Tula Kremlin

Tula's kremlin, finished in 1520, is unusual in being built on level marshy ground beside a river rather than on a defensible hill - it was part of a defensive line against raids from the south, and the flat site meant the walls and towers had to do all the work. Nine towers survive along a rectangular circuit of red brick, and the wall walk was reopened after restoration. Inside are the Assumption cathedral of 1766 with a separate bell tower, an Epiphany church now holding part of the arms museum, and open ground. Tula's three trades give the city its character: firearms, made here since the state arms works was founded in 1712; samovars, made in quantity from the eighteenth century; and pryanik, printed honey gingerbread pressed in carved wooden boards. Each has its own museum, and the new arms museum stands across the river in a building shaped like a helmet.

History

Vasily III ordered an oak fortress on the left bank of the Upa in 1507 and a stone one in 1514, completed in 1520 or 1521, and in 1552 the townspeople held it against the Crimean khan Devlet I Giray until help arrived. In 1607-1608 it sheltered Ivan Bolotnikov, and Tsar Vasily Shuisky's army took it by damming the Upa and flooding the fortress; a full scientific restoration followed in the mid-1960s (Wikipedia, Tula Kremlin).

What's there

• The flat-ground fortress - a kremlin built on marsh, not a hill, with the walls doing the defending.
• The wall walk - the restored circuit along the top of the brick walls.
• The 1766 cathedral - the Assumption with its separate bell tower inside the walls.
• The three trades - guns, samovars and printed gingerbread, each with a museum.

When to go

May to September for the wall walk. Half a day for the kremlin, a full day with the museums.

Before you go

Museums are ticketed separately and the arms museum is across the river, a walk away. The wall walk closes in bad weather. Labelling is largely Russian. The city centre around the kremlin has been heavily redeveloped and reads as new.

Nearby

Yasnaya Polyana, Tolstoy's estate, is about 15 km south.

Key facts