The Corner Arsenal (Uglovaya Arsenalanya) Tower

This corner tower, 60 meters in height, was built in 1492 under the supervision of the Italian architect Pietro Antonio Solari, as part of the Kremlin's northern defensive line. The wide-based tower is perhaps the most monumental of all the Kremlin's turrets, boasting walls more than 4 meters thick. In the cellars deep beneath the tower is said to be a spring from which clean water still flows today.

In medieval times there was also a secret passage, which led from the tower to the Neglinnaya River. During the 15^th-16^th centuries the tower was strengthened by the addition of a semi-circular wall. The tower was originally named Sobakinaya, after the nearby residence of the boyar Sobakin, but after the construction of the Kremlin's Arsenal building in the 18^th century, it adopted its present name. During the Napoleonic War of 1812, the French invaders blew up large sections of the Kremlin before their retreat from Moscow, and large cracks appeared in the base of the Corner Arsenal Tower as a result of the explosions. The tower was eventually restored, but only between 1946 and 1957.