Nikolskaya Tower is a travel tower of the Moscow Kremlin overlooking Red Square. It was built in 1491-1492 by architect Pietro Antonio Solari. Until the end of the 15th century, that is, before the creation of Red Square, Nikolskaya Street began from the Nikolsky Gate. In 1805-1806, the tower was thoroughly rebuilt in the Gothic style by the architect Luigi Rusca together with Alexei Bakarev. In 1816-1819, under the guidance of the architect Osip Bove, the building was restored in the same forms.
Presumably, the fence of the Kremlin of Dmitry Donskoy passed from
the Frolovskaya (Spasskaya) tower directly to the Middle Arsenalnaya, on
the site of which the Faceted Tower was located at that time. By the end
of the 15th century, at the time of the reign of Ivan III, it was
decided to completely reconstruct the old fortress. In March 1491, the
architect Pietro Solari laid down two additional archers: "one at the
Frolovsky Gates, and the other at the Nikolsky Gates." According to
other sources, the construction of the towers began under the leadership
of Mark Fryazin, but later he transferred the project to Solari.
Probably, Fryazin carried out only work on the construction of the
foundation, and Solari built the main facade of the fortress.
From chronicles it follows that the tower was laid to the east of the
old Nikolsky gates. The new location complicated and delayed the work,
so the construction was completed only in 1492. The eastern wall was
extended from the structure towards the Neglinnaya River. According to
the project of the architect, a powerful tower with a passage gate and
an archery was built, which was assigned an important defensive
function. The fortification was intended to protect the passage and was
a stone extension with a passage in the lower part. On the second tier
there was a gallery crowned with battlements with loopholes and pyramids
at the corners. The archer was connected to a wooden drawbridge, while
the entrance arch of the tower was equipped with portcullises - gers. If
the enemy troops broke through to the gates, the bars were closed and
the enemy could be fired from the upper gallery of the building. Double
walls were arranged at the bottom of the tower. All passage structures
of the Kremlin had the same protection system; the herses of the
Nikolsky Gates were not preserved.
To prevent undermining,
dungeons were arranged along the strands - "rumors". Climbing into them,
one could hear where the enemy was digging a tunnel. Such caches, in
particular, were located between the Nikolskaya and Corner Arsenal
towers. According to the descriptions of the ruins of 1646-1647, two
rumors were arranged in the dungeons of the tower, which by that time
were in a dilapidated state: “in one, the vaults are crumbling, and the
other has collapsed.”
The appearance of the Nikolskaya Strelnitsa
under Ivan III was similar to the Frolovskaya (Spasskaya) one. It was
crowned with battlements with loopholes, over which a wooden tent was
placed. The difference between the buildings was only in the absence of
an open tower with a bell, hinged loopholes and an eagle. It is known
that ditches lined with white stone were dug between the Frolovsky and
Nikolsky gates. The entrance to the tower was located inside the travel
arch; climbing the walls of the fortress was not provided. According to
some reports, the building got its name thanks to the icon of St.
Nicholas the Wonderworker (“Nikola Mozhaisky” or “Nikola-with-Grad”),
dating from the 15th-16th centuries. Traveler Pavel of Aleppo briefly
described this image during a trip to Russia in the 17th century:
On
the outside of the second gate is the image of St. Nicholas, who holds a
naked sword in his right hand, and this city in his left, for he
delivered him from the malice of the unfaithful Tamerlane.
The
fresco was placed in a niche above the gate from the side of Red Square.
It is likely that the choice of the shrine was influenced by the
location of Nikolskaya Street, which originated near the gate. From the
side of the Kremlin, the building was decorated with a fresco image of
the Kazan Mother of God with four angels on the sides. Both shrines were
placed in icon cases and under special awnings, and lamps were placed in
front of them. It was believed that Nicholas the Wonderworker punishes
perjurers and protects the offended, so deals were often made on the
square in front of the gate. A number of researchers believe that the
building got its name in honor of the monastery of St. Nicholas Big Head
(Old), located nearby. In those days, this monastery played an important
role in the religious life of society. A less common name for the tower:
Jerusalem. It arose thanks to the Church of the Entry of the Lord into
Jerusalem, which belonged to the Simonov Monastery, located nearby.
