Vyazma fortress played a large role in the history of Smolensk

“Borissfen, called by the Muscovites Dnieper, originates in the Principality of Smolensk, near the famous fortress of Vyazma, conquered by the Grand Duke Vasily at Sigismund,” wrote the messenger of the pope of the Roman Clement, Albert Campheza in 1523.

It is not completely known how the Vyazemsky fortress looked at that time, but its appearance of the 17th century, when it was rebuilt, was reconstructed. The main array of fortresses was built quickly enough in 1630–1632. The builder and governor of the Vyazemsky fortress, Miron Andreev, son of Velyaminov.

The fortress consisted of six stone towers and three wooden, which were connected by earthen ramparts with wooden fortifications. This was the first case of building stone structures in Vyazma. The masons at the construction site gathered from the separated regions of Russia, attracted foreign specialists to work. The towers stood on earthen shafts of 8-16 meters high. The total length of the fortifications was about one and a half kilometers.

Stone towers: Spasskaya corner, spiritual gates, Kaluga corner, Ilyinskaya (Mironovskaya) corner, Smolensk gate, Frolovskaya corner.

Wooden: Moscow, Frolovsky gates, rolling (thunder) tower.

Separately, we note that the wooden Trinity Gate and the city (state tower), along with the Frolovsky gate and the rolling tower, made up the internal “upper city” with a wall length of about 357 meters.

The fortress of Vyazma played great importance in the war for Smolensk 1632–1634 and until 1654 ensured the protection of the border regions of the country.

The only preserved tower of the fortress is Spasskaya. Despite the fact that its appearance is changed by perestroika of the 19-20 centuries, the size of the tower affects 18.6 meters in height plus almost a seven-meter roof. The tower has three tiers (initially four), it looks very impressive on the elevation above the Vyazma River.

The Spasskaya Tower is located at Nagorny Lane, 2 (or just behind the house of Lenin, 13). A visit on a regular basis is not yet held, often organized on the city day, which is celebrated on the Trinity Feast, this year on June 4, and the city holiday-the 3rd. The prospects for visiting the tower can be clarified in the Vyazemsky Museum of History and Local Lore.

Based on materials: Vyazemskaya mosaic. The book is third. 2016.
N. Gurskaya. Walks along the old Vyazma. 2020.

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