Nabatnaya Tower

Nabatnaya tower was built in 1495. The name was received after the alarm bell, notifying Muscovites of impending events or danger. From the Nabatnaya tower, located on a hill one could have a great overview of neighborhoods. If the watchmen noticed something wrong, they rang the bell, and the villagers rushed to take refuge in the fortress or within the walls of monasteries. The Empress Catherine II decided to put an end to this tradition. When in 1771 in Moscow the Plague riot broke out and the rebellious townspeople started ringing the bell summoning the people to the Kremlin, Catherine, having suppressed the uprising, ordered to tear the tongue out of the bell. For more than 30 years the dumb bell hung in th Nabatnaya tower. In 1803, it was removed and given first to the Arsenal, and then in 1821, to the Armory.