All Russian cities in which the Kremlins are located. Moscow Kremlin, past and present

Which Russian cities have a Kremlin? In the form in which we are most accustomed to seeing them. Their Short story and photo

Pskov Krom (Kremlin) - historical and architectural center of Pskov. Located on a narrow and high cape at the confluence of the river. Pskov in the river Great. It occupies an area of ​​3 hectares. The initial settlement in the cape part of the settlement dates back to the middle of the first millennium.

Smolensk fortress wall (often called the Smolensk Kremlin) - a defensive structure built in 1595-1602 during the reign of Tsars Fyodor Ioannovich and Boris Godunov. Architectural monument. Architect - Fyodor Kon. The length of the walls is 6.5 km (less than half of the walls and towers have survived). It had enormous defensive significance in the Russian state.

Kolomensky
Astrakhan
Tobolsk
Tula
Rostovsky
Alexandrovsky
Vladimirsky
Vologda

Without walls: Volokolamsky, Dmitrovsky, Ryazansky, Yaroslavsky
In the ruins: Gdovsky, Izborsky, Porkhovsky, Serpukhovsky, Velikoluksky
Only marks from the walls: Belozersky, Borovsky, Opochkinsky, Starodubsky, Tverskoy, Khlynovsky
Unknown condition: Ostrovsky, Torzhoksky

Varganova Inna Sergeevna

One of the oldest fortresses in Rus', which still retains the name “Detinets”, is located on the left bank of the Volkhov River. The first chronicle mention of the Novgorod Detinets dates back to 1044. A radical restructuring of Detinets took place in 1478 under Ivan III, when Novgorod entered the Moscow state. Novgorod Detinets as part of the historical center of Veliky Novgorod is included in the list world heritage UNESCO.

One of the main symbols of Russia stands on the high left bank of the Moscow River - Borovitsky Hill, at the confluence of the Neglinnaya River. On an irregular triangle with an area of ​​27.7 hectares, there are four palaces and four cathedrals, surrounded by a wall with towers. The first stone Kremlin, white-walled, was built in the 14th century under Dmitry Donskoy. And under Ivan III in the 15th century, the fortifications were rebuilt by Italian architects and lined with red brick.

Under Ivan III Nizhny Novgorod played the role of a guard city, so the fortifications were of particular importance. The construction of the huge stone Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin began in 1500 with the construction of the Ivanovo Tower in the coastal part of the city, but the main work began in 1508 and by 1515 the grandiose construction was completed. The main work on the construction of the Kremlin was carried out under the leadership of the Italian architect Pietro Francesco (Peter Fryazin) sent from Moscow.

The white stone Kremlin, which in Pskov has always been called “Krom”. It includes the city of Dovmont, associated with the name of the holy prince Dovmont-Timothy. During the period of the Pskov Republic (14th - early 16th centuries), the Kremlin with its cathedral, veche square and Krom cells was the spiritual, legal and administrative center of the Pskov land.

“All the houses of this city are wooden, but there is a large and strong fortress with stone walls; it contains very significant number warriors who hold posts at night - just like in Spain, Italy and Flanders.” This is how Oruj-bek, secretary of the Persian embassy to Boris Godunov, described the Kazan Kremlin. During the capture of Kazan by Ivan the Terrible in 1552, the oak walls of the Khan's fortress were severely damaged. To build a new white-stone Kremlin, the Tsar called on the Pskov architects Postnik Yakovlev and Ivan Shirai (builders of St. Basil's Cathedral in Moscow). The fortress was significantly expanded, 6 towers (out of 13) were built of stone (five were travel towers), but only at the beginning of the 17th century the wooden defensive structures of the Kazan Kremlin were finally replaced with stone ones.

One of the largest and most powerful fortresses of its time, built under Vasily III in 1525-1531. The destruction of Kolomna by the Crimean Khan Mehmed I Giray in 1521 accelerated the replacement of wooden city fortifications with stone ones. But the Kremlin, impregnable to enemies in the 18th and early 19th centuries, was slowly dismantled into construction material local residents. Only the decree of Nicholas I in 1826 put an end to this.

