There was not large Ivanov Bell-Tower in the centre of the Kremlin at the beginning of the 14-th century under the Grand Prince Ivan the Moneybag. In due course it was in a bad state of disrepair and on the order of the Prince Ivan III a stone bell-tower was errected at the same place. Under the Tsar Boris Godunov two tiers were built on the bell-tower and the dome became golden. Now the height of it is 81 metres. The tower consists of three sections, combined into a single harmonic whole. It needs 329 steps to climb to the dome, from which there are splendid views of Moscow. It is said that the tower's foundations go down to a depth of just over four metres below ground level. Later two belfries were attached to the bell-tower with more than 20 bells.
Now Ivan the Great Bell-Tower is a world-famous monument of the 16-th century Russian architecture. It is the main compositional focal point of the Kremlin ensemble. It unites around it, so to say, all the various buildings of different periods and styles. |