Location: Moscow Kremlin
The Spasskaya Tower (Frolovskaya, Florovskaya, Frololavrskaya, Jerusalem Gates) (Спасская Башня) is a travel tower of the Moscow Kremlin overlooking Red Square. Built in 1491 by the architect Pietro Solari. In 1624-1625 (according to other sources - in 1626), the English architect Christopher Galoway built the tower with a multi-tiered top in the Gothic style. In 1937, a pommel in the form of a ruby star was placed on the structure. At the top of the tower are the famous chimes.
The original name of the tower - Frolovskaya, or Frololavrskaya -
comes from the Church of Frol and Lavr on Myasnitskaya, where the road
from the Kremlin led through these gates. During the reign of Ivan III,
urban development came close to the fortress walls. It was the cause of
the spread of fires and prevented free entry into the Kremlin. By order
of the king, temples and houses within a radius of 10 fathoms from the
fortress were dismantled, in the same period the temple of Frol and
Laurus was liquidated. For some time the gates were called Jerusalem
after the Church of the Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem.
On the
day of the wedding to the kingdom of Alexei Mikhailovich on July 12,
1645 in Khlynov (Vyatka), the blind Peter Palkin was healed from the
icon of the Savior Not Made by Hands. In Moscow, this was considered a
good sign. The tsar's envoys removed the icon with a prayer and carried
it to Moscow in a procession. The meeting in the capital took place on
January 14, 1647 at the Yauzkie Gate with a huge crowd of people. The
tsar himself and his family and Patriarch Joseph came out to meet them.
Having venerated the holy icon, Alexei Mikhailovich and his entourage
carried it into the Kremlin through the Frolovsky Gates and further into
the Assumption Cathedral. In memory of this event, the decree of Tsar
Alexei Mikhailovich of May 17, 1658 fixed the official name Spassky
behind the gates. Later, the tower itself was named after the gate.
During the reign of Dmitry Donskoy, the white-stone Frolovskaya tower
with iron gates was located in the eastern part of the fortress. During
repairs in 1464-1466, the architect Vasily Yermolin decorated the walls
of the building with reliefs depicting Saints George the Victorious and
Dmitry Solunsky. However, earthworks around the tower were not carried
out, so the structure of the supporting structures is not known for
certain]. During the Moscow fire of 1488, the wooden flooring of the
three tiers of the battlefield of the tower and the nearby cannon hut
burned down.
During the reign of Ivan III, a large-scale
reconstruction of the fortress began, the construction of its eastern
part began with the construction of a new Frolovskaya tower. Chronicle
evidence confirms that it was built on the site of the old tower or in
close proximity to it. The work was supervised by the architect Pietro
Solari, which is evidenced by white stone slabs with commemorative
inscriptions installed above the entrance gate of the tower. On the
outside, the inscription is made in Latin, on the inside - in Slavonic.
Construction was completed in 1491. The base of the building was a
tetrahedron with a passage arch, covered from the outside by a diversion
archer and two side bastions. Strelnitsa - a brick extension with an
arch in the lower part - was used to protect the gates. If necessary,
the passage was blocked with iron bars - gers, and the enemy was locked
inside. The archer was open from above, which made it possible to fire
at the enemy from the gallery on the second floor. To do this, there
were teeth with loopholes at the top. Such a protection system is
typical for military architecture of the late 15th century and was
installed on all the Kremlin towers. The Frolovskaya tower was
considered the main among the Kremlin fortifications; it was crowned
with a wooden hipped dome, under which the clock and alarm bells were
placed. The iron gates of the Frolovsky Gates were painted on both sides
with “gold colors”. For the safe movement of soldiers, passages were
laid in the thickness of the fortress walls. The gallery connecting the
Frolovskaya and Nabatnaya towers was later laid with stone cores.
During the reign of Vasily III, between the Moscow River and the
Neglinnaya, the Alevizov ditch was laid along the walls of the fortress.
A wooden drawbridge was thrown over the watercourse from the Frolovsky
Gate. Soon, due to the busy traffic, it was replaced with an arched
stone one and began to be called Spassky. Lubok pictures were regularly
put up on the bridge, beggars, cripples and the blind stood on the
approaches.
By the end of the 16th century, the tower was crowned with a wooden
top with a double-headed eagle (according to other sources, from the
middle of the 17th century), information about the coat of arms with a
base in the form of a ball also dates back to 1611. The decor was
changed regularly and descriptions of the earliest models have not been
preserved.
