Bridge tower. Izmailovo Manor is a boyar estate of the XIV century. The architectural ensemble of the estate

Izmailovo (Izmailovsky Island, Bauman Town) is a former royal estate built in the second half of the 17th century on the Serebryanka River.
Izmailovo - the Romanov family estate. Tsar Ivan the Terrible granted her to the representative of this dynasty, Nikita Romanovich Zakharyin-Yuriev, the brother of his first wife Anastasia Romanovna. She was inherited from him by her youngest son, Ivan Nikitich, nicknamed "Porridge." In the Time of Troubles, the estate of Ivan Nikitich was launched, but with the accession to the royal throne of his native nephew Mikhail, it began to revive quickly. Since 1640, the estate was owned by the son of Ivan Nikitich, Nikita Ivanovich. After his death in 1654, Nikita Ivanovich, the village was taken over by the Order of the Grand Palace, becoming a suburban estate of the imperial family.
Under Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich in 1667, the Robka River (now Serebryanka) was blocked by dams so that the formed Silver-Grape Pond surrounded the so-called Izmailovsky Island, on which the royal estate was located. The center of the estate was Gosudarev Yard (built in 1664-1690). Around it were numerous outbuildings. In the years 1671-1679. Kostroma craftsmen in place of the wooden church that existed from the beginning of the 17th century, built the stone Pokrovsky Cathedral. Not far away was built the Church of Tsarevich Joasaph. A stone bridge with a length of about 100 m led to the island, ending with a three-tiered bridge tower. In the second tier of the tower, sometimes meetings of the Boyar Duma took place.
Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich was fond of falconry in the forests surrounding Izmailovo. In addition, he experienced various innovations in the estate. So, already in the 1670s. in Izmailovsky royal estate there was a home theater, one of the first in Russia; the name of one of his actors is known - the singer and painter Vasily Repsky. The estate was experimented with growing rare plants (grapes, watermelons, etc.). One of the country's first glass factories was opened, producing highly artistic products, mainly for decorating royal feasts. For the organization of glasswork and the cultivation of foreign plants, foreign specialists were involved in the work. For swimming on ponds and rivers in the estate there was a boat discharged from England, which was later discovered by young Peter I, and which he later transferred to St. Petersburg and called it "the grandfather of the Russian fleet."

Since 1696, Tsarina Praskovya Fedorovna, the widow of Tsar Ivan V, and the three daughters of the Tsarina, Princess Catherine, Annaai Praskovia, lived in Izmailovo. During the stay of the widow queen Praskovya Fedorovna, Izmailovo remained an island of old Russia, which was not affected by the turbulent transformations of Tsar Peter I. A new palace was built specifically for the widow queen in the estate. The court of the dowager queen was made up of two and a half hundreds of stewards, the staff of the tsaritsyna and the princess’s rooms, dozens of servants, mothers, nannies and nurses. At this time, the estate was a quiet suburban idyll. Apple, pear and cherry orchards surrounded the shores of twenty ponds. In the ponds there were sterlets with gold rings in the gills, which, as the historian Semevsky noted, were still dressed under Tsar Ivan IV Vasilievich. Tropical plants and overseas tulips grew in the greenhouses of the estate. The estate had a mulberry garden and a fruiting vineyard. There was a court theater in the palace, in which plays were staged. A German traveler Korb, who visited the estate at the end of the 17th century, describing this country idyll, noticed that the gentle melodies of flutes and trumpets “were connected with the quiet rustle of the wind, which slowly flowed from the tops of the trees”.

