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of the pier with the observatory on top does not correspond to that o f the
tower itself. All this gives it a special picturesque asymmetrical silhouette
contrasting with the strict geometrical outline of the o ther towers o f New
Town.
The last o f the big corner towers, Kuznetchnaya tower brings to the rear
the walls o f New Town on the opposite side. It appeared during the finishing
stage of the fortress construction in 1670 when part of the old low wall of
Ivanovski monastery included originally in the new fortification system, was
replaced by a much stronger wall. At the same time two old corner towers
were pulled down. These were Nahugolnaya tower and ano the r one, bearing
the same name as the new Kuznetchnaya tower. The general structure o f the
extant Kuznetchnaya tower goes back to Ferapontovskaya and Belozerskaya
towers built earlier. Its walls do not taper towards the top, the observatory is
not very high, making it a little bulky in comparison to these two towers.
The walls of New Town have three tiers (approximately 11 meters) each
of them is pierced by numerous loopholes. The upper tier was provided
besides ordinary loopholes with special ones suitable not only for shooting
during siege but also for pouring boiling water on the enemy. Many small
cells were made in the lower tier on the monastery side apparently for a c
commodating garrisons in times of seige. Two upper tiers look on the mon
astery with broad open galleries. The entrance towers are flanked on the
inside by guardhouses. Part of the wall between Kosaya and Belozerskaya
towers accommodates in the lower tier big vaulted chambers alternating with
«seni», small cramped storage rooms and latrines. On the monastery side the
chamber windows were decorated with brick window frames, their openings
still retain wooden jambs. This part of the walls located on the site o f the
old wooden rows of shops resembles the arrangement of the Trinity-Sergius
monastery shopping arcades. Legend has it that a monastery prison was later
located here. This part of the wall has entrance gates without a tower, they
are called T г о i t s к i e. They have retained massive panels coa ted with
iron, like the ones which hang in the archway of Kazanskaya tower.
The walls near Kuznetchnaya tower erected during the last stage o f c o n
struction possess a few peculiar features. The old structures were not c om
pletely destroyed here. Remains of the old smithy dating probably from the
end of the XVI century are easily traceable in the body of the new walls near
the tower. It seems that the smithy existed for some time even after the
erection o f the new wall. Its windows, niches and remains o f its vaults can
be seen from the monastery side through two big open arches in the lowest
tie* of the walls. Besides the new wall the remains of the smithy can be
traced in the lower tier of the fortifications of Ivanovski monastery facing
the like. The foundations of the rest of the walls of the smithy were revealed
by archaeological diggings. It was a large stone chamber, square in ground
plan and sim ila r in its a rrangemen t to the ch amb e r b en e a th Ma laya
Merezhennaya tower. Besides the smithy, practically the whole length of
the foundations o f the old stone walls of Ivanovski monastery has been p r e
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