There was no building in old Moscow more mysterious than the Sukharev Tower. Meanwhile, this beautiful building owes its appearance to secular and quite ordinary events - the struggle for the Russian throne.
In a brief summary, they look like this: on August 8, 1689, the young Tsar Peter, warned of the impending rebellion of the archers, hastily left Preobrazhenskoye and went to seek protection within the walls of the Trinity-Sergius Monastery. He was followed by the faithful regiments of his amusing army - Preobrazhensky and Semenovsky. Soon they were joined by the rifle regiment of Lavrenty Sukharev, who was serving at the Sretensky Gate in Moscow.
The outcome of this confrontation is well known: Peter I finally established himself as the sole ruler of Russia, his sister, Princess Sophia, was imprisoned in a monastery. Moscow was adorned with another outstanding architectural structure.
Rare color photo of the tower before its demolition
In 1692-1695, on the site of the wooden Sretensky Gate, a watchtower was built according to the design of M. I. Choglokov, which was named Sukhareva. It is believed that in this way the sovereign expressed gratitude to the faithful colonel.
The Sukharev Tower soon lost its defensive significance, and in 1700 the Navigation School was placed in it. It was at this time that Count Yakov Vilimovich Bruce first appeared here, whose name has since been inextricably linked with the history of the tower.
Jacob Bruce (at birth James Daniel Bruce) - one of the closest associates of Peter I, was a representative of an old Scottish family, but was born in Russia. His father, artillery colonel Wilim Bruce, left his homeland even before the birth of his son and entered the service of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich.
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Bruce Jr. followed in his father's footsteps and also became a military man. His track record includes participation in the Battle of Poltava and other battles of the Northern War.
As a result, Jacob Bruce rose to the rank of Field Marshal General, became a Senator, and in 1721 received the title of Count. Military service did not prevent Bruce from becoming one of the most educated people of his time.
The range of his scientific interests was unusually wide. He was interested in chemistry and astronomy, mathematics and botany, was fluent in several European languages, was fond of astrology. In 1709, the famous "Bruce calendar" was published, which was an astrological forecast calculated for a hundred years in advance.
It contained a wide variety of information about the upcoming events: weather, crops, wars and peace. In addition, Bruce gave a lot of useful advice on what days should be "wandering by sea, fishing and marriages".
After the death of Peter I, the count left the government service and finally settled in Moscow. Since then, scientific research has become the main business of his life. Unusual for that time, Bruce's occupations, strange for those around him, the blue "devilish" light, which was periodically seen in the windows of the laboratory he equipped on the upper floors of the Sukharev Tower, soon gave him a reputation as a sorcerer and warlock.
Popular rumor about Bruce amazed the imagination of his contemporaries. The most common of them told of how Bruce constructed a mechanical servant doll for himself, giving it the appearance of a girl of extraordinary beauty. She knew how to do all the housework: cleaned rooms, cooked food, served coffee. The only thing Bruce could not achieve was to teach her to speak.
The continuation of this legend is no less remarkable. Many young aristocrats tried to achieve the love of a beautiful girl. Bruce, who unsuccessfully tried to convince them that it was not a man, but a doll, they did not believe.
Desperate to explain anything, the count pulled out a hairpin from the servant's hair, and the girl crumbled in front of everyone, turning into an armful of fresh flowers. The grooms disappeared at once, and Bruce sighed and began to reassemble his wonderful maid.
Bruce was credited with many more unusual acts and mysterious stories. They said that at night all kinds of evil spirits gathered in his tower: devils and ghosts. On the full moon night, a real dragon appeared on the roof of the Sukharev Tower, and Bruce flew around the sleeping city on it. According to another version, Bruce carried out his night flights on a huge steel bird.
Jacob Bruce died in April 1735. By that time, the Navigation School had already been transferred to St. Petersburg, and the admiralty offices and judicial chambers were located in the Sukharev Tower. However, the name of the mysterious count was still inextricably linked with this place.
There were even rumors in Moscow that Bruce had invented an elixir to revive and gave the king (queen) a bottle of this liquid - just in case. So he died, and there was no one else to give wise advice to the autocrat. And then the king (queen) opens the tomb of Bruce. The warlock's corpse has not decomposed at all; watering it with the coveted elixir, the sovereign (empress) receives the necessary advice from the revived count.
Even in the 19th century, a story was popular where Jacob Bruce still hides in a secret place in Moscow and continues to play the solitaire games of fate, determining who how to live, whom to marry and where to go.
At the beginning of the 19th century, the famous Sukharevsky market appeared next to the tower. This happened immediately after the war of 1812, when residents who had abandoned their homes returned to Moscow. The townspeople, as best they could, tried to find the property looted during their absence.
To avoid unrest among the population, Governor-General Count Fyodor Rostopchin issued a decree according to which “any thing, wherever it comes from, is the inalienable property of the one who currently owns it, and that any owner can sell them, but only once a week, on Sunday, in one place, namely on the square opposite the Sukharev Tower. Already on the first Sunday after the decree, the square was filled with mountains of looted property.
Over time, Sukharevka turned into a large flea market - a hot spot so beloved by the famous Moscow artist Vladimir Gilyarovsky and other thrill seekers. It is noteworthy that a strange custom existed among the local criminal community.
On April 11 - this day was considered Bruce's birthday - there was an unwritten rule: "Do not push the stolen junk, do not scour someone else's pockets, do not shout and rob merchants, otherwise Bruce will punish and immobilize his hands and tongue." And they said in a whisper in "raspberries" that they really saw a few disobedient ones - they became disabled and could only beg …
The Sukharev Tower has not survived to this day. It was demolished in April 1934, ostensibly to remove obstacles to traffic. It is not known what the authorities were actually guided by, but many architects, including the famous Alexei Shchusev, were against and even personally asked Stalin not to touch
The story of the demolition of the tower has acquired a new legend. When they began to demolish the Sukharev tower, an old man with a black beard came out of it and began to observe the work. They beat on the tower, but it does not give in. We understood that the old man was the problem. A car arrived, the old man was taken away and taken away. Only after that they were able to knock down the tower. Who was this old man? They said, sorcerer …
Most likely, the real basis of the legend is this: for some time before the demolition, architects and students were on duty near the tower, hoping to stop the destruction. But, as the legend says, Stalin personally supervised the dismantling of the building, during which the workers were ordered to look for caches and treasures.
Indeed, many ancient books hidden there were found within the walls of the tower. But the most important - the Black Book of the sorcerer Bruce - was never found.
However, there is still hope to reveal the secrets of the Sukharev Tower. In the 1990s, diggers and “black archeologists” discovered numerous underground passages under Sukharevskaya Square, which could be accessed from the basements of old houses located on Sretenka and in nearby lanes. And then the city authorities became interested in the local underground.
Thus, at his press conference in September 2008, the chief archaeologist of the Russian capital, Alexander Veksler, said: “The foundation of the tower has been preserved. Research is underway there now. It was even proposed to create an underground museum under Sukharevskaya Square, entirely dedicated to the famous tower. The only question is, will the earth allow it?