The Powder Tower is one of the thirteen towers of the Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin, built in 1508–1515. The tower is round and 18 meters high. It stands on Minin and Pozharsky Square in Nizhny Novgorod.[1][2] It takes its name from its main purpose: it served as a storehouse for gunpowder and ammunition. In popular tradition the Powder Tower is also known as the Spasskaya Tower. In the 1621 land register (pistsovaya kniga) the tower is recorded as "the round Spasskaya, standing between the Georgievskaya Tower and the Dmitrievskiye Gate"; historical documents also give a third name, Streletskaya, derived from the nearby Streletskaya Sloboda, the settlement where the streltsy (musketeers) lived.[5][1][2] In peacetime the tower was also used to store grain and other provisions.[2]

The Kremlin and Its Towers

The Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin stands on the bank of the Volga and has the shape of an irregular polygon. The perimeter of the walls is about 2,045 meters, the walls are 12 to 22 meters high, and their thickness reaches up to 4.5 meters. The complex includes thirteen towers: five are rectangular and serve as entrance gates, while the remaining eight are round and closed.[3] The Powder Tower is one of the round towers.

History

Construction of the stone kremlin was carried out from 1508 to 1515 on the site of earlier timber-and-earth defensive structures, the construction of which began in the mid-14th century.[3] The kremlin retained its defensive significance until 1697, after which it was converted into an administrative center.[3] Under Catherine II, a large-scale reconstruction was carried out: the roofed section with the fortifications of the main tower was demolished and the moat was filled in; this work changed the outward appearance of the entire complex, including the towers.[3] During restoration work in the Powder Tower, old cannonballs and powder flasks were discovered. In the lower part of the tower, traces of numerous repairs carried out in 1786 and throughout the 19th century have survived.[5] The lower floors of the tower, which have no frontal embrasures, are designed as caponiers for delivering artillery fire along the approaches to the neighboring fortifications; the upper tier has 11 firing openings, and according to the 1621 inventory, the tower held three small-caliber pishchals (early firearms) that fired cannonballs weighing about 0.3 kg.[5] Before the 1952 restoration, the tower was believed to have three tiers; in the course of the work, researchers discovered a fourth, underground tier, and by that time limestone stalactites had grown on the ceilings of the combat chambers on the lower floors.[5][2] The 2021 restoration returned the kremlin to its historic appearance and opened a circular route along the walls to visitors. In 1975, for the 30th anniversary of Victory, a memorial plaque was installed in the fortress wall between the Powder and Dmitriyevskaya towers in memory of the military units formed in the city of Gorky that fought on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War.[5][3]

Current state

Today, tours devoted to the kremlin's military history are held in the Powder Tower.[2] The kremlin as a whole serves as the cultural, administrative, and tourist center of Nizhny Novgorod: the Powder Tower is a cultural heritage site of federal significance in Russia, with registry number 5210024010.[1] It houses the Art Museum, the Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin Museum, the Center for Contemporary Art, as well as the residence of the Governor of Nizhny Novgorod Region and that of the city's mayor.[3]

Sources

  1. putidorogi-nn.ru — In the 1621 cadastral register, the Porokhovaya Tower is recorded under the name "Spasskaya round tower, standing between the Georgievskaya Tower and the Dmitrievskie Gates". In historical
  1. commons.wikimedia.org — Category:Porokhovaya Tower of Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin — The Porokhovaya Tower is a cultural heritage site of federal significance in Russia, with registry number 5210024010. (archive)
  2. vfokuse.mail.ru — Towers of the Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin: History, Legends, and Interesting Facts (archive)
  3. bolshayastrana.com — Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin: History, Description, Location, Interesting Facts — Bolshaya Strana (archive)
  4. experience.tripster.ru — Unusual Excursions and Tours Around the World (archive)