the heart of the historical part of Nizhny Novgorod, a unique military engineering structure of the early 16th century, and the oldest architectural monument of the city.

Guests of the Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin, on their own or with a guided tour, can take a walk along its vast territory, the wall and admire the panorama of the city from it, as well as go into four active towers, where museum expositions are located:

Dmitrievskaya Tower (history of the Kremlin, department of nature);

Nikolskaya Tower (exhibitions about the wars of the 20th century);

Ivanovskaya Tower (the events of the Time of Troubles, the feat of the Nizhny Novgorod people's militia in 1612);

Zachatskaya tower (archeology of medieval Nizhny Novgorod).

The history of the Kremlin begins in 1221 - from the time of the founding of Nizhny Novgorod, when the chain of the city's fortifications was made of wood. In 1500-1511. was built stone kremlin, to protect the southeastern borders of the Moscow state.

There are currently 13 towers in the Kremlin. The length of the Kremlin wall is more than 2 km. On the territory of the Kremlin there are government and cultural institutions, historical and architectural monuments, eight of them are of federal significance.

Nizhny Novgorod is one of the most beautiful and historically valuable cities in Russia. The most important, most amazing and most popular sight of the city is the Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin. For the sake of it, tourists come to the city not only from other cities of Russia, but even from other countries. When visiting Nizhny Novgorod, the Kremlin is definitely worth seeing first thing. Nizhny Novgorod is just a treasure trove interesting places for the inquisitive traveller.

Historical reference

According to chronicles, in 1221, at the request and order of Grand Duke Yuri Vsevolodovich, Nizhny Novgorod was founded. Fortifications made of earth and wood were used to protect the new territory. In 1374, the first attempt was made to replace wooden fortification to a stone building. It was this year that was remembered in the history of Nizhny Novgorod by the construction of a white-stone Kremlin. During the reign of Ivan III, the city becomes a watchdog. Here the military meet to discuss further actions of Moscow against Kazan. Of course, the prince understood that the defense of the city should be strengthened, which led to the start of work on the construction of fortress walls. The construction of the Kremlin in Nizhny Novgorod in the form that people can see now began in 1500, with the construction of Tverskaya, now the Pantry Tower. Mohammed-Amiin's raids interrupted the work in 1505. And only in 1908 other towers of the Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin were built. All construction work was completed in 2016. The construction is supervised by an architect sent from Moscow by Pietro Francesco. Until 1697, the Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin (Nizhny Novgorod) was repeatedly besieged, but it never surrendered. After this period, it lost its military importance.

Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin: description

To build the Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin, the craftsmen had to spend a lot of time and effort. The construction was distinguished by its unimaginable length of two kilometers at that time. The entire length of the Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin (Nizhny Novgorod) had thirteen towers. Five of which were intended for passage and served as gates, while eight were deaf. At that time, the Dmitrievskaya tower of the Kremlin was equipped with an unprecedented masterpiece of Russian architecture - a stone bridge with a diversion tower. Despite the fact that the Kremlin had a protective function, it, in turn, was also covered by a special structure - a dry moat. In depth, this protective mechanism occupied from two and a half to four meters and in some places was filled with groundwater. The Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin (Nizhny Novgorod) had an army of permanent garrison soldiers. According to 1621, twenty-two cannons were installed on the territory of the Kremlin. The guns were stored here mainly serf small-caliber, also there were serf guns and edged weapons.

Kremlin today

After the collapse of the USSR, many cities were left without a livelihood, and even more so for development, such a fate awaited Nizhny Novgorod. The Kremlin slowly began to collapse, and already in 2005 dangerous cracks were noticed on it. Also started to crumble. brickwork, and the building, in turn, began to overgrow with moss and lichen. Restoration work began in 2005. From that moment on, the main attraction again began to decorate Nizhny Novgorod. The Kremlin was restored indeed high level. But, unfortunately, some alterations have modified the original appearance of the historical building. Conducting excursion activities on its territory also had a negative impact on the quality of construction. Souvenir shops, trade pavilions - all the inappropriate uses of the Kremlin led to its gradual destruction. The pantry and the Dmitrievskaya tower were given over to places of public catering, in Nikolskaya often gatherings of informals were arranged. As a result, the walls were subject to vandalism and lost their historical charm. Zachatskaya tower of the Kremlin (Nizhny Novgorod) was recreated in 2012. Since then, the ring of walls has closed.

Thirteen is a lucky number

To date, tourists who have passed along the route Nizhny Novgorod - the Kremlin - its towers can see all thirteen of them with their own eyes. A brief description of each of the towers is given below. These are the towers:

  1. Georgievskaya- owes its name to the nearby St. George's Church. It has retained its unique square shape, unlike many of the towers modified during the restoration process. In the past, it was equipped with a drawbridge, as in the most elite castles of feudal lords.
  2. Borisoglebskaya- named after the adjacent church of Boris and Gleb. For all the time of its existence, it was more often than others destroyed and recreated again.
  3. Zachatievskaya- named after the Zachatievsky Monastery, a two-tiered tower in the shape of a square.
  4. White- according to its name, the tower, in the best traditions of modernism, has a white brick finish on the outside.
  5. Ivanovskaya- the nearby temple of John the Baptist gave the tower the appropriate name.
  6. Hourly- the most technically equipped tower with a built-in gigantic chronometer.
  7. Northern- this tower is closest to the North Pole.
  8. Taynitskaya- the main citadel of the Kremlin's defense. Important things were stored in it, and it also contained a secret underground passage.
  9. Koromyslov- the name of the tower is associated with a favorite Novgorod legend, according to which a girl who escaped from adversaries fought back with a yoke.
  10. Nikolskaya- at present, it and the Zelensky congress are connected by a very useful pedestrian bridge.
  11. Pantry- storage tower for all kinds of supplies.
  12. Dmitrievskaya- the first stone tower of the Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin, named after Prince Dmitry Konstantinovich. After multiple restorations, its appearance differs significantly from the original creation of antiquity.
  13. Powder- a place to store gunpowder and other weapons and supplies.

Favorite legends of Novgorodians

The most beloved and often discussed legend has a direct connection with the Koromyslova tower. Historically, in 1520 Nizhny Novgorod fell under the siege of the Astrakhan Tatars and their leader Said Giray. In order to capture the Kremlin, they crept up to the walls of the treasured fruit. At that time, one of the local residents went for water and, seeing the invaders, entered into an unequal battle with them. In the hands of the woman was a yoke, with which she beat ten Tatars to death. As a result, one of the survivors killed the woman with a saber, but this battle made the Tatars think. They decided that since there are such brave and strong girls here, it’s better not to mess with men at all. They thought and went away. The second legend says that this tower was built the very first. And in order to make it stronger, it was necessary to close in its base any living being that was the first to set foot on this territory. This creature turned out to be a girl with a yoke, going for water. At first, the builders closed it at the base, but then they took pity and replaced it with a dragonfly so that the custom would still be observed.

Museum in the Kremlin

The Museum in the Kremlin (Nizhny Novgorod) is one of the oldest public museums in Russia. The decision to open it followed in 1894 from the City Duma. On the occasion of the opening of the museum, the country's leadership devoted the issue of twenty-five silver and three hundred bronze commemorative medals to this event. They were solemnly handed over to the direct participants in the creation of the museum and the sponsors of the project. Emperor Nicholas II and his wife Alexandra Fedorovna were among the first to visit the museum. It happened on the nineteenth of July 1896. For such significant guests, the museum has prepared a gift in the form of two gold medals of an exclusive ebb. Initially, its location was the Dmitrievskaya Tower of the Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin. At that time, the museum consisted of two departments - historical and artistic. In parallel with the work of the museum, an exhibition was held here, organized by the Society of Artists of Historical Painting. Subsequently, part of the exhibits of the exhibition went to the museum as a gift. In the museum you can get acquainted with the unique works of great artists, including F. S. Rokotov, I. E. Repin, K. P. Bryullov, I. I. Shishkin, I. I. Levitan.

