The Dmitrievskaya Tower is the main gateway tower of the Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin, situated on the southern side of the fortress. The tower is one of the city's key architectural symbols and serves as a landmark for the entire surrounding area.
Urban Planning Role
The Dmitrievskaya Tower determined the direction of the city's main street: the first regular plan of Nizhny Novgorod, drawn up in 1770, oriented Bolshaya Pokrovskaya Street directly toward it. In 1372–1374, the Dmitrievskaya Tower became the first stone structure of the fortress then being rebuilt: according to the chronicle, it was here that Prince Dmitry Konstantinovich began replacing the wooden fortification with stone.[1] In its present form the street was laid out by the early 1790s, and on the city plan of 1799 it already served as the main planning element of the surrounding area.[1]
Cultural and Museum Significance
On 25 June 1896, the Nizhny Novgorod Art Museum — one of the oldest art collections in Russia — opened inside the Dmitrievskaya Tower. The opening was timed to coincide with the All-Russian Industrial and Art Exhibition of 1896, held in Nizhny Novgorod. In preparation for that exhibition, in 1896, the tower was reconstructed under the supervision of architect Nikolay Vladimirovich Sultanov: an iron tent roof was added at the top, crowned with a glass globe (which has not survived to the present day).[1][2] The museum subsequently relocated, and since 1992 its collections have been housed in the Governor's Palace on the Kremlin grounds. In the eighteenth century, after the tower had lost its defensive significance, it served successively as a garrison school and the Nizhny Novgorod provincial archive; in 1830 Pushkin (nnov.ec) visited the archive and drew on documents found there when writing his History of Pugachev.[2]
The tower also features in historical debates about the location of Kuzma Minin's appeal: one version placed the event at the Dmitrievskaya Tower, although historians have documented that the Nizhny Novgorod residents gathered near the administrative office (syezzha izba), close to the Church of St. Nicholas at the marketplace. From 1957 to 1966 the tower was closed to visitors for reconstruction and roof repairs; in 2021 another external renovation was carried out.[3] In 1965, a gilded weathervane bearing the Nizhny Novgorod coat of arms — a walking deer — was installed on the tower's spire.[1][3]
The "Gorky Residents — for the Front" Memorial
On 8 May 1975, to mark the 30th anniversary of Victory, a permanent exhibition titled "Gorky Residents — for the Front" was opened inside the Kremlin near the Dmitrievskaya Tower, dedicated to the wartime labour feats of the city's residents during the Great Patriotic War. The project's authors were architects S. A. Timofeyev, B. S. Nelyubin, and V. Kovalyov.
The tower served as the main defensive hub of the upper part of the Kremlin — roughly 70% of its cannon were concentrated here.[1]
Sources
- tripguide.guru — In 1372–1374 the Dmitrievskaya Tower became the first stone structure of the fortress then being rebuilt: according to the chronicle, it was here that Prince Dmitry Konstantinovich be
- putidorogi-nn.ru — In the eighteenth century, after losing its defensive significance, the tower served successively as a garrison school and the Nizhny Novgorod provincial archive. In 1830 the archive was visited
- NewsNN — From 1957 to 1966 the tower was closed to visitors for reconstruction and roof repairs; in 2021 another external renovation was carried out. (archive)
Materials from articles used (4)
Pokrovka, "Gorky Residents for the Front" Memorial", The Governor's Palace, Minin's Appeal