In 1493, during the construction of fortifications, two large-scale
fires broke out, which destroyed the wooden sections of the roof and
superstructure, as well as the wall descending from the building to the
Neglinnaya River.
In the 16th-17th centuries, troops gathered on Ivanovskaya Square
went on campaigns through the arch of the Nikolskaya Tower. So, this
way, detachments of archers left the Kremlin, who previously performed a
prayer service at the icon of St. Nicholas. The gate was also used by
members of the royal family and pilgrims on long journeys. After
visiting the Kremlin shrines, travelers tried to pass by the icon of St.
Nicholas the Wonderworker, the patron saint of wanderers. On the days of
the consecration of metropolitans and patriarchs, the solemn procession
stopped near the building to read a prayer and sprinkle the walls with
holy water. It is known that during this period the tower, towering over
residential buildings, was decorated with a clock with bells, the last
mention of which dates back to 1612-1614. Presumably, they were
destroyed during a fire in 1626.
On November 1, 1612, the militia
led by Prince Dmitry Pozharsky and Kuzma Minin solemnly entered the
Kremlin through the Nikolsky and Spassky Gates. In 1687, on the bridge
in front of the Nikolskaya Tower, Princess Sophia, Tsars Ivan V and
Peter I complained to the hand of the commanders of the army that went
on the Crimean campaign.
At the end of the 16th - beginning of
the 17th century, the tower was marked on the "Kremlenagrad" plan. It
shows that there was a shrine above the gate, which probably contained
the image of the saint. In 1668, the Kremlin wall was depicted on Simon
Ushakov's icon "The Tree of the Russian State". On this image, the
fortress is depicted in red colors, and the Nikolskaya tower is crowned
with a low tent. According to the description of Paul of Aleppo in the
17th century, on the inside of the gate there was an image: “The Lord,
before whom Saint Leontius and his companions appeared.” The gate icons
were repeatedly restored and updated, perhaps the work was timed to
coincide with the restoration of the tower, however, reliable evidence
of this fact has not been preserved.
Despite the reconstruction,
which took place in 1658, by 1667 the building was very dilapidated and
required major repairs. The spinners were also in a dilapidated
condition, in some places the brick crumbled to the sole.
In the
17th century, office and storage rooms at the Nikolsky Gates were
occupied by a green treasury - stocks of gunpowder and shells. Hiding
places, rumors, underground passages, a moat and an additional wall were
maintained in working condition. A guard was regularly on duty at the
archer, a guard post was located on the tower, and four collars lived
during the construction, which locked and opened the gate. Due to the
busy traffic at the Nikolsky Gate in the 17th century, the wooden
drawbridge was replaced with a stone one. During this period, the
passage of the tower served mainly for the communication of the boyar
courts and monastic buildings in the north-eastern part of the fortress
with a trade and craft settlement. Near the Nikolsky and Spassky gates
there were places of permanent deployment of the “arrived” guard, who
was responsible for protecting the royal family during sudden departures
from the fortress.
By decree of Peter I at the beginning of the 18th century, all Moscow
fortifications were described and measured in detail. In 1707, a
large-scale reconstruction of buildings took place in connection with
the growing threat of an attack by the Swedes. During this period, the
Nikolskaya Tower was supplemented with a redoubt - a bulk shaft located
along the walls. Even after the victory in the Battle of Poltava, it was
decided to leave the defensive structure.
In 1737, the Nikolskaya
Tower was damaged by a major fire. The flames damaged the wooden floors
between the floors and the bridge over the moat. The destroyed buildings
were reconstructed according to the project of the architect Ivan
Michurin. The building acquired a magnificent Baroque decoration, in
which the Arsenal building, erected at the same time, was also made.
According to the drawings of the XVIII century, both buildings had the
same height, the tower ended with a dome. However, already in the 1770s,
the passage building was in "dilapidation and great danger." In 1780,
the Nikolskaya Tower was restored and supplemented with a high round
tier with a low tent, Carl Blank. Despite the reconstruction, by the end
of the 18th century the building was in a dilapidated state. The earthen
fortifications crumbled, the lining of the Alevizov Creek on Red Square
partially fell off.