In 1514, inside the oak fortress, following the example of the Moscow Kremlin, Vasily III ordered the foundation of a “stone city”, built by 1520 (1521). Perhaps it was built by Italian architects after the completion of the Moscow Kremlin at the end of the 15th century. In 1608, Tsar Vasily Shuisky besieged the rebels Ivan Bolotnikov and Ileika Muromets (“Tsarevich Peter”) in the Tula Kremlin. The Kremlin withstood a very long siege, but the Tsar ordered a dam to be built and water from the river flooded the Kremlin, forcing the besieged to surrender.

The Moscow Kremlin is located in the very center of Moscow, on the high bank of the Moscow River. Its powerful walls and towers, golden-domed temples, ancient towers and palaces rise above the Moscow River and form a beautiful architectural ensemble.

“Above Moscow there is the Kremlin, and above the Kremlin there is only sky,” says the old proverb. The Kremlin is the most ancient part of Moscow, currently the residence of the highest government bodies of Russia and one of the main historical and artistic complexes of the country.

In plan, the Kremlin is an irregular triangle. Its southern wall faces the Moscow River, to the north is Red Square, and to the north-west is the Alexander Garden. In the 14th century, cathedrals and monasteries were already built here; the Kremlin was the center of Russian Orthodox Church. In the 15th and 16th centuries Three gigantic cathedrals were built. There's a lot to see here! In the Annunciation Cathedral there are beautiful icons and an iconostasis; the bell tower of Ivan the Great with two golden domes is visible from a distance of 30 km, it rises next to the Assumption Cathedral, not far from the cathedral stands the largest bell of the Kremlin - the Tsar Bell; The Armory houses a wide variety of treasures, including royal crowns. In addition, here is the Amusement Palace, the Senate, in the premises of which the President’s office is located.

The most famous building on Red Square is St. Basil's Cathedral, its fabulous multi-colored domes are topped with golden crosses, and a gilded dome rises above the main tower. Near the Kremlin wall there is the Mausoleum of V.I. Lenin, and people still line up to walk past his embalmed body. The space of Red Square, colorful churches and palaces, and the Kremlin walls will be remembered for a long time.

Initially, the Kremlin served as a fortification for the village that arose on Borovitsky Hill, a cape at the confluence of the Neglinnaya River with the Moscow River. Here was the oldest Moscow church - the Cathedral of the Transfiguration, or the Savior on Bor, built in 1330 for the millennium of Constantinople - “New Rome”. The temple was destroyed in 1933. Moscow princes and princesses were buried in it until the cathedral received the status of a court temple.

In 1812, Napoleon blew up the Vodovzvodnaya, Petrovskaya and First Nameless Towers, the Arsenal Tower was seriously damaged, and the extensions to the Ivan the Great Bell Tower were also destroyed. It took 20 years to restore. In the 30s of the 20th century, the double-headed eagles that crowned the main towers of the Kremlin: Spasskaya, Nikolskaya, Troitskaya, Borovitskaya and Vodovzvodnaya were replaced by ruby stars with a diameter of 3-4 m. In 1941-1942, 167 German air bombs fell on the Kremlin, but it was almost not damaged. Since 1955, the Kremlin has been open to the public, becoming an open-air museum.

The entrance to the Kremlin is through the Kutafya Tower, which was built in 1516. The name is also associated with her short and initially nondescript appearance: “kutafya” in Dahl’s dictionary is a clumsy, ugly dressed woman.

Behind the bridge is the mighty Trinity Tower. Having passed through it, we find ourselves on a bridgehead open to all the winds, surrounded by the spacious buildings of the Arsenal, the Senate and the Palace of Congresses.

Previously, there was a highly complex medieval city with cramped, uneven streets, each quarter of which contained multiple temples and chambers, courtyards and passages. The only fragment of that incredible city is in the drive through right hand from the gate is the Amusement Palace of the mid-17th century, restored by restorers only at the beginning of the current century. On its roof stands a golden-domed house church; it was once surrounded by open walkways and hanging apple orchards, laid out on high stone terraces - the entire female half of the Sovereign's courtyard, which occupied the site of the current Palace of Congresses, was arranged in approximately the same outlandish way.

