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TRINITY TOWER
1495 Architect Alevis Fryazin the Elder
Trophy cannons near the former Arsenal. In the background Trinity Tower
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80 metres high on the Alexan-drovsky Gardens side. This is the Kremlin's highest tower and the last defensive structure to be built on the Neglinnaya side. It got its present name much later, in 1658, from the nearby hostelry of the Trinity Monastery of St. Sergius. Before that it had several names (Epiphany, Deposition, and Sign).
Like the Saviour Tower, the Trinity Tower has double walls. It has six floors and two-storey cellars originally used for military purposes and later as a state prison.
In 1685 a multi-tiered section with a brick tent roof like that of the Saviour Tower was added. The details of the decor have much in common with the latter.
There is documental evidence that in 1585 the tower had a clock, but it was damaged in 1812 during Napoleon's invasion, and not restored. The present clock was added during recent restoration work carried out in the Kremlin in the 1970s.
The Trinity Gate was the second most important after the Saviour Gate. It led to the Patriarch's Court and the chambers of the tsarina and tsarevnas. It was through this gate that Napoleon's soldiers entered the Kremlin and later beat a hasty retreat in 1812.
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