IVAN THE GREAT BELL TOWER

Description

Essentials about the Ivan the Great Bell Tower in brief

The Ivan the Great Bell Tower is an imposing sight. With a height of 81 meters, it is not only the tallest building in the Moscow Kremlin, but was even the tallest structure in all of Moscow for over 400 years. Built at the beginning of the 16th century on Cathedral Square, the bell tower acts as a belfry for the Cathedral of the Archangel, the Cathedral of the Dormition and the Cathedral of the Annunciation, which stand right next to it (all three do not have their own belfry). In addition to the tower proper, the Ivan the Great ensemble includes a former church that was added later and has also been used as a bell tower since the 17th century.

The history of the Ivan the Great Bell Tower

The construction of the bell tower

The bell tower owes its name to a former church from the early 14th century, which originally stood roughly on its site. This was dedicated to St. John Climacus, who was known as Ivan in Russia. In 1505-1508, as part of the large-scale expansion of the Kremlin initiated by Ivan III, the church was replaced by the bell tower. Because of its height, the tower was given the nickname “the Great”. As with a number of other Kremlin buildings, the architect of the tower was Bon-Fryazin (whose civil name has not survived), a native of Italy.

Originally, the bell tower had a height of about 60 meters. In addition to its function as a bell tower for the three cathedrals, Ivan the Great was also used as an observation post in order to be able to detect dangers such as fires or upcoming attackers in time. In the middle of the 16th century, the so-called Church of the Resurrection was built right next to the bell tower. Until the end of the 17th century it, too, served as a place of worship, but after that it was converted into a belfry and since then it has been used as a supplement to the bells that were hung up in Ivan the Great. On particularly important Orthodox festivals all the bells from the tower and the former Church of the Resurrection rang simultaneously.

The elevation of the bell tower

The Ivan the Great Bell Tower reached its current height of 81 meters in 1599-1600, when the then Tsar Boris Godunov had an additional tier added to the tower with today’s onion dome top. This is reminded to this day by the gilded lettering immediately below the dome. Until the construction of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in 1883, the raised bell tower was the tallest structure in Moscow and it was even forbidden to build higher buildings than it.

The bell tower at the time of the war against Napoleon

The Ivan the Great ensemble suffered considerable destruction during the war against Napoleon in 1812. After French troops invaded Moscow, Napoleon wanted to have the gilded cross closing the bell tower, which he considered to be pure gold, shipped to Paris to be placed on the top of the Invalides Cathedral. However, while attempting to dismantle it, the cross fell and broke. When the French retreated, Napoléon finally ordered the bell tower to be blown up. The detonation completely destroyed the attached former Church of the Resurrection, but the tower itself proved to be exceptionally sturdy, suffering only a few cracks in the foundation walls. After Napoleon’s unsuccessful attempt to blow up the bell tower, the superstition persists in Russia to this day that as long as Ivan the Great stood, Russia would not fall either.

After the victory over the French in 1816-23 the architectural ensemble of Ivan the Great was restored. In total, the bell tower together with its annexes now houses 22 bells, cast in the period from the 16th to the 19th century.

Visiting the Ivan the Great Bell Tower

In Soviet times, the tower, as well as the entire Kremlin in the beginning, was closed to visitors. Today, however, you can visit Ivan the Great again. Inside the bell tower is a three-story museum with a multimedia exhibition on the history of the building and the Kremlin. Those with a bit of stamina can climb the 329 steps of a spiral staircase to the highest observation deck, from which you enjoy a magnificent view of the Kremlin grounds and the center of Moscow.