The main purpose of this 34-meter tower, built in 1491 by Italian Pietro Antonio Solari, was to protect the Kremlin from Red Square. Interestingly, until the end of the XVIII century, it did not have any name at all. It was only after the [Senate building] (https://kudago.com/msk/place/senat/) was erected behind it that the tower finally got its name.

From the architectural point of view, the Senate Tower is not particularly different from other similar buildings of the ensemble, but it has preserved traces of historical changes that took place in Russia. Today, this tower is one of the most recognizable, as it was in front of it in the thirtieth year of the last century that the [Lenin Mausoleum] was built (https://kudago.com/msk/place/mavzolej-lenina/). Later, a passage was made from the tower to the tomb of the leader so that party members could move to the stands directly from the Kremlin, and not through Red Square.

The appearance of the Senate Tower could be completely different if the proposal of architect Sergei Merkulov was accepted in the second half of the 20th century. The Soviet architect proposed to turn the tower into a monument to Victory in the Great Patriotic War. Merkulov wanted to shorten the structure and put a statue of Lenin on it. And the architect's colleague, Arkady Mordvinov, proposed to install the figure of Stalin.

The last time the Senate Tower was restored was in 2016. Then the brickwork was strengthened, the waterproofing was updated, the interiors and merlons — tower battlements — were restored.