The city of Kazan is famous for the fact that it houses the Syuyumbike tower, which is considered the symbol of the whole of Tatarstan. It would seem that an ordinary building with a history of several centuries, there are many of these throughout the country, but everything in the architectural monument is shrouded in mystery, which is why interest in research does not fade away.
The historical mystery of the Syuyumbike tower
The main mystery for historians is that it is still unknown when the tower was created. And the difficulty lies not in the problem of determining the exact year, because even about the approximate century there are active disputes, during which an extensive list of arguments in favor of its reliability is attached to each of the opinions. The Kazan Tower has specific structural features that can be attributed to different eras, but no supporting documents have been found.
Chronicles from the time of the Kazan Khanate were lost at the time of the capture of the city in 1552. Later data about Kazan were stored in the Moscow Archives, but they disappeared due to a fire in 1701. The first mention of the Syuyumbike tower dates back to 1777, but then it was already in the form in which you can see it today, so no one knows when the construction work was carried out to build an observation point on the territory of the Kazan Kremlin.
There is a judgment, which is adhered to by most of the researchers, that the time of creation falls on the 17th century. In their opinion, it appeared in the interval from 1645 to 1650, but there is no mention of this building in the pictures of contemporaries and the city plan compiled in 1692 by Nikolaas Witsen in his monograph. The foundation of the tower is more reminiscent of the features of the construction of an earlier period, but there is a hypothesis that earlier there was a wooden structure, which over time was replaced with a more reliable one, leaving the old foundation.
An analysis of the architectural features typical of the Moscow Baroque proves that the tower was built in the first half of the 18th century, but one cannot rely only on style characteristics either. For these reasons, the question is still open, and whether it will ever be resolved is still unknown.
External structural features
The building is a multi-tiered structure with a spire at the top. Its height is 58 meters. In total, the tower has seven tiers, differing in appearance:
- the first tier is a wide base with an open through arch. It is made so that you can drive through the tower, but most of the time the passage is closed by a gate;
- the second tier resembles the first in shape, but its dimensions are proportionally smaller;
- the third tier is even smaller than the previous one, but it is decorated with small windows;
- the fourth and fifth tiers are made in the form of octagons;
- the sixth and seventh tiers are parts of the observation tower.
The design of the building has angular shapes, so you can calculate how many floors you can yourself. In general, few decorative elements are used in the architecture, the building is fully centered, there are columns on the pedestals, lowered arches and flys on the parapets.
A double-headed eagle was installed at the top of the spire since 1730, but later it was replaced by a crescent. True, the religious symbol did not show off at the top for long due to the established policy in the country. The gilded crescent moon returned to the spire only in the 1980s at the request of the government of the republic.
The main feature of the Syuyumbike tower is that it is falling, like the Leaning Tower of Pisa in Italy. Many people wonder why the building is tilted, because initially it stood exactly. In fact, this happened due to insufficiently deep foundation. Over time, the building began to tilt and today has shifted from the axis to the northeast by almost 2 meters. If in 1930 the building had not been reinforced with metal rings, the attraction would hardly have stood on the territory of the Kazan Kremlin.
Interesting information for travel lovers
Surprisingly, the name of this building was different, and the existing one was first mentioned in the magazine in 1832. Gradually, it was increasingly used in speech and as a result it became generally accepted. In the Tatar language, it was customary to call the tower Khan-Jami, which means “Khan's mosque”.
This name was given also because the queen Syuyumbike played a significant role for the inhabitants of Tatarstan. During her reign, she abolished a number of very harsh laws affecting peasants, for which she became revered by the common people. No wonder there is a story that it was she who became the "initiator" of the construction of the tower.
We advise you to look at the Eiffel Tower.
According to legend, Ivan the Terrible during the capture of Kazan was so fascinated by the beauty of the queen that he immediately invited her to become his wife. Syuyumbike demanded that the ruler build the tower within seven days, after which she would accept his proposal. The Russian prince fulfilled the condition, but the ruler of Tatarstan could not betray her people, which is why she threw herself from the building erected for her.
The address is not difficult to remember, since the Syuyumbike tower is located in the city of Kazan on Kazan Kremlin Street. It is impossible to get confused about where this leaning building is located, it is not for nothing that not only guests from all over the country meet here, but also foreign tourists.
During the excursions, detailed descriptions of the stories associated with the tower are given, it tells what culture the building belongs to and what design details testify to this. You should definitely go up to the upper tiers and take a photo of the opening view, since from here you can observe the beauty of Kazan and the surrounding areas. In addition, there is a belief that if you make a wish at the top of the tower, it will definitely come true.
