The tower was built at the end of the 15th century and has preserved its original appearance to this day. In 1676-1686, an upper arched quadrangle and a tent with an observation tower were built on it, which gave the structure a resemblance to the Arsenal Tower.

Since the Nabatnaya Tower is located high on a hill, it offers a distant view to the south. The building served as a watchtower for the Kremlin: guards were on duty around the clock. If columns of smoke appeared on the horizon and lights began to loom, this meant an invasion of the Tatars. The guards notified the townspeople about the approach of the enemy, and they were in a hurry to hide from the steppe enemy.

In 1771, during the Plague Riot, the rebels called residents of the city to the Kremlin with the ringing of the Spassky alarm. After that, Catherine II ordered to remove the tongue of the bell, and for the next 30 years the bell hung “numb”. At the beginning of the 19th century, it was moved to the Kremlin arsenal, and in 1851 to the Armory Chamber, where it is still stored.

The height of the Nabatnaya Tower is 38 meters. In the 1970s, it began to lean due to subsidence of the soil and cracks in the foundation. The roll was stopped, but the structure was not leveled: it still deviates from the norm by a whole meter.