Petrovskaya Tower

The original tower

Construction

By the end of the 15th century, the white stone defenses of the Kremlin were dilapidated, and by order of Ivan III they began to be rebuilt into brick. In the 1480s, construction was underway on the southern side of the fortress - the most important for defense. Researchers suggest that the Petrovskaya (it was then called the Third Nameless) tower could be built in 1485-1487, however, accurate data were not preserved ^{[1] [4]} . According to archaeological data, the southern wall of the late XV century was built on the defensive fortifications of the white stone Kremlin, respectively, the Peter Tower was laid on an earlier foundation. The fortress wall along the Moskva River was vulnerable to attack, because the distance between the Beklemishevskaya and the Third Nameless Towers was made shorter than between the others ^[5] .

Shortly after the completion of stone construction, a wooden tent was built on the tower so that its upper volume became wider and hung over the lower ^{[ what? ]} . The tower was also equipped with mashikulyami , battlements and fortress artillery ^[6] . On the inside there was a passage to the Kremlin walls ^[7] .

Upgrade

During the Polish intervention in 1612, the tower was destroyed by cannon shots. Shortly after the end of the Time of Troubles, fortifications were restored ^[8] . In the second half of the 17th century, the tower housed the church of Metropolitan Peter of the Kremlin Metochion of the Ugreshsky Monastery . The church gave the Third Nameless Tower its current name ^{[9] [10] [11]} . About the temple and the state of the tower is evidenced by the "List of decay" in 1667:

By the 1680s, the fortifications of the Kremlin ceased to carry out defensive functions, many towers were rebuilt and decorated with decorative stone tents. In 1676–1686 two new fours and a low octagonal tent, crowned with a gilded weather vane, were built on the main volume of the Petrovsky Tower ^[6] . The shape of the tiled tent distinguishes the structure from other fortress towers ^[13] . The new fours got a special decoration: half-columns were introduced into the window frames and at the corners of the volumes ^[1] . At the bottom of the superstructure is a semicircular door with a pediment , above which there is a place for an image . The facade of the upper tetrahedral tier is divided by half columns into three parts, in each of which there is a window ^[14] . Mashikuli, having lost their combat significance, were laid inside ^[15] .

Usage

At the beginning of the XVIII century, Peter I ordered to inspect and measure the Kremlin fortifications. The inventory of 1701 indicates the presence of a cellar with a stone staircase and two stone "tents" in the Peter's Tower. Researchers suggest that the cellar was used to store gunpowder , and the “tents” were security rooms ^[16] . There is evidence that the tower was used for household needs by Kremlin gardeners ^[17] .

At the height of the Northern War in 1707, the Kremlin walls temporarily acquired defensive functions. Along with other structures, the Peter Tower was converted in case of an attack by the Swedish troops. Under the southern wall of the fortress, from the side of the Moskva River, bastions and earthen ramparts were built , and the loopholes of the tower were expanded under more powerful guns ^[18] . After the war, the earthen mounds were not torn down, and remained abandoned until the 19th century ^{[19] [20]} .

Modern Tower

In the early 1770s, the construction of the Grand Kremlin Palace was planned, and it was decided to remove part of the historical buildings. The architect Vasily Bazhenov made dimensional drawings intended for the demolition of towers and cleared. In 1770-1771, the Peter Tower was dismantled with a part of the southern wall, the courtyard of the Ugreshsky monastery was destroyed ^{[21] [8]} . However, in 1773 the construction of the palace was stopped, the project was never implemented, one of the reasons was the instability of soils near the Moscow River ^[22] . Ten years later, the Peter Tower was rebuilt according to the measured drawings of Bazhenov ^[1] . The monastery courtyard with the church of Metropolitan Peter was not restored, and the tower was again sometimes called the Third Nameless ^[23] .

At the beginning of the reign of Emperor Alexander I , the Kremlin carried out repairs, restored towers and walls. In 1805-1807, the brickwork and facade cladding were renewed on the Petrovsky Tower, and the tent was laid out with new glazed tiles ^{[24] [25]} .

During the Patriotic War of 1812, the Kremlin was significantly damaged. The Peter Tower and a number of other fortifications were destroyed to the ground by French troops ^{[26] [27] [28]} . All the damage was recorded in the drawings and notes of the architect Ivan Egotov . Restoration work that began after the war lasted about 20 years with the participation of the best architects in Moscow. In 1818, under the leadership of the architect Osip Bove, it was restored for the last time and since then its appearance has not changed ^[1] . After the reconstruction, the height of the tower is 27.15 m. The lower four is completed with false mashikuly, the upper are framed by cornices and half-columns at the corners. The volume ends with an octagonal pyramidal tent ^{[29] [3]} . At the same time, the bastions and earthen ramparts of the Petrine era under the southern wall of the Kremlin were removed, and along the Moskva River an embankment and a boulevard were arranged ^[30] .

In 1861, restoration was again carried out in the Petrovsky Tower with the participation of the architect Peter Gerasimov . As a result of the repair, the mashikuli and the parapet were turned, the flare was renewed on the bypass area, and the tent was covered with new tiles ^[31] After 21 years, the basement of white stone was fixed at the tower, and the collapsed brickwork was repaired. At the end of the 19th century, the boulevard and the embankment still ran along the Moskva River near the tower, and the Kremlin’s Firewood Courtyard was located on the Kremlin’s territory ^[32] .

In the Soviet period, the state of the Peter Tower was studied in 1923. A year later, the tower was restored under the leadership of the architect Konstantin Apollonov. In 1973-1981, repair work was also carried out in the Kremlin, during which the white-stone decor of the Peter Tower was restored ^[33] .

1. Bartenev S.P. Historical outline of the Kremlin fortifications // The Moscow Kremlin in the old days and now . - M. , 1912. - S. 190-197. - 259 p.
2. Viktorov A.E. Inventory of dilapidation in the towers and walls of the Moscow Kremlin, the city of China and the White City of 1667. - M. , 1877.
3. Vorotnikova I.A., Nedelin V.M. Kremlin, fortresses and fortified monasteries of the Russian state of the XV-XVII centuries. Fortresses of Central Russia. - M .: BuksMArt, 2013.
4. Goncharova A.A. Walls and towers of the Kremlin. - M .: Moscow Worker, 1980.
5. Zabelin I.E. History of Moscow. - M .: Capital, 1990. - ISBN 5-7055-0001-7 .
6. Kolodny L. The Main Kremlin of Russia. - M. , 1983.
7. Libson V. Ya., Domshlak M.I., Arenkov Yu.I. et al. Kremlin. China town. Central square // Monuments of architecture of Moscow . - M .: Art, 1983 .-- S. 306. - 504 p. - 25,000 copies.
8. Pigalev V.A. Bazhenov. ZHZL .. - M .: Young Guard, 1980.
9. Slyunkova I.N. Design projects for coronation celebrations in Russia of the 19th century. - M .: BuksMArt, 2013 .-- ISBN 978-5-906190-07-9 .
10. Fabricius M.P. Kremlin in Moscow. - M. , 1883.