KREMLIN, Ivan The Great Bell Tower

The white stone complex of the Ivan the Great Bell Tower dominates an entire side of Cathedral Square and houses several of the largest bells in the world.

It is made up of three bodies built in different phases: the Ivan the Great Bell Tower, the Assumption Belfry and Filaret’s Annex.

The oldest part is the Ivan the Great Bell Tower, built where the bell tower of a 14th century church once stood. The architect who had it built in 1505-1508 was an Italian, Marco Bono. Initially it was about sixty meters high, with an octagonal base, topped with a dome. A few decades later it was raised to its current height of 81 meters and for a long time was the highest construction in all of Moscow, since it was forbidden to construct buildings higher than it.

In the 16th century, a church was built right next to the Tower which was transformed into the Assumption Belfry at the end of the 17th century. A few years later, a bell tower with a square base was built, called Filaret’s Annex, named after the Patriarch who had it built....