Tobolsk Kremlin: the oldest monument of Russian architecture

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:47

In the 17th century, the city of Tobolsk reached great development, and it began to be called the capital of Siberia. Initially, the city Kremlin was wooden. However, it was often exposed to fires, so in the late 70s of the 17th century, the voivode Pyotr Sheremetyev received the royal order to build a stone Tobolsk Kremlin. So, in 1677, the construction of a new Kremlin and St. Sophia Cathedral began.

Construction

The Hagia Sophia was built within 10 years, but the Tobolsk Kremlin had to be built for more than a dozen years before its final appearance. The height of the fortress wall reached four and a half meters, and the length was 620 meters. It had 9 guard towers. Several churches and beautiful chambers (Treasury, Order, etc.), Gostiny Dvor were built inside the fortress walls. In the architecture of these structures, the influence of European architecture is noticeable, which is inherent in the period of the reign of Peter the Great. The designer and construction manager was a wonderful Russian cartographer and geographer Semyon Remezov.

For some time the construction of the Kremlin was suspended andresumed only in 1746. It was in that year that the Pokrovsky Cathedral was built next to the Hagia Sophia. By the end of the 18th century, the Tobolsk Kremlin lost its defensive significance and began to turn into the center of the city. Naturally, the fortress walls had to be dismantled. Near the Pokrovsky Cathedral, the residence of the highest clergyman of Siberia, the bishop, was built, and next to the Order Chamber, the Governor's Palace, a beautiful building in the style of Russian classicism. However, the most famous moment in the history of the Kremlin was the completion of the construction of the giant four-tiered Cathedral Bell Tower (75 meters) on the very eve of the 19th century.

Prison castle of the Tobolsk Kremlin

From the first decade of the new century, Tobolsk ceased to be considered the capital of Siberia and transferred this title to another large Siberian city - Omsk, itself turning into a transit point for convicts. Therefore, the Prison Castle was built on the territory of the Kremlin, accommodating about one and a half thousand prisoners. What famous guests this castle did not receive in its "hospitable" walls: Chernyshevsky, Dostoevsky, Korolenko, Petrashevsky and others. By the way, in Soviet times, especially in Stalin's time, this prison also served its intended purpose

Tobolsk Kremlin and the 20th century

The establishment of Soviet power brought a lot of grief to the inhabitants of Tobolsk. All the temples and churches that the Tobolsk Kremlin contained were destroyed and looted. But in the building of the bishop's house since 1925The largest regional museum in Siberia began to operate. Since 1961, the churches and other buildings located on the site of the fortress were transferred to the museum, and the Tobolsk Kremlin (photo on the left) became known as the State Historical and Architectural Reserve. Many destroyed architectural monuments have been restored and restored. After the collapse of the USSR, church services began to be held in almost all Tobolsk churches. Every year, thousands of tourists visit the Tobolsk Kremlin. Its address resembles the address of the Moscow Kremlin - Red Square, 1, only the city of Tobolsk.