The Patriarchal Palace, which also has its own house church and probably also had a roof garden. Through its arch you can get to Cathedral Square. From here the square reveals itself in an ancient, bright and unexpected way: straight ahead - the bell tower of Ivan the Great, on the right - the Assumption Cathedral, one of the great Russian shrines, main temple Rus' from the 14th century until 1918, the tomb of ancient metropolitans and patriarchs. The current building was built in the 1470s by the Italian master Aristotle. The temple is small in size (in architecture textbooks there is a popular picture where the silhouette of the cathedral fits into the gigantic outlines of the Roman St. Peter, like a little doll), but at the same time incredibly strong and large-scale - both inside and outside: the Italians knew a lot about such illusions.

Also built by the Italians on the other side of the square, the Archangel Cathedral of 1505 produces a completely different impression - close to the Assumption Cathedral in size, on the outside it is much more playful and complex, but on the inside it is cramped and mysterious. Most of its floor is occupied by the tombstones of princes and kings who reigned from the 13th to the 18th centuries. All the tombstones are of the same type, only the carved canopy over the grave of Tsarevich Dimitri - one of the most tragic losses in Russian history - stands out.

On Cathedral Square, the nine-domed palace Annunciation Cathedral, the Church of the Deposition of the Robe with a small exhibition of ancient Russian wooden sculpture, and exhibition halls in the Assumption Belfry and the Patriarchal Palace are also open to the public. The archaeological exhibition in the basement of the Annunciation Cathedral and the lower tier of the Ivan the Great Bell Tower receive visitors for certain sessions.

The Armory Chamber and the Diamond Fund are located in another part of the Kremlin, at the Borovitsky Gate, and to view them you must buy separate tickets in advance. Unfortunately, the Kremlin Palace is closed to public access, although theoretically excursions are held there, but with a very separate appointment and for a separate fee. The working population can be content with only an external view of the Faceted Chamber - the throne room of sovereigns from the end of the 15th century, as well as a fragment of the royal residential choir visible to the right, crowned with multi-domed house churches and a heavy bulk Grand Palace, built in the middle of the 19th century.

The Tsar Cannon and the Tsar Bell are also located on the territory. Many people, when mentioning the square, recall the saying “shout to the entire Ivanovskaya”, believing that it was here that the Tsar’s decrees were announced. However, there is another way to decipher this saying. The Ivan the Great Bell Tower was the main Russian bell tower; it had forty bells, each with own name. All bells were rung only on very special occasions. So the expression “to the fullest extent of Ivanovskaya” means that some task must be accomplished with all strength and completeness.

The famous monuments of foundry art - the Tsar Bell and the Tsar Cannon - are so huge that they have never been used for their intended purpose. But touching them with your hand is a good omen.

The ceremony of the horse and foot parade of the Presidential Regiment takes place on Saturdays at 12.00 on the Kremlin’s Cathedral Square and on the last Saturday of every month at 14.00 on Red Square.

And the most important thing: do not miss the first shrine of modern times, the mystical oak “Cosmos”, planted by Yuri Gagarin the day after the flight. Muscovites have long believed in him magical properties, remember, too: if someone goes around a tree three times, saying “Gagarin, Gagarin, fly with greetings, come back with an answer,” his children will certainly be born great cosmonauts.

By the way, the Moscow Kremlin, the main one of all Kremlins, is the only one written with a capital letter. This is the largest active fortress in Europe. Its semi-regime status is explained by the fact that the entire complex is also a monument included in the World Heritage List. cultural heritage UNESCO, and official residence President of the Russian Federation.

Upon entering the Kremlin territory, visitors' personal belongings are searched. All unauthorized items will have to be handed over to the storage room located in the lower tier of the Kutafya Tower. Photography and videography, including amateur photography, is prohibited in cathedral museums. The Armory Chamber and the Diamond Fund.

History of construction

Since the time of Dmitry Donskoy, Moscow has been decorated with a white stone Kremlin (built 1368). Over the past century, its walls had become so worn out that foreigners, due to the abundance of gaping bald spots filled with logs, sometimes mistook them for wood. And this Kremlin was built in those years when they had not yet heard of Italian masters in Rus'. Having the master Aristotle Fioravanti at court, Ivan III could well have thought about how to remake the fortress so that no one would not only be able to take it, but would not even dare to approach it. However, the name of Aristotle Fioravanti never appeared anywhere among the builders of the Moscow Kremlin. However, many historians are inclined to consider the true creator master plan It was Aristotle, who outlined the general line of the Kremlin walls, outlined the positions of the towers, laid out secret dungeons and labyrinths, and his compatriots worked on individual sections. Work on the Moscow Kremlin was carried out in a way that no other fortress had ever been built in Rus'. In an area with a radius of 100 fathoms, not a single building was left around. Even churches that had stood there for several centuries were demolished. The area beyond the Moscow River opposite the future Kremlin walls was also cleared of buildings. A similar approach to construction was required by the fortification rules of those times, which came from Europe.

