The color of the walls of the Moscow Kremlin: historical facts. Why was the white stone Kremlin built in winter? When did the expression white-stone Kremlin originate?

The oak walls and towers of the Kremlin lasted more than twenty-five years. In 1365, on one of the dry days, a fire broke out in the Moscow Church of All Saints, which in history received the name All Saints. Within two hours, all of Moscow burned down, including the wooden walls of the Kremlin.

The Grand Duke of Moscow, Dmitry Ivanovich, who was reigning at that time, urgently needed to build new fortifications to protect Moscow from attacks by the Golden Horde and the Principality of Lithuania. It was decided to build walls and towers from a more durable and fireproof material - stone.

In the summer of 1366, “Great Prince Dmitry and his brother... planned to build the city of Moscow with stones and did what they planned,” the chronicle says. Throughout the winter, white stone was transported to Moscow from the Myachkovo quarries near Moscow along a sled route. (The village of Myachkovo is located 30 kilometers from Moscow, downstream of the Moscow River, near the confluence of the Pakhra River.) White stone has been used as a building material in Rus' since ancient times. It was beautiful, durable and easy to process. However, its extraction was very labor-intensive and associated with high costs; this hindered its widespread use; moreover, there were not enough craftsmen “skilled in stone crafts.”

The construction of the white stone walls of the Kremlin - the first stone fortifications in Suzdal Rus' - began in the spring of 1367, which was noted in the Nikon Chronicle: "In the summer of 6875 (1367 - Ed.)... Grand Duke Dmitry Ivanovich laid the stone for the city of Moscow and began do it without ceasing."

New stone walls and towers were erected outside the old wooden ones, at a distance of 60 or more meters from them. The thickness of the walls, according to some assumptions, ranged from 1 to 1.5 fathoms (2-3 meters). Where there was no natural protection, they dug a deep ditch through which drawbridges were thrown to the travel towers. On the floor side, the wall ended with a parapet wall of a height of two feet, in which loopholes with a socket inside were arranged. The loopholes were closed with wooden shields-fences, and the passages in the towers were covered with thick wooden wings bound with iron.

The construction of the stone Kremlin was undoubtedly an outstanding event in the history of North-Eastern Rus', since stone fortresses in the 14th century were only in the Novgorod and Pskov lands. From that time on, Moscow began to be called white-stone. The haste with which the white stone walls of the Kremlin were erected was justified: already in 1368, the Lithuanian prince Olgerd, prompted by the Tver prince Mikhail, who was hostile to Moscow, suddenly invaded the Moscow lands. For three days and three nights, Olgerd’s troops stood under the walls of the city, but were unable to take the fortress. Retreating from Moscow, Olgerd burned towns and settlements and drove many residents into captivity.

In November 1370, Prince Olgerd again attacked Moscow. The Kremlin withstood this siege brilliantly. The defenders of the fortress poured hot tar and boiling water over the enemy from the walls, chopped with swords, stabbed with spears, and launched cannonballs. Having stood under the walls of the Kremlin for eight days and seeing the hopelessness of his situation, Prince Olgerd asked for peace.

Six tall towers the fortresses had passage gates - Nikolsky, Frolovsky (where the Spasskaya Tower now stands), Timofeevsky (on the site of the Konstantin-Eleninsky Tower), Cheshkovy, or Vodyany, which went out to the Moscow River (now on this site is the Tainitskaya Tower), Borovitsky (on the site of the existing Borovitskaya Tower) and Riz-Polozhenskie (on the site of the current Trinity Gate in the Trinity Tower).

At the corners of the triangular Kremlin, round blind towers rose: Granaya - on the banks of the Neglinnaya River, where Srednyaya is now

Arsenalnaya tower, Eeklemishevskaya - on the site of the current Moskvoretskaya - and Sviblova, where the Vodovzvodnaya tower is now located.

