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| About the Name “Ivan the Great” | Punishment for Pride | The Legend of Godunov’s Addition | The First Russian Flyer | “To Shout All Over Ivanovskaya”  (with all one’s might) | Ivanovskaya Square Changes Its Appearance | The War with Napoleon | “Ivan the Great Sways” | A Bouquet of Roses with Lamps | A Commemorative Coin |
The picture shows not the construction of the Godunov’s Addition, but the building of the second tier belfry (1505 – 1508). t is a good illustration to see the construction technology in Ancient Rus.

The Legend of Godunov’s Addition

There is a legend that in 1600 the construction of the addition to the Bell Tower was launched by Tsar Boris Godunov in order to provide work to the people during the famine. However, the historical facts refute that argument. «Besides the religious appointment of the construction, Godunov had other incentives to extend the Ivan the Great Bell Tower. Specifically, his goal was to give earnings to the population in need during the famine raging in Moscow at that time. By that project he thought to win favour of the people, although in reality, the time of the bell tower construction does not concur with the period of the famine in Moscow. Most probably, the high Ivanovsky tower was designed to become a look-out or a watchtower, which was necessary to prevent the frequent raids of the Crimeans and the Nogais from the South-East and the Lithuanians from the West. Among other things, it becomes obvious from the fact that during the stay of the Poles and the Lithuanians in the Kremlin in 1611, there was guard on the Ivanovskaya tower, watching the movements of Russians”. (Snegirev)