Astrakhan Kremlin
The Astrakhan Kremlin ( Russian Астраханский кремль ) is a former citadel of the southern Russian city of Astrakhan in the lower reaches of the Volga . The Kremlin was built at the end of the 16th century on the model of other Russian fortresses of the early modern period (including the most famous of them, the Moscow Kremlin ). The ensemble is located on an island that is washed by the Volga and three small rivers.
After the Russian army under Tsar Ivan IV (the Terrible) conquered the territories on the lower reaches of the Volga from the Tatar khanate Astrakhan in 1557 and the former khanate was annexed to Tsarist Russia , the construction of a fortification facility began immediately, which will replace the new southeastern one Should secure the borders of the Russian state. First of all, a wooden fortress was built on the site of today's Kremlin. However, after several attacks in the course of the following years, this proved to be unstable, so it was decided to build a mighty stone fortification. Several earlier Russian Kremlins were used as an example: A thick brick wall with several watchtowers was also to be built in Astrakhan. The construction of the new citadel lasted from 1582 to 1589; In some cases, bricks from destroyed buildings in the nearby former Tatar town of Sarai were used as building material. A nearly 1.5 km long wall with eight towers was created, from which artillery could be fired in the event of a defense. Unlike the Moscow Kremlin, the Astrakhan Citadel was not designed by Italian, but by local builders who were appointed from Moscow.
The fortification today consists of the 1487 meter long, white painted brick wall and seven towers built into it. Depending on the topographical conditions, the wall is between seven and 11.5 meters high and in some places up to 5.2 meters thick. Of the seven towers that have survived to this day (originally eight), three have through gates. The wall covers an area of around 11 hectares, on which several structures built in different centuries can be seen. The most famous of these is the Assumption Cathedral , which was built in its current form in the years 1698-1710. Another cathedral in the Astrakhan Kremlin is the Trinity Cathedral; it was built at the end of the 16th century and was originally part of the monastery of the same name, which at that time was owned by the Trinity Monastery near Moscow. The former bishop's house is a striking secular building in the Kremlin: it was built from the end of the 16th century and expanded and redesigned several times until the early 18th century.
The preserved facilities of the Astrakhan Kremlin - both the fortification structures and sacred and secular structures within the wall - have been on the list of monuments throughout Russia since 1980. Since 2009, the Astrakhan Kremlin has also applied to be included in the UNESCO World Heritage List .
See also
Individual evidence
literature
- Галина Вацлавна Длужневская, Владимир Александрович Калинин, Андрей Викторович Сужневская, Кремсандрович Калинин, Андрей Викторович Сукторович Субибовин : XV - XVII. Литера, Санкт-Петербург 2006, ISBN 5-94455-523-8 , pp. 210–212.
Web links
- Unofficial website with a description of all sights (in Russian)
- Astrakhan Kremlin Museum (Russian)
- Astrakhan Kremlin on astrakhan-450.ru (Russian)
Coordinates: 46 ° 21 '0 " N , 48 ° 1' 55" E