Surviving buildings

The territory of the Kremlin was dotted with huge amount structures for various purposes. Luxurious mansions of the princely family and all kinds of temples were located here. Many of them were seriously damaged or completely disappeared from the face of the earth after the Red Guard raids. The buildings of the barracks, the House of Soviets, the government, the Philharmonic Society and the Art Museum and others flaunted inside the Kremlin. But after a while, only a few of them survived:

  1. The oldest building in the Kremlin is Mikhailo-Arkhangelsky Cathedral. The date of its foundation is considered to be the sixteenth century. It was here that the ashes of Kozma Minin were buried at one time.
  2. Immortalized by an obelisk and a monument to Minin and Pozharsky.
  3. Monument in honor of the founder George and St. Simon.
  4. Memorial Eternal Flame.
  5. The modern art museum, the building of which in the past was the provincial house.
  6. The former weapons arsenal, which today has become the state center for contemporary art with the same name "Arsenal".
  7. The Alley of Glory stretching from the Dmitrievskaya Tower of the Kremlin, showing vehicles and military weapons dating back to the period of the Second World War.

In addition to these buildings, the walls of the Kremlin are available for tourists to visit. You can get there through the Dmitrievskaya Tower, after paying a nominal fee.

  1. When creating the legendary Kremlin, the architects took Leonardo da Vinci's work on the construction of casemates as a basis. Nowhere in the country were there artillery and defense systems similar to those in the Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin.
  2. 2015 was a jubilee year for the Kremlin - it turned five hundred years old. Due to a strong fire, the entire fortress wall was destroyed in 1513. And only two years later, instead of a wooden building, a brick building was erected on the ashes.
  3. The scale of the building is striking in its grandeur. The length of the Kremlin is two kilometers, while its height reaches twenty-two meters.
  4. Throughout the five centuries of its existence, the Kremlin has repeatedly experienced attempts to besiege, but none of them has been successful.
  5. In the nineteenth century, the walls of almost every Nizhny Novgorod house included bricks from the Kremlin. This is due to the fact that no one followed the construction, and for local residents it was an additional way to save on building materials. And only Alexander II was able to stop so much barbaric behavior of Nizhny Novgorod residents by issuing an order to restore a historically significant cultural monument.
  6. Archaeologists consider the towers of the fortress to be one of the most mysterious and mysterious places. In their opinion, true treasures and important documents are hidden here. But it is impossible to carry out excavations here due to the risk of provoking landslides and the critical proximity of groundwater.

New Year tree in the Kremlin (Nizhny Novgorod)

On the eve of the New Year holidays, a children's holiday is organized on the territory of the Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin, which is similar in scope to the main Christmas tree of the country. Christmas tree in the Kremlin (Nizhny Novgorod) is held from the twenty-sixth of December to the sixth of January. The venue for a joyful family holiday is the Kremlin Concert Hall, located in the building of the Philharmonic. Usually the event is attended by more than a thousand children from Nizhny Novgorod. The festive tree in the Kremlin (Nizhny Novgorod) is a bright and colorful event, during which guests are entertained by philharmonic and theater artists. In honor of the holiday, cheerful songs are played, amusing games are held, good music is played, and all the guests together lead the traditional magic round dance. The most beautiful and bewitching highlight of the holiday is a musical fairy tale. Ticket for celebratory event costs from three hundred to three hundred and thirty rubles. Those wishing to receive a children's gift must pay an additional three hundred and fifty rubles to the cost of the entrance ticket.

How to get there and where to stay

Tourists who want to mainly mark the Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin should try to have the chosen hotel near the historical center of the city. Nizhny Novgorod (Kremlin) is visited by inquisitive tourists who want to immediately go on an excursion after the hotel. Thus, in order for the historical landmark to be within walking distance, you should choose the Nikola House Hotel, located four hundred meters from the Kremlin, or the Monarch Hotel, which is only a hundred meters further. As for those guests of the city who need to get to the Kremlin by transport, a huge number of fixed-route taxis run in the city. The most important thing is that they indicate that the route goes through Minin and Pozharsky Square. You can get to the Nikolskaya Tower by minibuses 6, 41, 47, 71 and 72 and bus number three. It is available for visiting daily from ten to sixteen hours. Ticket offices, as in all places of excursions, stop their work forty minutes before the end of the entire historical center. 34, 54, 81, 134 and others go to the Dmitrievskaya Tower fixed-route taxis. On them you can also get to the Ivanovskaya tower. Tickets to visit the exhibition halls of the towers cost from forty to one hundred and fifty rubles per adult. The cost of children's tickets is about two times lower. For foreign tourists, the pricing system is different. Therefore, to clarify prices, it is best to contact the Kremlin administration by phone (the number is on the official website). You can see the Kremlin from the outside from Bolshaya Pokrovskaya Street (Nizhny Novgorod). The Kremlin, whose address is very easy to remember, is located in Nizhny Novgorod on Minin and Pozharsky Square 6a.

The high right bank of Nizhny Novgorod at the confluence of the Volga with the Oka (Dyatlovy Gory) occupies one of the most important city attractions - Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin.

Description and history

One of the most famous sights of Nizhny Novgorod is a unique defensive and fortification structure. early 16th century – Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin.

It is located on the high right Nizhny Novgorod bank at the confluence Volga with Oka. By west side the Kremlin defenses descend almost to the foot of the slope (to the National Unity Square), forming a unique drop between the upper and lower walls almost at 82 meters


To the southwest, Kremlin walls and towers soar proudly over the Zelensky Congress. East End creates an easily recognizable flavor of Minin and Pozharsky Square.

The creation of the Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin is associated with the name Yuri (Georgii) Vsevolodovich, which in 20s 13th century founded at the confluence of the Oka into the Volga a new city-fortress, surrounded by wooden and earthen fortifications. IN 70s 14th century prince of the then Nizhny Novgorod principality Dmitry Konstantinovich began the construction of the Kremlin in stone, with the Dmitrievskaya tower located in the center.

And at the very beginning 16th century, during the period of acute confrontation between the powerful Kazan Khanate and the Russian state, the Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin as the main military outpost built partly from white limestone ( Bottom part citadel) and partly of red brick.


The formation of the Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin took place on the Dyatlovy Gory

Late 17th - early 18th century the military-strategic significance of the Kremlin was lost. The city becomes the center provinces. Under Catherine II, a systematic restructuring and organization of the city, including the Kremlin, began. On the Kremlin territory there is a significant reconstruction- the wall roofs are dismantled and the battlements of the fortress walls are shortened, the external fortifications are dismantled and the ditch is filled up, besides, the wall structures are repainted in White color, and tower roofs - in red. All these activities lead to an increase in the negative impact of precipitation on stone fortifications. The Kremlin is heavily damaged.

In the years Soviet regime there were also changes in the appearance of the walls and towers of the Kremlin. First of all, the walls were repainted in the color of the revolution - red, respectively, tower roofs - in green. In addition, the new government created the architecture of the socialist system, partially adapting the existing buildings to their needs, partially demolishing them.


During Second World War The Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin, as in the Time of Troubles, took part in the struggle for the liberation of the country from the next invaders. On the elevations of its towers - North, Taynitskaya, Sentry - after the analysis of the roof were placed anti-aircraft installations , which did not allow enemy aircraft to break through to the city. And the townspeople again formed detachments of the People's Militia.

In the middle of the past 20th century Council of Ministers Russian Federation decided to start the long-awaited restoration of the Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin. In the middle 70s a group of restorers led by a Nizhny Novgorod architect S.Agafonov the restoration of the fortress walls and the reconstruction of the towers destroyed by time began.


In parallel with these works, Memorials of memory dedicated to the last war.

Towers and walls

Territorially, the Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin is not inferior to Moscow Kremlin, A length its walls around the perimeter is about 2 kilometers.

The fortress walls that are visible to our eyes today were built at the very beginning of the 16th century in order to increase the defense capability of the Russian border town. On the importance of such an urban fortification for throughout the country says the fact that the Italian architect led the construction of these defensive fortifications P. Francesco, known as Pyotr Fryazin, who at that time was in the service of Basil III and specially sent to Nizhny Novgorod for this construction.