Moscow, Novgorod, Kazan, Suzdal, Nizhny Novgorod, Pskov, Smolensk, Kolomna, Astrakhan, Tobolsk, Tula, Rostov, Alexandrovsk, Vlashy; Dimir, Vologda. There are also Volokolamsk, Dmitrov, Ryazan, Yaroslavl without walls.

Ancient fortifications, designed to protect and gather the surrounding inhabitants under their protection, called the Kremlin, were the beginning of the transformation in Rus' settlements to the cities. The origin of the word Kremlin is interpreted in different ways, but the fact that it is associated with scaffolding and (or) shelter (chrome) is most correct, in my opinion.

Since in Ancient Rus' it was pretty a large number of cities, then there were also enough Kremlins in Rus'. So we can only try to find those that have survived.

I will name among the first the Moscow, Kazan, Pskov and Novgorod (Veliky Novgorod) Kremlins. Completely or partially preserved fortifications are Tula, Tobolsk, Ryazan, Astrakhan, Zaraisky, Kolomensky, Vologda, Nizhny Novgorod, Rostov, Gdov, Izborsk, Porkhov, Rostov, Smolensk, Staroladoga. I can’t help but mention the Kiev Kremlin, although all that remains of it is the restored Golden Gate

The photo shows:

1) Pskov Kremlin

2) Novgorod Kremlin



3) Kazan Kremlin



4) Izborsk fortress



Kremlin is a fortress in old Russian cities. Therefore, almost all old Russian cities once had their own kremlins. For example (so far in the Moscow region): Volokolamsk, Kolomensky, Zaraisky, Mozhaisky, Dmitrovsky, Zvenigorod, Ruzsky, Vereisky Kremlins.

We especially note the Izmailovo Kremlin. This is a remake. The Kremlin has never been a defensive fortress. This is a cultural, entertainment and shopping complex, vernissage.

A feature of Russian Kremlins was the presence on the territory of the Kremlin Orthodox church, master's and administrative buildings.

In pre-Mongol Rus' there were about 400 cities and towns. Each of them had a detinets (fortress). The term Kremlin (krom) appeared in the 14th century.

Of the surviving (at least partially) Kremlins in Russia we can highlight: Alexandrov, Astrakhan, Vladimir, Vologda, Vyazma, Gdov, Zaraysk, Izborsk, Kazan, Kolomna, Mozhaisk, Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod (Nizhegorodsky), Novgorod, Porkhov, Pskov, Rostov, Ryazan, Serpukhov, Smolensk, Staraya Ladoga, Tobolsk, Tula.

Cities in which ramparts have been preserved or archaeological excavations have confirmed the presence of kremlins in ancient times (about the Moscow region, see at the beginning of the answer): Aleksin, Belgorod, Belozrsk, Borovsk, Bryansk (Pokrovskaya Mountain), Velikiye Luki, Irkutsk, Kaluga, Kleshchin (a settlement nearby with Pereyaslavl Zalessky), Kostroma, Murom, Mtsensk, Opochka (fortification, Pskov region), Orel, Pustozrsk (fortification on the Pechora River), Radonezh (fortification), Rzhev, Rurik fortification in Veliky Novgorod, Sviyazhsk, Slobodskoy (Kirov region ), Staritsa, ancient settlement Old Ryazan, Starodub, Suzdal, Torzhok, Toropets (the Kremlin was called Red Val), Uglich, Ufa, Kirov (in ancient times Khlynov, Vyatka), Tsivilsk (Chuvashia), Cheboksary, Yuryev-Polsky, Yaroslavl.

