Spasskaya Tower of the Kazan Kremlin opened to visitors
Restoration work on the Spasskaya Tower and its extension has been completed. Since September 1, a museum has been open here, and the famous “raspberry ringing” installation, created by the world famous SKB “Prometheus” back in the 1960s, has returned to the top floor.
The Spasskaya Tower is more than 400 years old. It was built by 200 Pskov wall builders and breakers after the capture of Kazan by Ivan the Terrible in 1556-1562, together with the South-Western and South-Eastern towers of the Kazan Kremlin and the spindle walls between them.
In the 20th century, the Spasskaya Tower underwent a number of transformations. In 1963, the clock mechanism of the tower became electronic, and 4 years later, SKB Prometheus, under the leadership of media art pioneer Bulat Galeev, created a special installation for the tower, “Crimson Ringing. Every time the bell on the tower struck time, the crimson lights on the tier came on and off. After a large-scale reconstruction, the installation was restored.
It was decided to open the Spasskaya Tower to citizens as part of a large-scale project to museumify the buildings of the Kazan Kremlin.
It is impossible to contain all of its rich history in such a small space, which is why the museum has a lot of multimedia complexes. On display cases behind glass are objects found in the Kremlin during archaeological excavations. A separate multimedia stand with three chipped wooden cubes tells about the restoration of the tower.
To make the museum even more accessible, staff have provided tactile panels for visually impaired visitors and play elements for children.