The long brick wall 13th powerful combat towers, rectangular five of which were travel, and the remaining eight were deaf round. high mountain region fortress walls, moreover, was surrounded by a deep and wide defensive moat. The fortress had permanent military troops.

Main entrance gate the Kremlin was considered Dmitrievskaya tower. In addition to it, the walls were equipped with 12 more battle towers.


Almost all towers were equipped four battle tiers, and the lowest plantar was located only at a height of about 40 cm above the ground. The upper tier was a combat platform with loopholes and battlements.

Dmitrievskaya tower

Dmitrievskaya Tower - the most significant tower of the Kremlin has become a kind of symbol of the city. The most fortified and impregnable, it, moreover, was strengthened by a portable stone bridge and a diverting tower. Add to this another deep and wide moat, and it becomes clear that breaking through the Dmitrievskaya tower was unrealistic.


Late 17th century, the military significance of the Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin is gradually being lost. And without proper care, the Dmitrievskaya Tower, as well as other towers, began to deteriorate. At the beginning of the next, 18th century, all of its military equipment was transferred to Kazan.

Late 18th century the appearance of the Dmitrievskaya Tower is changing dramatically: the now unnecessary bridge structure and the diversion archer are being dismantled; ditches are filled up, covering the structures of the lower tier of the tower; the thickness of the walls above the passage is reduced; rectangular windows are replacing loopholes; the top of the tower is covered with an iron roof. Together with the entire Kremlin, the tower is being repainted white and its roof red.

By the middle of the 19th century, the Dmitrievskaya Tower was completely dilapidated, for some time the governor's archive was still here, then it was empty and continued to collapse. At the end of the 19th century reconstruction of the tower begins with the aim of organizing art and history museum. This work was led architect N. Sultanov.

After restoration work, the tower returned to its dominant role, but its appearance again changed a lot. The tower, moreover, was crowned with a double-headed eagle. The museum began to receive visitors in 1896. The reigning Emperor Nicholas II himself came to its opening.

Dmitrievskaya Tower of the Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin in 1913

In honor of the 300th anniversary of the Romanov dynasty(1913) a solemn parade took place in front of the Dmitrievskaya Tower, and the next year, 1914, it was from this tower that the military units of Nizhny Novgorod went to the First World War.

revolutionary events of 1917 also affected appearance Dmitrievskaya tower. Instead of a double-headed eagle, the flag of the Soviet republic now flew over it. The exhibits of the Art Museum were partially destroyed, partially redistributed to other museums, and the tower became a workshop for the production of scenery for the opera house.

During the Soviet period, this unique medieval building could have been completely destroyed. The fact is that the end of the 20-ies. along with the bell tower was blown up Transfiguration Cathedral, located on the Kremlin territory (thus freeing up space for the construction House of Soviets). But this new government did not seem enough. As a monument, the Kremlin - a symbol of bloody autocracy - was of no value, but the creation of a large and front square, personifying the power of victorious socialism, has become an urgent task!

At the end of the 30s. a decision is made to partially dismantle the Kremlin walls and the interfering Dmitrievskaya towers and those closest to it - Pantry with Powder. Sovetskaya Square would extend to the vacated lands and would stop at the House of Soviets. And on the site of the Dmitrievskaya Tower there should have been a monument to a comrade Sverdlov. But ... 1941 was approaching, and soon there was no time for global restructuring.

Miraculously saved, the Dmitrievskaya Tower in 1941 "saw off" the outgoing war Gorky division. And in 1945, she "was present" at the long-awaited Victory Parade, which was held in front of her on the square, which changed its name from Sovietskaya to Minin and Pozharsky Square.


In the middle 20th century the next restoration this fortification. A walking deer appears on its spire, which is the emblem of the city. In the post-perestroika period, an image of Georgy Vsevolodovich, who founded the city, appeared above the tower arch.

Today, this arch is firmly occupied by shops with souvenirs, and the second floor is decorated with an exhibition hall where you can get acquainted with historical museum exhibits.

Entrance to the Kremlin territory through the arch of the Dmitrievskaya Tower

Inside the Kremlin, to the left of the Dmitrievskaya Tower, under open sky there is an exposition "Gorky to the front". Also, the Dmitrievskaya Tower is the starting point for an introductory walk along the amazing Kremlin walls and the inner Kremlin territory.

Georgievskaya tower

southeastern the tip of the Kremlin, located above the steep descent to the Volga, is fixed square tower, which is called Georgievskaya. All tourists see this tower, because next to it is the famous landmark of Minin and Pozharsky Square - the Monument to V. Chkalov and the observation deck from which the famous Chkalov Stairs begin.


The name of the tower was borrowed from the nearby St. George's Church, which today, unfortunately, is not on the map of the city. The Church of St. George the Victorious, according to contemporaries, had an elegant architectural design, made in the style renaissance, as well as rich interior decoration with a five-tier gilded iconostasis and ancient icons.

Although it is likely that the tower is named after the founder of the city George Vsevolodovich, because at the beginning of the 13th century, it was in this place that his travel chambers were located.

Powerful retaining "bulls" support the St. George's Tower

Georgievskaya tower, supported powerful supports, called "bulls", is a striking example medieval fortification. Once this tower was a travel tower, with a drawbridge across the moat - the cuts from the chains raising the bridge are clearly visible today. The passage through this tower was closed in the 1920s. 17th century.

powder tower

Next to the Dmitrievskaya tower towards Georgievskaya there is a round structure powder tower looking at Minin and Pozharsky Square.


Powder she began to be called in the 17th century when it turned into a powder warehouse, and before that it was called Spasskaya and right behind her was Transfiguration Cathedral, founded by Yuri Vsevolodovich himself. The image of the Savior Not Made by Hands, which he brought from Suzdal, was the main shrine of that temple, and the temple itself was robbed by the Mongol-Tatars, burned in fires, often rebuilt, and was eventually blown up by the Soviet authorities.

Rocker Tower

southwestern the extreme point of the fortress defense structure is fixed by the Koromyslova tower. This is a round tower structure. Pochainsky ravine was in a very advantageous military-strategic position. A steep slope prevented the climb to it, which opened up a wide space for the defenders of the fortress to conduct aimed fire.


The Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin is associated with many legends and legends. For example, there is a version that the famous library of Ivan the Terrible hidden in secret underground branches of the walls. But the largest number of myths refers to the Koromyslovaya Tower. The name of the tower goes back to the distant past, which today is interpreted in different ways. But the essence of most of them boils down to the image girls with yoke.

According to one version a certain courageous Nizhny Novgorod woman resisted the attacking enemies, killing about a dozen enemies with her yoke. According to another version, a girl with a yoke was sacrificed during the construction of the tower - these were the local traditions.


Whatever it was, but the image of a girl with a yoke is immortalized in sculptural form, it can be seen between the Nikolskaya and Koromyslova towers from the side of the Kremlin Boulevard.

Nikolskaya tower

To the southeast of Koromyslovaya, above the Zelensky congress, there is also a square Nikolskaya tower. It is easy to recognize by the bridge connecting Pozharsky Street with the Kremlin territory.


This tower was named after Church of Nicholas the Wonderworker, which once stood on the other side of the congress. The temple, which was located on the churchyard of the people's militias who died from wounds of the 17th century, has not been preserved. Installed there today Chapel as a memory of the heroes of the liberation war of the 17th century and the former temple.


The Nikolskaya tower is very similar to the Georgievsky tower in terms of its military-defense characteristics. But, unlike her, Nikolskaya remained a travel card. It was stored for a long time powder, as well as in Koromyslova and Taynitskaya. Gunpowder was called "fire potion", that's why the descent going under the towers - the vaults of this potion, began to be called Green congress.