In 1728, the teenage emperor Peter II, who arrived in Moscow for the coronation, lingered for a long time in Izmailovo under the influence of the Dolgorukovs, an influential clan of the old aristocracy, whose members managed to remove the powerful Menshikov from power and planned to marry the emperor to their relative. The emperor spent almost all the time on the hunt, and the Izmaylovsky forest lands bordered on the possessions of Dolgoruky and were connected by a single system of ponds. However, the plans of the influential family were not destined to come true - the emperor soon died, and Dolgoruky expected disgrace.
In 1812, Izmailovo suffered from Napoleon’s troops. In 1850, the Izmailovsky Nikolayev Military Almshouse opened on Izmailovsky Island. The poorhouse was housed in buildings specially built for this purpose by famous architects Konstantin Ton and Mikhail Bykovsky. At the same time, two buildings were attached directly to the cathedral, and the outbuildings repeated the shape of the dismantled buildings of the Sovereign's Court.
In Soviet times, the almshouse was closed, the cathedral was looted, Joasaph's church was completely destroyed. The buildings of the almshouse housed a working village - Bauman Town.

Currently, on the territory of Izmaylovsky Island you can see:
   Pokrovsky Cathedral of the seventeenth century (restored, in operation).
   The seventeenth-century bridge tower (the bridge has not been preserved). The tower houses a museum exposition.
   Front and rear gates of the sovereign's court (seventeenth century).
   The buildings of the almshouse (nineteenth century).
   Cast-iron arch and fountain (nineteenth century).
   Monument to Peter the Great by Lev Karbel (1998).
   Silver Grape Pond.
   BRIDGE TOWER: built in 1671–1679

The three-story tower served as the main entrance to the Izmailovo estate, being part of a stone arch bridge over the Silver Pond. The composition of the tower is characteristic of medieval architecture of the second half of the 17th century and resembles some towers of the Moscow Kremlin. A wide octagon with a ringing tier and a low tent crowns two squares in terms of decreasing quadruples. The lower tier of the tower is cut by three wide arched passages. Cross-cutting, from south to north, facing the Intercession Cathedral; cranked, from south to east, once led to the Izmailovsky dam and the mill Serebriha.

The lower (first) tier of the Tower was a pass. On the second tier were the bell-ringer rooms. To date, the premises of the Streltsy guardrooms in the first two tiers of the Bridge Tower have been preserved. During a stay in Izmailovo, Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich on the second floor of the tower held meetings of the Boyar Duma (its second name is the Duma). In the early 30s of the XVIII century, Empress Anna Ioannovna gathered in the Tower of the Senate - the highest state body in Russia. It is no accident that the vaulted chamber of the second tier of the Tower was called the Senate. On the third tier was the belfry of the Intercession Cathedral. The role of the patrol site was performed by the culvert above the big four. In the past, the tower was crowned with a metal double-headed eagle.

The elegant decor of the Bridge Tower attracts attention. The platbands of the second tier are presented in the form of cup-shaped half-columns, hanging weights and kokoshniks. On the cemetery and on the small quadruple, width belts of colored tiles depicting birds of paradise, peacocks, turkeys among leaves with berries and flowers have been preserved. At the corners of the small quadrangle, chimneys from the lost furnaces are placed in the large vaulted chamber of the second tier.
The bridge tower is currently a museum open to the public. I really liked that it can be seen not only outside but also inside. From her, the old and mighty power of the Russian people blows.

Address: Russia, Moscow, Izmailovsky (Silver) Island
Main Attractions: Bridge Tower, Pokrovsky Cathedral, Front and Rear Gates of the Sovereign's Court, Almshouse
Coordinates: 55 ° 47 "31.8" N 37 ° 45 "39.0" E
Object of cultural heritage of the Russian Federation

The Izmailovo estate owes its name to the first owners - the Izmailov boyars, who laid it back in the 14th century. Then there were impenetrable forests moving with oak forests and birch forests. In 1573, Izmailovo received as a gift the brother of Tsarina Anastasia - Nikita Zakharyin-Yuriev. Such a generous offering to him was made by John IV the Terrible himself. Subsequently, the village was inherited by his son, and then his grandson, and in 1652 the estate returned to the royal treasury.

Izmailovo Manor from a bird's eye view

In the 1670s, the imperial residence began to be erected on this territory. Its central part was the sovereign's court, that is, the estate itself. However, for the construction of the royal residence, the bed of the small Serebryanka river had to be divided into 2 branches and blocked. So two large ponds were created. Having captured this zone in the “ring”, the builders turned it into an island, and the royal estate took center stage on it. The construction of a new estate took 10 years.