A stone bridge on arches was built across the Neglinnaya River, which flowed on the site of the present Alexander Garden, from the Rispolozhensky Gate. It is believed that this was the first stone bridge in Moscow. Almost a hundred and fifty years later, the now existing Trinity Bridge was built on this site.

We have not reached a documentary image of the white-stone Kremlin from the time of Dmitry Donskoy. It can be judged only from the scant information in chronicles and from the drawings of the artist A. M. Vasnetsov.

During the restoration of the Kremlin walls and towers in 1946-1950 and in 1974-1978, white stone blocks used as backfilling were discovered inside their brickwork, in the lower parts and foundations. It is possible that these are the remains of the white stone walls of the Kremlin from the time of Dmitry Donskoy.

The Golden Horde constantly threatened Moscow. In 1380, the hordes of Khan Mamai, waiting for his ally Prince Jagiello, began to converge on Moscow land. Grand Duke Dmitry Donskoy led his squads from the Kremlin to the upper reaches of the Don, towards the enemy troops. On September 8, 1380, the greatest battle took place on the Kulikovo field, which brought complete victory to the Russian troops and showed the growing strength of the Russian lands united by Moscow. The fame of Moscow, which entered into an open struggle with the Tatars, spread far across the Russian land. The Grand Duke of Moscow Dmitry Ivanovich, who won this victory, began to be called Donskoy.

However, this disaster did not completely rid Moscow of the threat of the Tatar invasion. Taking revenge for the defeat of Mamai's troops, the Tatar Khan Tokhtamysh, taking advantage of the discord of the Russian princes and the absence of Grand Duke Dmitry Donskoy in Moscow, in 1382 moved his hordes to Moscow and unhinderedly approached the walls of the Kremlin. For several days the Tatars unsuccessfully besieged the fortress. The Kremlin defenders steadfastly repulsed all attacks. The enemy was already preparing to leave the city, but the Suzdal traitor princes, who were in the khan’s camp, managed to deceitfully persuade the Kremlin defenders to open the fortress gates to the enemy. The Tatars broke into the Kremlin. The chronicler wrote about this terrible event: “And there was an evil destruction both in the city and outside the city, until the Tatars’ hands and shoulders were tired, their strength was exhausted and the points of their sabers were dull. And until then the city of Moscow was great, wonderful, populous, and full of all kinds of designs, and in one hour was changed into dust, smoke and ashes..."

But Moscow is again rising from the ashes of the fires and again gathering the Russian people to fight for national independence.

At the beginning of the 15th century, the Tatars still threatened Moscow. Several times they approached the Kremlin walls, burned Moscow suburbs, but could not conquer the city. In 1408, Khan Edigei stood near Moscow for twenty days. Thirty years later, Moscow was unsuccessfully besieged by Khan Ulu-Muhammad. In 1451, under the walls of the Kremlin, the Horde prince Mazovsha suddenly appeared and just as suddenly left (this invasion is known in history as the “quick Tatar war”),

For more than a hundred years, the white stone walls and towers of the Kremlin served as reliable protection for Moscow and Rus'. They were besieged by the enemy many times and were even more destroyed by fires. By the middle of the 15th century, they had become very dilapidated, in many places they were covered with logs and could no longer be a strong defense against enemies, especially since at that time firearms began to be widely used.

