The twenty towers that in ancient times helped defend the Kremlin from enemies, and now adorn the most significant architectural structure in Russia, differ from each other in both height and shape. The highest tower of the Kremlin ensemble is Troitskaya.
Tower on the Neglinnaya River
The construction of the Trinity Tower began in 1495 and lasted four years. The construction was supervised by the Italian architect Aloisio da Milano, who in Russia was called, like other Italian architects, Fryazin. The Trinity Tower completed the construction of fortifications on the western wall of the Kremlin from the Neglinnaya River, and became the same dominant facade element as the Spasskaya Tower on the eastern wall. When at the end of the XVII century the Kremlin towers were added with rich decoration of the tents, the new white-stone decor of the Trinity Tower began to largely repeat Spasskaya's decorations.
The powerful six-story tower had defense significance for the fortress, and in the deep two-story basement, after the disappearance of the military threat, a prison was located.
It is known that earlier, a secret passage was conducted from the Trinity Tower to Nikolskaya, and further along it one could get to Kitai-Gorod.
In 1516, a wooden and then stone bridge was erected across the Neglinnaya River, connecting the Trinity and Kutafya towers. The bridge also began to be called Troitsky, along it drove to the court of the patriarch and to the chambers of the female half of the royal family. Now the gates of the Trinity Tower are the main entrance to the Moscow Kremlin for visitors and tourists.
The original architecture of the Trinity Bridge is interesting - it did not span from one tower to another, but stood in the middle, and bridges already reclined from the towers.
The tower received its present name only in 1658, when Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich placed the courtyard of the Trinity Monastery nearby. Prior to that, the names of other monasteries called the Epiphany, Rizopolozhenskaya and Znamenskaya towers, and even visited Karetnaya in honor of the Karetny Dvor.