In 1805-1806, the architect Luigi Rusca carried out a major
reconstruction of the tower together with Alexei Bakarev. The former
superstructure above the quadruple was replaced with a Gothic octagonal
tier with a high tent and openwork decorations of white stone. Later,
Soviet researchers attributed such a transformation during restoration
to "free artistic restoration." The icon of St. Nicholas was also
repaired and placed in a frame with a keeled finish. On the sides of the
shrine and the gate, rustication was done. It was during this period
that the tent over the building was first made in stone, while the rest
of the Kremlin towers were built on with brick domes back in the 17th
century. For the coronation of Alexander I, the architect Pietro Gonzago
decorated the tower with a globe with a double-headed eagle. A
contemporary of Alexander Pushkin, a major archaeographer Alexei
Malinovsky spoke about the structure as follows:
"it had neither
hugeness, nor such decorations as Spasskaya, it even lacked uniform
strength, because before others it was so dilapidated that in 1810 it
was rebuilt"
During the occupation of Moscow in 1812, Napoleon
ordered the fortress to be brought into a defensive state. However,
unlike other towers, Nikolskaya was not barricaded. During the
evacuation, the French troops organized the explosion of the Arsenal
building, during which the Nikolskaya Tower was also damaged. The tent
of the building collapsed, and the upper part of the gate crumbled, the
collapsed parts of the tower covered the nearby Kazan Cathedral.
However, part of the quadrangle and the kiot with the icon of Nikola
Mozhaisky survived. The book of the writer Alexei Remizov "The Image of
Nicholas the Wonderworker" describes this event:
"It exploded so
that it knocked out the windows and doors of all the houses in the area.
Only ruins remained from the Arsenal. And half the tower collapsed. But
Nikola - with a sword and hail - survived! Even the glass on the icon
did not crack. Even the lantern with a candle continued to hang"
The news of the miraculous salvation of the shrine became known to
Alexander I. During his visit to Moscow, he was personally convinced of
the safety of the image above the gate and ordered, first of all, to
restore the tower, and place a marble plaque under the icon, the words
for which he wrote himself.
"In 1812, during the enemy invasion,
this stronghold was almost completely destroyed by the enemy's
explosion; but by the miraculous power of God, the holy image of the
great saint of God, St. Nicholas, here inscribed on the stone itself,
and not only the image itself, but also the glass itself, covering it, a
lantern with a candle remained unharmed. Who is a great God, like our
God! You are God, work miracles: God is wonderful in his saints "
The restoration took place in 1816-1819 under the guidance of the
architect Osip Bove. During the restoration, the design and appearance
of the building underwent changes. At the suggestion of the architect
Fyodor Kirillovich Sokolov, who oversaw the work, the massive white
stone tent was replaced with a lighter one with an iron frame, and the
interior of the structure was selectively rebuilt. The loopholes of the
tower were dismantled. High and thin tower-shaped phials were installed
at the corners of the tetrahedral volume, which added a Gothic look to
the building. Their decor repeated the decoration of the octagon. The
fresco by Nikola Mozhaisky was enclosed in a pseudo-Gothic white-stone
decoration, presumably in the same period, on the sides of the frame,
the image was supplemented by two kneeling angels. The structure was
painted white, and new oak canvases were installed at the gate. The
proportions of the building also changed: with a total height of 67.1
meters, there were 15 per metal tent of the building. It is known that
the architect Vladimir Bakarev participated in the restoration of the
building. In 1819, the work was completed, and four years later the wall
between the Spasskaya and Nikolskaya towers was painted white. The book
“Walks around pre-Petrine Moscow” notes that after the reconstruction,
almost nothing remained of the original “Italian” decoration of the
building. At the beginning of the 19th century, Moscow historian V. A.
Nikolsky expressed the point of view that the Nikolskaya Tower "acquired
the appearance of a German church." According to other researchers,
thanks to the reconstruction, she became the most slender of all.