The stone chambers laid at the Silver Pond led to the royal chambers. The reliable bridge structure was 106 m long, over 10 m wide and was supported by arches. Near it in 1674 there was a multi-tiered Bridge Tower, which can be seen today. In the old days, priests were located on the first floor of the tower, on the second there was a meeting place for the Boyar Duma and Senate. The upper tier of the tower became the bell tower for the five-domed Church of the Protection of the Virgin, which stands nearby.

Bridge tower

The estate was a favorite hunting ground for the Russian Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich and his retinue. And for such royal fun animals were bred here. However, the king was attracted not only by the wealth and spaciousness of the hunting grounds. In the new estate, he made a semblance of a "model economy."

The estate housed stocked ponds and beaver pens. Its economic part consisted of creameries, apiaries, flax and glass factories, wineries, water mills, stockyards, fields, poultry houses, orchards and a garden where pharmacies were grown. The farm was constantly replenished with new types of plants, unusual for the Moscow climate. Izmailovsky greenhouses abounded with melons and rare decorative plants in beauty.

Pokrovsky Cathedral

Interestingly, the first Russian zoo appeared here. In addition to the swan yard, on the territory of the imperial menagerie there were cages with birds brought from exotic countries, as well as enclosures with tigers and leopards. There was even an elephant in the zoo.

The main attractions of Izmailovo

Izmailovsky Royal Palace was built of wood, and only its lower floor (basement) was stone. In its architectural composition, it looked like a palace building on the Kolomenskoye estate. On the territory there were about two dozen log cabins of different heights, interconnected by passages.

Front gate of the sovereign's court

The similarity of these palaces does not at all mean their equal use by the royal family. So, Izmailovsky Palace was the economic center of the estate, and the Kolomna Palace was needed only for entertainment and relaxation. None of the indicated palaces have been preserved., and one can judge their beauty only by the hotel and entertainment complex, which appeared on the territory of Kolomenskoye several years ago, as well as a few descriptions of historians.

The ancient temple of Joseph was built in 1678, at the same time as the main part of the estate was built. The two-story building of the shrine was supplemented by a pair of aisles, and a transitional gallery connected it to the palace. After 9 years, the church building was reconstructed in the style of “Moscow Baroque”, and later on the west side a bell tower was added. Unfortunately, this church has not survived. It was destroyed in 1936, and to this day the place remains unoccupied.

Pokrovsky Cathedral with the Northern, Southern, Eastern buildings of the almshouse

The Church of the Intercession on the Izmailovo estate towered in the middle of the estate square, in front of the main gate. Before him, at this place stood a wooden church, which was built under John Romanov. She personified the end of the Time of Troubles and the liberation of Moscow lands from Polish-Lithuanian troops. The construction of the stone structure took almost 8 years. Construction work from 1671 to 1679. On the day of the next celebration of the Protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary, on October 1, 1680, the premises of the church were consecrated by Patriarch Joachim.

The construction work on the construction of the Intercession Church was supervised by the architect Ivan Kuznechik, and they were carried out by a whole artel of non-resident master masons. The best ceramists decorated the church with glazed tiles, and gilded domes crowned the church. In the church, the Pokrovskaya icon was cherished, which coincided in size with the growth of the 7-year-old prince. In addition, the list of the Jerusalem image of the Mother of God, which manifested its miraculous power in 1771, when the plague raged in Moscow, was also stored here. Later, Napoleon’s troops ravaged the Intercession Church.

The back gate of the sovereign's court

Gate at the entrance to Gosudarev Yard

At the very beginning, in front of the Intercession Church there was a spacious square. Today in its place is a square and a fountain. All the buildings of the Sovereign's Court, including two gates, which received the name of the Front and Rear, came out here.

