Tula’s Kremlin

One of the oldest fortresses on Russian soil, Tula’s Kremlin, has been preserved to this day very well and continues to delight the eye of any traveler not by architecture alone but also by its special, some kind of toylike beauty. Having been built back in the XVI century, the Kremlin became a secure outpost of Russia during attacks of Crimean Khans. Even though the Kremlin has been preserved very well until the present time its territory looks pretty void and dreary.

For the first time mentioned in Nikon’s Chronicle under the year 1146, the city of Tula probably as early as in IX-XI centuries was one of the fortified settlements of Vyatichi; most likely, that explains the origin of a site of ancient settlement located where the Tulitsa river flows into Upa. It seems, it is Tulitsa that gave Tula its name although according to Dahl old interpretation of the word “Tula” means “a hidden, inaccessible place, a nook for defense.” A toponym with this meaning also could serve as the name for the city.

In Vyatichi’s land an independent princedom was not formed. This territory was part of first Chernigov and later Ryazan princes’ domain. That is why mention of Vyatichi’s small fortified settlement Tula located far away from Russia’s political centers cannot be found in chronicles and the initial history of the city for two centuries is not known. Tula, most likely, did not escape the terrible invasion of Batu Khan. All we know is that one century later the city was owned by tax-gatherers of queen Taidula. In 1382 Ryazan Prince Oleg by a treaty gave Tula to Moscow, and one hundred years later the city once and for all became part of the Moscow state.

In the beginning of XVI century the situation in the south of the country suddenly became strained. After Ivan the III died Crimean Khan Mengli Giray turned into the bitterest enemy of Moscow. In 1507 Vasili III ordered a fortress be built on the notorious Murav highway, on which Crimean Tatars usually came to invade. The old fortifications where Tulitsa flows into Upa were not strong enough; because of that the new fortress was moved from the right bank to the left, which was less flooded at the times of high water. Low-lying banks of Upa and Khomutovka did not serve as a natural topographic barrier for the enemy.

The fortress, however, was carpentered here, on the spot where the only big river in this area Upa crossed the Murav highway. And it was built not on the northern bank under the protection of the river but on the southern bank, on the territory of the uninhabited Wild Field, which can testify about Moscow’s far-reaching plans to develop expanse of the Steppe. The new fortress was meant not just to passively defend but to also actively attack under the protection of strong stony walls.

The way the Kremlin and the city were built was also unusual for the Moscow state. The city was built after the construction of the Kremlin and not the other way around which usually was the case.

As historians were able to ascertain initially in 1507-1509 a wooden fortress was built. At the same time tree barriers were made on paths leading in dangerous directions, which was the beginning of the Abatis Line.

In Tula’s fortress five regiments were located to guard the borderline lands. In 1514, when Vasili III undertook a march to Smolensk soldiers in Tula began to build a stone fortress by gradually replacing log walls.

Delivering stone that was obtained in the vicinity of Venev became a heavy labor-rent for peasants. Having begun building the northern and the western walls of white stone first, the city-builders then largely applied oversize brick, production of which was organized on the spot. It helped to expedite the work flow and as soon as in six years, in summer of 1520 the construction of the fortress was finished.

For ten long years until erection of stone Kremlins in Zaraysk and Kolomna in 1531 and in Serpukhov in 1556, Tula’s Kremlin was the only safe shield that guarded Moscow from the south.

In the middle of XVI century the land around Tula lived in constant danger of Tatar’s attacks. Only in 1540s Crimean looters attacked Tula 14 times. In 1552 Ivan the Terrible undertook a march with his army to Kazan Khanate. The Crimean Horde supported by Turkey and led by Devlet Giray approached Moscow. Eventually Devlet Giray decided to only occupy and loot Tula and on June 21, 1552 suddenly appeared under the walls of the Kremlin.

Tula at that time did not have soldiers for defense (for they were all in the Tsar’s army) but defenders of the city courageously received the enemy’s push. On the next day the Tsar’s regiments came and together they were able to put Devlet Giray to flight. “The ungodly king ran away from the city with a great shame,” says a chronicler.

In 1555 Devlet Giray once again appeared before Tula but was again defeated by Russian soldiers. Ivan the Terrible treasured the fortress and appointed the most skilled princes to be generals there: A. Kurbsky, I. Vorotynsky, P. Serebryany.

In 1607 Tula’s Kremlin became the place of “sitting” under siege of I. Bolotnikov’s army. From June 30 boyar’s army of V. Shuyski fully blocked the rebels within the city walls. Artillery bombarded the fortress from the north and the south. During the summer up to 22 private storms were undertaken. Bolotnikov’s army skillfully and firmly defended themselves and even sallied three or four times a day.

The siege took longer than expected, and the Tsar agreed with boyar’s son Ivan Krovkov’s proposal to flood Tula by building a dam on the river. For two months the Tsar’s army built a half-kilometer dam.

Consequently, the water rose and flooded the Kremlin and the town. People were forced to seek rescue on the roofs. By then a famine had already begun in the city and by October 10 the “Tula’s sitters” laid down their arms.

During the hard years of the “Moscow Devastation” Tula suffered a great deal. Its oak town that was rebuilt many times, nevertheless, survived “the Time of Trouble” and is mentioned in a chronicle in 1629.

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