Fire lookout tower in Kostroma, Federal cultural heritage site at Susaninskaya Square, Kostroma, Russia
The Fire Lookout Tower in Kostroma is a classicist building on Susaninskaya Square, in the heart of the city's historic center. It has white columns, a slender shaft, and an open platform at the top that once allowed watchmen to survey the surrounding rooftops.
The tower was built in 1828 as part of a city plan that Catherine II had ordered decades earlier, which reorganized Kostroma around a series of radiating streets. The square and its surrounding buildings were all designed together, giving the area a uniform look that has survived to this day.
The square where the tower stands is named after Ivan Susanin, a Russian folk hero from the Kostroma region, and locals still use the space as a meeting point. The tower itself is often used as a reference point when people give directions in the city center.
The tower is easy to spot from different angles around the square and works well as a starting point for walking through the historic center. It helps to step back to take in the full view, since the surrounding buildings all form part of the same planned ensemble.
The tower was given a central position within a group of civic buildings that were all built at the same time, which was rare for a Russian provincial city in that period. Most cities of similar size built their public buildings gradually, but Kostroma completed its main square as a single project.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 60,000 contributors worldwide.