In 1367 - construction of the white stone Kremlin. From this period, the name “White Stone Moscow” is often found in chronicles.
In the 12th century. The Kremlin was built of pine logs. At the beginning of the 14th century. the walls were built of oak. At the end of the 14th century. The wooden walls were replaced with white stone ones. This happened in 1367, under the Grand Duke Dmitry Donskoy. The wooden walls of the Kremlin were replaced by walls and towers made of white stone. According to archeology, the towers and the most important parts of the wall were made of stone, from where there was the greatest danger of an assault.
This time was marked by furious raids of the Tatar-Mongol hordes. All this required new, more durable fortifications. In addition, as already mentioned, the old Kremlin was built of wood. Therefore, although it was powerful enough to withstand enemy invasions, it still remained defenseless against fire. And the fire that happened in 1365 destroyed the entire city to the ground. He did not spare the oak walls of the Kremlin. Then, in order to protect the city, Dmitry Donskoy orders to build a white stone Kremlin in Moscow.
So, the construction of the white stone Kremlin in Moscow began. Throughout the winter, materials were transported to it to create a fortress. White stone for construction was mined in the Moscow region, thirty kilometers from the city, from quarries near the village of Myachkovo. This stone has long been used in Rus' and was one of the most beloved materials. They transported the stone from Myachkovo on a sleigh, after which they also had to cut the stone. This was a scale of white stone work that Ancient Rus' had never known before. Over four winter months, our ancestors transported on horse-drawn sleighs more than one hundred thousand tons of building stone mined in the Myachkovo quarries. The construction of the Kremlin began when all the materials were ready, namely in the spring of 1367. This is how white-stone Moscow began. A strong foundation was laid under the walls of the new fortress, which still stands safely.
Unfortunately, to date there have been no documentary reports about what the first white-stone Kremlin in Moscow looked like. This can be judged only thanks to the available information from chronicles and drawings by A. M. Vasnetsov. It is known that stone walls and towers were built at a considerable distance from old structures. Therefore, the territory of the Kremlin expanded significantly. The thickness of the walls, according to some estimates, reached two to three meters. Also, the role of protective structures was played by a wide ditch, over which bridges were thrown. Loopholes were installed in the walls, which were closed with strong wooden shields. Passage gates were built in six towers. The first stone bridge in Moscow was built across the Neglinnaya River. A century and a half later, the Trinity Bridge was built in its place, which still stands today. After construction was completed, the white stone Kremlin became the most powerful fortress in Europe. By the way, its area at that time almost reached the modern one.
The white stone Kremlin in Moscow stood for almost a century and a half. It withstood more than one fierce attack and enemy siege, reliably protecting the city from the enemy. It was thanks to this fortress that Moscow acquired the name “White Stone”.

I accidentally came across stunning renderings of the Kremlin. These are really just hyper-realistic! Like the photos!

Moscow Kremlin 1800 is a project to recreate the structures of the Moscow fortress of 1800. Made on the basis of an analysis of images by artists who captured and reconstructed the architecture of the Kremlin of that time.

At a time when the Alexander Garden did not yet exist, and the main pharmacy still stood on the site of a large historical museum, and the Kremlin itself was still practically an island, surrounded by barriers on four sides, in the 1800s the Moscow Kremlin was white

It is known that the first wooden walls on the site of the Kremlin were built in 1156 by order of Prince Yuri Dolgoruky. This data was preserved in ancient chronicles. At the beginning of the 14th century, Ivan Kalita began to rule the city. In ancient Rus', a kalyta was a money bag. The prince was so nicknamed because he accumulated great wealth and always carried a small bag of money with him. Prince Kalita decided to decorate and strengthen his city. He ordered the construction of new walls for the Kremlin. They were cut down from strong oak trunks, so thick that you couldn’t wrap your arms around them.

Under the next ruler of Moscow, Dmitry Donskoy, the Kremlin had other walls built - stone ones. Stone craftsmen from all over the area were gathered to Moscow. And in 1367 they got to work. People worked without interruption, and soon Borovitsky Hill was surrounded by a powerful stone wall, 2 or even 3 meters thick. It was built from limestone, which was mined in quarries near Moscow near the village of Myachkovo. The Kremlin so impressed its contemporaries with the beauty of its white walls that from then on Moscow began to be called white-stone.

Ivan III gathered the best Russian masters and invited Aristotle Fearovanti, Antonio Solario and other famous architects from distant Italy. And now, under the leadership of Italian architects, new construction began on Borovitsky Hill. In order not to leave the city without a fortress, the builders erected a new Kremlin in parts: they dismantled a section of the old white stone wall and quickly built a new one in its place - out of brick. There was quite a lot of clay suitable for its production in the vicinity of Moscow. However, clay is a soft material. To make the brick hard, it was fired in special kilns.