Today this tower houses museum exposition dedicated to the wars of the 20th century.

pantry tower

Behind the square Nikolskaya towards the Dmitrievskaya tower there is a similar one to the Powder Tower - pantry tower. When this round tower was laid in 1500, it was given the name Tverskoy, from the word firmament. She was later called Alekseevskaya, in honor of the nearby church of St. Metropolitan Alexei, now no longer existing.


When the tower began to be used as an ammunition depot, it became known as the Pantry. Today it contains cafe retaining its medieval ambience.

Ivanovskaya tower

The second most important tower of the Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin has always been the opposite Dmitrievskaya - Ivanovskaya tower, which is located at the bottom of the Kremlin. These two towers were interconnected by the main Kremlin street - Ivanovsky congress.


Ivanovskaya tower - massive four-tier travel pass defensive building. She occupies an advantageous position between the towers White And Hourly. Through its arched passage, the Ivanovsky congress takes tourists to National Unity Square, where the Temple of John the Baptist is located, which gave the name to the tower itself.


There is an opinion that the construction of the Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin was started from this tower, due to its important strategic position for the protection of the marina and the city being built. But over time, constant water exposure, flowing down from a high hill, had a negative impact on the state of the tower. If we add to this the permanent fires, gunpowder explosion 1531 g., it is clear that the existence of the tower was kept only by constant repairs and buttresses (fortifications). The tower side branches were used as warehouses, and a prison was equipped in the southern extension.

In the 17th century near the prison mouth hut, so to speak, the investigative office. Gradually, the tower fell into disrepair. Only at the end of the 18th century was a relatively high-quality repair carried out, after which the tower was turned into prison. Until the beginning of the 20th century, a fire department and a police station functioned here.

Ivanovskaya tower of the Kremlin at the end of the 19th century

In Soviet times the tower was adapted for warehouse of chemicals, and under the fuel depot. All this time, the Ivanovskaya Tower continued slowly but surely collapse.

In the current century, a number of restoration works have taken place, after which a Museum of the Nizhny Novgorod Militia 1612 working every day except Monday. And on the right on the footpath leading up, you can see chapel with alarm bell, installed here by Moscow masters in memory of the events Time of Troubles.


Between the Ivanovskaya and Koromyslova towers along the very steep western rise of the fortress walls there are three more round towers: Hourly, Northern And Taynitskaya.

Clock tower

Immediately up from the Ivanovskaya Tower on the west side we see the highest (according to the natural point of location) tower of the Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin, which was used as main outpost, as well as the command post. This tower was also equipped with a city clock (hence the name of the tower - Hourly) and alarm bell.

For the clock mechanism above the tower was installed five-sided frame. And during the defense of the city during the Great Patriotic War, anti-aircraft installations stood on this tower.

north tower


According to legend, it was from this tower that the Nagai-Tatar camp was destroyed at the beginning of the 16th century with an aimed shot by the gunner Fedya Litvich, which thwarted the offensive of the Tatar troops on the city. In honor of this successful shot, on the site of the destroyed camp was erected Elias Church.

This tower, like many others, was most often used as a storage room.

Taynitskaya tower

The next tower, located between Severnaya and Koromyslova, as the name implies, had a certain secret. This secret is underground passage to the Pochaina River, for mining drinking water during long sieges.


Sometimes this tower was called Mironositskaya because of the opposite, behind the Pochainsky ravine, Temple of the Myrrh-bearing Women. During the Great Patriotic War, anti-aircraft guns also stood on this tower.

From the north side, between the Ivanovskaya and Georgievskaya towers, the Kremlin walls are also equipped with three towers: White, Zachatievsky And Borisoglebskaya.

White Tower

The name of this round tower, located to the right of Ivanovskaya tower along the Nizhne-Volzhskaya embankment, due to its location on the lands of the former Semionovsky Monastery, which, unlike the peasant "blacks", were called "whites", i.e. tax free.


This monastery was located on the territory of the Kremlin from the second half of 16 to the beginning of 18, when he died in a fire. But the tower was called for a long time Simeonovskaya.

Zachatievsky tower

Next two-story square tower, near which the Monument to Peter the Great stands today, is called Zachatievsky. She is in the very low point Kremlin territory, and it owes its name to the nearby Zachatievsky Convent dedicated to the conception of St. Anna.


Conception Monastery, approved by the wife of the Nizhny Novgorod prince St. Vassa in the middle of the 14th century, subsequently formed the basis of a new convent, which today exists as the Holy Cross Convent on Lyadov Square.

Previously, the Zachatievskaya Tower was a travel gate. By the end of the 18th century, due to soil erosion by groundwater and constant landslides, Zachatievsky Tower collapsed. The tower that tourists see today was recreated from found parts and old engravings by restorers only in 2011-12., designed by Nizhny Novgorod architect S.Agafonova.

Borisoglebskaya Tower

Tower located on a steep northeast descent from Georgievskaya to Zachatievsky tower, Borisoglebskaya, was also destroyed by the end of the 18th century. Its reconstruction by a group of restorers led by S. Agafonov took place much earlier than the Zachatievsky Tower - in the 70s of the 20th century.


The name of this round tower is associated with the Borisoglebsky temple that previously existed not far from it.

architectural landmarks

In addition to the fortress walls with 13 towers, on the territory of the Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin there are many monuments of architecture of the 17th-19th centuries which always attract inquisitive tourists. In addition to ancient sights, today the Kremlin has new monuments, and interesting museum expositions. So, if you are interested in everything, then plan to visit the Kremlin all day.

On the modern territory of the Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin

It is clear that from the moment the Nizhny Novgorod fortress was founded, its territory was gradually built up with residential buildings. houses, first wooden cathedrals, princely court and monastic buildings. Of course, there were also administrative institutions that changed their names over the centuries.


But over time, residential buildings gradually disappeared from the Kremlin territory, moving to the settlement, and administrative and Orthodox buildings grew in size. By the 17th century wooden buildings, including temples, began to be replaced by stone ones. But until the middle of the 18th century, the territory still had medieval chaotic buildings and residential buildings were present on it.

In 1782 a plan for a new layout of the Kremlin territory was developed with the creation front square near the Cathedral of the Archangel Michael. The sides of the square were supposed to limit the buildings Offices And palaces of high officials. The final reorganization of the Kremlin buildings will end only in the 19th century. After the revolution, significant changes also took place on the Kremlin territory, but in general terms, we can still see the main buildings of the administrative center of the 19th century today.

If you enter the Kremlin through Dmitrievskaya tower from Minin and Pozharsky Square, then right in front of us will be Ivanovsky or Kremlin Congress, the main Kremlin street leading to Ivanovskaya tower. To the right of it, i.e. in the northeast direction, you can see Governor's Palace, House of Soviets and Arsenal.

On the left side, i.e. in the South-West are Cathedral of the Archangel Michael, Office Building, Vice-Governor's Palace and Garrison Barracks. Of course, all these names refer to the past of these buildings, but today they have a completely different life. But first things first..

Cathedral of the Archangel Michael (early 17th century)

The most attractive historical and architectural monument of the Kremlin is the tent Cathedral of the Archangel Michael, built in the first half of 17th century. You can find it by turning left from the Dmitrievskaya Tower.


This cathedral is very small, but very valuable for its belonging to the 17th century and the burial located in it. Kuzma Minina.

The building of government offices (18-19 centuries)

In the 80s, when at Catherine II there was an active rescheduling of all Russian cities and founding in many of them administrative governorships. The redrawing of the territory of the Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin, which completely turned into an administrative city center, also began.

As housing for the governors was built Office building (arch. Ya.Ananin), which became such already under Paul the First in the early 19th century. Stayed there twice Pavel the First with sons - Alexander and Konstantin.


Today it is the largest building on the Kremlin territory, occupying almost its entire southwestern Part. Eastern almost two hundred meters in length three-story facade with columns and with pilasters facing the square in front of the Cathedral of the Archangel Michael, limiting one of its sides.

