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Marinkina Tower

Marinkina Tower

The image of this attraction is always used in all city celebrations, its image can be found on souvenirs and on artistic images. The tower is known by its name Round Corner Tower. What else do we know about her?

Building structure

The Marinka Tower once guarded the entrance to the Moscow-Ryazan road. Now, when we hear the phrase "Kolomensky Kremlin" her image immediately rises before her eyes: the highest of all existing towers – Marinkina (aka Kolomenskaya) is 21 meters in height. The width of its circumference – 13 meters.

It was built in the form of an eight-story polyhedron, which has 20 lines. If you look at the tower from a distance, it may seem round. Its top is made of special hinged holes that look like a crown with small teeth. There are loopholes on the tower, in the amount of 27 pieces. They are built in the form of a chessboard, for the convenience of all-round defense. There are brick stairs inside the building, they help to climb to the very top.

Origin of name

Why did the tower get such a name? Its origin refers to ancient times, immortalized in history under the name - Time of Troubles. Even the old-timers cannot tell for certain what is true and what is false in the legend: the wife of the betrothed False Dmitry I, who lived in Kolomna, Marina Mnishek, was a real adventurer. A brave and proud woman was not afraid to call her lover from Moscow – Ataman Zarutsky.

Appearing in the capital, with his Cossack army, Zarutsky robbed and set fire to Kolomna. After that, he took Marina with him with her little son and left the city. Having passed Ryazan, Zarutsky, with his Cossacks and a young companion, were heading to Astrakhan. On the way, they were seized and sent under guard to Moscow. Since then, there has been a saying that Marina and her son were walled up in the walls of the tower. Some legends say that the woman turned into a magpie and left the place of confinement. According to other stories – she turned into a black raven, which still circles over the tower at night and croaks terribly.

Whoever Marina Mniszek turned into, one day a local clergyman sprinkled the tower with holy water. Together with the governor, he went up to the very top of the building and performed a church ceremony. After that, Marina was seen flying around the tower, only a woman can no longer hit her. Her restless soul toils, and therefore it frightens people with its heart-rending cry.

The first manuscripts with records of this legend were written by N. Ivanchin-Pisarev. It so happened that the people themselves gave the name to the tower, which is associated with the legend of the Marina. Only now she received the name not "Marinina", but "Marinkina", which emphasized the dismissive tone of the society of that time. People did not approve of the woman's act, so they put all their contempt into the name of the tower.
 
Was it or not, no one can answer for sure, but in the summer of 1903, excavations began at the place of possible imprisonment. Archaeologists from St. Petersburg could not find either the remains of Mnishek, or the treasure of Zarutsky, or any evidence of the death of a woman and a child at all. You can judge the veracity of the legend only by looking at the tower with your own eyes: each person will find the answer for himself.

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