Astrakhan Kremlin, Fortified complex in Astrakhan, Russia.

Astrakhan Kremlin is a fortress on Zayachy Hill, an island in the Volga Delta. Its white stone walls, built in the 1580s, run between towers such as the Crimean and Zhitnyaya towers. Inside stand the five-domed Assumption Cathedral and the four-tier Prechistinsky bell tower, whose clock plays Glinka's "Slavsya" at noon and 6 pm.

The fortress was built starting in 1582 using bricks salvaged from Saray, the former capital of the Golden Horde. It was constructed at this river location to protect and control trade routes important to Russia.

The main gate is named Prechistinsky after an epithet of the Virgin Mary, replacing an earlier name tied to a tavern that stood opposite. A marble slab found in the courtyard in 1978 records that the merchant Ivan Varvatsiy, a Greek from the island of Psara, paid for a bell tower designed by Luigi Rusca, finished in 1813. The clock on today's bell tower, made by F. Winter's factory, plays Glinka's "Slavsya" at noon and 6 pm.

You can enter through the Prechistinsky Gate to reach the museums inside. The best time to visit is during daylight hours when all indoor areas are open and you can explore both the walls and towers from various angles.

The stone walls and towers were built in 1582–1589 using old but very strong Tatar plinths taken from the ruins of Golden Horde cities, so the masonry reuses material from an earlier state. The upper tier held machicolations, called varnitsy in Russian, through which boiling water or hot tar could be poured on attackers.