Drawing of the Trinity Tower. Trinity tower. Impression. Troitskaya tower of the Kremlin from the north side

At this tower, one of the twenty that make up architectural complex Moscow Kremlin, many features. It is the only one heated and has interiors with decent acoustics.

There are gates in it, through which the main flow of visitors to the main building of the Russian capital passes. And the Trinity Tower of the Moscow Kremlin is the highest.

Fryazin means Italian

Among the masters whom Ivan III attracted for the construction of the main Moscow were Italians. Among them was an architect who went down in Russian history under the name Aleviz Fryazin (Milanese). Studies of domestic and foreign historians have revealed that this is how Aloisio de Caresano, a stone craftsman from Piedmont, a region of Italy located at the foot of the Alps, was called in Rus'. It was he who is considered the builder of the section of the Kremlin fortress, which went along the coast. In 1495, he began, and four years later completed the construction of the tower, which later became the second largest (after Spasskaya).

Multiple names

Troitskaya received its current name in the middle of the 17th century, according to the name of the nearby monastery. Former title for the tower they chose the name of the adjacent Kremlin cathedrals. She was both Epiphany, and Rizopolozhenskaya, and Znamenskaya. There were other options among the people: Karetnaya (the carriage house was located nearby), Patriarchy (through it the supreme shepherd went to the city) or Women's (through it women got to the Kremlin, to bow to the queen).

Height

As already mentioned, this is Troitskaya 9 meters higher than Spasskaya. Due to the features of the relief, the tower has different parameters outside and inside the wall. From the side of the Kremlin, the height of the tower with a star is 69.3 m. The building has 6 above-ground floors and 2 lower levels of deep basements.

From the outside - from the Alexander Garden - the current height of the Trinity Tower of the Moscow Kremlin, together with the star crowning the hipped top, reaches 80.1 m.

Purpose and design

Initially, the Kremlin was built as the most powerful fortress in Europe. The Kremlin towers served as defensive nodes. Their loopholes expanded over time to carry out cannon fire. The Trinity Tower of the Moscow Kremlin was also subjected to these improvements. A photo of it in its current state shows the result of numerous reconstructions, the last of which was completed in the fall of 2015.

During this restoration, the lower part of the building was examined. It turned out that at the base of the tower lie huge blocks of granite, bound with limestone. Undermining and violating the stability of such a foundation is an unlikely matter. This once again confirmed the high fortification qualities of both the entire Kremlin and its individual elements. The Trinity Tower is one of the four citadels that could continue to defend even after the capture of the Kremlin walls.

In terms of architecture, Troitskaya is in many ways reminiscent of the Spasskaya Tower. On the square main volume there is a multifaceted superstructure with a white stone decor, topped with a high tent. The tower also had its own chimes, which were destroyed after the French invasion of 1812.

Barbican

Another feature of this architectural monument- the presence nearby of the only surviving wall-mounted defensive object - the Kutafya tower. Such a structure was called a gate fortification (barbican) and served to protect the entrance to the tower gates.

The highest - Trinity - tower of the Moscow Kremlin is connected to the lowest, Kutafya (13.5 m). Today it is a spectacular architectural design of the entrance area. Previously, without later decor, it was a powerful defense center that covered the heart of the Russian capital from an attack from the Neglinnaya River.

Eagles and stars

The last time they performed defensive functions was during the storming of the Kremlin by Bolshevik detachments during the October Revolution of 1917. During the shelling, one of the most affected was the Trinity Tower of the Moscow Kremlin. The history of those days tells about the loss of an important Orthodox shrine - the icon of Kazan Mother of God, which for a long time was in a case over the Trinity Gates. Now this niche is empty, and from the side of the Alexander Garden, the Trinity Tower is decorated with a clock.

Until 1935, the Kremlin towers were crowned with double-headed eagles, and Troitskaya was decorated with the oldest, which was about half a century old. The Soviet government replaced the royal coat of arms with symbols of the new time - five-pointed stars. At first they were gold, but quickly faded and were replaced by ruby ​​ones. The Troitskaya Tower of the Moscow Kremlin, the photo of which is always present on the gadgets of numerous guests of Moscow, also has a red star top, which is clearly visible from afar.

Musical stuffing

The tower, through which crowds of people want to see the Kremlin, get into its palaces and museums, has another function. Unlike the others, it is inhabited.
Presidential Orchestra Russia, which is part of the Federal Security Service, is a mandatory participant in all official ceremonies. Meetings and farewells of distinguished guests, award ceremonies are not complete without it. The residence of this musical group is the Trinity Tower of the Moscow Kremlin.

The details of the life of the main builder of the tower, Aleviz Fryazin, have been lost, its defensive functions have long been left in the past, but even today the Trinity Tower is one of the most recognizable objects of the Kremlin, the main architectural landmark of Moscow.

Trinity Tower, Trinity Bridge and Kutafya Tower

And now let's turn our attention to the Trinity Tower of the Kremlin - more precisely, to that architectural ensemble of which it is the main part.