In 1624-1625 (according to other sources - in 1626),
the English architect Christopher Galoway erected a multi-tiered top in
the Gothic style over the tower. The Russian master Bazhen Ogurtsov took
part in the work, who completed the merlons of the combat platform with
a straight cornice with circular arches. In the niches of the arched
belt, white-stone statues in the style of Mannerism - “boobs” were
installed. Above the lower quadrangle rose a two-story rectangular
volume, decorated with white stone details, clocks and columns in the
corners. The tower ended with an octagonal tier with open arched bells
topped with a brick tent with a tiled roof. The compositional solution
of the building was similar to the Brussels City Hall.
By order
of Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich, the naked statues on the tower were covered
with specially sewn single-row cloth. However, in 1628 the figures were
badly burned in a fire and were dismantled. According to other sources,
they suffered from fire only in 1654, along with the tent superstructure
and the clock of the Frolovskaya tower. Archbishop Pavel of Aleppo
reported that Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, who had returned from the
Smolensk campaign, “shed abundant tears” on this occasion. Soon both the
tower and the clock were fixed.
In 1658, by decree of the Tsar,
the Frolovsky Gates were renamed Spassky Gates, and later the tower was
also called that. At the entrance to the diversion tower, the image of
the Savior was depicted on a stone.
According to the "Inventory
of damage and dilapidation" of 1667, the tower and the nearby wall were
in poor condition.
The damage was soon repaired. To emphasize the
beauty of the Spasskaya Tower, the Nikolskaya Tower was left without a
high tent for some time.
In 1668, part of the Kremlin wall with
the Spasskaya Tower was depicted on Simon Ushakov's icon "The Tree of
the Russian State". The image shows that at that time the fortress had a
red color. For the first time, the whitewashing of the Kremlin was
mentioned in written testimonies in 1680, while the memos confirmed that
until that moment the Spassky Gates had a brick color. The structure was
decorated with glazed green tiles, the shade was achieved through the
use of lead glaze and copper scale.
At the beginning of the 18th century, by decree of Peter I, the
fortifications of Moscow were described in detail and measured. Fearing
an attack by the Swedish troops, the tsar ordered to strengthen the
Kremlin: “to make a redan at the Nikolsky and Spassky gates; Spassky
gates should be done in the same way, and the gates should be cut down
to 15 feet with earth, and a counter-shkarf should be made behind the
moat. Log fortifications were installed next to the Spasskaya Tower, and
a stone guardhouse with a gallery on stone pillars was erected at its
back wall. During the reign of Peter I, it was near the Spassky Gates
that they took a fee for beards. In 1706, the old clock on the tower was
replaced with new ones ordered in Holland. When the imperial court moved
to St. Petersburg, the Kremlin buildings began to gradually fall into
disrepair.
The Spasskaya Tower was badly damaged in 1737 during
the Trinity Fire: wooden shutters and roofing, folding gates and
ceilings burned out. Due to damage, the bells collapsed, breaking
through the tower vaults. By order of Elizabeth Petrovna, the building
was soon restored, the gate image of the Savior was renewed. The clock
on the tower also suffered and was replaced in 1770 by others.
At the beginning of the reign of Alexander I, by 1803,
the Spassky Gate was reconstructed, a portal with Corinthian columns and
two stone chapels were installed near the outlet tower under the
guidance of the architect V. Bazhenov. Hers lattices and dilapidated
Peter's bastions were dismantled, the Alevizov moat was filled up and
the Spassky bridge was dismantled. At that time, near the tower (from
the side of the Kremlin) there was a guardhouse and a watchmaker's
house.
During the occupation of Moscow in 1812, by order of
Napoleon, the Kremlin was prepared for a possible defense. The Spassky
Gates were covered with earth and logs. When the French troops left the
city, they planned to blow up the fortress. Some of the towers were
blown up, but the Spasskaya Tower was cleared of mines and was not
damaged.
The Spasskaya Tower was considered the main passage
structure of the fortress, so the gates were regularly renovated: cracks
were repaired, plaster was renewed, and rotten parts were replaced. In
1816-1819, during the repair of the Kremlin, the remains of the Spassky
Bridge were removed. In the 1820s and a decade later, the building was
renovated according to the project of the architect Ivan Mironovsky. In
1824, in accordance with the decree of the emperor, the tower was
painted in a light tone (light pearl), and the spire was painted green.