It took 10 years to build the new Kremlin. The fortress was defended on both sides by rivers, and at the beginning of the 16th century. A wide ditch was dug on the third side of the Kremlin. He connected two rivers. Now the Kremlin was protected on all sides by water barriers. The Kremlin towers were erected one after another, equipped with diversion archers for greater defensive capability. Along with the renovation of the fortress walls, the construction of such famous Kremlin cathedrals as the Assumption, Archangel and Annunciation took place.

The Moscow Kremlin is the main attraction of the city. Getting there is quite easy. There are several metro stations, from which you can walk to the Kremlin. The Alexandrovsky Sad station will take you, as you can easily guess, straight to the Alexandrovsky Garden. The Kutafya Tower will already be visible there, where they sell tickets to the Kremlin and to the Armory Chamber. You can also go to the metro station. Library named after IN AND. Lenin. In this case, the Kutafya Tower will be visible across the road. The stations Ploshchad Revolyutsii and Kitai-Gorod will take you to Red Square, but from different sides. The first is from the side of the State Historical Museum, the second is from the side. You can also get off at Okhotny Ryad - if you want to stroll along the shopping row of the same name. Just be prepared for unusual prices)).

About prices for the Kremlin museums. A visit to the Kremlin is not a cheap pleasure. An hour and a half visit to – will cost 700 rubles, – 500 rubles, a walk around with inspection – 500 rubles. For more information about museums and some nuances about visiting them that you should know, see the links.

The Kremlin is called not only the walls with towers, as some people think, but also everything that is located inside it. Outside the walls on the ground of the Moscow Kremlin there are cathedrals and squares, palaces and museums. This summer on Cathedral Square every Saturday at 12:00 the Kremlin regiment shows its skills. If I manage to escape to the Kremlin, I will write about it.

History of the Moscow Kremlin.

The word “Kremlin” is very ancient. The Kremlin or Detinets in Rus' was the name given to the fortified part in the center of the city, in other words, a fortress. In the old days, times were different. It happened that Russian cities were attacked by countless enemy forces. That’s when the city’s residents gathered under the protection of their Kremlin. The old and young took refuge behind its powerful walls, and those who could hold weapons in their hands defended themselves from enemies from the walls of the Kremlin.

The first settlement on the site of the Kremlin arose approximately 4,000 years ago. Archaeologists have established this. Shards of clay pots, stone axes and flint arrowheads were found here. These things were once used by ancient settlers.

The location for the construction of the Kremlin was not chosen by chance. The Kremlin was built on a high hill, surrounded on two sides by rivers: the Moskva River and the Neglinnaya. The high location of the Kremlin made it possible to spot enemies from a greater distance, and the rivers served as a natural barrier in their path.

Initially the Kremlin was wooden. An earthen rampart was built around its walls for greater reliability. The remains of these fortifications were discovered during construction work in our time.

Prince Dmitry was a very brave man. He always fought in the forefront and it was he who led the fight against the conquerors from the Golden Horde. In 1380, his army completely defeated the army of Khan Mamai on the Kulikovo field, not far from the Don River. This battle was nicknamed Kulikovskaya, and the prince has since received the nickname Donskoy.

The white stone Kremlin stood for more than 100 years. During this time, a lot has changed. Russian lands united into one strong state. Moscow became its capital. This happened under the Moscow Prince Ivan III. From that time on, he began to be called the Grand Duke of All Rus', and historians call him “the collector of the Russian land.”

Over the years of construction, Russian masters stopped treating Italian architects as strangers, and even changed their names in the Russian way. So Antonio became Anton, and the complex Italian surname was replaced by the nickname Fryazin. Our ancestors called the overseas lands Fryazhsky, and those who came from there were called Fryazin.

