The majestic Tula Kremlin is a key attraction of Tula, its historical and cultural center, a gathering place for tourist groups and one of the best locations for photos. This is the business card of the city, which should not be ignored. The architectural and high—rise dominants of the fortress are towers, there are nine of them in total in the Tula fortress. These objects are different, but there is something that unites them — it is grace, architectural unity, beauty and artfulness of execution.
The stone fortress includes five blind towers. Four of them are located at the corners of the rectangle — Nikitskaya, Ivanovskaya (Tainitskaya), Nagulnaya, closest to the Upa River, and Spasskaya. The fifth was rectangular in the cellar, and under it was a voivodeship cellar with gunpowder, food and weapons supplies. It is located northeast of the Kremlin. In addition to the blind towers, the stone fortress also includes four passageways — Pyatnitsky, Odoevsky, Ivanovsky and Vodiany Gates.
The Kremlin is the pride and decoration of Tula, and each of its towers is an independent fortress with its own history. In 1980, the towers were restored. The restoration gave a second life to the destroyed objects. In 2020, for the five-century anniversary of the Tula Kremlin, the towers underwent another large-scale restoration. Today they are architectural structures in which historical authenticity and modern urban environment are organically intertwined.
In the 60s, the Spasskaya and Nikitskaya towers were restored. Cannonballs made of stone and cast iron, forged "hedgehogs" with four pointed tips were discovered here during the work. During the Mongol invasion of Russia, metal "hedgehogs" were scattered along the roads leading to the stone fortress. It was an effective means of dealing with the Tatar cavalry: horses stepped on sharp metal tips and could no longer participate in battles.
She was named for a reason. In ancient times, the road that led to the city of Odoyev began from this tower. It has been preserved to this day. Today, this road is the central thoroughfare of the city — Lenin Avenue. The tower is also called the Kazan Tower. The second name was obtained thanks to the icon of the Kazan Mother of God — the holy face was located on the facade and in a niche.
The loophole of the tower was located on the site of the modern passage, at that time it was located from the side to the southwest. The passage was locked from the inside and outside with oak gates. The coat of arms of Tula was majestically displayed on the pointed end of the tower.
The history of the coat of arms deserves special attention. Since Peter the Great's reforms, the territorial heraldry of Russia has been actively developing. At the beginning of the 18th century, Peter the Great issued a decree according to which each city had to have its own coat of arms. The Heraldmaster's Office took over their development, and the main work fell on the shoulders of Count Francisco Santi of Italian origin.
The count held meetings with the people, during the conversations he tried to find out what was remarkable about Tula. At that time, mass anniversary events and colorful balls were held in the city in honor of the tenth anniversary of the arms factory. Imbued with the atmosphere of celebration and carefree fun, the townspeople were unanimous in their opinion — the most interesting thing in Tula was the weapons factory. The count listened to the people and soon presented his creation — a coat of arms with the image of swords and hammers.
The round blind tower, located in the corner of the southern wall, was named after the church of the Great Martyr Nikita. It was located in an area called the Nikitsky End. The entire volume of the tower is divided into three tiers, with a stone vault located above the lowest one. In the 17th century, a torture chamber was set up here, where all those who fell under suspicion of the authorities were sent. The executioners resorted to sadistic methods of torture: they hammered wooden stakes and nails under their nails, beat people with belts with special cruelty, and hung people from hooks — this is how the executioners extracted the "inside" truth.
Located in one of the corners, the three-story Ivanovskaya tower is considered the most elegant of all the "sisters". Previously, there was an underground passage in its lower tier. The length of the "hiding place" was no more than 70 meters, inside it was lined with oak veneer. Because of the underground passage in the XVI century, this tower was called Tainitskaya. The cache led to the shore of the Upa and was used to replenish water supplies. Over time, the oak paneling rotted away, and in the 17th century, the course collapsed: in this form, it has survived to this day. The reconstruction of the "hiding place", as well as archaeological excavations, was not carried out here.
Its location is the southeastern side of the Water Gate. The tower on the Cellar is square and deaf. It has two bridges that divide the object into tiers. In the old days, there was a cellar under the tower. It was used to store military supplies and food in case of prolonged fighting. The fortress on the Cellar is distinguished from other square—shaped towers by the absence of steam loopholes - overhanging walls with holes through which red-hot resin was poured on enemies. From the south-east, a passage remained in the Kremlin wall — an exit to the shore of the Upa. It is recessed into the base, possibly to cover it with a shield. Due to the passage, this tower in the inventory of 1629 is called the tower "at the small gate to the cellar." At the end of the 18th century, the Moscow coat of arms was erected over it, it decorated the object until 1821.
It is a square-shaped tower located in the northeastern wall of the Tula fortress. It was named so because of the procession that passed through the gates from the Kremlin to the shore of the Upa. In the 17th century, the Church of the Resurrection of the Lord was built next to the tower, which is why it was formerly called the Resurrection.
Externally, this tower resembles the Tainitskaya tower — it is just as round and deaf. Previously, it was called "Angled to the river" because it was closest to the Upa. In the inventories of 1685, there is another name — "Coal versus meat row." This name was given for a reason: there were shopping malls on the outside of the Kremlin where you could buy meat. This tower is the only one untouched by restoration.
It was named after the Pyatnitskaya Church, built in the 16th century next to the western wall of the Kremlin. Vaulted chambers are provided in the tower, in the XVI century they served as a place of storage and storage of banners, carbines, bullets made of lead and gunpowder, called "potion". The scribal books contain information about the fire in Tula on June 7, 1568. The fire caused the explosion of the "treasury with potions", which partially destroyed the Pyatnitsky gate. This event is indirectly confirmed by the fact that the tower lacks the white stone elements typical of other Kremlin buildings.