At one time in this huge building there was a place for many state institutions - for provincial government And Treasury Chamber, for the Office and Treasury, even for drawing and printing. After a fire in 1809, the building was rebuilt, expanded in the form of new wings and turned into a garrison barracks. And the officials of the Presences move to the House of the Vice-Governor. In the second half of the 19th century, the Novgorod Military School was relocated here to train army officers.

Later this building housed Arakcheevsky Cadet Corps, which is essentially a military gymnasium, for which living rooms, a sports hall, a canteen, classrooms, etc. were equipped. By the way, in the family one of the teachers of the school - P. Nesterova the future famous Russian aviator was born in this building.

In the second half of the 60s. From the Soviet period, the building is again undergoing internal redevelopment while maintaining the outer walls. Today, this ceremonial classical building of the 19th century is divided among regional legislature, Ministry of Economic Development and State Philharmonic named after M. Rostropovich.

House of the Vice-Governor (18th-19th centuries)

The formation of the administrative square was to be completed by the construction opposite Office buildings similar structure Houses of the Lieutenant Governor. The constructed building had a U-shaped, almost closed shape with an arched northern entrance. Its western front two-story side limited the administrative area from the east.


After a fire in the building of the Offices in 1809, this department in full force moved to the Vice-Governor's House, where it remained until the revolutionary events. In the first half 19th century the building was subject to rebuilding and alterations, but the main facade of the ball was left intact. Today observant and knowledgeable tourists, examining this architectural monument, they may be able to find fragments of walls dating back to the 18th century. They are somewhat lower than the outbuildings of the 19th century.

The house of the vice-governor is one of the best examples classical architecture Nizhny Novgorod, and is unique in its combination of styles of the 18th and 19th centuries. Today this building is Arbitration court.

Garrison barracks (18th-19th centuries)

An important part of the architectural administrative complex of the Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin is a sample classical style early 19th century - former Garrison barracks. They are behind the former Vice Governor's Palace, along the Ivanovsky congress and built at the turn 18th-19th centuries by decree Paul the First(architect Ya. Ananin).


The barracks were intended for family residence officers. The U-shaped structure with the main facade was turned to the Ivanovsky congress. But this building was badly damaged in the fire. 1828, and subsequently its facade decoration was greatly changed in the style of classicism.

IN Soviet time the building was being renovated, it had outbuildings, etc. Today, the military departments of the prosecutor's office, the commandant's office and the garrison polyclinic are located here.

Governor's Palace (19th century)

First half 19th century characterized, as already mentioned, by powerful transformations in terms of internal Kremlin buildings. Many residential buildings were demolished, and a few buildings of the ancient residences of the Metropolitan And Holy Spiritual Monastery. In the vacant place next to Church of the Savior construction began in the middle of the 19th century palace building for the military governor.

The need for this construction was personally pointed out by Nicholas the First who visited Nizhny Novgorod in 1834. architect I. Charleman a three-story palace building was erected in classical style. The living rooms of the governor's family were located on the first floor, the imperial chambers occupied the second floor, and the third was adapted for the house church of the Holy Spirit.

The outbuildings built on the sides of the building were intended for the provincial office, bureaucratic apartments, and a guardhouse. Special premises were equipped for the arsenal and the military guard. From the western facade to the Ivanovskaya tower stretched Governor's Garden, planted with southern trees of exotic species, equipped with fountains, grottoes and conversations.

The guests of the Governor's Palace at one time were A. Dumas, Decembrist I. Annenkov with his wife and many other famous people. Live in this house while on public service, managed 14 governors. Then the revolution broke out. The stucco molding with cherubs was replaced by alabaster sickles and hammers, the ballroom was converted into offices and meeting rooms of the Gubkom of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks who moved in here.


During the Soviet period, the building Governor's Palace was occupied by the regional committee and city committee of the CPSU. And already in the perestroika period, it was transferred to the city Art Museum, which placed here an exposition of Russian art of the 14th-20th centuries.

Arsenal (19th century)

On the Kremlin territory, in one of the largest buildings - an architectural monument of the 19th century, there was Arsenal. It was built in mid 19th century by order Nicholas I for administrative needs, and in the 21st century this huge area in 4 thousand km turned into art.


Today here is Showroom, where the most leading trends in contemporary art are presented, in which there is cinema and concert hall, media library, bar and other "party" areas.

If you want to be in the trend of modern visual trends, then by all means look into Arsenal. There is also a permanent archaeological exposition, illustratively telling about the history of the arsenal building itself and the Powder Tower. Keep in mind that every Wednesday in 2019 the entrance to the Arsenal is free, and Monday is a day off.

This building is interesting. history of your creation, architectural style and is remembered by the place where it is located.

In gratitude for saving Moscow first tsar of the Romanov dynasty Mikhail Fedorovich allocated money to the citizens of Nizhny Novgorod for the construction new Orthodox Cathedral . The fact is that the cathedral of the 14th century, which existed at that time in the Kremlin, was already in a very dilapidated state. The Moscow Assumption Cathedral was chosen as a model for the newly erected temple, and a new cathedral was being built not far from the former one under the guidance of Lavrentiya Vozoulina.


Gradually into the newly created Spaso-Preobrazhensky Cathedral, which became cathedral, were transferred from the old temple of the burial of Nizhny Novgorod princes and a citizen K.Minina. The temple existed for almost 200 years - from 1632 to 1829, when it was dismantled due to dilapidation.

New Transfiguration Cathedral, consecrated in 1834, repeated the look of the previous one. It also became a burial place Nizhny Novgorod princes and K. Minin.


Establishment in the region Soviet regime could not but affect the Kremlin buildings. Fate was decided and Spaso-Preobrazhensky Cathedral- its just blew up, and instead, in the early 30s, a House of Soviets, which became the first public building in the city and the second such building in the country (after Bryansk). The author of both structures was A.Z. Grinberg, who then worked in the newfangled style of constructivism.


While digging a foundation pit for the foundation of the House of Soviets, they stumbled upon an almost destroyed tomb hero of the Fatherland K. Minin, the surviving remains of which are only in 1962 reburied in the miraculously preserved monument of the 17th century, Mikhailo-Arkhangelsky Cathedral.

From above, with its contours, the new building of the socialist era - the House of Soviets - looked like an airplane, symbolizing rise of the socialist system to high achievements - at right angles, two four-story buildings intersect each other. In the south, the building is decorated with a glass half-cylinder, personifying the nose of a celestial liner - here the meeting rooms were located in the form of an amphitheater.

The facade of the House of Soviets faces the Dmitrievskaya Tower, although it was assumed that it should end with the Soviet Square, which they wanted to expand by demolishing the Kremlin walls that interfered. They simply did not have time to do this - the Second World War broke out. Today former House Council is at your disposal City Duma and City Administration.

Modern Monuments and Memorials

In addition to walls and towers, as well as architectural monuments of the 17th-20th centuries, there are modern memorials, steles, commemorative signs, etc., the presence of which is very useful for a tourist to know.

So near the Temple of the Archangel Michael, tourists will certainly take pictures Monument founder of the city Prince Yuri Vsevolodovich, which is depicted together with his confessor - Bishop Simeon of Suzdal (Author V. Purikhov).


This, more than seven-meter sculptural composition, personifying the unity of the spiritual and physical principles, is located on the administrative square with 2008 of the year.


On the other side of the Cathedral is Memorial with Eternal Flame installed in 1965 year in the form of a gray-granite pedestal. There are two memorial steles near the Eternal Flame. One of them with gilded wreaths is a memory of the missing.


Another stele contains images of two fighters and chronological dates of the Great Patriotic War. The reverse side of the second stele contains the names of the Nizhny Novgorod Heroes who did not return from the front.


Since 1970, not far from the memorial complex appeared Tank T-34, and since 1980, Nizhny Novgorod schoolchildren began to guard near the Memorial.

A little further, closer to the Volga descent, is Obelisk dedicated to K. Minin and D. Pozharsky installed here in 1828(architect A. Melnikov). Near the Obelisk there is a wonderful observation deck on the wonderful Nizhny Novgorod landscapes, which are just asking for a canvas, well, in last resort, on the camera.