It took 10 years to build the new Kremlin. The fortress was defended on both sides by rivers, and at the beginning of the 16th century. A wide ditch was dug on the third side of the Kremlin. He connected two rivers. Now the Kremlin was protected on all sides by water barriers. They were erected one after another, equipped with diversion archers for greater defensive capability. Along with the renovation of the fortress walls, the construction of such famous ones as Uspensky, Arkhangelsky and Blagoveshchensky took place.

After the crowning of the Romanov kingdom, the construction of the Kremlin began at an accelerated pace. The Filaret belfry was built next to the bell tower of Ivan the Great, Teremnaya, Poteshny palaces, Patriarchal chambers and the Cathedral of the Twelve Apostles. Under Peter I, the Arsenal building was erected. But after the capital was moved to St. Petersburg, they stopped building new buildings.

During the reign of Catherine II, a number of ancient buildings and part of the southern wall were demolished for the construction of a new palace. But soon the work was canceled, according to the official version due to lack of funding, according to the unofficial version - due to negative public opinion. In 1776-87. The Senate building was built

During Napoleon's invasion, the Kremlin suffered enormous damage. Churches were desecrated and looted, and part of the walls, towers and buildings were blown up during the retreat. In 1816-19. Restoration work was carried out in the Kremlin. By 1917 There were 31 churches in the Kremlin.

During the October Revolution, the Kremlin was bombed. In 1918, the government of the RSFSR moved to the Senate building. Under Soviet rule, they built on the territory of the Kremlin Kremlin Palace congresses, they installed stars on the towers, put them on pedestals, and repeatedly restored the walls and structures of the Kremlin.

The Moscow Kremlin is the center of Russia and the citadel of power. For more than 5 centuries, these walls have reliably hidden state secrets and protected their main bearers. The Kremlin is shown on Russian and world channels several times a day. This medieval fortress, unlike anything else, has long become a symbol of Russia.

Only the footage we are provided with is basically the same. The Kremlin is the strictly guarded active residence of the president of our country. There are no trifles in security, which is why all Kremlin filming is so strictly regulated. By the way, don’t forget to take a tour of the Kremlin.

To see a different Kremlin, try to imagine its towers without tents, limit the height to only the wide, non-tapering part and you will immediately see a completely different Moscow Kremlin - a powerful, squat, medieval, European fortress.

This is how it was built at the end of the 15th century on the site of the old white-stone Kremlin by the Italians Pietro Fryazin, Anton Fryazin and Alois Fryazin. They all received the same surname, although they were not relatives. “Fryazin” means foreigner in Old Church Slavonic.

They built the fortress in accordance with all the latest achievements of fortification and military science of that time. Along the battlements of the walls there is a battle platform with a width of 2 to 4.5 meters.

Each tooth has a loophole, which can only be reached by standing on something else. The view from here is limited. The height of each battlement is 2-2.5 meters; the distance between them was covered with wooden shields during the battle. There are a total of 1145 battlements on the walls of the Moscow Kremlin.

The Moscow Kremlin is a great fortress located near the Moscow River, in the heart of Russia - in Moscow. The citadel is equipped with 20 towers, each with its own unique appearance and 5 passage gates. The Kremlin is like a ray of light carried through the rich history of the formation of Russia.

These ancient walls are witnesses to all the numerous events that happened to the state, starting from the moment of its construction. The fortress began its journey in 1331, although the word “Kremlin” was mentioned earlier.

Moscow Kremlin, infographics. Source: www.culture.rf. For a detailed view, open the image in a new browser tab.

Moscow Kremlin under different rulers

Moscow Kremlin under Ivan Kalita

In 1339-1340 Moscow Prince Ivan Danilovich, nicknamed Kalita (“money bag”), built an impressive oak citadel on Borovitsky Hill, with walls ranging from 2 to 6 m thick and no less than 7 m high. Ivan Kalita built a powerful fortress with a formidable appearance, but it stood less three decades and burned down during a terrible fire in the summer of 1365.

