Kladovaya Tower, Medieval tower at Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin, Russia
Kladovaya Tower is a circular fortification within Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin, positioned between the Dmitrievskaya and Nikolskaya towers. The structure contains multiple storage levels and features semicircular ventilation shafts in its lower sections designed to preserve the goods kept inside.
The tower was originally built as Tverskaya Tower in September 1500 and received its present name Kladovaya in the early 1700s due to its storage function. In the 1800s, it held lamp oil for city street lighting, and later housed an archive that was damaged by fire in 1923.
The tower served for centuries as a place where the city stored important supplies and valuables, making it central to local survival and defense. Visitors can still sense this practical purpose in the structure's robust design and multiple storage levels.
The tower is easy to locate within the Kremlin and can be explored from the outside to view its circular design and defensive features. Visit during daylight hours for the best views of the structure's architecture and the surrounding Kremlin area.
The tower was specifically used to store lamp oil for the city's expanding street lighting in the 1800s, showing how medieval structures adapted to support urban development. This practical role reveals how the city's infrastructure evolved to serve its growing population's needs.
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