Menshikov Tower

The Menshikov Tower (Russian Меншикова башня ), also known as Church of Archangel Gabriel (Russian Церковь Архангела Гавриила ), is a Russian Orthodox Baroque church in the center of Moscow, in the district Basmanny, within the Boulevard Ring. She was the first building in Moscow, which the height of the bell tower of Ivan the Great, reached 81 meters, and is now the oldest of the surviving buildings of the so-called Peter- baroque in Moscow.

The church was built in 1707 on behalf of Alexander Menshikov by architect Ivan Zarudny in collaboration with Domenico Trezzini, Italian and Swiss masters of the cantons of Fribourg and Ticino and Russian stonemasons from Kostroma and Yaroslavl. It replaced an older church Archangel Gabriel, which was first mentioned at this point in 1551.

1723 burned the church tower from after a lightning strike. The falling church bells pierced the wooden roof and destroyed parts of the interior of the nave. The side altars, however, remained intact, to them continue services were held, while the main tower to 1773 " beheaded " remained. 1773-1779 the tower was rebuilt in its present form. Here, instead of the original octagonal spire joined the new, more compact dome in the Baroque style.

The Menshikov Tower does not have any heating and therefore remains closed during the winter. As a " spare Church " for the wintertime was built a small, neoclassical church of St. Theodore in 1806. It also provides for the bells, as the Menshikov Tower itself since the fire of 1723 no bells.

In the years 1821-1850 the Menshikov Tower was used as a house church of the Central Post Office. In this case, the building was renovated and the main tower received its pineapple -shaped tip, which has been preserved until today. Moreover, the central post office was planning to reinstall the bell, but the project was not implemented.

In 1922 the church was looted and lost inter alia their iconostasis. Today's Iconostasion a church in the district Preobraschenskoje, which was destroyed in 1960.