Moscow Kremlin under Dmitry Donskoy

The tasks of defending Moscow urgently required the creation of a more reliable fortress: the Moscow principality was in danger from the Golden Horde, Lithuania and the rival Russian principalities of Tver and Ryazan. The then reigning 16-year-old grandson of Ivan Kalita, Dmitry (aka Dmitry Donskoy), decided to build a fortress of stone - the Kremlin.

Construction of the stone fortress began in 1367, and the stone was mined nearby, in the village of Myachkovo. The construction was completed in a short time - in just one year. Dmitry Donskoy made the Kremlin a white-stone fortress, which enemies tried to storm more than once, but were never able to.

What does the word "Kremlin" mean?

One of the first mentions of the word “Kremlin” appears in the Resurrection Chronicle in a report about a fire in 1331. According to historians, it could have arisen from the ancient Russian word “kremnik,” which meant a fortress built of oak. According to another point of view, it is based on the word “krom” or “krom”, which means boundary, border.

The first victory of the Moscow Kremlin

Almost immediately after the construction of the Moscow Kremlin, Moscow was besieged by the Lithuanian prince Olgerd in 1368, and then in 1370. The Lithuanians stood at the white stone walls for three days and three nights, but the fortifications turned out to be impregnable. This instilled confidence in the young Moscow ruler and allowed him to later challenge the powerful Golden Horde Khan Mamai.

In 1380, feeling reliable rears behind them, the Russian army under the leadership of Prince Dmitry ventured on a decisive operation. Having left their hometown far to the south, to the upper reaches of the Don, they met Mamai’s army and defeated it on the Kulikovo field.

Thus, for the first time, Krom became a stronghold not only of the Moscow principality, but of all of Rus'. And Dmitry received the nickname Donskoy. For 100 years after the Battle of Kulikovo, the white-stone citadel united the Russian lands, becoming the main center of Rus'.

Moscow Kremlin under Ivan 3

The current dark red appearance of the Moscow Kremlin owes its birth to Prince Ivan III Vasilyevich. Started by him in 1485-1495. the grandiose construction was not a simple reconstruction of the dilapidated defensive fortifications of Dmitry Donskoy. The white stone fortress is being replaced by a red brick fortress.

The towers are pushed outward in order to fire along the walls. To quickly move the defenders, a system of secret underground passages was created. Completing the system of impregnable defense, the Kremlin was made into an island. On both sides it already had natural barriers - the Moscow and Neglinnaya rivers.

They also dug a ditch on the third side, where Red Square is now, approximately 30-35 meters wide and 12 m deep. Contemporaries called the Moscow Kremlin an outstanding military engineering structure. Moreover, the Kremlin is the only European fortress that has never been taken by storm.

The special role of the Moscow Kremlin as a new grand-ducal residence and the main fortress of the state determined the nature of its engineering and technical appearance. Built from red brick, it retained the layout features of the ancient Russian detinets, and in its outlines the already established shape of an irregular triangle.

At the same time, the Italians made it extremely functional and very similar to many fortresses in Europe. What Muscovites came up with in the 17th century turned the Kremlin into a unique architectural monument. The Russians just built on stone tents, which turned the fortress into a light, skyward structure, which has no equal in the world, and the corner towers took on the appearance as if our ancestors knew that it was Russia that would send the first man into space.

Architects of the Moscow Kremlin

The construction was supervised by Italian architects. Memorial plaques installed on the Spasskaya Tower of the Moscow Kremlin indicate that it was built in the “30th summer” of the reign of Ivan Vasilyevich. The Grand Duke celebrated the anniversary of his state activities with the construction of the most powerful entrance front tower. In particular, Spasskaya and Borovitskaya were designed by Pietro Solari.

