Kazan Kremlin Soyembika Tower 08-2016 img2

Söyembikä Tower (; ), also called the Khan's

Mosque A mosque ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Salah, Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard. Originally, mosques were si ...

, is probably the most familiar landmark and architectural symbol of

Kazan Kazan; , IPA: Help:IPA/Tatar, ɑzanis the largest city and capital city, capital of Tatarstan, Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Volga and the Kazanka (river), Kazanka Rivers, covering an area of , with a population of over 1. ...

. Once the highest structure of that city's kremlin, it used to be one of the so-called leaning towers. By 1990s, the inclination was . Diverse stabilization methods were used to straighten the tower in the 1930s and 1990s, and it no longer leans. The tower's construction date is enshrouded in mystery. Several scholars date its construction to the turn of the 18th century, when tiered towers were exceedingly popular in

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

A legend postulates that the tower was built more than a century earlier by

Ivan the Terrible Ivan IV Vasilyevich (; – ), commonly known as Ivan the Terrible,; ; monastic name: Jonah. was Grand Prince of Moscow, Grand Prince of Moscow and all Russia from 1533 to 1547, and the first Tsar of all Russia, Tsar and Grand Prince of all R ...

's artisans in just a week's time. As the legend goes, the Kazan queen Söyembikä threw herself down from the highest tier, hence the name. Some scholars believe that the tower may date further back than the 18th century. If the tower really reflects some original features of Tatar architecture, then its design should have certainly influenced that of the

Kremlin towers The following is a list of towers of the Moscow Kremlin. The Kremlin Wall is a defensive wall that surrounds the Moscow Kremlin, recognizable by the characteristic notches and its towers. The original walls were likely a simple wooden fence ...

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

. It is unlikely, however, that the tower dates from earlier than the first half of the 17th century, as it does not feature in any historical images of Kazan prior to this era. According to scholar Ravil Bukharaev, the need for the tower, which was built as a military watchtower is questionable. He stated that the region was in relative peace at the time and another existing tower already existed next to the Blagoveshchensky Cathedral. He claims that if the tower was built in the 18th century by the Russians, it would have proved superfluous and expensive to construct another for such purpose. Additionally, he cites the Islamic influence of the tower's architecture as being uncharacteristic if it was of Russian origin. Supporters of the theory point out that the only similar structures were built in

Central Asia Central Asia is a region of Asia consisting of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The countries as a group are also colloquially referred to as the "-stans" as all have names ending with the Persian language, Pers ...

, which was politically and culturally connected with the derelict

Khanate of Kazan The Khanate of Kazan was a Tatar state that occupied the territory of the former Volga Bulgaria between 1438 and 1552. The khanate covered contemporary Tatarstan, Mari El, Chuvashia, Mordovia, and parts of Udmurtia and Bashkortostan; ...

. Several facts point to the validity of this theory: the size of the masonry, the absence of documentary evidence supporting Russian building, the respect paid to the tower by the local Tatar population, and so forth. In the Imperial period, the tower used to be topped with a

double-headed eagle The double-headed eagle is an Iconology, iconographic symbol originating in the Bronze Age. The earliest predecessors of the symbol can be found in Mycenaean Greece and in the Ancient Near East, especially in Mesopotamian and Hittite Empire#icon ...

, which the

Bolshevik The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, were a radical Faction (political), faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split with the Mensheviks at the 2nd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, ...

s replaced with a red star. It is currently crowned with a

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

crescent. In the early twentieth century, the architect

Alexey Shchusev Alexey Victorovich Shchusev (; – 24 May 1949) was a Russian and Soviet architect who was successful during three consecutive epochs of Russian architecture – Art Nouveau (broadly construed), Constructivism (art), Constructivism, and Stalini ...

reproduced the structure's outline in the Kazan Rail Station of Moscow. The tower is depicted on the reverse of the Russian 1000-ruble note issued in 2023. A controversy was sparked by the Orthodox Church due to the lack of a cross on top of the tower, which halted the release of the note.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Soyembika Tower Towers in Russia Buildings and structures in Kazan Inclined towers Landmarks in Russia Tourist attractions in Tatarstan Brick buildings and structures Cultural heritage monuments of federal significance in Tatarstan