The Main Street of Tver Kremlin in the 16th Century (an Attempt of Reconstruction)

Abstract

*  Работа выполнена по Программе фундаментальных научных исследо­ваний Российской академии архитектуры и строительных наук (РААСН) и при финансовой поддержке РФФИ в рамках научного проекта № 19-012-00025.

Ages now seems to be a very complicated work because of rather limited number of writing and especially graphical sources. The results of architectural-archaeological and archaeological excavations help to solve this problem partly, but even they together with other documental materials leave a lot of difficulties which appear on a researcher's way who tries to make such a reconstruction. Nevertheless, there is a need of this visualization, especially now, when a new exposition is creating in Tver State Museum of Regional Studies. The period chosen in this case for reconstruction - the 16th century - seems to be the most significant for the development of town-planning structure of the central part of Tver kremlin and its main street connected the main entrance in the fortress (Vladimirskaya Tower) and its Tmatskie Gate.

In the 16th century a peak of pre-Time of Trouble Tver development came probably to the middle - the 2nd half of this age though this process started apparently even at the turn of the 15th - 16th centuries. In the times of Vasiliy the Third (1505-1533) the arrangement of the kremlin territory was evidently proceeded more energetically but the fire of 1537 demolished a significant part of the kremlin might cause cardinal changes in its building. As a result the author during his preparation for reconstruction choose the period of the end of 1530-es - the turn of the 1560-es-1570-es for in December of 1569 Tver was suffered from oprichniks of Ivan the Terrible.