Address: Moscow Kremlin, between the Annunciation and Borovitskaya towers
Build date: 1491 year
Tower height: 34 m.
Coordinates: 55 ° 45'12.5 "N 37 ° 37'10.5" E
Content:
Short story
The Moscow Kremlin at the end of the 15th century was replenished with another tower, which many consider almost one of the first. In 1491, work was completed on the construction of the tower, which later became the Senate.
The construction was supervised by the skilled architect of that time, Pietro Antonio Solari, who had specially arrived from Italy. In general, the fate of this man, who was called Pyotr Fryazin in ancient manuscripts, is closely intertwined with the construction of the Kremlin architectural complex. At the special invitation of the Russian ambassadors, Solari undertook a trip to Russia and already in 1490 appeared in Moscow.
In addition to the Senate, Fryazin took an active part in the construction of several other towers and the Faceted Chamber. Solari is also known for its monumental religious buildings in Milan. He was a hereditary architect, and it is known that in his homeland his father always helped him when carrying out work.
The building occupied the very center of the eastern wall and was very similar to the Nabatnaya, Armory and Commandant towers in their structure. Nevertheless, it is considered one of the first towers of the Moscow Kremlin.
But this building played rather not a political role, as one might think, judging from the name. Moscow of that time needed protection from enemies and from the day of its construction it was a military structure. The tower was tasked with defending the Kremlin in the direction of Red Square.
In 1682, namely in that year, one of the most significant works on the modernization of the entire Kremlin began, the Senate Tower was completed. Above its base, where mashikuli (special loopholes, created mainly for shelling the advancing enemy from above) with a parapet were created, a tent made of stone with four edges was skillfully erected. It ended with a small four, additionally decorated with a gilded weather vane.
After the completion of all parts of the tower, its height began to be 34.3 meters, but more improvements of this type were not made over the building and for this reason, from the 17th century to the present day, its appearance remained unchanged... As for the internal architecture of the building, the tower has three tiers with square-shaped rooms. The Senate Tower, however, like the entire Kremlin, is considered a significant architectural monument.
Mausoleum of V.I. Lenin against the background of the Senate Tower
It is interesting that at first the tower had no name, which was somewhat strange. Only after the construction of the Kremlin Senate building by the Russian architect Kazakov, the Senate Tower received its name, which still exists today.
Senate Tower in the 20th century
In 1917, Russia was shocked by the sudden outbreak of the revolution. However, the Bolsheviks practically did not touch the tower - and after their coming to power, it underwent a minimum of changes. Immediately a year after the revolution, a memorial plaque was hung on the wall of the Senate Tower (as you might guess, in honor of the anniversary of the Bolshevik revolution in Russia). However, after the 1950 restoration, the board was removed and placed in the Museum of the Revolution.
It was at the walls of this tower that the architect A.V. Shchusev built the famous Mausoleum in which the "leader of the world proletariat" rests. This event happened in 1930.
View of the tower from Red Square
In 1948, a special passage was made from the tower, leading to the Mausoleum. The creation of this secret passage pursued one goal - so that the Soviet government had the opportunity to freely get to the stands, which were used for performances at parades and all kinds of celebrations. Using this passage, members of the CPSU Central Committee could get there without going to Red Square.
