The Gateway bell tower

The Gateway bell tower built approximately in 1720-30s represents a vertical volumetric composition with dynamical proportions. It consists of four tiers: two tetrahedral constructions and two octagonal constructions ending with eight-sided hipped roof and topped with a "onion" cupola at the thin neck. The dimensions of the lower tetrahedral construction make up 6,8 x 8 meter. Two vaulted crossings of different dimensions are made in it. The second tetrahedral construction is cut through with the large window openings lightening a small room. The next octagonal construction is decorated with big niches. The upper octagonal construction is a vaulted peal place with a wooden bordering. There are stairs in the thick walls of the tetrahedral constructions. It is stretched around the external wall of the octagonal construction and gets opened to the view in the third tier. Earlier there were clocks at the eastern wall of the fourth tier. In 1850 the vaults of the third tier were laid the foundation and the hipped roof was covered with an “onion” cupola (they were put off in 1980s).

The simplified decor of the bell tower fronts distinctly features the architecture of the transient period. The pillar-like hip composition symbolizing a canopy over the sacral place, the descending God’s grace and a pillar (the stylites’ habitation, the Wisdom Pillar) refer to the bell towers of the middle of the 16th – the beginning of the 17th century.