Komsomolskaya Pravda has prepared for readers a list of ten Russian Kremlins that are definitely worth visiting

Photo: Roman IGNATIEV

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Many foreigners - what are they, foreigners, even a considerable part of our compatriots! – we firmly believe that there is only one Kremlin in Russia – the one located in the center of Moscow. But in fact, in Rus', all fortifications that protected citizens from attacks by enemy troops were called kremlins - and only those settlements that had such a fortress had the right to be considered cities. Komsomolskaya Pravda has prepared for you a list of Russian Kremlins that are definitely worth visiting!

Pskov Kremlin (Krom)

Year of construction: late XI – beginning of XII centuries Area: 3 hectares Number of towers: reached 39, currently - 7 Wall thickness: 2.5 – 6 m Wall height: 6 – 8 m Tower height: up to 35 m Wall length: 9 km

The Pskov Kremlin, or Krom, is the historical and architectural center of Pskov, located on a narrow and high cape at the confluence of the Pskova River and the Velikaya River. It was the largest fortress in Europe. Now the Kremlin territory unites two different parts of the city: Detinets with the Trinity Cathedral, bell tower, veche square and Dovmontov city.

In the 13th century, Pskov (then called Pleskov) was still the outskirts of Russian lands. Rich and free, he stood on the most important trade routes - at that time these were primarily rivers, not roads. Therefore, for many centuries in a row, the threat of enemy attack constantly hung over the city - from the Livonian Order, Great Lithuania, even Novgorod - and this forced the Pskovites to improve their defensive structures again and again. The reconstruction and strengthening of the Pskov walls continued until late XVII century, which made Pskov one of the most powerful medieval fortresses in Europe. During its history, the Pskov Kremlin has withstood 26 sieges, but the fortress, which was in active military use for almost 1000 years, has still reached us - and in almost its original form.

Zaraisky Kremlin

Year of construction: 1528 – 1531 Area: 25,460 sq. m Number of towers: 7 Length of walls: 648 m

The Zaraysk Kremlin is located in the city of the same name on the banks of the Osetr River, the right tributary of the Oka. Over its almost 500-year history, the Kremlin played a significant role in the fate of the Moscow state, remaining one of the few cities loyal to the sovereign during the Time of Troubles. The first chronicle mention of the city on Osetra dates back to 1146. But the origin of the very name of the city - Zaraysk - still remains a mystery to scientists. For example, in “The Tale of the Ruin of Ryazan by Batu” the name is associated with the bringing of the icon of the Wonderworker Nicholas of Korsun to Ryazan land and the death of Eupraxia, the wife of Prince Fyodor, who chose death over Tatar captivity. Not wanting to become the khan’s concubine, she threw herself and her son from a high tower and “got infected” - that is, she crashed immediately, immediately, to death. Since then, the city began to be called Nikola-Zarazsk i-on Osetra, Zarazsky city, Zaraska, Zarazsk. Actually, the city of Zaraiskoye became a city only in the 18th century. By the way, the first attack on the new fortress occurred two years after its construction - in 1533. The Crimean Tatars tried to capture the city. But, despite the considerable number of attackers - 40 thousand people - the Kremlin survived.

Kolomna Kremlin

Year of construction: 1525 – 1531 Area: 24 hectares Number of towers: 17, currently – 7 Wall thickness: 3 – 4.5 m Wall height: 18 – 21 m Tower height: 30 – 35 m Wall length: 1940 m

Kolomna Kremlin is one of the most powerful fortresses of the Moscow state, built during the reign of Vasily III. It is located in the city of Kolomna at the confluence of the Moscow and Kolomenka rivers. Unfortunately, time has not been kind to the Kremlin - only a few towers and a couple of fragments of the fortress walls remained from the fortress, and the remaining parts were destroyed and dismantled for the construction of houses in the city back in the 18th–19th centuries. But, even despite this, the Kremlin still amazes us with its grandeur and power.

One of the surviving towers of the Kolomna Kremlin is often called Marinkina. It is generally accepted that it received this name because it was there that Marina Mniszech was imprisoned in 1614. But what happened to her next - opinions differ. According to official data, she died here. But there is also a much more mystical version - as if the mistress of the False Dmitrievs turned into a magpie in the tower and flew away through the loophole window.

