In 1156, the great Kiev prince and founder of Moscow Yuri Dolgoruky laid the first fortress there. The Tver Chronicle tells us about this.
The fortress was built at the very top of Borovitsky Hill, at the confluence of two rivers: Moscow and Neglinnaya. The hill was in a prime location. The rivers served as a natural defense of the fortress from three sides. The hill itself was quite high, towering 25 meters above the level of the Moskva River. It was also a good defensive advantage.
In the 60s of the XX century, archaeologists found ancient defensive structures: a rampart and a moat. Experts believe that this is the very fortress that Dolgoruky built. The length of its walls was 850 meters, and the area was 3 hectares.
The width of the ditch was 18 meters, and the depth was 5. The width of the shaft was 14.5 meters, and the height was 7.
The first fortress, although it was much smaller than the current Kremlin, was still quite large for its time. On its territory there were houses of nobility, artisans, various structures and even a cemetery.
Some scholars believe that the construction of the fortress was associated with the difficult relationship between Dolgoruky and the Chernigov prince Izyaslav Davydovich. He gathered around him the enemies of Dolgoruky in order to create a military coalition against him.
In order to somehow secure his native Vladimir-Suzdal principality, he decided to build a fortress in Moscow. Why in Moscow? She was on the border with the Chernigov principality, and in the event of an attack, she would be the first to take the blow.
In 1331, this fortress, already significantly rebuilt, was called the Kremlin for the first time.
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