Nikolskaya Tower is a travel tower of the Moscow Kremlin overlooking Red Square (Moscow).
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 Gothic style by the architects Luigi Rusca and Alexei Bakarev. In 1816-1819, under the guidance of the architect Osip Bove, the building was restored in the same form.
In the book “The Moscow Kremlin in Antiquity and Now,” historian Sergei Bartenev gives the following dimensions of the tower: height – 66.14 meters, base perimeter – 61.87 meters, the height of the bottom – 19.20 meters, the height of the top is 46.9 meters.
The octahedral volume of the second tier is cut into the lower quadrangle and completed with a dome. Two rows of low-rounded windows cut the side parts of the building and are devoid of decorations, which contrasts 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 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 illuminating rows of windows. The characteristic features of the tower are the white-stone decor in the Gothic style, as well as four elevations-vials.
The tower consists of five floors, three located in the lower part of the building. Its second and third tiers have four sides on the outside, but inside, they are an octagon. The tetrahedral volume is similar in structure to the base of the Spasskaya Tower but lower.
Nearest metro stations: Okhotny Ryad, Teatralnaya, Revolution Square, Kitay-gorod.
Red square ensemble (full list):
Cathedral of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God
Monument to Minin and Pozharsky
House of the Provincial Government
See also Architecture of Moscow, Palaces and most historic buildings of Moscow.