In 1831, the oak shutters of the gates were completely replaced; two
years later, special keys with the monogram of Nicholas I were made for
them. They were made by V. Ya. Lebedev, a mechanic of the Spassky
Chimes. They were kept by the Moscow commandant, in 1887 they were
transferred for storage to the Armory. In 1852, another repair of the
chimes was completed, they began to play “Kol is Glorious” and the
Preobrazhensky Petrovsky March. Due to the status of the tower, it was
richly decorated with garlands and illuminations for the coronations of
emperors.
In 1861, a large-scale reconstruction of the Kremlin
buildings began, during which the wall cladding, keel-shaped arches of
bells and arcade belts were renewed, crumbling teeth and sections of the
walls of the diverting archer were restored. A year later, the artist
Jean-Baptiste Artari restored the images above the gate, the wall and
vault paintings from the surviving fragments. In 1866-1868, a major
overhaul was carried out, during which the portal and the pitched roof
were dismantled. In the outlet tower, the roof was removed and the
columns of the beginning of the 19th century were removed, instead of
the roof, battlements were made, similar to wall ones. The color of the
Spasskaya Tower was returned to red. The chapels erected according to
the design of Osip Bove before entering the gate were replaced by two
new ones with hipped roofs and miniature cupolas at the top.
During the armed uprising of 1917, the Spassky Gates,
chapels and clocks were badly damaged by artillery shelling. Later, the
tower was reconstructed under the guidance of architect Nikolai
Markovnikov. The chapels were restored by 1921 under the leadership of
I. E. Bondarenko, I. V. Pylsky and A. A. Latkov. However, already in
1925 they were dismantled.
During the Great Patriotic War, the
Kremlin buildings were disguised to prevent them from being bombed. The
ruby star on the Spasskaya Tower was extinguished and covered with
wooden shields. To guide drivers at night, white stripes were applied to
the gate. Despite the precautions, the outlines of the fortress were
clearly visible in the neighboring streets. The Kremlin was protected
from enemy air raids by two anti-aircraft batteries of the air defense
corps. For the duration of the parade on November 7, 1941, according to
a special order, the disguise was removed. During the bombing of the
Kremlin in March 1942, one of the bombs exploded between the Spasskaya
and Nabatnaya towers, but they suffered little damage. In April 1945,
the camouflage was completely dismantled.
During the post-war
reconstruction, a copper roof was made for the tent of the Spasskaya
Tower, resembling tiles in shape. According to other sources, a new
roofing was installed only twenty years later during the next
restoration.
In 1973, comprehensive capital work was carried out
in the Kremlin buildings. The authors of the project were the architects
A. V. Vorobyov and A. I. Khamtsov, according to the project of which the
white stone decor was restored and the dilapidated elements were
updated. The walls and vaults of the structure had cracks, so they were
reinforced with steel ties and reinforced concrete structures. Until the
1990s, only the Spasskaya and Nikolskaya towers were illuminated at
night with special external reflectors. Later, similar equipment was
installed near other fortifications.
In 2014-2015, the Spasskaya
Tower was overhauled. During the work, the glasses of the stars were
updated, the dials of the chimes were restored, and the masonry and
white stone elements were conserved. During New Year's celebrations, an
image of a clock and a tower was projected onto a structure closed by
scaffolding.
The historian S.P. Bartenev indicates the following
dimensions of the Spasskaya Tower: height - 34 fathoms (now 71 meters
with a star), base perimeter - 29 fathoms, height of the lower part - 14
fathoms, height of the upper - 20 fathoms, number of floors - 10. The
structure is folded from heavy bricks, the weight of each of which
reaches eight kilograms. Patterned bricks were used for the plinth and
architectural decoration. The double walls of the building are fastened
with stone supports and equipped with passage galleries, stone and
wooden stairs.
At the bottom, the Spasskaya Tower is represented
by an elongated parallelepiped. In the upper part of each of its sides
there are seven semi-circular window frames marked with a white stone
belt. At the very top of the volume there are half-laid elongated
windows. From the side of Red Square and the Kremlin, the facades are
decorated with Gothic pediments resting on Doric columns. On all sides,
the tetrahedral volume is crowned with a number of arches, decorated
with white stone turrets, carved columns, columns and tongs. They are
framed with teeth and intercepted by a belt of small shells and
rosettes, and also decorated with sculptures of mythological lions and
bears holding flagpoles in the form of balls. The corners of the
quadrangle are accentuated by white-stone pyramids with gilded
weathercocks.