In 1485, under the leadership of Antonio Gilardi, the powerful Taynitskaya Tower was built. In 1487, another Italian architect, Marco Ruffo, began to build Beklemishevskaya, and later Sviblova (Vodovzvodnaya) appeared on the opposite side. These three structures set the direction and rhythm for all subsequent construction.

The Italian origin of the main architects of the Moscow Kremlin is not accidental. At that time, it was Italy that came to the fore in the theory and practice of fortification construction. Design features indicate that its creators were familiar with the engineering ideas of such outstanding representatives of the Italian Renaissance as Leonardo da Vinci, Leon Battista Alberti, and Filippo Brunelleschi. In addition, it was the Italian architectural school that “gave” Stalin’s skyscrapers in Moscow.

By the beginning of the 1490s, four more blind towers appeared (Blagoveshchenskaya, 1st and 2nd Nameless and Petrovskaya). All of them, as a rule, repeated the line of the old fortifications. The work was carried out gradually, in such a way that there were no open areas in the fortress through which the enemy could suddenly attack.

In the 1490s, the construction was curated by the Italian Pietro Solari (aka Pyotr Fryazin), with whom his compatriots Antonio Gilardi (aka Anton Fryazin) and Aloisio da Carcano (Aleviz Fryazin) worked. 1490-1495 The Moscow Kremlin was replenished with the following towers: Konstantino-Eleninskaya, Spasskaya, Nikolskaya, Senate, Corner Arsenalnaya and Nabatnaya.

Secret passages in the Moscow Kremlin

In case of danger, the Kremlin defenders had the opportunity to quickly move through secret underground passages. In addition, internal passages were built in the walls, connecting all the towers. The Kremlin defenders could thus concentrate as necessary on a dangerous section of the front or retreat if the enemy forces outnumbered them.

Long underground tunnels were also dug, thanks to which it was possible to observe the enemy in the event of a siege, as well as to make surprise attacks on the enemy. Some underground tunnels went beyond the Kremlin.

Some towers had more than just a defensive function. For example, Tainitskaya hid a secret passage from the fortress to the Moscow River. Wells were made in Beklemishevskaya, Vodovzvodnaya and Arsenalnaya, with the help of which water could be delivered if the city was under siege. The well in Arsenalnaya has survived to this day.

Within two years, Kolymazhnaya (Komendantskaya) and Granenaya (Srednyaya Arsenalnaya) fortresses rose in orderly ranks, and in 1495 the construction of Trinity began. The construction was led by Aleviz Fryazin.

Chronology of events

Of the year	Event
1156	The first wooden citadel was erected on Borovitsky Hill
1238	The troops of Khan Batu marched through Moscow, as a result, most of the buildings were burned. In 1293, the city was once again ravaged by the Mongol-Tatar troops of Duden
1339-1340	Ivan Kalita built mighty oak walls around the Kremlin. From 2 to 6 m in thickness and up to 7 m in height
1367-1368	Dmitry Donskoy built a white stone fortress. The white stone Kremlin shone for more than 100 years. Since then, Moscow began to be called “white stone”
1485-1495	Ivan III the Great built a red brick citadel. The Moscow Kremlin is equipped with 17 towers, the height of the walls is 5-19 m, and the thickness is 3.5-6.5 m
1534-1538	A new ring of fortress defensive walls was built, called Kitay-Gorod. From the south, the walls of Kitai-Gorod adjoined the walls of the Kremlin at the Beklemishevskaya Tower, from the north – to the Corner Arsenalnaya
1586-1587	Boris Godunov surrounded Moscow with two more rows of fortress walls, called the Tsar City, and later the White City. They covered the territory between modern central squares and the Boulevard Ring
1591	Another ring of fortifications, 14 miles long, was built around Moscow, covering the territory between the Boulevard and Garden Rings. Construction was completed within one year. The new fortress was named Skorodoma. So Moscow was enclosed in four rings of walls, which had a total of 120 towers