8 May 2016. Our Great Russian Motherland: Ivan the Great Belltower in the Moscow Kremlin (Federal City of Moscow. Central Federal District)

______________________________

The Ivan the Great Belltower (Колокольня Ивана Великого) is the tallest tower in the Moscow Kremlin, with a height of 81 metres (266 ft). Grand Prince Ivan III Vasilyevich (“The Great”) of Moscow and all Rus built it in 1508 for the cathedrals in Cathedral Square, as they didn’t have their own belltowers. Like so many other buildings in the Kremlin, an Italian architect designed it. Until the building of the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in 1883, it was the tallest building in Moscow; it was forbidden to put up any building taller than the Belltower. Napoleon attempted to blow the tower up as part of his retreat from Moscow, but it only suffered minor structural damage. Inside the tower, a 329-step spiral staircase leads to the highest observation deck. It has a choir of 22 bells (18 small, 4 large).

BMD