The upper part of the tower is represented by a
quadrangle with a clock, above which rises an octagonal volume,
decorated with arches, columns and balustrades. They end with an
octagonal roof with gothic spans separated by double columns.
The
retractable archer has retained the architectural forms of the 15th
century and is represented by a rectangle, which is narrower than the
lower volume of the tower. The structure does not have a roof and in the
upper part along the perimeter is decorated with a series of teeth. The
corners are decorated with shoulder blades with pedestals. On the
outside of the Spassky Gates there is a copy of a damaged tablet in
Latin. When the original was dismantled is unknown, it is kept in the
funds of the Kremlin Museums and contains the following inscription:
IOANNES VASILII DEI GRATIA MAGNUS DUX VOLODIMERIÆ, MOSCOVIÆ, NOVOGARDIÆ,
TFERIÆ, PLESCOVIÆ, VETICIÆ, ONGARIÆ, PERMIÆ, BUOLGARIÆ ET ALIAS
TOTIUSQ(UE) RAXIE D(OMI)NUS, A(N)NO 30 IMPERII SUI HAS TURRES CO(N)DERE
F(ECIT) ET STATUIT PETRUS ANTONIUS SOLARIUS MEDIOLANENSIS A(N)NO
N(ATIVIT) A-(TIS) D(OM)INI 1491 K(ALENDIS) M(ARTIIS) I(USSIT)P(ONE-RE)
The dials of the Spassky chimes go out on four sides.
The diameter of each of them is 6.12 meters, the height of the Roman
numerals is 0.72 meters. The length of the hour hand is 2.97 meters, the
minute hand is 3.27 meters. The rim, numbers and hands of the mechanism
are gilded, and the total weight of the structure reaches 25 tons.
Hammers are used in the mechanism for quarter-battle. At the beginning
of the reconstruction in 1999, they were connected to nine bells, each
weighing more than three hundred kilograms. There is also one hour bell
weighing more than two tons. The mechanism occupies the tenth tier of
the tower.
According to one version, the clock on the Frolovskaya
Tower appeared immediately after the building was built in 1491. But the
chronicles mention the first watchmakers only in the 16th century, and a
number of researchers believe that the mechanism was installed in the
same period. The clock was located only on the Spasskaya Tower and
served to indicate the time of the church evangelism throughout the
city. By decree of Peter I in 1706, the Spassky Clock was replaced with
new ones and remade in the "German way" with a twelve-hour dial. In
1851-1852, the brothers Nikolai and Ivan Butenopy made new chimes using
some parts of the old mechanism. The clock occupied from the eighth to
the tenth tiers of the tower. At six and twelve o'clock they performed
the march of the Preobrazhensky Regiment, at three and nine o'clock -
the anthem "How glorious is our Lord in Zion" by composer Dmitry
Bortnyansky. After the repair in 1918, at twelve o'clock the chimes
began to play the "Internationale", and at midnight - "You fell a victim
...". The strike of the clock was broadcast daily on the radio. Since
1938, the mechanism stopped playing melodies and only beat the hours and
quarters. By the inauguration of Boris Yeltsin in 1996, the chimes were
updated so that they could play the Patriotic Song at twelve and six
o'clock, and at three and nine o'clock - the melody "Glory" from the
opera "A Life for the Tsar" by composer Mikhail Glinka. After the
restoration in 1999, instead of the Patriotic Song, they began to
perform the Russian anthem, officially approved in 2000.
At the
beginning of 2020, there were 13 bells on the belfry of the Spasskaya
Tower, although at different times, as historical studies have shown, up
to 35 bells were used. Due to the limited composition of the bells and
the imperfection of the mechanical device of the chimes, the melodies
sounded inexpressive. In October 2020, the Kremlin chimes were
temporarily stopped to equip the belfry with twelve new bells cast at
the Anisimov Bell Foundry. On November 4, 2020, on National Unity Day,
the chimes on the Spasskaya Tower played for the first time with the
updated bells.
