Northeast Tower of the Kazan Kremlin

The Northeast Tower of the Kazan Kremlin is the remains of a round white-stone fortress tower from the late 17th century in the northeast corner of the Kremlin walls in Kazan, Republic of Tatarstan. It stood on the upper terrace of the Kremlin hill above today's Baturin Street; what survives is a conserved base, partly rebuilt to the level of the lower tier.

History

The tower was built at the end of the 17th century by Moscow craftsmen. In appearance it followed the tradition of Pskov fortress architecture typical of the Kazan Kremlin's white-stone defences. It was small but slender: a cylindrical body of four tiers projecting from the line of the walls, so that defenders could fire along the curtain walls. Its loopholes faced the slope towards present-day Baturin Street.

In the 18th century, once the Kremlin had lost its military role, the tower was dismantled; accounts of the Kremlin's history link this to the period after Pugachev's assault on Kazan. Its original appearance has not survived.

Excavation and conservation

Archaeologists studied the site in 1999–2000 and uncovered the tower's base. In 2004 the remains were conserved under the direction of the architect-restorer S. A. Mamleeva. The lost upper tiers were not reconstructed: the masonry was raised only to the level of the lower tier, showing the plan and the thickness of the walls without inventing what is not known.

What to see

Today the Northeast Tower is an archaeological fragment of a 17th-century structure: a round white-stone base projecting from the Kremlin wall. It shows how the fortress was defended and what its lost towers were like. It is worth a look for visitors walking around the towers of the Kazan Kremlin and for anyone interested in its history and architecture.

Getting there

The tower is inside the Kazan Kremlin. The nearest metro station is Kremlyovskaya. The main entrance is through the Spasskaya Tower from Millennium Square, and there are other gates as well. From the entrance, walk across the Kremlin grounds to the northeast corner of the walls.