BLAGOVESCHENSKAYA TOWER

The Blagoveschenskaya (literally 'Annunciation') is one of the standard square towers of the southern wall. It is located between the Tainitskaya and Vodovzvodnaya towers. Its name relates to the legend about the miracle-working icon of the Annunciation, once placed on it. The exact date of the construction is unknown; presumably, it was built in 1487-1488. The top was added on in the 1680s. The shallow quadrangle of the tower is cut through with wide windows and ends with machicolations with a fighting platform and a parapet.

The truncated pyramid of a hipped roof with a watchtower rises on the cube with a vaulted arcade. In 1667, according to the description, the Blagoveshchenskaya Tower had a pass-way. In the middle of the 17th century, the Portomoyniye Gates were built near the tower so that the palace washerwomen could reach the Portomoyny Raft on the Moskva River.

In 1731 G. Schedel added the Church of the Annunciation to the tower, for which it served as a bell tower.

In 1831 the Portomoyniye Gates were backfilled. The tower was restored in 1866. In 1891-1892 it became a chapel of the Church of the Annunciation. In 1932-1933 the church was dismantled during the restoration, and the ancient forms of the façades and loopholes were restored.

The volume of the lower part, having the outlines of an irregular quadrangle, is covered with a cloistered vault with spandrels. There was a deep basement in the tower; nowadays, it is half-filled.

The upper quadrangle is separated from the hipped roof by a flat slab. The same ceilings divide the inner part of the hipped roof into tiers.

The height of the tower is 30.7 metres, with a weathervane – 32.45 metres.