Since the 16th century, the Spasskaya Tower has
been crowned with a gilded double-headed eagle. Presumably, the
first version was made of wood, but its description has not been
preserved. By the end of the 19th century, the finials were made of
gilded copper. The last eagle was installed on the Spasskaya Tower
in 1912. On the eve of the eighteenth Day of the October Revolution,
it was decided to replace the top of the Spasskaya Tower with a
five-pointed star with a hammer and sickle. It was made according to
the sketches of the artist Fedor Fedorovsky and decorated with Ural
gems. The center of the pommel was decorated with the coat of arms
of the country, made of semi-precious stones; gilded rays radiated
from it to the tops. Products on the Nikolsky and Spassky Gates
became the largest of all: the distance between their beams was 4.5
meters, and the weight of each reached one ton. In May 1937, it was
decided to replace the decor of the Spasskaya Tower with a luminous
ruby counterpart. An old star with gems was later installed on the
spire of the Northern River Station. The new pommel had a design
similar to a weather vane and could rotate, the span of its rays was
3.75 meters. The star is illuminated by autonomous lamps with a
capacity of 5 kilowatts each.
After the collapse of the
Soviet Union, public figures repeatedly made proposals to restore
the finials in the form of double-headed eagles. This initiative is
supported by the Russian Orthodox Church, public movements "People's
Cathedral", "Return" and others. In September 2010, members of the
Vozvraschenie Foundation turned to the President of Russia with a
request to replace the five-pointed star of the Spasskaya Tower with
a double-headed eagle. Similar proposals were received during a
large-scale reconstruction of the tower in 2014. This caused a
public outcry and concern of representatives of the Communist Party.
However, the commandant of the Kremlin, Sergei Khlebnikov, assured
that it was only planned to replace the lamps with energy-saving
ones, and not to dismantle the star. By February 2015, the lighting
systems and the swivel mounting of the structure were updated.
The Frolovsky gates were the main passage building of
the Kremlin and were revered as saints. It was forbidden to enter on
horseback through them, passing men took off their hats in front of the
image of the Savior on the outside of the building. There was a belief
among the people that the Latin inscription above the gate promised a
curse to those who would pass in a headdress. Near the tower, church
rites were held to bless the water, which confirms the cult status of
the structure. Historian Alexei Malinovsky believed that this tradition
was born during the reign of Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich. The cells of the
Resurrection Monastery adjoined the tower, where the sovereign's mother,
nun Marfa Ioannovna, lived. Probably, the archery guards on duty at the
gate demanded that commoners take off their hats in front of the nun's
chambers. The tradition took root, and in 1648 it was officially fixed
by decree of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. Those who disobeyed the order had
to make fifty prostrations. Historian Ivan Snegiryov reports on a belief
that during the entry of Napoleon's troops into the Kremlin, a strong
gust of wind tore off the emperor's cocked hat. Traveler Juan Valera
described the custom:
... passing under them, everyone is obliged
to bare their heads and bow, and neither foreigners nor those who
profess a faith other than the Orthodox faith are in any way exempted
from the obligation to give such honors.
The gate was the main
entrance to the Kremlin for military regiments and foreign envoys. So,
after the capture of Kazan, Ivan IV solemnly entered the fortress
through the Frolov archer. Marina Mnishek, the wife of False Dmitry I,
left the Kremlin on this route. Streltsy and Dangerous guards were on
duty at the gates, and the courtyards of the Profitable Guard, which
accompanied members of the royal family on trips, were located nearby.
Before the coronation, all the rulers of Russia, starting with Mikhail
Fedorovich, solemnly entered the territory of the fortress through the
Spasskaya Tower. All religious processions took place in the same way,
on Palm Sunday the road was covered with red cloth and decorated with
willows. Miraculous icons brought from all over the country were met at
the Spassky Gates. For a long time near the gate there was a box for
petitions to the sovereign, which was removed by decree of Peter I. In
the future, the building retained its status. In the 20th century, the
commander of the Armed Forces went through the Spasskaya Tower to
receive military parades on Red Square, and the guard of honor was
changed at the Lenin Mausoleum.
For the celebration of the four
hundredth anniversary of the city of Orel in 1966, a copy of the
Spasskaya Tower, made of plywood, was installed over the entrance to the
main station. In honor of the Spasskaya Tower, the international
military music festival, held annually on Red Square, was named. In
2007, an exact copy of the Spasskaya Tower, 55 meters high, was
installed in Yoshkar-Ola, it was called Blagoveshchenskaya. A reduced
copy of the tower is installed in one of the residential courtyards on
Akademika Anokhin Street.