They were built in 1682. It seems that the same masters were engaged in the development of their project, since the composition and design of both gates are similar. At the bottom of the gate there are 3 openings - two narrow on the sides and one wide in the middle. A light octagon with narrow rumored windows is installed in the middle tier. Initially, the octagon was surrounded by a gulbis with painted windows, but in the XVIII century it was dismantled. The current parapet on the second tier is made according to the scheme of the Russian architect Konstantin Andreyevich Ton.

Cast iron arch

Today inside the Sovereign’s courtyard there is a garden planted with groups of deciduous trees. If you look closely at the ancient buildings that stand along the perimeter of a rectangular courtyard, you can understand what the plan was to equip the royal estate. Its inner space was not only enclosed, but also specially fenced off from the outside world.

Once the central part of the courtyard was divided by an internal fence. In the north were the Fodder and Bread yards, kitchens, pantries, glaciers, the place where the archers were serving, as well as the buildings in which the managers lived. Barns, wood depots, stables and a brewery flocked along the coastline of the Grape Pond.

Monument to Peter I. Sculptor L.E. Karbel

Kremlin

The Kremlin, erected in the estate already in our time, combined the best architectural traditions of ancient Russian fortresses. On a spacious territory, a pond, a vineyard and a front garden with fragrant flowers reappeared. The revived menagerie, stables and poultry house filled the estate with life. Museum expositions, a mill and craft workshops help visitors plunge into the past era of the estate.

The Kremlin is located on an elevated place, and around it are a wooden picket fence and stone walls. The old ensemble was helped to recreate the surviving drawings, prints and drawings. Kremlin towers are decorated with multicolored tiles made using ancient technologies.

Fountain in front of the Intercession Church

The modern Izmailovsky Kremlin has become a place of revival of Russian traditions. Festivals and fairs are organized on its territory, crowded holidays are held, and folk ensembles perform. And the doors of the Palace of Happiness included in the Izmailovsky complex are always open for couples in love.

Visitors who want to see unique products and learn crafts have the opportunity to attend master classes. During them, they teach to make ceramics, rag dolls, sculpting and coloring toys and painting on wood and fabric. And those who want to feel like blacksmiths can try their hand at art forging.

Former royal estate, family estate of the Romanov dynasty. The estate is located on the artificial Izmaylovsky island in the center of the Silver-Grape Pond, nowadays an extensive museum-reserve has been deployed on its territory, which, together with the Izmaylovo PKiO, Terletsky and Petrovsky forest parks, is part of the Izmailovo natural-historical park.

Due to its location on the island and its remoteness from the historical center of Moscow, the estate remains quite underpopulated even on weekends, and the silence and a large amount of greenery allow visitors to escape from life in the metropolis.

The estate has a long and interesting history: having survived its heyday in the 17th century under Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, who established an exemplary farm in Izmailovo with a palace, gardens and hunting grounds, it subsequently developed and was built by his descendants, but gradually became desolate and in the 19th century was rebuilt for the needs of the Izmaylovskaya Nikolaev military almshouse.

The architectural ensemble of the estate

The modern architectural ensemble of the estate includes the surviving buildings of the Gosudarev’s courtyard of the 17th century, as well as the residential and office buildings of the Izmaylovskaya Nikolaev military almshouse (original and recreated during restoration) of the 19th century attached to them.

From the historical Sovereign’s courtyard Rear entry gate (1682, unknown architect) Bridge tower (1671-1674), and cathedral of the Protection of the Holy Virgin in Izmailovo (1671-1679).

Front and Rear entry gate were built by decree of Tsar Fedor Alekseevich, probably on one project. In the past they were surrounded by a fence, inside which was a wooden royal palace (1676-1681, not preserved), but in the middle of the 19th century, by order of Emperor Nicholas I, a military almshouse was set up in Izmailovo, and instead of the fence between the gates, one- and two-story service buildings were built buildings that formed a clear rectangular square with a large courtyard:

Northern apartment building for officials of an almshouse (1853, Konstantin Ton);

Southern apartment building for officials of an almshouse (1853, Konstantin Ton).