Since 1822, the building was in the department of the Moscow
Provincial Archives. Along the upper tiers of the quadrangle of the
tower, shelves were installed where the affairs of the government were
stored. A spiral staircase was arranged inside the building, rising to
the top. The premises of the strelnitsa were also reserved for storing
documents. However, rooms that were not equipped with ventilation and
heating were quite damp, which adversely affected the state of affairs.
The tower also remained one of the main passage structures of the
fortress, so during the 19th century it was repeatedly restored. So, in
1831, side passages were laid in the outlet archery, through which it
was possible to go to the boulevards along the walls. In 1853 and 1855,
plaster was renewed on the vaults and walls of the structure and the
cracks were repaired. In 1860, the architect Pyotr Gerasimov prepared a
project for the reconstruction of the Nikolskaya Tower. He believed that
the building was very different from other fortifications, and planned
to dismantle the Gothic white stone pattern, as well as build a hipped
roof volume, but his idea was not implemented. In 1878, the building was
overhauled, during which the collapsed parts of the building were
replaced with new ones. The plinth was also shifted and covered with
iron, but it was decided not to restore the side passages.
The
Nikolskaya Tower stood out for its architectural forms and was visible
from afar, so it was especially brightly decorated during coronation
celebrations. So, the building was decorated with shields, colored
lanterns and garlands, and the walls were woven with illuminated coats
of arms of the Russian Empire.
In October 1917, the Nikolskaya Tower was badly
damaged during an armed uprising. The military posts of the junkers were
located in the Kremlin buildings, which were fired upon by the artillery
of the Red Guards. The fire on the Nikolskaya Strelnitsa was fired from
the intersection of Nikolskaya Street and Bogoyavlensky Lane. The
over-gate icon of St. Nicholas with a kiot was also heavily damaged: on
one side of the image, the image of an angel was knocked down, on the
other, it was pierced through, the space around the head and shoulders
of the saint was deformed from direct shelling. However, the very face
of the saint was almost not affected, which the believing Muscovites
perceived as a miracle. Having crushed resistance, the troops of the Red
Guard entered the Kremlin through the Nikolsky and Troitsky gates.
In 1918, according to the decision of the commission for the
restoration of the Kremlin, work began on the restoration of the tower
under the guidance of the architect Nikolai Markovnikov. The workers
cleared the walls from renovations to the most ancient layer and
repaired the traces of bullets and shrapnel, and also opened window
openings of the second tier from later fillings. The building was
repainted from white to red, the color of the Kremlin's spun. In the
same period, the memorial tablet of Alexander I was dismantled. The icon
of St. Nicholas was restored under the direction of Igor Grabar and
enclosed in an iron frame with removable glass. In 1919, they decided to
return to their original place the old canopy with an iron frame and a
lantern, located above the shrine. In 1920-1922, at the initiative of
the Restoration Department, the later paintings of angels (presumably
from the late 18th - early 19th centuries) on the sides of the central
image were eliminated. According to documents, by 1925 the image of
Nikolai Mozhaisky was only partially preserved. In the same year, the
commission studied the passage towers in order to identify "objects of
religious worship." She testified about the image above the Nikolsky
Gates as follows:
The fresco of Nicholas of Mozhaisky is of
exceptional artistic interest as a rare monument of an outdoor fresco of
the 16th century.
During the construction of Lenin's Mausoleum,
the remains of underground chambers were found in the dungeons along Red
Square. Presumably, the passages were either connected to the basement
parts of the Spasskaya, Senate, Nikolskaya and Corner Arsenal towers, or
combined into a single gallery connecting these structures. In the
post-war years, the restoration of historical monuments of the fortress
took place, in 1973 large-scale restoration work was also carried out.
During this period, the Spasskaya, Nikolskaya, Troitskaya, Borovitskaya
and Vodovzvodnaya towers were repaired with white stone decorations.
Until the 1990s, only the Nikolskaya and Spasskaya towers were
illuminated at night; later, floodlights were also installed for other
buildings.
In April 1918, before the first official celebration
of May Day, the facade, along with the icon, was curtained with red
canvases. According to one version, on the eve of the proletarian
holiday, strong gusts of wind twisted the pieces of fabric, opening the
icon to the public. However, some eyewitnesses recalled that the weather
was calm, and the canvas was torn as if it had been cut with a sword.