Origin
The exact date of creation of the icons
above the gates of the Frolovskaya Tower is unknown. Presumably, they
date back to the end of the Russo-Lithuanian war of 1512-1522. According
to the Book of Degrees, during the invasion of Khan Mahmet Giray in
1521, one of the elderly nuns of the Ascension Monastery prayed for the
salvation of the capital. At one of the prayer services, the nun
imagined that a religious procession with many priests, deacons and
clerks was coming out of the Kremlin through the Frolovsky Gate “to the
sound of bells”. Behind them were the bishops, among whom were the
Moscow saints Peter, Alexy and Jonah and Leonty. The procession
participants carried the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God and other
images, crosses and banners. When the procession approached the
Execution Ground, St. Sergius of Radonezh and Varlaam Khutynsky came out
to meet it. When asked by the saints, the Moscow saints admitted that
they were leaving the city "by the will of God for the sins of the
inhabitants of Moscow." After that, the monks called on the procession
to pray to the Mother of God for the salvation of the city. When the
prayer service was over, the priests baptized all sides of the capital
and returned outside the walls of the fortress. According to legend,
this vision was observed by other residents of Moscow. When Khan
Mahmet-Girey retreated from the Kremlin, in memory of the miraculous
omen, the image of the Savior was painted on the eastern wall of the
Spasskaya Tower, and the Mother of God on the western wall. In the
capital, an annual religious procession was established on May 21 to the
Church of the Vladimir Mother of God.
The authenticity of this
legend is unknown, but at the end of the 16th century a kiot was placed
above the archer, which is clearly visible on the Sigismund plan of
Moscow. Probably, it was already occupied by the icon of the Savior Not
Made by Hands. However, there is an opinion that the icon appeared in
the 17th century after the plague.
Description
Above the commemorative plaque on the
east side of the gate is a fresco depicting the Savior in full growth.
In his left hand he holds the Gospel, which is revealed in the words:
"Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened." Saints Sergius of
Radonezh and Varlaam Khutynsky fall at his feet. Pavel Aleppsky, who
visited Moscow in the middle of the 17th century, compiled one of the
first descriptions of the image:
Above the large royal eastern gate
outside is the image of the Lord Christ, standing blessing: His lower
garment is blue with golden patterns, and the upper one is also with
gold. This image is called "Spas Smolensky"; that is how He appeared to
Zosima and Savvaty.
In front of the icon hung a lampada and a
gilded lantern, which was lowered twice a day to light the brought
candles. The first mention of it is found in the statement of the Synod
dated February 22, 1722: “the lantern at the Spassky Gate in front of
the image of the Savior was hung by order of Princess Maria Alekseevna
and taken from her room and was fifteen years old or more.” By order of
the Artillery Order, a certain Anisya Petrova “stood at the icon” to
supervise the lantern and the sale of candles. It is known that earlier
this place was occupied by her uncle, the courtyard man Timofey Ilyin.
By the middle of the 18th century, regular prayer services were held at
the icon, the income from them and from the trade in candles belonged to
the clergy of the Intercession Cathedral. Those sentenced to death on
Red Square prayed to the image of the Savior of Smolensk.
History
During the Trinity fire, the image of the Savior "greatly burned", and
it was renewed in 1738. By this time, the first mention of the existence
of a tin canopy over the fresco. The icon was enclosed in a stone frame
- a kiot - with a glass frame. By tradition, it was opened at Christmas
and throughout Holy Week, as well as on the day of honoring the image.
The feast of the icon was celebrated on August 1. The documents of 1767
mention the robe that existed on the image, at that time the custom of
opening the fresco was already called “existing for a long time”.
Eighteen years later, the dilapidated canopy was replaced with a new one
made of English tin. The fields on the sides of the face of the Savior,
the stars and the kiot of the icon were gilded.
At the beginning
of the 19th century, images of the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove and
six seraphim, as well as two angels holding a scroll with the
inscription “Holy, Holy, Holy,” and two supporting the lower part of the
icon, were painted around the icon case. On the sides of the composition
are columns with Corinthian capitals. Historian Ivan Snegiryov points
out that during the occupation of 1812, French soldiers tried to steal
the precious riza, but every time the stairs overturned or the steps
broke. In 1813, the canopy over the fresco was repaired. In 1851 and
1866, the icon of the Savior, together with the icon case, was restored.
During the second renovation, the image was cleaned off and applied
again, on top of the images of two angels in the pediment of the white
stone frame, a stucco All-Seeing Eye with rays diverging from it was
placed. The columns and frescoes built at the beginning of the 19th
century were dismantled. In 1896, the image was restored, during which
the letter was washed, the riza was cleaned, the icon case and lantern
were gilded, and the canopy was painted.