On the territory of the former Church of the Savior (next to House of Soviets) there are also several monuments that you should pay attention to.

One worship cross performed by the sculptor V.Klykova dedicated Cyril with Methodius. It appeared on the Kremlin territory in 1994, but initially near the Archangel Michael Church. In 2008, it was reinstalled in a square closer to the House of Soviets.


Not far from the first Poklonny cross is another Worship Cross. It was erected in memory of the destroyed Church of the Savior in 2005.



This chapel was built in 2012, and next to it is the former tombstone of K. Minin from the former cathedral tomb. This slab was made in 1878 with the money collected by Nizhny Novgorod merchants.


When entering through the Dmitrievskaya Tower, all tourists see the Memorial Exposition located behind it in an open space - "Gorky to the front", which presents exhibits of Gorky military equipment that took part in the Great Patriotic War.

Memorial "Gorky to the front" near the Dmitrievskaya tower

And not far from the exit through the Ivanovskaya Tower, tourists do not always pay attention to the stone, which is Monument to the First Nizhny Novgorod. It has been here since the mid-70s of the 20th century.


It is as if the faces of the first Nizhny Novgorod warriors are looking at us from a stone block, and the inscription in Old Slavonic takes us back to the distant semi-legendary past.

Alexander (Gubernatorsky) Park

If you have some time left, take a stroll through the landscaped grounds of Governors Park, the city's first public park named after his wife. Nicholas I Aleksandrovsky. He is behind Governor's Palace.


The territory for the park was cleared of dilapidated buildings by the personal order of Nicholas I, and the court gardener sent by Nicholas landscaped it K.Petzold. The territory of the park immediately became a favorite place for walks of Nizhny Novgorod residents. Today, in this small green area, one breathes well and dreams among weeping willows, blue firs, balsamic poplars and more.

By the way, you can get around the entire Kremlin territory along the outer alley, this is also a very interesting journey.

External promenade Kremlin Boulevard

Home landmark of Nizhny Novgorod without a doubt is his Kremlin. He lies with a red stone necklace on the Clock Hill. Its walls are sovereign, unhurried ledges descend along the steep slopes to the banks of the Volga. It is believed that this is the only fortress among the Russian stone fortresses that the enemies have never managed to take.

When this stronghold arose, Nizhny Novgorod was already completing the third century of its history. In the first years of its existence, in the 13th century, the city fortress-fortress was much smaller than the current one. Initially, the Russian settlement at the confluence of the Oka and the Volga was guarded only by ramparts and wooden walls. They were built according to the type of gorodni - a row of log cabins filled with stone or earth inside, or Tarasov - a solid two-row chopped wall covered with broken stone. And at first, just a palisade could be put on the rampart, supplemented by towers, of which at least two had passage gates.

The first samples of defensive architecture made of stone appeared in the north-west of Rus', on the borders of the lands of Novgorod and Pskov: Staraya Ladoga, Izborsk, Koporye and other fortresses.

When and who built Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin?

There are legends, assumptions, meager news that the beginning and the idea of ​​creating a fortress stronghold in Nizhny Novgorod dates back to the time of the Grand Duchy of Nizhny Novgorod, to the 1370s. But convincing archaeological evidence has not yet been found. Sometimes the name of the Dmitrievskaya Tower is mistakenly associated with Prince Dmitry Konstantinovich. But she got her name from the church of Demetrius of Thessalonica, which once stood outside the walls, on the current square.

Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin- the oldest architectural structure in our city, the oldest stone building in the region.

The first work on the creation of the Volga fortress dates back to 1500. Chroniclers write that the walls at the Dmitrievskaya Tower were built in 1509. These works are associated with the name of the foreign architect Pyotr Fryazin.

The history of the creation and military service of the Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin is devoted to many pages in historical literature. But it is especially necessary to single out two names of our countrymen and contemporaries: the Honored Architect of Russia and the laureate of the State Prize of Russia Svyatoslav Leonidovich Agafonov, who for several decades, starting from 1949, led the scientific restoration of the monument, and also the historian Igor Alexandrovich Kiryanov. Both of them devoted their lives to the history of the region, both are Honorary Citizens of Nizhny Novgorod. Talking about the ancient Kremlin, it is impossible not to remember them, not to refer to their works. Who built the Volga stronghold? Our ancestors are with you. Historians believe that one worker from three or four yards and a horse cart from six households were usually involved in the accomplishment of such grandiose works. That is, they built, as they said in Russia, "the whole world"!

The total length of the Kremlin walls built at the beginning of the 16th century is 2045 meters. The area is 22.7 hectares.

military service Kremlin.


The powerful fortress walls are impressively reinforced with defense nodes - thirteen towers. Four of them had travel gates. Kremlin was built in the heyday of artillery, it was she who was the main weapon of the defenders. On the towers, cannons and large-caliber fortress squeaks were installed in several tiers, the location of the towers made it possible to successfully cross-fire in the most dangerous places.

Each tower krome has its own "face"; some of them, such as Ivanovskaya and Dmitrievskaya, have their own special "biographies"; others have a bright expressive appearance (Georgievskaya, Chasovaya, Nikolskaya); still others, like Koromyslov, are covered with poetic legends. One of the towers - Zachatievskaya or Zachatskaya was lost, destroyed by landslides and time.



About Koromyslova tower tell two legends. According to the first, which is clearly of non-Russian origin, it turns out that in the morning the builders seized and walled up in the base of the tower over the Pochainsky ravine a girl who was walking through the water with yokes. According to another version: the city was surrounded by Tatars, and Nizhny Novgorod, which went for water to the Pochaina River, was surrounded by them. The brave Volzhanka had only one “weapon” - a rocker, with which she began to desperately fight off enemies. She killed many, but she herself fell under the Horde sabers. The stunned enemies, thinking that if there are such women in the city, then the men should be even more militant, quietly lifted the siege and went home!



From the travel Ivanovskaya tower connect an episode of history that occurred in 1505, when Nizhny Novgorod was besieged by a sixty-thousandth army of the Tatar-Nogai Horde of Mohammed-Emin. The head of the garrison, governor Khabar Simsky, decided to use captured Lithuanians and captured cannons to defend the fortress. History has preserved the name of Fedya Litvich, who managed to hit the Nogai Khan with a well-aimed shot at the khan's tent behind Po-chaynaya. This caused confusion in the camp of the enemies, and they left the walls of the city.

And in the following decades, Nizhny repelled enemies more than once.

Kremlin over the Volga repeatedly during the 16th century served as a gathering place for Russian troops that went to Kazan, to the southern borders.

The military service of the Kremlin ended in the Time of Troubles.

At the beginning of the winter of 1608, the city withstood the last siege in its history. And a few years later, not far from Ivanovskaya towers, from the gate leading to the commercial Zaryadye, the great call of the townsman Kuzma Minin sounded, calling for the defense of the Fatherland. The Volga fortress became an eagle's nest over the Volga, where the Zemstvo forces gathered. In the early spring of 1612, along the Ivanovsky congress (Bolshaya Mostovaya Street), which cut the territory of the Kremlin into two parts, to the ice crossings across the Oka came to long haul to Moscow, the militia of Minin and Prince Pozharsky.

The Kremlin before and now.

It is difficult for our contemporary, who knows well the spacious buildings decorated with memorials of the present Kremlin, to imagine the close habitation of this ancient part of the city in the Minin time. Here and then was the heart of the city; moving out hut, house-estate of the governor, houses of princely families, bread granaries in case of a siege, the huts of the townspeople huddled along the slopes. Since the founding of Nizhny Novgorod, there were two ancient cathedrals Spassky and Arkhangelsky here. They were built during the reign of the founder of the city, Yuri Vsevolodovich, then over the centuries they were rebuilt several times, revived in a new look. The Archangel Cathedral in the form in which it has come down to us was built in 1631 and is a monument to the people's militia. The Cathedral of the Savior was destroyed in Soviet times. On the territory of the Kremlin there were several wooden churches, two monasteries: Spirits and Simeonovsky, the courtyards of the Pechersky and Dudin monasteries. After the liberation of Moscow, the house of Kuzma Minin was in the Kremlin. Thanks to the art and work of restorers, we can almost completely see the original appearance of the fortress, although the archer at the Dmitrievsky gate, remains unrepaired

Part of the wall and the tower near the Volga, ramparts were torn down and ditches were filled up - in their place are green boulevards, a favorite place for summer walks. But the stone Kremlin is only the central, most powerful part of the defense system of the ancient city, its administrative center. The city also had wood-earth fortifications. They covered the suburbs in a wide arc.