Archbishop John (Shakhovskoy), who also witnessed the incident in
his youth, wrote that as soon as the icon was “cleansed” of red matter,
an unknown soldier fired at it.
The unusual event made a great
impression on the public. The newspaper Nashe Slovo dated May 2, 1918
mentions that the incident also caused "all sorts of comments" among the
believing part of the population. It is known that the news of this
quickly spread among the Muscovites and a mass pilgrimage began to the
Nikolsky Gates, so the Red Army cavalry was forced to disperse the
crowd. Two days later, the same newspaper reported that people continued
to gather at the Nikolskaya Tower:
Here is one woman who swears that
she herself saw how, on the morning of May 1, Nicholas the Wonderworker
cut through the red veil with a fiery sword. Her story is confirmed by a
young man. The storytellers are surrounded by an eagerly listening
crowd. Suddenly - fuck! A shot is fired from a rifle. This sentry on the
Kremlin wall shoots into the air, noticing the crowd. The people shied
away in different directions, but after a few minutes they gathered
again.
On May 22 (9), 1918, Patriarch Tikhon celebrated the
liturgy in the Kazan Cathedral on Red Square, after which he led the
procession to the Nikolsky Gate. Near the building, a solemn prayer
service to St. Nicholas took place, captured in documentary photographs.
For a long time, the icons on the Kremlin towers were considered
lost, but there was no documentary evidence of the elimination of the
icons. Some researchers suggested that they were walled up in 1937 in
connection with the celebration of the 20th anniversary of the October
Revolution.
In 2007, the chairman of the public fund of St. Andrew
the First-Called, Vladimir Yakunin, proposed to restore the lost icons
on the Kremlin towers, for which an initiative group was created on the
basis of the organization. In April 2010, researchers from the
Interregional Scientific and Restoration Artistic Directorate probed the
walls of the Nikolsky and Spassky Gates. According to the results of the
work, on May 11, 2010, Yakunin stated that the icons were found under a
ten-centimeter layer of plaster and mesh. On July 5 of the same year,
work began on the restoration of the ancient image on the Nikolskaya
Tower. After the “opening” of the icons from the upper layers, the
restorers reported that the image of Nikola Mozhaisky had survived by
about 50%, while the face of the Savior above the Spassky Gate was 80%.
Vice President of the public organization Mikhail Yakushev said:
Already judging by what we see, this is a historical layer of the end of
the 15th-16th centuries
The restoration of the historical
appearance of the Nikolsky Gates was complicated by the fact that the
icon was created with water-based paints, as well as by the partial
peeling of the plaster, which occurred as a result of the shelling of
the tower in 1917. During the reconstruction, numerous marks from
bullets and shells, as well as traces of medieval fires, were found on
the fresco.
In the image, the left hand was almost completely
absent, with the exception of the palm, and the paint of the saint's
face was partially lost. It was possible to return the image to its
original state with the help of historical documents and graphs - a
drawing that was applied to wet plaster with a sharp object before
painting began. Due to constant renovations and restorations, experts
could not establish the exact date of the fresco's creation, however,
the image of the shrine dating back to the 16th century was presumably
restored. To protect the icon from negative impact, a special
non-reflective glass with a ventilation system was installed.
Work to recreate the face of the saint was completed on October 28,
2010, and later the tower was cleared of scaffolding. On November 4 of
the same year, the icon was solemnly consecrated by Patriarch Kirill of
Moscow and All Rus'. The ceremony was timed to coincide with the Day of
National Unity, since it was through the Nikolsky and Spassky Gates in
1612 that the united militia entered the Kremlin.
In 2016, during
the reconstruction of the Kremlin walls, the restoration of the
Nikolskaya Tower was carried out. The researchers studied the foundation
and walls of the building for strength. Fears were caused not only by
the possible consequences of a strong explosion in 1812, but also by a
man-made moat. It was dug in 1508 and filled in later, which may have
caused the ground to become unstable. During the reconstruction, the
brickwork was strengthened and mothballed, and the limestone decor was
also restored. The work was carried out under the constant influence of
heat guns, since the technology required maintaining a positive
temperature. The Ruby Star has also been updated and its frame cleaned
of corrosion. It was during this period that the incandescent lamp
located inside was replaced with a modern energy-saving counterpart.
