The well-known saying “Moscow was not built right away” applies equally to the main Moscow attraction - the Kremlin. Previously, a wooden fortress stood in its place, which received its present name at the beginning of the 14th century, when Prince Yuri Dolgoruky decided to build a new city around it. How was the great Kremlin built?
Kremlin construction
The Kremlin has long been called a stone fairy tale, which has been embodied for more than one century. Until the 14th century, the fortress was guarded by a powerful oak wall, which at that time was a reliable defensive fortification. Behind the wall there were buildings called posads, and behind them were the settlements, which were called "out-of-town". In those days, fires often happened in Moscow, so Prince Dmitry Donskoy ordered to build low stone fortifications instead of wooden walls, after which the Kremlin began to be called a stone city.
Each tower of the modern Kremlin wall has its own history and marks certain things that happened in Russian history.
However, in those days the walls of the Kremlin looked somewhat different than in our time. Along with each new century, the architecture of the Moscow landmark changed in accordance with current trends in construction. The kings who ruled the country also contributed to the change in the Kremlin, leaving behind a memory in the annals of the stone city. However, despite the constant adjustments, additions and alterations made to the Kremlin architecture, today's Kremlin has approximately the same appearance as during its construction in the 15-16 centuries.
Features of the Kremlin
The Kremlin has many special buildings, but the most sacred of them are several. So, in the 17th century, hipped roofs and white-stone human figures were built over the Kremlin towers, which adorned the appearance of the Spasskaya Tower. At that time, such decorations were a very exotic and unusual phenomenon for Moscow, so the tsar ordered the statues to be dressed in caftans, so that the townspeople could get used to them more easily.
The total length of the Kremlin wall is 2235 meters, and the number of its teeth is 1045.
Simultaneously with the statues, the first chimes (striking clocks) were installed on the Spasskaya Tower, but during the next fire they were destroyed along with the statues. Later, the tower was restored and gave it the look that is known throughout Russia today.
Another feature of the Kremlin is the formidable Trinity Tower with Kutafya, which is pushed forward and gives the impression of being embedded in the ground. There is a legend about the Trinity Tower, which says that in 1812 at this place the first partisans of the Patriotic War gave a serious rebuff to the Napoleonic troops who seized Moscow.
