Gremyachaya Tower, Pskov, Medieval defensive tower in Pskov, Russia

Gremyachaya Tower is a round stone tower in Pskov, Russia, standing 29 meters tall with six floors connected by interior staircases. It sits along the Pskova River as part of the city's old defensive wall, and its roughly 15-meter width gives it a solid, heavy presence on the riverbank.

The tower was built in 1525 on the orders of Grand Prince Vasily III (Vasily Ivanovich) by his clerk Misyur Munekhin, as recorded in a chronicle entry for the year 7033. It was first called Kosmodemyanskaya after the Kosmodemyansky Monastery on the hill, whose stone church of 1540 survives. The name Gremyachaya belonged to a nearby tower over the Gremyachaya Gates; after that tower was destroyed, the name passed to this one. Its large dressed limestone blocks, dome vault and arrow slits with a narrow middle and flared outer opening suggest the work of an Italian architect, possibly Ivan Fryazin.

The tower was first called Kosmodemyanskaya, after the Kosmodemyansky Monastery on the hill; a stone church from 1540 survives there. The name Gremyachaya belonged to a nearby tower above the Gremyachaya Gates, and passed to this one after that tower was destroyed. Legends tell of a prince's daughter sleeping in the tower and of barrels of gold whose ringing Pskov residents hear at night.

The tower stands on the right bank of the Pskova River, opposite the site of the 16th-century Nikolskaya Tower. The interior is a single cylindrical space with no surviving wooden floors between the six tiers, so the height is visible from the base. The stone walls and the wooden roof are exposed; there are no railings or lighting inside.

The tower's first floor has no built floor: it rests directly on a levelled limestone outcrop that serves as the base of the walls. The chronicle entry for 1525 records that the same summer the work was done, a secret passage (taynik) was made. The name Gremyachaya originally belonged to a different tower above the Gremyachiye Gates and passed to this one after that tower was destroyed.