The Tower of St. Nicholas of the Moscow Kremlin: history, description and interesting facts

Nikolsky Tower of the Kremlin is one of the elements of a large architectural ensemble with access to Red Square. Here there are gates, from which until the end of the 15th century began the street. Nikolskaya. The total height of the building is 70.4 m, if we include the star that crowns it. We learn a lot of interesting and useful information from the article.

Historical data

The tower of Nikolskaya was built in 1491 year. It was designed by Italian P. Solari. The name of this building is associated with the Miracle-worker Nicholas, whose icon adorns the facade in the eastern part.

There are also those researchers who hold the view that the name is associated with Nikolay the Old, whose monastery was very close. In 1612, the gates of this tower passed by militiamen, whose leaders were D.Pozharsky, and K. Minin, due to which she went down in history.

In 1737, the Nikolskaya Tower of the Moscow Kremlin was engulfed in flames and burned completely. It was rebuilt under the leadership of I. Michurin. Baroque decor features appeared like Arsenal's age-old style. In 1780 the building was completed by K. Blank, who created the top of the round form and a low tent. In the period 1805-1806-ies. There was a major reconstruction under the leadership of A. Ruska and A. Bakaevoy. On the site of the superstructure above the quadrilateral there appeared a gothic octagon, a high tent of white stone and adornments of a beautiful openwork form. It is thanks to the Gothic style that the tower of Nikolskaya differs dramatically from other buildings in the Kremlin.

Interesting Facts

In 1812, an explosion occurred, as a result of which the structure was severely damaged. The perpetrators were the French who had left the city. The tent fell, the gate to the road was damaged. It did not catch the chetverik and the icon of Mozhayskiy Nikola, which was considered a miracle.

This soon became known to the Emperor Alexander I. Then, according to his decree, the restoration of the Nikolskaya Tower was carried out. Under the face of the saint appeared a board of marble, on which the ruler made inscriptions with his own hand. The text said that the salvation of the image is due to the grace of God.

Restorative processes lasted from 1816 to 1819-ies. The project was led by the architect O.I. Beauvais, who made some innovations in the design. The tent of white stone was replaced with a base of an iron frame. In the corners of the chetverik set violets, which strengthened the gothic appearance of the building. V.V. Bakarev also showed his own zodiac genius in this work. Upon completion of the upgrade, the Nikolskaya Tower acquired a snow-white color. In the neighborhood were the chapels of the Wonderworker Nikolai and A. Nevsky, who many times rebuilt. The last time it happened in 1883.

Changes

In October 1917 the building was seriously damaged due to shelling with artillery. It was rebuilt in 1918. The process was supervised by N. Markovnikov. White color was replaced by a brick one, typical for the whole architectural ensemble.

A board of marble, on which Alexander I once wrote his words, was dismantled. In October 1935, a star was placed on top of the tent in place of an eagle with two heads, which was changed from a semi-precious to a ruby one in 1937. In one ray contains 12 faces.

Damage

Nikolskaya Tower (Moscow) was damaged when in 1917 the city became a battlefield. It fell into shells, which destroyed the bottom of the gate to a greater extent. This time the image of Nicholas the Holy Hierarch was unlucky, and he was mutilated by bullet holes and fragments flying into him, but the face remained unharmed, only the elements around him hurt. Of course, this coincidence made the Muscovites again to be convinced of the sanctity of the image.

In the iconography began to use the image of a shelled icon. The building was restored in 1919, when the image was removed ponovlenie. Restorers have reached the original pattern and eliminated unnecessary traces. In the 1920-1922 gg. Murals with images of angels were eliminated.

A second miracle

In April 1918, preparations were actively being made for the celebration in honor of Pervomaia, which was then celebrated for the first time. The facade with the icon was draped with a red cat. Preserved information that then there was a strong wind, and he freed the image for a look, throwing off the canvas. The people who were present at that stated that there were no prerequisites even for a light storm, and the fabric was torn as if cut by a sword. At the same time Lenin was present and the sovnarkom, as well as large crowds of people who were fairly amazed by this event.

For the umpteenth time, the Nikolsky Tower of the Moscow Kremlin found its mystical halo. This story was supplemented by a solid list of local miracles and even got into newspapers. Of course, folk fantasy was played out in earnest, and some eyewitnesses even claimed that the image was shining.

Public response

Here came the pilgrims, who were dispersed by soldiers of the Red Army. Talks about this event have not abated yet for a long time. One woman even said that on May 1 she saw the Wonderworker Nicholas with a fiery sword in his hands, which he cut through a veil of red color. The same version was confirmed by one more person.

Human interest in these stories only fueled, the topic for the conversation appeared excellent. To somehow control this hysteria, the sentries periodically fired from the gun in the air to disperse the audience, which was so much interested in the tower of Nikolskaya. Gossips scattered, but quickly returned to their former places. Here Tikhon was a patriarch, who before that had served the liturgy in the walls of the Kazan Cathedral. Before the gates, a prayer was held in honor of St. Nicholas.

The buildings of the chapels were demolished in 1925, as it was necessary to free the towers from the old layers. During 1929, a mausoleum made of stone was built here. The holy relics, contained in the walls of the chapels, were transferred to the rooms of the temple of John the Warrior, which is on Yakimanka. On the vacated places toilets of public use were built.

Recent Finds

The architecture of the Nikolskaya Tower is beautiful, but still the most interesting element was the famous icon with the image of Nikola Mozhaisky. In 2010, discovered this ancient image, which for many years rested under layers of plaster. There were no documents about its safety.

On the face of the saint stumbled in the process of sounding kiotov. Then an active work was done to give the Kremlin its historical appearance. In June, over the gates, scaffolds for restoration were installed. Experts conducted analyzes, during which it was possible to judge the status of the icon.

Then they began to clear the path to her and really saw the image of the saint. Experts concluded that the top layer was imposed in the 15-16 centuries. Work had to be pretty, because there were found cracks and some lag. When the tower was fired, part of the plaster fell out, so that the relic was only half preserved. Now there are plans for creating a glass barrier that will protect the image from unfavorable weather conditions. In order not to accumulate condensate inside, a ventilation system will be used.

Results of work

Restoration lasted 3 months. It was difficult to work because of the fragile state of the find. In addition to the remaining tracks from the fragments and bullets, there was also a funnel, which the shell made. The fires that burned during the Middle Ages left their mark. Layers, imposed in the 19 th century, I. Grabar withdrew in 1918-m. Plaster badly affected the painting, the paint faded. Fortunately, the preparatory figure remained unchanged, in which they tried to recreate everything else.

The left hand was restored according to the documents that were created together with the painting by an unknown 16th-century creator. Only the palm was embodied with a slightly modified technology, because there was no source to learn how to do everything correctly.

Also, the secret, covered with darkness, remains the date of creation of this image, as too many changes in the 17-19 centuries. Restorers said that they were guided by the kind that the face had in the 17th century.