Русский English Deutsch Le français Español Lingua italiana Suomi Svenska 中
search
Main page / Museums and sightseeing in Veliky Novgorod / White (Alekseevskaya) Tower
White (Alekseevskaya) Tower
Address:
Troitskaya St., Veliky Novgorod,
Novgorod region

Telephone:
+7 (816 2) 77 37 38

WWW:
http://novgorodmuseum.ru/

Working hours:
10:00 - 17:30
Перерыв 13:30 - 14:00
Пн, Вт, последний Чт месяца - выходной

10 a.m. - 5.30 p.m.
Break 1.30 p.m. - 2 p.m.
Mon, Tue, the last Thu of a month - closed

Entrance Fee:
C 1 марта 2023:
200 р. – взрослый, 100 р. – учащиеся, дети до 14 лет — бесплатно

300 RUB (adults), 200 RUB (students)
children under 14 - free

GPS:
58.51251900, 31.26937800

The White (Alekseevskaya) Tower is located on the southern tip of the earth rampart on the Sofia side of Novgorod and is the only surviving stone tower of the outer defensive belt of the of the end of the 16th - 17th centuries. The tower was built in 1582-1584, simultaneously with the fortifications of the Small Earthen City. It was named after the church of Alexis, a man of God, located nearby.

The reconstruction of the defensive fortifications of Novgorod was carried out by order of Ivan IV the Terrible at the end of the XVI century and was caused by the need to strengthen them during the Livonian War. First, the fortifications of the Kremlin were modernized. At the same time, work was also carried out to strengthen the city external defensive belt. Shore wooden walls appeared, connecting the external rampant and Small earthen town into a single defense system. The total length of the external defensive line of Novgorod reached almost 11 km at that time, of which 6 km passed along shafts. The fortifications were located on both the Sofia and Trade side, forming the outer defensive ring of the town.

At the junction of the external rampant and the shore defenses of the Sofia side, two stone round towers - Alekseevskaya (later received another name - “White”) and Petrovskaya were erected. Of these, only the Belaya/White (Alekseevskaya) Tower was preserved (Petrovskaya was dismantled on stones in the middle of the 18th century). The round towers were centers of gun defense on the approaches to the town from the north and south and were supposed to prevent a possible breakthrough of the enemy along the shore walls to the Kremlin.

The tower was overhauled in the middle of the XVII century. During the renovation, it was whitewashed, which is why its second name, “White,” appeared. By the beginning of the XVIII century the tower finally lost its defensive value. In the subsequent time, it was repaired and restored several times, most recently in 1990-1995.

The tower is round in plan, its outer diameter is 17 m, the inner one is 8.2–8.4 m, the thickness of the walls in the first tier reaches 4.5 m. The height of the brickwork of the walls is more than 15 m. The tower was built on bulk soil, therefore a very powerful limestone foundation was built, lined with granite boulders, protruding both outside and inside the tower by almost 0.5 m.

↑ Up