Service buildings (north, west, south), recreated during the restoration of the 1970-1980s;

Carriage shed, recreated during the restoration of the 1970-1980s;

Stable and barn for carriages (1853, Konstantin Ton);

Forge and locksmith with a tinhouse (1851-1854, Konstantin Ton);

Northern Glacier (1853, Konstantin Ton), used to store food;

Southern Glacier (1853, Konstantin Ton), intended for storing products of residents of the Family Corps;

Bath and laundry (1853, Konstantin Ton);

Barracks for ministers of the almshouse (2 buildings, 1851-1854, Konstantin Ton) - residential buildings for single employees of the almshouse;

Family corps (1856-1859, Mikhail Bykovsky), designed for 48 soldier and officer families.

In the courtyard of the office buildings, there is now a public garden available for visiting and walking.

Church of the Intercession of the Holy Virgin in Izmailovo (1671-1679, architect Ivan Kuznechik) is located directly opposite the Front Entrance Gate: it is a magnificent five-domed temple decorated with multi-colored tiles by the work of master Stepan Polubes. Residential buildings of the Nikolaev military almshouse are also attached to the temple: the northern and southern soldier’s buildings (1840-1850s, Konstantin Ton) with a 60-seat infirmary, a soldier’s canteen and 200 soldiers' houses (each) and an eastern officer corps ( 1840-1853, Konstantin Ton) with a dining room, a buffet and a library, intended for 20 officers.

Separately from other buildings of the Nikolaev military almshouse, there are the officer corps (1860s, Vasily Nebolsin), intended for 15 officers, and a water pump (1853), which provided water to the residential buildings of the almshouse.

Massive draws attention Bridge tower (1671-1679), built under the direction of the architect Ivan Kuznechik, artel of Kostroma masons. The tower was built by decree of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich and in the past adjoined a stone bridge (not preserved), which connected Izmailovsky Island with the "big land". In the 17th century, in the lower tier of the tower, there were archery guards, a chamber above them, and the upper tier served as a bell tower.

Also on the territory are the Cast-Iron Gate (1859) - the former main entrance to the territory of the almshouse, the “Lion” Fountain (1859) and established in 1998.

The history of the estate

The first mention of Izmailov dates back to 1389; it is believed that the village of Izmailovo got its name from the name of one of the first owners: presumably, it was Artemy Izmailov. The Izmailovo Romanovs became the patrimony of the Romanovs from the middle of the 16th century, and even then there stood a boyar estate and a church, there were peasant yards and two ponds.

Izmailovo reached its heyday under Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich (Tishaysh): fearing a repeat of the Copper Riot, he wanted to carry out military reform, which was expensive. In order to replenish the treasury, since 1663 the tsar began to develop the economy in villages and volosts, and Izmailovo became the largest and most successful of the educated farms: there appeared kitchen gardens, orchards (including grape and mulberry, where they conducted experiments with growing silk trees), apiary, arable land and 9 mills, brick, glass and cast-iron factories, a fishing farm with 37 ponds and huge hunting grounds. The estate was assigned a huge territory from the village of Cherkizovo to the villages of Gireyevo and Kuskovo: for the competent management of the land and the enterprises located on it, the king invited European craftsmen and managers from Lithuania, Poland and Italy. In 1667, to equip the fisheries, it was decided to block the Robku river (modern Serebryanka) located on the estate, as a result of which a huge pond was formed (it was called Vinogradovy in the vineyard, today - Silver-Grape Pond) with Izmailovsky island in the middle. Over time, peasant households and household services were removed from the island, and the royal estate occupied its entire territory.

After the death of Alexei Mikhailovich in 1676, his son Fyodor Alekseevich began to engage in the development of the estate, who was not interested in economic matters, but continued the construction of the royal residence. With him, a wooden palace appeared on the island, Front and Rear entrance gates with a fence, a Bridge Tower with a massive stone bridge connecting the island with the "big land", as well as the Intercession Cathedral and the Church of Joasaph the Prince of India. The estate was progressive in all respects: a menagerie and the first theater in Russia appeared here, it began to assume an amusement character more and more.