Tula Kremlin

Year of construction: 1514 – 1520 Area: 6 hectares Number of towers: 9 Wall thickness: 2.8 – 3.2 m Wall height: 12.7 m Wall length: 1066 m

The construction of the Tula Kremlin - the main link of the southern defensive line of Muscovite Rus' - took place in an alarming strategic situation. The Crimean Horde, which until that time had been an ally of Moscow, suddenly took a sharply hostile position, which forced them to rush into the construction of defensive structures in Tula. The Kremlin was built in three stages. At first they began to build it from stone, but due to the activity Crimean Tatars city ​​craftsmen soon began to use wood instead of stone - this gave them the opportunity to carry out construction in a more efficient manner. short term. Later, stone construction was continued again.

Unlike most Russian Kremlins, the Tula Kremlin is located in a lowland - which, however, is protected on all sides by natural barriers: rivers and swamps. In plan, the Kremlin has the shape of a regular rectangle with a wall perimeter of 1 km and an area of ​​about 6 hectares. And although some kremlins of the late 15th century already had geometrically correct plans, it was only in the Tula Kremlin that the principles of symmetry and geometric accuracy found their ideal embodiment.

Astrakhan Kremlin

Year of construction: 1582 – 1620 Area: 11 hectares Number of towers: 8, currently 7 Wall thickness: 5 – 12 m Wall height: 3 – 8 m Tower height: 12.5 – 84.8 m Wall length: 1487 m

The stone Astrakhan Kremlin took about 40 years to build. Bricks from the ruins of the former Golden Horde capital of Saraya-Batu were used for the construction of the Kremlin. However, various buildings were erected on the territory of the Kremlin until the end of the 20th century. The symbol of the Kremlin, and the whole of Astrakhan, has become a bell tower more than 80 meters high, which can be seen from almost anywhere in the city. And this bell tower was built three times. The first, built at the beginning of the 18th century, became covered with cracks after 45 years and had to be dismantled. The second was built already in the 19th century, but the bell tower, after standing for about a hundred years, tilted and it was also dismantled. The third version of the bell tower was built in 1910 - and, I must say, it also stands, slightly deviated from its axis.

Tobolsk Kremlin

Year of construction: 1683 – 1799 Number of towers: 9, currently - 7 Wall height: 4.3 m Tower height: from 11 m Wall length: 620 m

The city of Tobolsk arose on a high coastal plateau, arcing around the floodplain lowland in the bend of the Irtysh at the confluence with the mighty Tobola River. The Tatars called this plateau Alafeyskaya Mountain, which translated means “indigenous Khan’s land.” Since ancient times, relatives, children, and wives of the rulers of Siberia have settled on this mountain. A small Russian fort appeared here only in 1587. And, having arisen in a very favorable place, Tobolsk began to grow quickly. The peculiar topography of the area led to the emergence of two parts of the city - upper and lower. In the upper city, on Cape Trinity, a fortified fortress and the Sophia Court appeared, later united into a single Kremlin - the first in Siberia. From the end of the 17th to late XIX centuries, the Kremlin was built and rebuilt in stone, constantly changing and updating.

Kazan Kremlin

Year of construction: X – XVI centuries. Area: 15 hectares Number of towers: 13, currently - 8 Wall height: 8 – 12 m Tower height: up to 58 m Wall length: 1.8 km

A hill surrounded by water on three sides is an ideal place for a fortress. The first fortifications of the Bulgar tribes appeared here, on the high bank of the Kazanka River, at the turn of the 10th–11th centuries. However, archaeological finds indicate that these places were inhabited much earlier. The stone Kremlin was erected in the 12th century to defend the northern borders of Volga Bulgaria, and after the collapse of the Golden Horde in 1438, Genghisid Ulug-Muhammad founded an independent Khanate of Kazan. Work began to strengthen the capital, and the stone walls of the Kremlin were strengthened so much that, as Russian chroniclers noted, they became “impregnable by military forces.” After the conquest of Kazan, Ivan the Terrible sent Pskov architects to the city, who began building the Kremlin. Initially, its walls consisted of double thick oak frames filled with stone and sand. Such walls reliably protected the city from enemy cannonballs, and it was convenient to repel the attacks of attackers from them. From here the defenders poured stones, sand, stone cannonballs; during the battle, tubs and vats with boiling water, hot oil, pitch, resin, oil were delivered here - all this was poured onto the heads of the enemy. Pskov architects built a wall 300 fathoms long from Volga limestone and built Kremlin towers with round loopholes and battlements.

