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BOROVITSKAYA TOWER |

| Moscow Kremlin

Administrative buildings | The Kremlin Towers | The Kremlin Cathedrals | Squares and Gardens

Borovitskaya Tower

Vodovzvodnaya Tower

Blagoveshenskaya Tower

Tainitskaya Tower

Pervaya Bezymyannaya Tower

Vtoraya Bezymyannaya Tower

Petrovskaya Tower

Beklemishevskaya Tower

Konstantino-Yeleninskaya Tower

Nabatnaya Tower

Tsarskaya Tower

Spasskaya Tower

Senatskaya Tower

Nikolskaya Tower

Uglovaya Arsenalnaya Tower

Srednyaya Arsenalnaya Tower

Troitskaya Tower

Kutafya Tower

Komendantskaya Tower

Oruzheinaya Tower

Borovitskaya Tower

The name of the tower comes from an old bor (pine forest) that once covered one of the seven hills on which Moscow stands. It was built in 1490 by Italian architect Pietro Antonio Solari, also known as Pyotr Fryazin. In 1658, on orders from Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, the Borovitskaya Tower was renamed the Predtechenskaya (St.John the Forerunner’s) Tower after a church of the same name in the Kremlin, which was later taken apart to make way for the State Armory. But the tower’s old name has survived.

The Borovitskaya Tower has an unusual stair-shaped upper section; in addition, its main embrasure is not in front, as is the case with other towers, but on the side, taking into account the turn of the wall.

Unlike the ceremonial Spasskiye (Savior’s) and Troitskiye (Trinity) gates, the Borovitskiye gates served a strictly practical purpose: they led to two service buildings, the royal barns and stables.

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