For a long time, the
icons of the Spasskaya and Nikolskaya towers of the Kremlin were
considered lost, but there was no documentary evidence of the
elimination of the images. Some researchers point out that they were
walled up in 1937 before the celebration of the 20th anniversary of the
October Revolution. On May 7, 2000, Patriarch Alexy II presented
President Vladimir Putin with mosaic copies of the icons of the fortress
towers, made from photographs of ancient images. They planned to place
them in an empty place on the archers, but this idea was not
implemented. Seven years later, the chairman of the public fund of St.
Andrew the First-Called, Vladimir Yakunin, proposed restoring the
immured icons on the Kremlin towers, for which an initiative group began
to operate on the basis of the organization. In April 2010, researchers
from the "Interregional Scientific and Restoration Artistic
Administration" conducted a sounding of the walls of the Nikolsky and
Spassky Gates. Based on the results of the work, on May 11, 2010,
Yakunin confirmed that the icons were covered with a metal plate and
walled up under a ten-centimeter layer of plaster and mesh.
On
July 5, 2010, they completed the dismantling of the protective coating
that hid the icon. The image was preserved by approximately 80% and
consisted of layers from different periods. The earliest image was
applied on a yellow background, later on a gold one. The layer of the
first half of the 18th century was made in the technique of tempera
fresco. Part of the layer of the 19th century has been preserved, when
during the reconstruction the folds of clothes were painted with oil
paints and the background was gilded. The restorers removed the oil
drawing, but kept the gilding. During the work, specialists used
watercolor and acrylic paints, they restored the lost fragments
pointwise. On August 26 of the same year, the renewed image was opened
from the scaffolding, and two days later, on the feast of the Assumption
of the Most Holy Theotokos, the gate icon was consecrated by Patriarch
Kirill in the presence of President Dmitry Medvedev. A year later, the
image was covered with a special frame with non-reflective glass and
equipped with a ventilation system.
Until the 1930s, on the western side of the Spasskaya
Tower, above the gates and a commemorative plaque, there were images of
the Savior Not Made by Hands and Our Lady of the Caves with Moscow
Saints Peter and Alexy coming to her. Presumably, the icon of the Mother
of God was painted simultaneously with the Savior of Smolensk. The icon
of the Savior Not Made by Hands was delivered from Vyatka by decree of
Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich on January 14, 1647. The original image was
placed in the Novospassky Monastery, and an exact list was sent to
Khlynov. Above the Pechersk icon of the Frolovsky Gate, a copy of the
image was made under the guidance of Ivan Filatovich Yaroslavtsev, a
paid icon painter of the Armory. By the 18th century, a lantern for
candles of pilgrims and a copper canopy were placed in front of the
icons, the images were framed with an icon case, and an inextinguishable
lamp burned in front of the icons. By analogy with the lantern of the
Savior Not Made by Hands, the structure was lowered twice a day.
In 1768 and 1813 the icons were renovated, during the second
reconstruction the columns on the sides of the icon case were covered
with gilded copper sheets. During the restoration of 1866, the images of
the western and eastern walls of the tower were cleaned and applied
again, the icon cases were decorated with keeled ends. In 1913,
Archpriest Nikolai Skvortsov described the icons as follows:
On
the Pechersk icon, the Mother of God is depicted sitting on a throne, on
Her knees is the Infant of God, on the sides of the throne are Saints
Peter and Alexy; above the icon of the Not Made by Hands is the image of
the Savior, the ubrus is held by two angels. The icon is painted on the
wall, a case with glass.
There are no chapels at the foot of the structure in
the images of the Spasskaya Tower of the 17th century. But according to
the Construction Book of 1694, near the gate there was a prayer room,
under which in 1647 a certain "Greek of the Macedonian land" was buried.
The chapel belonged to the Pokrovsky Monastery, by 1722 it was
liquidated.
Muscovites venerated the image of Christ on the
Spasskaya Tower, and prayers were regularly held in front of him. In the
XVIII century, the clergy of the Intercession Monastery organized them
on the bridge in front of the gate. To protect against rain, by the end
of the century, the cathedral built a chapel near the right wall of the
tower, which was dismantled at the beginning of the 19th century.
Instead, in 1802-1803, two symmetrical stone chapels in the classical
style were built on the sides of the gate: Spasskaya and Smolenskaya.