Novgorod Kremlin

Year of construction: XIV century. Area: 12.1 hectares Number of towers: 12, currently 9 Wall thickness: 3.6 – 6.5 m Wall height: 8 – 15 m Tower height: up to 41 m Wall length: 1487 m

The Novgorod Kremlin, or, as it is otherwise called, Detinets, has always been the administrative, social and religious center of Novgorod. It was here that the veche, the election of the mayor, was held, from here the squads of Alexander Nevsky once set out to battle the Swedes... Chronicles were written in the Kremlin, books were collected and copied.

The walls of the Novgorod Kremlin are made of flagstone and cobblestones, cemented with lime mortar and lined with red brick, which makes it similar to those in Moscow. Inside the walls there were rooms for storing ammunition and hiding places, and under them were discovered unique systems ceramic pipes, probably used for negotiations between the defenders of the fortress towers. The fortress is surrounded by an artificial ditch, filled with water from the Volkhov River, which could be crossed on collapsible wooden bridges. However, despite the fortification significance, during the construction of the Novgorod Kremlin they were guided mainly by the achievements of architecture of a cult and civil nature. This is indicated by the shape of the towers, the decorative completions of the battlements of the walls, brought from Italy - elements that do not affect the defensive functions of the fortress.

Smolensk Kremlin

Year of construction: 1595 – 1602 Number of towers: 38, currently – 17 Wall thickness: up to 6 m Wall height: 13 – 19 m Wall length: 6.5 km

The Smolensk Fortress (yes, this building is more often called a fortress than a Kremlin) was built during the reign of Fyodor Ioannovich and Boris Godunov. Since the city of Smolensk occupied an extremely important strategic place for the young Moscow state and for a long time served as the object of claims of either Lithuania or Poland; both kings attached special importance to its strengthening.

During construction, the architects attached not only defensive, but also artistic and aesthetic significance to the Smolensk fortress. The walls were originally whitewashed. They are distinguished by the careful finishing of architectural details, some of which were colored painted. The rectangular towers had decorative blades at the corners, the loopholes of the walls and towers were framed with platbands like windows, and the main passage gates were decorated with pilasters with profiled belts made of white stone.

Currently, the walls of the Smolensk Kremlin have been preserved only partially, but the shape of the bastion has remained almost the same as when it was built. But, despite this, the Smolensk fortress still makes an indelible impression with its grandeur and inaccessibility. And, according to legend, if it comes anxious time, then a horse's neighing will be heard from the thickness of the wall, which will warn the city's defenders of the danger - the fact is that, according to legend, the skull of the war horse of the city's patron, Mercury of Smolensk, was walled up somewhere in the thickness of the wall.

Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin

Year of construction: 1508 – 1515 Area: 22.7 hectares Number of towers: 13 (previously there was a 14th Strelnitsa) Wall thickness: 4.5 – 5 m Wall height: 9 – 10.5 m Tower height: 18 – 30 m Wall length: 2080 m

From the chronicles it is known that Nizhny Novgorod was founded in 1221 by the Grand Duke of Vladimir Yuri Vsevolodovich. The city's defensive fortifications - deep ditches and high ramparts - were originally built from wood and earth. The Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin became stone only a century and a half after the Moscow one - in 1515, when the need arose to strengthen the city’s defense against the Kazan Khanate. The new Kremlin was surrounded by a two-kilometer wall with thirteen towers and a fourteenth diverter, connected by a passage to the Dmitrov Tower. In the 16th century, the fortress was repeatedly besieged by the enemy, but the enemy was never able to capture it. With the fall of Kazan, the Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin lost its military significance and began to play the role of an administrative center.

The Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin has no analogues in terms of the difference in height between its two halves and is one of the most advanced engineering and fortification structures of its time. It was built from large red bricks and white stone - calcareous tuff. Brick was produced locally, white stone was mined downstream of the Volga.

By the way, according to legend, somewhere deep in the casemates of the Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin is hidden the famous library of Ivan the Terrible, which was brought by his grandmother - Sophia Paleolog - from Byzantium. But even if this collection of books is really stored somewhere under the fortress, it still cannot be found due to the difficult terrain and the proximity of groundwater.