Engraving "Izmailovo. Departure of Emperor Peter II on a falconry", Ivan Zubov, 1720s

Another glorious period in the history of Izmailov is associated with Peter I, who spent quite a lot of time here in childhood and adolescence, and according to some reports, he was born here. In one of the barns of the Izmaylovsky Flax yard, the future emperor discovered a wooden boat, "St. Nicholas", once brought by the British as a gift to Alexei Mikhailovich; the boat vividly interested him and, having aroused Peter's interest in maritime affairs, went down in history as "the grandfather of the Russian fleet." Under Peter I, Izmailovo became the scene of his amusing battles between the Izmailovsky, Preobrazhensky and Semenovsky regiments, during which he trained in military skill. The construction of the estate and the economy were of little interest to Peter, and in the 1690s, enterprises began to decline - in particular, the Glass Factory was liquidated, but in general the economy remained exemplary.

Subsequently, the estate was used by the Russian emperors as a pleasure (under Anna Ioannovna, for example, a menagerie of 110 hectares with monkeys, lions and tigers appeared here), but the rest began to decline. The Tsar’s palace and the bridge to the Bridge Tower were dismantled due to disrepair, the Patriotic War of 1812 caused great damage: the French cut down part of the gardens for firewood and destroyed a number of buildings. After the war, the estate began to be reduced: the grape garden was sold in private hands, the menagerie was eliminated.

The revival of Izmailov in a new capacity occurred under Nicholas I, who in 1938 signed a decree on the organization of a military almshouse on the territory of the estate of Izmailov to care for World War II veterans. Construction took about 10 years; The project was led by architect Konstantin Ton: instead of the fence, new service buildings were added to the front and rear entrance gates of the former Sovereign Court, forming a closed square with an inner courtyard, and 3 residential buildings for soldiers and officers were added to the Pokrovsky Church. The main entrance to the territory of the almshouse was decorated with a Cast-iron gate. The Tone project caused controversy and criticism due to the reconstruction of the temple, however, the emperor liked the result. In the 1950s and 1960s, according to the project of architect Mikhail Bykovsky, the almshouse was slightly updated: new buildings were completed, a “Lion” fountain appeared between the Front Gate and the Intercession Church, and some historical buildings were restored. The territory of the former royal estate beyond the borders of Izmailovsky Island at the same time turned into a working suburb of Moscow.

After the October Revolution, the almshouse gradually stopped working due to lack of funding, and a dormitory was housed in its buildings, and in 1924 a working village was registered on Izmailovsky Island - the town named after Bauman, which had about 2,000 inhabitants. The church of Tsarevich Joseph was demolished. The Soviet period forever changed the face of the former royal estate: the territory of the village and farms was built up with apartment buildings, part of the hunting grounds with ponds were preserved as the Izmailovsky Forest Park, and the Izmailovsky Culture and Rest Park appeared where the menagerie was in the past.

The Bauman town on Izmaylovsky Island existed until the 1970s, when all its inhabitants were resettled, and the complex was restored and restored, after which it housed museum and exhibition rooms. Nowadays, the Izmailovo estate on Izmailovsky Island is part of the Moscow State Museum-Reserve Kolomenskoye-Izmailovo-Lyublino.

Thus, the modern Izmailovo estate boasts a curious architectural ensemble, consisting of the surviving buildings of the old Sovereign's Court and the newer Izmailovo almshouse. Located on its own small island, it seems to be in parallel reality, where the metropolis does not exist around.

Unfortunately, the improvement of the territory is outdated and leaves much to be desired, but this does not interfere with measured walks or playing sports.

Museum-Estate Izmailovo It is located on Izmaylovsky Island in the homonymous district of Moscow. You can get to it on foot from metro stations. "Partisan" and Izmailovskaya Arbat-Pokrovskaya line, as well as the MCC platform Izmailovo.

Finally, the hands of the restorers reached the tower. Crowned with an octagonal tent, a three-story building in the east of the city was built by masons under the direction of the stone-making apprentice archer Ivan Kuznechik in 1671–1679.

