Take a look at the Kremlin’s tallest building – the Ivan The Great Bell Tower, soaring into the sky. The bell-tower is capped with gold domes.
Ivan the Great commissioned the Bell Tower which bears his name, and – like many of the Kremlin’s most ambitious structures – the project was entrusted to an Italian master mason, Marco Bono – known by the standard medieval Russian term for designating Italians as Bon Fryazin. In fact a bell-tower had been built here two hundred years earlier on the orders of Ivan Kalita (“John Money-Bags”) who had laid-out Cathedral Square originally. However, by Ivan the Great’s time this tower was in perilous condition and required demolition – and thus Ivan’s Bell-Tower came into being.
For Ivan, national pride was at stake – during Russia’s years under Mongol rule, tall buildings were banned. Ivan had driven-out the Mongols, and his Bell-Tower marked hard-won independence. The original design was for a two-storey bell-tower, but this didn’t satisfy successor Boris Godunov. To Godunov’s mind, superhuman achievements were the sign of an invincible state, and thus the bell-tower acquired a new third storey which was to “resemble the Holy Jerusalem”, capped with gold cupolas, and stretching 81m skywards – towards Heaven itself.
The Bell Tower remained the highest building in Russia for many years. Today’s visitors can not only visit the museum on the ground floor – but climb the tower’s steep staircases too, for the most astounding view of the Kremlin and Red Square.
The man in the street might believe that the Ivan The Great Bell Tower is named after – Tsar Ivan III, known as “the Great” for his victories over the Mongolians. But in fact, the story behind the name is quite different. Ivan’s bell tower replaced an earlier one, which was the bell tower of the Church of St Ivan Lestvichnik, which formerly stood on this spot two hundred years before. The nickname “Great” refers to the astounding height of the present tower.
Many of the most ambitious palaces and structures of medieval Muscovy were the work of Italian master masons, invited to undertake commissions that were the wonder of their age. All of them are known by the surname “Fryazin”. Fryazins were involved in building churches, monasteries, the walls and towers of the Kremlin, and much more. But in fact these men were not related to each other, and came from many different parts of Italy.
The old-slavonic word “fryag” denoted someone from Italy – their Russian patrons found it simpler to russify their surnames, so that they were all “Fryazins”. It was only their forenames which tell them apart. When two men with identical forenames turned up, one was called Aleviz Fryazin the Elder (born Aloisio da Caracano, or Aloisio da Milano) and the other Aleviz Fryazin The New (in fact Aloisio Lamberti).
One exception was the Bolognese master mason Aristotle Fiorovanti, whose surname was never russified. Many of these “Fryazin” Italians were given land in reward for their work in Russia – probably the Moscow District town of Fryazino began as a gift to some Italian stonemason.
Photo Елена 1070974, by Elenak1211, is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0
Ivan the Great commissioned the Bell Tower which bears his name, and – like many of the Kremlin’s most ambitious structures – the project was entrusted to an Italian master mason, Marco Bono – known by the standard medieval Russian term for designating Italians as Bon Fryazin. In fact a bell-tower had been built here two hundred years earlier on the orders of Ivan Kalita (“John Money-Bags”) who had laid-out Cathedral Square originally. However, by Ivan the Great’s time this tower was in perilous condition and required demolition – and thus Ivan’s Bell-Tower came into being.
For Ivan, national pride was at stake – during Russia’s years under Mongol rule, tall buildings were banned. Ivan had driven-out the Mongols, and his Bell-Tower marked hard-won independence. The original design was for a two-storey bell-tower, but this didn’t satisfy successor Boris Godunov. To Godunov’s mind, superhuman achievements were the sign of an invincible state, and thus the bell-tower acquired a new third storey which was to “resemble the Holy Jerusalem”, capped with gold cupolas, and stretching 81m skywards – towards Heaven itself.
The Bell Tower remained the highest building in Russia for many years. Today’s visitors can not only visit the museum on the ground floor – but climb the tower’s steep staircases too, for the most astounding view of the Kremlin and Red Square.
The man in the street might believe that the Ivan The Great Bell Tower is named after – Tsar Ivan III, known as “the Great” for his victories over the Mongolians. But in fact, the story behind the name is quite different. Ivan’s bell tower replaced an earlier one, which was the bell tower of the Church of St Ivan Lestvichnik, which formerly stood on this spot two hundred years before. The nickname “Great” refers to the astounding height of the present tower.
Many of the most ambitious palaces and structures of medieval Muscovy were the work of Italian master masons, invited to undertake commissions that were the wonder of their age. All of them are known by the surname “Fryazin”. Fryazins were involved in building churches, monasteries, the walls and towers of the Kremlin, and much more. But in fact these men were not related to each other, and came from many different parts of Italy.
The old-slavonic word “fryag” denoted someone from Italy – their Russian patrons found it simpler to russify their surnames, so that they were all “Fryazins”. It was only their forenames which tell them apart. When two men with identical forenames turned up, one was called Aleviz Fryazin the Elder (born Aloisio da Caracano, or Aloisio da Milano) and the other Aleviz Fryazin The New (in fact Aloisio Lamberti).
One exception was the Bolognese master mason Aristotle Fiorovanti, whose surname was never russified. Many of these “Fryazin” Italians were given land in reward for their work in Russia – probably the Moscow District town of Fryazino began as a gift to some Italian stonemason.
Photo Елена 1070974, by Elenak1211, is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0
