Alekseevskaya tower

The tower is located at the intersection of the earthen rampart of the Sofia side and Troitskaya-Proboynaya street , which, going outside the city, goes on the road to the Yuryev Monastery (Yuryevskoye Shosse).

The existing name of the external fortifications of Veliky Novgorod - Okolny city, was formed at the end of the XIV century. The total length of the defensive line by that time was 11 km. And now the length of the preserved ramparts reaches 6 km. At the end of the 16th century, the Okolny city was reconstructed, and at the junctions of the coastal and floor walls stone towers were erected - Alekseevskaya in the south and Petrovskaya in the north. The last tower has not been preserved.

Alekseevskaya tower was built in 1582 - 1584 . and was a four-tier structure. The tower was the center of cannon defense on approaches to the city from the south, and a more utilitarian goal was to prevent a possible breakthrough along the walls along the Volkhov bank to the detinets. The Alekseevskaya tower has a very powerful foundation, laid out of a limestone slab and lined with granite boulders, and protruding both outside and inside the tower by 0.5 m. This is due to the fact that the tower was built on bulk soil, and now this is considered one of the reasons according to which it was preserved, and in a decent form.

The tower has three tiers of loopholes and one tier with battlements. In the first tier are gun and food loopholes, three of each species, a total of six. The loopholes of both types are narrow with parallel cheeks and covered with a slab. In the second and third tiers the loopholes are covered with arches, have vaulted battle chambers and cheeks widely deployed outward and inward, shoot for health. In the second tier there are four cannon loopholes and one more small one at the entrance - the edible, flanking south wall. On the third tier there are five loopholes for cannons; the combat chamber overlooking the Volkhov is interesting. There are two loopholes in it, one made specifically for firing along the coastal section of the wall, and as a result, it turns out that the wall is already flanked by two loopholes of adjacent combat chambers. The fourth tier of the tower ended with merlons - battlements, there were 24 in total, and they were rectangular, without loopholes in the trunk.

Well-known construction work on the landing in the XVII century. In the 1630s, these works unfolded on the Trade side, and in the 1660s - on Sofia. In the middle of the XVII century, after the Swedish occupation, the tower was renovated and updated. To increase its height, an additional tier of “osmi crowns” with edible loopholes was cut. In the rear section, vaulted openings were made for the passage and raising of supplies, which were connected by a ladder in a chopped extension on all tiers except the fourth. During this repair, the Alekseevskaya tower was whitewashed, hence the second name of the tower - White .

The construction inventory of 1667 indicates that on the Trade side, in the wooden walls and towers around the village, there were 190 cannon and 2495 food embrasures. These figures are quite eloquent about the power and combat significance of the wooden fortress of Ocolnoy Gorod in the 17th century.

In 1697, on the orders of Peter the Great, military equipment was removed from the walls around the posad and transported for storage to the detinets. So one of the largest fortresses of medieval Russia ceased to exist. Nowadays, only the twists of the earthen rampart and the White (Alekseevskaya) tower, which by the end of the 19th century fell into decay, remind of it - the tent was destroyed, the last tier was completely lost, and on the third there were decent bushes that destroyed the brickwork.

In 1990-1995, the tower was successfully restored in the style of the 16th century, covered with a tent and bricked all the entrances. Further restoration of the White (Alekseevskaya) tower on the earthen rampart was made in Veliky Novgorod with funds allocated under the federal program “Preservation and Use of Russia's Cultural Heritage” in 2011. All plans come true. The tower opened to visitors in 2018. All floors restored. Inside was an exposition dedicated to ancient Russian weapons.

On August 30, 1960, by Decree of the Council of Ministers of the RSFSR No. 1327 “On Further Improving the Protection of Monuments in the RSFSR”, the White Tower (Alekseevskaya) was taken under protection as a monument of national importance.

In 1992, by the decision of the anniversary meeting of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, the White Tower (Alekseevskaya), as a historical monument of Novgorod, was included in the World Heritage List.

• Karger M.K. Novgorod. - L .: Art , 1970.
• Aleshkovsky M. Kh. Stone Guards: A Guide to Ancient Novgorod Fortresses . Archived October 16, 2007 on Wayback Machine
• Alekseevskaya (White) tower of the Okolny city of Veliky Novgorod