The White Tower is one of the 13 towers of the Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin, built in 1508–1515.[1] The tower is round in shape and stands in the northeastern part of the fortress.[1] It is part of the Architectural Monument of Federal Significance — the Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin.[1]
Place in the System of Kremlin Fortifications
The Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin was built under the direction of the architect Pyotr Fryazin (Pietro Francesco), invited from Moscow by decree of Grand Prince Vasily III.[1] The fortress has the shape of an irregular polygon; the walls are 2,045 meters long, 12 to 22 meters high, and 3.5 to 4.5 meters thick.[1] The towers range in height from 18 to 30 meters.[1] Of the Kremlin's 13 towers, five are rectangular (square) and serve as gate towers; the other eight, including the White Tower, are round and have no passage through them.[1] The round towers allowed flanking fire along the adjacent walls.
Origin of the Name and History
During the reign of Catherine II, the kremlin underwent a large-scale reconstruction: the roofing and fortifications of several towers were taken down, and the moat was filled in. As a result of this work, the lower tiers of the towers were flooded by groundwater. The kremlin walls were whitewashed at the same time — apparently the origin of the name "White Tower." An alternative version of the name's origin exists: the tower was built on monastery ("white") land, exempt from state taxes and obligations — unlike the "black" peasant lands, which were taxed for the tsar's benefit.[4] With the establishment of Soviet power the walls were repainted red once more, and the roofs green.
After another round of repairs, from 1831 the tower housed the archive of the Treasury Chamber, and from 1889 to 1924 the archive of the Nizhny Novgorod Governorate Scholarly Commission.[4] Because of frequent landslides on the Volga banks, the foundations of the kremlin walls were repeatedly deformed, requiring numerous repairs; as a result, the White Tower surpassed all the other round towers of the kremlin in the number of loopholes.[4] In the 16th and 17th centuries, the Monastery of St. Simeon Stylites stood next to the tower inside the kremlin; it was founded in 1574 by disgraced Novgorodians. After the fire of 1715 the monastery burned down and was not rebuilt, yet the tower retained the name "Simeonovskaya" for some time.[4]
Current state
The kremlin operates as an open-air museum. A circular route runs along the fortress wall — the longest of any kremlin in Russia.[2] Four of the towers house modern historical exhibitions.[2] The White Tower is marked on the kremlin's official interactive map and is included in the summer museum route, which runs from April to November.[2]
The tower is a round, four-tiered structure crowned with a wooden roof; the lower part of the outer façade facing the Volga is faced with white limestone over less than half its surface.[4]
In the 2020s, walled-up interior rooms in the tower were opened, access to which had remained closed for more than two centuries; restorers began clearing away construction debris and assessing the condition of the brickwork and foundation, and historians and archaeologists were to be brought in for further study.[5]
Sources
- putidorogi-nn.ru — The tower is a round, four-tiered structure crowned with a wooden roof. The lower part of the outer facade, facing the Volga, is less che
- pravda.ru — In the 2020s, walled-up interior rooms were uncovered in the tower, access to which had remained closed for more than two centuries. Restorers began clearing
- putevka.com — Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin: history, towers, what to see, tickets and how to get there (archive)
- ngiamz.ru — Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin — Official museum website (archive)
- bolshayastrana.com — Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin: history, description, location, interesting facts — Bolshaya Strana (archive)