, as well as with the Greek word krimnos, which means height above the sea. This came from the Byzantine Greeks, who often came to Moscow.
Stone Kremlin
It was built from white stone by the grandson of the Moscow prince Dmitry Donskoy. Since then, Moscow has become known as White Stone. It was open to the Horde ambassadors, as Dmitry Ivanovich bought off the Tatars for the time being. But for the evil-minded neighbors, the stone Kremlin has become an impregnable fortress. It was built very quickly. In just a year. It has become larger in area than wood, which has significantly burned out after numerous fires and is almost equal to modern territory. Through three eastern towers (Spasskaya, or, as it was called more often then, Frolovskaya, already existed), regiments went to Nepryadva.
Inside, almost all the buildings, including the princely chambers, were wooden. These powerful walls, designed to affirm the greatness of the Moscow Principality, have not survived.
Italians work
Under Ivan III, that grandiose building was erected - the Moscow Kremlin, which we have been admiring for five hundred years. We won’t talk about temples, but dwell on the Kremlin walls and towers. At first, the old walls and towers were dismantled, and then new ones were made of burnt red brick. Their construction took about ten years. The height of the walls ranged from five to nineteen meters, and the width - from three and a half to six and a half meters. To this day they are surrounded by battlements, otherwise merlons. They have beautiful rounded bifurcated ends called dovetail. All of them are counted - there are one thousand forty-five of them. Initially, nineteen towers were built. Of these, three round ones stood at the corners of the triangle, which represents the Kremlin. The main entrance gate passed under the Spasskaya (Frolovskaya) tower. Here the rider had to dismount, and every guest should take off his hat. There were four gates in total.
Old legend
Near the Spasskaya Tower, which looks at Red Square, he took a fancy to a place in the small wooden turret of the Terrible Tsar. Secretly, he loved, as the legendary story tells, to look at the classes of Muscovites and at events of national importance. From there, he was also visible frontal place.
Tsar’s Tower of the Moscow Kremlin
The entire Kremlin was built between 1482 and 1495. And the Tsar’s tower is not at all like a tower.
This is an elegant tower, which was put in 1680 on the place where, according to legend, Ivan IV was sitting. Therefore, it was called so - the Tsar’s
Tower of the Moscow Kremlin. It has nothing to do with the rest of the towers, massive and required for defense. Among them, she stands out "toy" and a very decorative look. Tsarskaya Tower has the first, lower tier, designed to be able to pass along the wall. The second - air - begins with four stone columns. They have the shape of a vase and are decorated with two white bands. A green tent-roof of eight faces rests on them, which is completed by a gilded working weather vane. Tsarskaya Tower is very elegant. Above the columns are round small pyramids with weathercocks. The second tier is the platform on which they climbed to ring the bell in case of fire. Yes, the Tsarskaya tower once had a Spassky bell. It is built on the eastern wall between Spasskaya and Nabatnaya towers. Many are interested in: "The Royal Tower - with a clock?" As you can see in the photo below, no. The clock on the Tsar’s Tower was never set. There are none now. They appeared in 1585 on three other Kremlin tower-gates. Just Tsarskaya is located in the immediate vicinity of the Spasskaya standing nearby.
It is on it that the famous chimes are located, which are made in the middle of the 19th century. The design of the belfry led to the appearance of a kind of melody that the watch publishes every fifteen minutes. The total height of the Royal Tower does not even reach 17 meters. Compare with Vodovzvodnaya - with its height exceeding sixty meters.
Kremlin tour
Visitors must purchase a ticket for a temporary exhibition or in a museum complex. This gives the right to enter the territory of the Kremlin through the Borovitsky or Trinity gates. For students and seniors, the passage upon presentation of the document is free. If you want to visit the cathedrals, you should additionally buy a ticket. To visit the Belfry (height - 81 m), to look at the surrounding area from a height of twenty-five meters, a ticket and ... some forces are also required. The rise takes place on 137 steps. Eternally busy Muscovites should visit the Kremlin and its museums more often, otherwise it turns out that guests of the capital know it somewhat better.