Menshikov Tower

Menshikov Tower (Russian: Меншикова башня), the Church of Archangel Gabriel is a Baroque Russian Orthodox Church in Basmanny District of Moscow, within the Boulevard Ring. The church was initially built in 1707 to order of Alexander Menshikov by Ivan Zarudny assisted by Domenico Trezzini, a team of Italian-Swiss craftsmen from Ticino and Freyburg cantons and Russian stonemasons from Kostroma and Yaroslavl. The earliest extant Petrine Baroque building in Moscow, Menshikov Tower was substantially altered in the 1770s. The church traditionally functioned in summer only; in winter the congregation assembled in nearby Church of Theodor Stratelates, built in 1782–1806. Church of Saint Theodore also provides the bells for ritual ringing: despite its height, Menshikov Tower does not have bells.