| The Moscow Kremlin: the Vodovzvodnaya (Sviblova) and the Blagoveshenskaya (Annunciation) Towers |
| The Moscow Kremlin: the Vodovzvodnaya (Sviblova) and the Blagoveshenskaya (Annunciation) Towers |
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Type: Moscow Kremlin
Series: architecture
Country: Russia
Scale: 1:250
Quantity of sheets: 10 x A4
The instruction in English
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| THE VODOVZVODNAYA (SVIBLOVA) TOWER is the south-western corner tower of the Kremlin. It was erected in 1488 by the architect Anton Friazin. The tower was especially important in the Kremlin defense system, as it protected the ford and mouth of the River Neglinnaya. The name of the tower is connected with the boyar's surname Sviblo, the representatives of which were responsible for its construction. The Vodovzvodnaya Tower had a well and a secret passage leading to the river. In 1633 Christopher Haloway arranged in the tower the lifting machine that supplied water in the lead pipes to the gardens of the upland part of the Kremlin. In 1672-1686 the tower was provided with a tier top with a hipped ending. The dampness of the well was gradually penetrating into the masonry and destroying the tower. In 1770 V.I. Bazhenov proposed to take it down, but did not get the permission. Though in 1805-1806 the tower had to be disassembled to its foundation and to be built all over again, what was implemented on the project of I.V. Yegotov. In 1812 the Vodovzvodnaya Tower was blown up by the French. In 1817-1819 it was restored under the direction of O.I. Bove, at that the classical and pseudogothic details were introduced in its decorative design. The massive lower cylinder of the tower is worked up with rustics, ended with the decorative machicolations and cut through with the big windows. The upper multisided tier is crowned with the orderly hipped roof with external dormers. The main round inner volume of the tower has two tiers with the cupola ceilings. Above the upper battle ground the hipped roof, open to the very top, arises. The top of the tower was crowned in 1937 with a ruby star. The height of the tower to the star is 57,7 m, with the star - 61,25 m
THE BLAGOVESHENSKAYA (ANNUNCIATION) TOWER is one of the ribbon square towers of the southern wall. It is located between the Taynitskaya and Sviblova (Vodovzvodnaya) Towers. Its name is connected with the legend about the miracle-working icon "Annunciation" that once was on the tower. The exact date of the construction is unknown, supposedly - 1487-1488. The top was added in the 1680-ies. The low four-sided construction of the tower is cut through with the wide windows and ended with machicolations with the battle ground and the parapet. Above the opened arch four-sided construction the truncated pyramid of the hipped roof with the observation tower arises. In 1667 the Annunciation Tower appeared by description as a passage tower, for in the middle of the 17th century near it the Portomoynyye Gates were placed for the pass of the palace laundresses to the Portomoynyy Raft on the Moscow-River. In 1731 G. Shedel added to the tower the Church of Annunciation, for which the tower served as a belfry. In 1831 the Portomoynyye Gates were piled up. The tower was restored in 1866. In 1891-1892 the tower became the side chapel of the Church of Annunciation. In 1932-1933, by restoration, the church was demolished, the old shapes of the facades and loopholes restored. The lower volume, which has the shape of an irregular quadrangle, is covered inside with the domical vault with the forms stripping for windows. Once there was a deep underground place in the tower (nowadays half filled up). The upper four-sided construction is separated from the hipped roof by the plane overlap. The same overlaps divide the inside of the hipped roof into tiers. The height of the tower is 30,7 m, with the weather vane - 32,45 m.
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