Right on the bank of the Volga stands a tower that in the 17th century served as the water entrance to the city. Since ancient times it has been part of the fortification erected around Rubleny Gorod. There were 19 such towers in total, but only two have survived to the present day – Volzhskaya and Znamenskaya.
By the way, Volzhskaya Tower stood at the very corner of the “triangle” – in shape, Rubleny Gorod resembled a triangle whose base was the Medveditsky Ravine. It offered a good view of the river and the entire nearby bank. This proved especially useful in 1609, when the city withstood a 24-day siege by the Poles.
Originally, Volzhskaya Tower had a firing gallery and a wooden tented roof with a watchtower, but in 1711 the roof burned down, and another century later the firing gallery was dismantled as well. In the 1840s the tower was built up and a military arsenal was placed inside it. Since then it came to be called the Arsenal Tower.
Toward the end of the 19th century, a tavern was set up in Volzhskaya Tower. They did not overthink the name and simply called it “Tower.” And apparently the place was quite successful, because today there is a cafe here as well.
Now, while strolling leisurely along Volzhskaya Embankment, it is hard even to imagine that life once bustled here and brisk trade was conducted by the tower. Merchant ships and barges, including foreign ones, arrived in Yaroslavl every day, and all their goods entered the city precisely through the Volga Gate.
