Kutafja
Kutafja ( Russian Кутафья ) is a barbican that forms part of the fortifications of the Moscow Kremlin .
The Kutafja is located on Manezhnaya Street, as an extension of Moscow's Troitsky Bridge (not to be confused with the Troitsky Bridge of the same name over the Neva River in Saint Petersburg ), on the axis of the Troitsky Tower, above the moat and since 1819 underground Neglinnaja tributary of the Moskva River , not far from the south facade of the classical Moscow Manege .
The barbican was built in 1516 by the Milanese architect Aloisio da Milano ( Russian Алевиз Фрязин , Alewis Frjasin). Access to the Kremlin was through a drawbridge , which was raised in the event of a siege. The building was equipped with loopholes and machiculi . The interior has had neither a vault nor a ceiling since the 18th century.
The building is 15.5 meters wide and 22 meters long and is 104 meters from the Troitsky tower passage. The height was once 18 meters above the surface of the earth, today only 13.5 meters.
In the 16th and 17th centuries, the waters of the Neglinnaya River were so dammed that the Kutafja was surrounded on all sides with water.
In 1685 the walls of the barbican were crowned with a decorative stone parapet .
The name "Kutafja" is connected either with the word "Kut" - hiding place, corner or with the concept of a clumsy, clumsy woman.
Web links
- Kutafja on the official website of the Moscow Kremlin
- Kutafja on the website "World Culture"
- Kutafja on the website "Moscow in Light"
- Kutafja the world way
literature
- Ирина Александровна Родимцева: Московский Кремль Путеводитель. Московский рабочий, Москва 1990, ISBN 5-239-00780-2 , p. 40.
Coordinates: 55 ° 45 ′ 9 ″ N , 37 ° 36 ′ 46 ″ E