In the book “The Moscow Kremlin in Antiquity and Now,”
historian Sergei Bartenev gives the following dimensions of the tower:
height - 31 sazhens (66.14 meters), base perimeter - 29 sazhens (61.87
meters), height of the bottom - 9 sazhens (19.20 meters), top height -
22 sazhens (46.9 meters).
The octahedral volume of the second
tier is cut into the lower quadrangle and completed with a dome. The
side parts of the building are cut by two rows of low rounded windows
and are devoid of decorations, which provides a contrast with the main
facade, decorated with an ornamented portal. The tower and the archer
are connected by a system of stairs and two-tier passages, which are
located along the perimeter of the upper part of the tetrahedral volume.
The diversion archer is equal in width to the base of the tower, which
was uncharacteristic for the Kremlin's travel structures. Its top is
divided by a flat ceiling into two rectangular rooms that illuminate
rows of windows. The characteristic differences of the tower are the
white-stone decor in the Gothic style, as well as four
elevations-phials.
The tower consists of five floors, three of
which are located in the lower part of the building. The tetrahedral
volume is similar in structure to the base of the Spasskaya Tower, but
somewhat lower. Its second and third tiers have four sides on the
outside, but inside they are an octagon.
Star of Nikolskaya Tower
On the eve of the 18th anniversary of October, the Council of People's
Commissars of the USSR and the Central Committee of the Party decided:
<...> by November 7, 1935, remove 4 eagles located on the Spasskaya,
Nikolskaya, Borovitskaya, Trinity towers of the Kremlin wall, and 2
eagles from the building of the Historical Museum. By the same date
<...> install a five-pointed star with a sickle and a hammer on the
indicated 4 towers of the Kremlin.
The stars for the towers were
made of metal, gilded and decorated with Ural gems. Crystal for products
was cut from large stones by the oldest craftsmen. In the center of each
pommel, on both sides, the coat of arms of the country, also made of
semi-precious stones, was fixed. On October 26, 1935, instead of a
double-headed eagle, a five-pointed star was installed on the tower.
Products at the Nikolsky and Spassky Gates became the largest of all.
The distance between the rays of the star was 4.5 meters, and its weight
reached a ton. Some researchers found the decor above the Nikolskaya
Tower to be the most modest. In 1937, it was decided to replace gemstone
stars with luminous ruby counterparts. The new product was smaller in
size - its width was 3.75 meters, but it had the largest number of faces
per beam - 12.
Near the Nikolsky Gates there were two single-domed
chapels. They were erected at the expense of the merchant I. S.
Karzinkin, who carried out his father's will. To the left of the tower
was the chapel of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, to the right -
Alexander Nevsky. Both were built of wood in 1821, then reconstructed in
stone and rebuilt in the Russian style in 1883-1886. Above the entrance
to the chapel was the image of the Kazan Mother of God. The buildings
were under the jurisdiction of the Kazan Cathedral on Red Square. Their
icons and murals marked significant dates of the Patriotic War of 1812.
Thus, images of the Apostle Philip and St. Stephen were installed in the
chapels in memory of the retreat of the Napoleonic troops from the
Mother See, the ceiling and wall paintings were dedicated to the Battle
of Borodino, the Battle of the Berezina, the day of the capture of
Paris. The duties of the abbots of the chapels also included the care of
the inextinguishable lamp of the over-gate icon of St. Nicholas of
Mozhaisky.
After the October Revolution, the buildings were
deprived of crosses, and in 1925 they decided to demolish them in order
to remove the later layers of the tower. In the same year, they were
semi-dismantled. However, they were finally dismantled (simultaneously
with the chapel of the Spassky Gates) only in 1929 during the
arrangement of the stands and the mausoleum between the two towers.
Icons from the sanctuaries were transferred to the Church of John the
Warrior on Yakimanka, and public toilets were set up on the vacant
territory. A guard post was set up behind the former Alexander Nevsky
Chapel.