City fortifications outside the Kremlin.

Under the year 1363, the chronicler reported with restraint: "The same autumn, Prince Boris lay the city to fall." It is no coincidence that one of the streets of the old Nizhny was called Osypnaya (until recently, Piskunov Street). Scree is an earthen fortification, this is how Vladimir Ivanovich Dal explains this word.

Time has been kind to us: to this day, between the buildings of the conservatory and the river school, between Bolshaya Pecherskaya and Minin Street, a piece of the city rampart that has swollen over the centuries has been preserved.

To imagine the power of the city wall of ancient Russian cities, it would be nice to visit the city of Gorodets, neighboring Nizhny Novgorod, the same age as Moscow. The city rampart there still shows impressive strength. It seems that in Nizhny he had the same impressive height. The second line of defense went from Otkos along Osypnaya, capturing the Black Pond, then along Oktyabrskaya Street, crossed Bolshaya Pokrovka and, behind the Pochainsky ravine, covered streets and settlements already near the mouth of the Oka.

Wood-and-earth fortifications were frequent companions of kremlins in large cities. Anyone who has been to Moscow knows that the geography of the capital retains the name "Earth Wall".

One can judge the huge construction that engulfed Nizhny Novgorod at the very beginning of the 16th century by the fact that, simultaneously with the stone Kremlin, a grandiose for those times (seven versts long) wood-earth fort - the Big City was built. Its fortifications went from the banks of the Volga along the current Semashko Street, crossed Varvarskaya near the modern chapel and along the line of Malaya Pokrovskaya went to the banks of the Oka. Ostrog had five travel gates: Georgievsky, Pechersky, Varvarsky, Nikolsky, Ilyinsky.

By the end of the 17th century, such a defense system had lost its meaning: the borders of the state moved far to the south and east. Wooden structures quickly deteriorated, they began to be dismantled. The ramparts interfered with the growth of urban development and were gradually all torn down, except for a small fragment on Osypnaya.

Peaceful service of the Kremlin.

Starting from the 18th century, the Kremlin buildings began to require constant repair work. The new plan of the city, approved in 1770, preserves its historical center. In 1788, the house of the Nizhny Novgorod governor was erected in the Kremlin; at the same time - the building of offices, later turned into barracks. On the fortress wall, the teeth are shortened. The roofs of the towers were changed, the canopies over the battlefields were dismantled.



In the first half of the 19th century, the Assumption Military Cathedral was built in the Kremlin, the Spaso-Preobrazhensky Cathedral was rebuilt, in August 1828 the first monument in Nizhny Novgorod was opened - an obelisk in honor of Minin and Pozharsky, to the glory of the feat of Nizhny Novgorod in the Time of Troubles. Its authors were the St. Petersburg architect A. I. Melnikov and the famous sculptor I. P. Martos, who created bas-reliefs with images of two leaders of the Zemstvo militia.

Some towers of the Kremlin served the city in a special capacity. So, Ivanovskaya was used by the Nizhny Novgorod provincial scientific archival commission, and Dmitrievskaya in 1896, when the All-Russian Art and Industrial Exhibition took place, was rebuilt as the city's first art and history museum.

In the first decades of the 20th century, the Kremlin ensemble was a sad sight. Serious repairs were not carried out for two hundred years. In the 1930s, there were even voices about the destruction of the monument.

He continued to live, to serve memory and beauty. In the harsh autumn of 1941, it was from its walls, as in 1612 and 1812, that the regiments formed in the Volga city left to once again defend Moscow from enemy invasion.

The return of the Kremlin - this is how the period that began in 1949 can be called. First of all, the walls were restored from the floor side, from the observation deck at the monument to Chkalov to the legendary Koromyslovaya Tower above the exit of the Zelensky Congress.

The team, headed by S. L. Agafonov, devoted many years to the study of archival materials, carried out archaeological research, accurate measurements. After all, even the brick from which the walls were built does not match modern standards.

Most of the work was completed by 1965.

Then the restoration of the long-lost sections of the fortress began. So the Borisoglebskaya tower was re-erected.

In 1965, on the site, next to the obelisk to Minin and Pozharsky, near the expressive silhouette of the Clock Tower, which served during the days of assaults and sieges command post defense of the fortress, the Eternal Flame was lit in memory of fellow countrymen who died during the Great Patriotic War, and a stele with the names of Heroes was installed Soviet Union that birth and life were connected with our Volga land. In 1995, when the 50th anniversary of the Victory was celebrated, a column topped with a sculpture of George the Victorious stood up in the Kremlin in honor of the defenders of the Fatherland.

Nowadays, there is a museum in the Dmitrievskaya Tower, the walls of the Kremlin are open to visitors, and there is a bar in the Storeroom Tower. Post No. 1 has been located in the Clock Tower since the 1970s. In 2005, the Ivanovskaya Tower was museumified; since 2006, the Hort Club of Historical Reconstruction has been located in the North Tower.

Working mode:
Daily from 10.00 to 18.00, except Monday and last Friday of each month
Dmitrievskaya and Ivanovskaya towers - from 10 am to 5 pm, day off - Monday
Kremlin wall - from 10 am to 8 pm from May to November.

Help information can be found on the official website.

The Kremlin of Nizhny Novgorod continues to serve beauty and memory, remains a symbol of the military glory of our ancestors.

The great Russian historian Vasily Osipovich Klyuchevsky in his famous "Course of Russian History" has the following words: , Russian people of the XIII century ... also gave themselves the leisure to stand in front of this landscape and, by the way, under its charm, they decided to found a fortified city at the confluence of the Oka with the Volga.

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The Kremlin is the heart of the ancient Russian city. It is from here that his story begins, this place is trying to capture the enemies and the defenders are desperately defending. Nowadays, tourists tend to get here. And today my story will be about one of the most beautiful Russian strongholds - about Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin. During my trips to Nizhny Novgorod, I visited here, and each time I discovered something new for myself.

In 1221 Prince Yuri Vsevolodovich of Vladimir-Suzdal founded Nizhny Novgorod. Nature seemed to have specially created a place most favorable for construction: a high hill above the Volga near the place where the Oka flows into it. From here a magnificent view of the Trans-Volga distance opens, and the presence of two great rivers connected new hail with other cities of Vladimir-Suzdal Rus. Initially, the city was surrounded by ditches and ramparts made of earth and wood. In 1225 the first stone cathedral- Spaso-Preobrazhensky. And in 1227 - Mikhailo-Arkhangelsk, also made of stone. A rare Russian city in those days was so rich as to build two stone cathedrals at once.

In the middle of the XIV century, when Nizhny Novgorod became the capital of an independent specific principality, an attempt was made to build a stone wall. Alas, nothing has survived to this day. At the end of the 15th century, the Russian state faced several tasks - strengthening the eastern borders and developing territories down the Volga. And in 1500, when “a tailed star appeared, which was visible for 33 days,” new stone walls were laid. In 1505 towers with artillery were built. In 1508 or 1509, Pyotr Fryazin, a famous Italian architect who took part in the construction of the Moscow Kremlin, arrived at the construction site. Therefore, it is no coincidence that the Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin is so similar to the Moscow one. Since 1515, the Kremlin in Nizhny Novgorod became the main outpost of the Muscovite kingdom against the Kazan Khanate.

The Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin was surrounded by a 2-kilometer wall with 13 four-tiered towers (now 13 have survived). In addition, the entire urban area was surrounded by a 7-kilometer earthen rampart reinforced with a log wall. A dry moat was dug in front of the Kremlin walls. It is not surprising that despite the fact that in the 16th century the enemies besieged the Kremlin more than once, they were never able to take it.

In 1612, the people's militia, led by Minin and Pozharsky, began its journey to Moscow from here.

The Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin looks majestic. If you approach it from the side Pochainskaya street, then two round towers will appear before your eyes: Taynitskaya and Ilyinskaya. The Kremlin looks like an impregnable stronghold from here.

Tainitskaya and Ilyinskaya towers of the Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin

Sights of the People's Unity Square

And we will start our way to the Kremlin from the other side - from Rozhdestvenskaya Street.

Here on People's Unity Square was installed in 2005 Monument to Minin and Pozharsky- a copy of what stands on Red Square in Moscow near St. Basil's Cathedral.

National Unity Square

Stands out on the square Church of the Nativity of John the Baptist. She has a difficult fate. It is one of the oldest in Nizhny Novgorod and was first mentioned in the records of the 15th century. Then it was wooden. In 1612, from her porch, Kuzma Minin called on the people of Nizhny Novgorod to go and liberate Moscow from the Poles: “Do not spare your property, but rescue the Fatherland”

In 1676, the construction of a stone church began at the expense of the merchant Gabriel Stepanovich Dranishnikov. In 1814 a spiritual limit was added. In 1855, the hipped chapel of Alexander Nevsky was added to the church, in 1870 the bell tower was rebuilt. In the 80-90s of the XIX century, the building required major repairs.

In 1937, the temple was closed and rebuilt almost beyond recognition. Divine services were resumed in 1994, and in 2004 work began to restore the original appearance of the temple.

Rozhdestvenskaya street here goes uphill, to the Ivanovskaya tower of the Kremlin.

Ascent to the Kremlin

It got its name from a part of the Church of the Nativity of John the Baptist, which we just passed by. She had importance and was called upon to protect the marketplace and marinas. Therefore, it is more powerful than the others. From the outside, the so-called "stump" was arranged, where large-caliber long-range squeaks stood. From the inner side of the Kremlin, in the annex, there was a warehouse of weapons. In the southern part, a prison was set up for prisoners and criminals. In 1531, an explosion of gunpowder stored in the tower damaged it, so western wall had to be reinforced with buttresses (dismantled during restoration).

Now the tower houses the museum exposition "The Feat of National Unity", dedicated to the events of 1612. Open daily from 10.00 to 17.00, except Monday.

Almost from the Ivanovskaya tower to the right, a pedestrian road goes up, along which you can climb to the walls of the Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin. Halfway up is a chapel containing alarm bell, cast by Moscow masters. Its height is 2.5 meters. It also recalls the events of 1612.

The hill on which the Kremlin is built cuts through funicular line, built in 1895 to facilitate the ascent to the top.

The funicular passes almost at the base clock tower. Since ancient times, the surrounding area has been observed from here. The tower also housed the city clock.

Clock tower of the Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin

Panoramas of Nizhny Novgorod

As you climb up to the Kremlin wall, more and more panoramas of the city and its environs begin to unfold in front of you. Here, behind the houses, the mouth of the Oka, the Strelka, the majestic Volga are shown ... Now modern multi-storey buildings rise behind the old houses. And in the past, most likely, suburbs were already visible there.

Nearby, a white Church of the Holy Prophet Elijah, built in 1655 on the site of an older wooden one and partially rebuilt in 1874.

Finally, we climb to the top of the Kremlin hill and find ourselves at the very walls of the fortress. This is not visible from a distance, but close up it turns out that many bricks are decorated with inscriptions. Most of them are made in love. Apparently, there is such a tradition among the Nizhny Novgorod newlyweds. However, there are others, such as "Vasya was here."

Walk around the Kremlin

At the Ilyinsky tower, we notice a staircase, and then a balcony that runs along the wall. There are crowds of people. And, of course, we also rush there. It turns out that this is the entrance to the territory of the Kremlin.

From the inside of the Kremlin, a wall is visible, which descends in steps. Involuntarily imbued with respect for this fortress, built according to last word engineering thought of the time.

We're going to the side observation deck And Memorial to those who died in the Great Patriotic War. There is something very symbolic in this - a memorial on the high bank of the Volga, with a wide view of the beyond the Volga. On the pedestal stands the legendary "thirty-four" - tank T-34-85, built on April 13, 1945 at the Krasnoye Sormovo plant and took part in the battles for the liberation of Vienna.

Monument to the T-34-85 tank in the Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin

Near the Memorial there is an observation deck. The views from there are delightful: the panoramas of Nizhny Novgorod, the Volga and Oka Spit, the Trans-Volga distances ... It seems to me that one can stand here endlessly, contemplating the beauty.

Behind the memorial rises Cathedral of the Archangel Michael, founded together with the founding of the Kremlin in 1221 and rebuilt in stone in 1227. The currently existing hipped temple was built on the foundation of 1359. It is a memorial temple - it was erected by the personal decree of the first of the Romanov dynasty, Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich, in memory of the people's militia of Minin and Pozharsky. Despite the fact that the temple was built in the 17th century, it largely copies the features of earlier tented churches that appeared in Rus' in the 16th century. Its height is 39 meters, but it seems smaller and more compact than it really is.

Further, our path lies past buildings No. 1 and No. 7 of the Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin, where the authorities of the Nizhny Novgorod region are located. And then we go out to the big Memorial "Gorky to the front" near the fortress walls. The memorial was opened on May 8, 1975, on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War, and has been a permanent exhibition ever since.

On a memorial sign at the entrance to the memorial, on one of the granite slabs, the words are engraved:

Words will be passed on from generation to generation about those who, in the time of terrible trials, defended the Soviet Motherland with weapons in their hands, and about those who forged weapons, who built tanks and aircraft, who brewed steel for shells, who were worthy of their labor exploits. military prowess of the fighters. Pravda, June 8, 1942

Another -

Delivered to the front 2,360 tanks, 1,500 aircraft, 9,000 self-propelled units, 10,000 mortars. City enterprises produced combat vehicles"Katyusha" and other military equipment.

During the Great Patriotic War, a variety of military equipment. Its samples are presented here: T-34-85 tank, Zis-2 and Zis-3 guns, self-propelled art. installation SU-76, BM-13 "Katyusha", fighter La-7, cabin of the submarine "S-13", light off-road vehicle Gaz-67, truck GAZ-AA.

Model of the cabin of the submarine S-13

The Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin has many interesting historical buildings built at the end of the 18th century. Interesting, for example building №2, erected in 1782-1785 according to the project of the architect Ya.A. Ananyin, a student of B. Rastrelli. Now the Legislative Assembly of the Nizhny Novgorod Region, the offices of the Administration of the Nizhny Novgorod Region, the Nizhny Novgorod State Academic Philharmonic named after V.I. M. Rostropovich, Kremlin Concert Hall, Small Philharmonic Hall. The building is also interesting in that on May 22, 1887, the pilot P.N. Nesterov was born in it, the first to make a "dead loop" and the author of the world's first air ram.

In the square near the Mikhailo-Arkhangelsky Cathedral we see monument to the founders of Nizhny Novgorod- Prince Yuri Vsevolodovich and Bishop Simon of Suzdal.

Then we again go to the Observation deck and the Memorial. I think this is one of the most beautiful places not only the Kremlin, but Nizhny Novgorod as a whole.

In the same way - through the passage in the Fortress wall near the Clock Tower, we leave the Kremlin and go further along the fortress wall. We admire the Zelensky Congress.

Approaching Nikolskaya tower. From it, a bridge was thrown over the Zelensky Congress in 1984. In ancient times, there was a wooden bridge “on cages” at this place, leading to the gates of the Nikolskaya Tower.

More than once during our walks around Nizhny Novgorod we will approach the Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin. And every time we will admire his power.

Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin on the map

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