Now the object of cultural heritage of federal significance, which has undergone all kinds of wounds and injuries, will be restored. The red brick bridge tower has long adorned the coast of Serebryany Pond on Izmaylovsky Island in itself, although it once served as the completion of a 106-meter long white-stone arched construction along which from the Vladimir road (the current Enthusiasts highway) entered the island. The tower combined the functions of the passage gate, the post of the Streltsy guard and the bell tower of the Cathedral of the Intercession of the Virgin standing nearby. The hipped octagon had seven church bells, an alarm bell and a chime.

Each tier of the tower had a characteristic decoration. Indisputably, multicolored tiles of the decorative belt of the third floor with birds of paradise, leaves and fruits stood out. It is believed that the authors of tiled widths are Moscow masters Stepan Ivanov (Polubes) and Ignat Maximov. The windows of the second level were framed by carved half-columns and kokoshniks. The smart tower with the composition will undoubtedly remind many of the towers of the Moscow Kremlin. The bridge connected to it “for dilapidation” was dismantled by order of Catherine II, and at the same time the empress ordered the dismantling of the two-story wooden royal mansions built under Aleksey Mikhailovich Tishaysh on a stone basement.

On the middle floor of the Bridge Tower, the Boyar Duma was then convening. Just under the arches of this very chamber, Aleksei Mikhailovich wrote “The Cathedral Code” - the first orderly code of laws of the Russian state. In the tower near the bridge, the presence of the Senate continued under Peter I. His youthful war games were held in Izmailovo, on the grounds of his father's country residence. The grandfather of the Russian fleet plowed the expanse of the local ponds with the English boat Saint Nicholas, the famous creation of the ship's master Brant, discovered by sixteen-year-old Peter in the barn of the Flax yard.

Under Anna Ioannovna, meetings of the Senate were also held on the second floor of the Bridge Tower, as a result of which the 17th-century gatehouse acquired a second name - the Senate.

Elizaveta Petrovna and Catherine II did not have much interest in the Romanov’s patrimonial estate, and the once brilliant Izmailovo deteriorated. Nicholas I breathed a peculiar new life into the estate. In the manner of the Paris House of the Disabled, the emperor established on the man-made island the Nikolaev military almshouse "for retired officers and lower ranks with wives and children, a shelter for widows of family invalids, a school for children of militants and civil servants." From now on, the capacious spaces of the Bridge Tower also serve the needs of a charitable institution.

In Soviet times, the fate of the warehouse, the living quarters of the commune of the Salyut Aviation Plant, the mica isolation laboratory of the All-Union Electrotechnical Institute was destined for a typical example of Moscow architecture. In 2007, all historical and architectural monuments of Izmailovsky Island were transferred to the Moscow State United Museum-Reserve, including the Bridge Tower, which was finally promised the return of its historical appearance - restoration of decorative elements, original wooden windows, doors, brickwork, copper roofing, historical flaky (flat sandstone planks) covering the floor of the gulbysh, strengthening the foundation, tidying up the tiles and decorating the tented finish with a double-headed eagle, gone before was there.

Bridge Tower (1671-1679)

The three-story Bridge Tower served as the main entrance to the Izmailovo estate, being part of a stone arch bridge over the Silver Pond. The composition of the tower is characteristic of medieval architecture of the second half of the 17th century and resembles some towers of the Moscow Kremlin. A wide octagon with a ringing tier and a low tent crowns two squares in terms of decreasing quadruples. The lower tier of the tower is cut by three wide arched passages. Cross-cutting, from south to north, facing the Intercession Cathedral; cranked, from south to east, once led to the Izmailovsky dam and the mill Serebriha.

After 1917, Izmaylovsky Island was transferred to the Salyut Aviation Plant. In the former royal estate, a working town named after Bauman was formed. In the Tower of the Bridge in 1923 there was a youth commune.

In 1987, the Bridge Tower was transferred to the State Historical Museum to house the depository and arrange an exposition dedicated to the “royal estate of Izmailovo”.

In 2007, a unique architectural monument of the 17th century - the Bridge Tower - was transferred to the Moscow State United Museum-Reserve.

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