Let's start with the tower itself. During its history, it has changed several names - Epiphany, Znamenskaya, Rizopolozhenskaya, Kuretnaya. This last name, which sounds somewhat strange to modern ears, usually raises the most questions. Let's start with him. What does "Kuretnaya" mean? And V. A. Nikolsky and M. N. Zagoskin use another version of this word, which is even more inconsistent with the tall and beautiful tower - Kuryatnaya ... The fact is that the tower from the inside adjoined the back, economic courtyard of the royal choir, and on poultry houses were located in this yard. You should not smile dismissively: chicken dishes were very revered in Rus', and fried chicken served as an indispensable attribute of the first meal of the bride and groom after the wedding (an echo of pagan traditions, when the bird was generally perceived as a symbol of procreation, and chickens were considered to bring good luck, since singing rooster, according to popular belief, drove away evil spirits). In addition, the royal poultry houses contained not only banal chickens, geese and ducks, but also exotic guinea fowls and even peacocks. The Epiphany, Rizopolozhenskaya and Znamenskaya towers were named after the temples located near it in the Kremlin.

And the tower received its final, familiar name to us today in 1658 after the courtyard of the Trinity Monastery that stood in the Kremlin. “This farmstead is memorable in that the election of Mikhail Feodorovich Romanov to the kingdom took place in it. Directly from it, the cellar Avraamy Palitsyn, with all the clergy and state dignitaries, went to the Lobnoye Mesto to announce to the people about the election of the tsar, ”M. N. Zagoskin cites such an exciting story in his book Moscow and Muscovites.

Huge - 76.35 m, massive, supplemented by a diversion archer from the Neglinnaya side, it was built last - in 1495. The Trinity Tower is connected by a bridge with watchtower and Kutafya. In the old days, the Trinity Tower was covered with a hipped wooden roof.

Through the gates built in the Trinity Tower, those heading to the court of the patriarch traditionally entered. When the tsars returned from campaigns, the solemn processions of the clergy went out through the Trinity Gate to round the Kremlin and meet the sovereigns at the Spassky Gate. He lay through the Trinity Gate and the path to the mansions, in which the queens and princesses were placed. There was one more, gloomy purpose at these gates: funeral processions left the Kremlin through them.

In those days, there was a clock on the tower - in any case, they are mentioned in the documents of 1585. And in 1685, the Trinity Tower was built on - that beautiful multi-tiered top with white stone decor appeared above it, which we see today. A brick tent rose high above the tower. And a year later, in the belfry arranged under its canopy, the clock bells began to sound: the Trinity Tower again acquired a clock, but not the same, but new. True, today we cannot see them: the clock burned down during the fire of 1812 and was not restored.

A high superstructure was also made on the outlet archer, but, unfortunately, in the 18th century. she was disassembled.

Inside the Trinity Tower is divided into 6 floors. And in 1851, its deep two-story cellars were explored. In the pre-Petrine era, it was impossible to describe them, but some people had a chance to examine them. True, such an acquaintance was hardly pleasant: originally intended for military purposes, in the 16th-17th centuries. they were used as dungeons.

A stone bridge, equipped with merlons, which connects the high Trinity Tower with its squat sister Kutafya, was built in 1516 on the site of another - according to some versions, the first stone bridge built in Moscow. In those days, it was part of a complex hydrotechnical complex: a system of dams was equipped on its northern side, with the help of which the water level in Neglinnaya was regulated. As already mentioned, these dams also served to supply water to the moat from Red Square. Now we can see this bridge almost the same as it was immediately after construction - except for the dams, of course.

And in order to enter the Trinity Bridge and get into the travel gate of the Trinity Tower, the traveler had to first pass through another gate + into different time they were sometimes called Borisoglebsk, then Vladimir, and then, for obvious reasons, Patriarchs. What is this gate? They were located in the bridgehead guard tower Kutafye.

The origin of its name is still controversial among historians and philologists. In some dialects, this word was called kvashnya (a squat and wide tub for making dough); It also had a figurative meaning - “kutafya” meant a squat fat woman (or just an overly wrapped woman). As you can see, both of these options hint at some awkwardness of a low tower. Another version of the origin of the name from the word "kut" - "corner" - seems much less likely. After all, the Kutafya tower does not stand at all in some corner, on the contrary, it is carried far forward beyond the line of walls. It is a embodied reminder of those times when all the Kremlin towers had bastions. Indeed, Kutafya was erected at the beginning of the 16th century. for the defense of the Trinity Bridge. At that time, it was surrounded by its own moat, through which it was possible to get into the tower via drawbridges located on both sides, at two side gates that led inside Kutafya. Traces of embedded grooves, through which the levers of the lifting mechanism were passed, are still clearly visible on one of the side facades.

During the repair in 1686, the tower acquired a more convenient through passage to the Trinity Bridge through the front facade, and the side gates were laid - the tower no longer had a defensive value, in the name of which it was necessary to make it difficult to travel in a straight line. In 1901, the side passages in the tower were opened again, but in 1930 they were laid again. Today, Kutafya is open from all sides; as a gazebo - the side gates in it were restored in 1976.

Initially, the Kutafya tower had 2 combat tiers (the overlap between them was dismantled in 1760), on the upper platform there were machicols, which made it possible to shoot through the space at the very foot of the tower.

In 1685, an openwork decorative top was built over Kutafya, resembling a red crown with white stone decorations, and the former “fat little man” became much taller and more elegant. At present, its height is 13.5 m. This is not much, of course, compared to the rest of the Kremlin towers, and against the background of its older sister, the Trinity Tower, Kutafya, and today it looks small, but you forget about it, standing in space, surrounded by its walls - such ancient power emanates from them.

Sukharev Tower Sukharev Tower is a Gothic three-tiered building in Moscow (30 sazhens high). It was built by Peter the Great in 1692 in honor of the Sukharevsky Streltsy Regiment, the only one that remained loyal during the rebellion of 1689. In 1700, a school of mathematical and