The tower was built in the 17th century and was rumored to be inhabited by a sorcerer, a warlock engaged in alchemy and black magic. This warlock was a statesman and scientist Jacob Bruce, who, according to popular legend, turned lead into gold for Peter the Great.

The gloomy rumors were based on his astronomy classes on the upper floor of the tower. The reputation of a stargazer, a man who opens the dark canopy of the sky to learn the secrets of the universe, began to spread far beyond the borders of Moscow. There is a legend among ordinary people that Bruce has a book that reveals all the secrets to him, and that with its help he can find out what is happening on the other side of the earth and what is hidden where. But this book “is not given into the hands of anyone and is located in a mysterious room, where no one dares to enter.”

The rumors were strengthened by strange things found in the inventory of his office when Bruce died: “a round small mirror in which a large face appears”, “shells of various large and small 99”,” Chinese shoes braided from grass”, “stone mushroom”, “Indian pumpkin”, “mammoth head bone”, “ambers with flies”, a box with a “small natural snake” and the like curiosities. Such a set, according to the people, could only belong to a black sorcerer.

It is said that Bruce's ghost can still be found at night on the site of the destroyed Sukharevskaya Tower. The sorcerer whispers spells into his beard and searches for his black book...