Nikolayevskaya Bell Tower

Nikolaevskaya bell tower was the highest building in Tula region in the past. Nikolaevsky temple, designed by a famous architect KS. Sokolnikov, was built, also at the expense of Moscow merchants, natives of Venyov. The grandiose construction began in 1800 and occupied an unprecedented area for those times. Construction of the church lasted 50 years, during the construction the church survived in fire, standing without a spire with a cross for about 22 years. After reconstruction, this cross has been standing for more than 150 years and now rises on the high spire of the 75-meter Nikolayevskaya bell tower, but a lot of people believe that there is a danger of a crash of this cross at any moment, because it stays above only due to the reinforcement. After the Great Patriotic War, there were traces of bullets on the bell tower and even on the cross, but the structure survived and still is the main decoration of the city of Venyov. The church itself was destroyed in the 50s of the 20th century. Why did not the bell tower be demolished? According to one version, the high construction served as a good reference point for the pilots. According to other version, the bell tower was decided not to demolish, because of the danger of breaking stone fragments to nearby residential houses. The third version - miscalculations in the required amount of explosive charge. There is also a version related to the construction of a water tower, for which the bell tower was adapted. Unfortunately, today the Nikolayevskaya bell tower is in an orphaned state, and money for repairs and restoration is not allocated.