In the XVII century, the city of Tobolsk achieved great development, and it was called the capital of Siberia. Initially, the city Kremlin was wooden. However, he was often subjected to fires, so in the late 70s of the 17th century, the governor Peter Sheremetyev received the tsar’s order to build the stone Tobolsk Kremlin. So, in 1677, construction began on a new Kremlin and St. Sophia Cathedral.
Construction
Hagia Sophia was built over 10 years, but the Tobolsk Kremlin had to be built for more than a dozen years before its final appearance. The height of the fortress wall reached four and a half meters, and the length was 620 meters. It housed 9 security towers. Inside the fortress walls were built several churches and beautiful chambers (Kazennaya, Prikaznaya, etc.), Gostiny Dvor. In the architecture of these structures, the influence of European architecture is noticeable, which is inherent in the period of the reign of Peter the Great. The designer and construction manager was a wonderful Russian cartographer and geographer Semyon Remezov.
For some time, the construction of the Kremlin was suspended and resumed only in 1746. It was in that year that the Intercession Cathedral was built next to the Hagia Sophia. Toward the end of the 18th century, the Tobolsk Kremlin lost its defensive significance and began to turn into the center of the city. Naturally, the fortress walls had to be dismantled. Near the Pokrovsky Cathedral, the residence of the highest clergyman of Siberia was built - the bishop, and next to the Order Chamber - the Viceroy's Palace - a beautiful building in the style of Russian classicism. However, the most famous moment in the history of the Kremlin was the completion of the construction of the giant four-tiered Cathedral bell tower (75 meters) on the very eve of the 19th century.
The prison castle of the Tobolsk Kremlin
From the first decade of the new century, Tobolsk ceased to be considered the capital of Siberia and transferred this title to another large Siberian city - Omsk, itself turning into a transshipment point for convicts. Therefore, the prison castle was built on the territory of the Kremlin, accommodating about one and a half thousand prisoners. What kind of famous guests this castle did not accept in its "hospitable" walls: Chernyshevsky, Dostoevsky, Korolenko, Petrashevsky, etc. By the way, in Soviet times, especially in Stalin's times, this prison also served its purpose
