Spasskaya Bashnya
Gate tower crowned by a ruby star, its clock chimes marking Red Square hours for centuries.
Location
About this audio guide
This guide to Spasskaya Bashnya in Moscow opens in 1937, when Stalin's workers were ordered to erase a two-meter icon of the Savior painted above this gate, and instead of destroying it, nailed a metal grate over the face, plastered it, and painted it red to match the wall. You'll hear how decades of soldiers, tourists and parades passed beneath the gate with no idea a face was staring down through the plaster. It follows the moment in the spring of 2010 when restorers doing routine work cut into that plaster and struck metal underneath.
This audio guide was created using AI.
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