They also belonged to the jurisdiction of the Intercession Cathedral.
Prayers were damaged during the French occupation of 1812 and after the
liberation of the city they were rebuilt according to new drawings. The
constructions almost completely protruded in front of the gates and
stood on high stone platforms. Metal bars fenced off areas in front of
the entrances, where small stone stairs led. The chapels were crowned
with semicircular green domes. In 1817, a small dwelling was added to
the Smolensk chapel.
During the restoration of the Spasskaya
Tower in 1868, according to the project of the architect Pyotr
Gerasimov, new hipped chapels in the Russian style were erected,
consecrated on October 22 of the same year. According to some sources,
both chapels were demolished around 1925, according to another version -
in 1929.
The main shrine of the Spassky chapel was considered
the icon of the Savior, which was an almost complete copy of the image
above the gate. But instead of angels with instruments of passion in the
upper corners, the icons depicted seraphim. Stars and radiance were
placed around the face of Christ. The image was revered as miraculous,
pilgrims from different cities of Russia came to it. The icon was placed
in a carved iconostasis near the western wall of the chapel and
decorated with a gilded silver riza with precious stones. Its weight
exceeded 26 kilograms; the decor was made on December 22, 1865 at the
expense of Moscow merchants Shchenkovs. In front of the icon were
seventy gilded silver lamps, donated at different times by parishioners.
The largest of them, donated in 1860, had a quadrangular shape and
weighed more than two kilograms. The massive candlestick standing in
front of the image was transferred to the chapel in 1868 from the
Pokrovsky Cathedral, where it was located in front of the miraculous
icon of the Intercession of the Mother of God. The construction was
crowned with a large silver bowl, donated by Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich in
1639.
Silver-plated metal lecterns with images of the Grebenskaya
Mother of God and St. Nicholas the Wonderworker were placed in the
iconostasis on the sides of the Savior. Behind them, on a zinc and
gilded background, images of the archangels Gabriel and Michael were
painted on the wall. The frescoes of the side walls were made in the
same technique. On the north they depicted the Moscow metropolitans
Alexy and Philip, Varlaam Khutynsky and Blessed John of Moscow; on the
south - Metropolitans Peter and Jonah, Sergius of Radonezh and St. Basil
the Blessed. In the niche between the last two images there was a
silver-plated copper cross with the face of the Savior Not Made by Hands
in the upper part, the icons of Saints Alexander Nevsky and Joseph the
Songwriter in silver rizas in the center. The signature located at the
bottom said that the icon was "built by the zeal of the Moscow rank and
file merchant class" in memory of the rescue of Alexander II on April 4,
1866.
Outside the chapel, above the entrance door, they placed
the image of Christ in the form of an angel, thanks to which the
building was called the “Great Council Angel” among the people. On the
inside, above the entrance, there was an icon of the Mother of God. The
premises of the prayer room were lined with white marble, and the
ceiling was painted in the form of a vault of heaven with stars. The
chapel was revered by pilgrims, many Muscovites began and ended their
working day with prayers in this prayer room. On the eve of the
celebration of the icon of the Savior of Smolensk on July 31, an
all-night vigil was performed within the walls of the building with the
reading of an akathist to the Savior.
Above the entrance to the Spassky Chapel was the icon
of the Annunciation, so the building was also called the "Great Council
of Revelation." On the inside, the face of Christ was placed above the
door. A carved gilded enamel iconostasis was installed near the western
wall. An image of the Savior Not Made by Hands was mounted in its upper
part, and the Smolensk Mother of God with a silver riza was mounted in
the middle part. The side parts were occupied by overlaid icons of the
archangels Michael and Gabriel. The celebration of the central icon -
Our Lady of Smolensk - was held on July 28, for which the day before
they performed an all-night vigil with the reading of an akathist to the
Mother of God.
An icon of Our Lady of Kazan in a gilded riza with
the inscription: “In memory of the miraculous salvation of the precious
life of the Sovereign Emperor Alexander Nikolayevich from the hand of a
murderer in Paris on May 25, 1867, was installed near the northern wall.
Donated by A. N. Zhukov. Nearby they placed the icon of Blessed John of
Moscow and the image of the Savior on the throne in a silver gilded
frame weighing more than ten kilograms. It was donated by a certain
merchant Strizhenov on September 30, 1870. In the southern part of the
chapel there were images of St. Basil the Blessed and the Mother of God
of Tikhvin, the robe for which A. N. Zhukov also donated.