Ruin Tower, Tower in Catherine Park, Russia

The Ruin Tower is a roughly 21-meter structure rising from Catherine Park with a circular pavilion crowning its top. Its Gothic lancet windows open toward views across the park and its adjacent lake.

The German-Russian architect Yury Felten designed and built this tower between 1771 and 1773 during Catherine II's reign. Artist A. Belsky later added artificial cracks to its exterior plaster in 1773 to create the appearance of age and decay.

The tower was conceived as the remnant of an old Turkish fortress, with a giant tower and a stretch of wall pierced by an arch, built to mark Russia's victories in the 1768–1774 Russo-Turkish War. The keystone above the arch carries a Cyrillic inscription dating the stone to 1768, written in pre-Petrine letters.

The site is generally accessible on most days, allowing visitors to enter and climb to an elevated vantage point overlooking the surrounding park. Sturdy footwear is helpful since the ground in the surrounding area can be uneven.

The Gothic gate at the foot of the embankment was cast in 1782 at the Demidovsky factory in Yekaterinburg from a wooden model carved in linden. It is noted as one of the first architectural products in Russia made of pig iron.