Spasskaya Tower

The Spasskaya Tower (Russian: Спасская башня, romanized: Spasskaya bashnya), also translated as the Saviour Tower, is the main tower on the eastern wall of the Moscow Kremlin which overlooks Red Square.

The construction of the Spasskaya Tower was commissioned by Grand Prince Ivan III the Great. It was built in 1491 by the Italian architect Pietro Antonio Solari. Initially, it was named the Frolovskaya Tower after the Church of Frol and Lavr in the Kremlin, which is no longer there. The tower's modern name comes from the icon of Spas Nerukotvorny (Russian: Спас Нерукотворный), translated as the "Saviour Not Made by Hands", which was placed above the gates on the inside wall in 1658. It was later removed in 1917. The tower is also named for the wall-painted icon of Spas Smolensky (Russian: Спас Смоленский), translated as the "Smolensk Saviour", which was created in the 16th century on the outside wall of the tower, plastered over in 1937, but reopened and restored in 2010.

In 1508, a wooden drawbridge connected the tower to a guardhouse after the Aleviz Ditch and a moat was built, later replaced with an arched stone bridge. The Spasskaya Tower was the first tower of the many Moscow Kremlin towers to be crowned with the hipped roof in 1624–1625 by architects Bazhen Ogurtsov and Christopher Galloway. According to a number of historical accounts, the clock on the Spasskaya Tower appeared between 1491 and 1585. It is usually referred to as the Kremlin chimes (Кремлёвские куранты) and officially designates Moscow Time. The clock face has a diameter of 6 metres (20 ft). The gate of Spasskaya Tower was used to greet foreign dignitaries, and was also used during formal ceremonies or processions held on Red Square.

As part of Peter the Great's efforts on improving fortifications, a redan was built in front of the bastion. The inside bank of the moat was faced with stone. The guardhouse remained in place until it was removed in the 20th century.

After the establishment of the Soviet Union, in 1936, Joseph Stalin replaced the two-headed eagle on top of the Spasskaya Tower with a red star because he wanted to remove all evidence of the former tsarist period. The height of the tower with the star is 71 meters. The tradition of dismounting the horse and removing the cap ended during the Soviet period.

Text adapted from “Spasskaya Tower” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Spasskaya Tower ranks #297 of 7,044 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #11 of the 128 mapped in Russia. Founded 1491, it is older than 45% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 410 atlas entries founded in the 15th century. See how Russia compares in the castle statistics.

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Read the full history on Wikipedia ↗