Leaning Tower of Nevyansk

The Leaning Tower of Nevyansk (Russian: Невья́нская ба́шня) is a tower in the town of Nevyansk in Sverdlovsk Oblast, Russia, built in the 18th century. Its construction was funded by Peter the Great’s associate Akinfiy Demidov, a famous Russian manufacturer and son of industrialist Nikita Demidov.

The height of the tower is 57.5 metres (189 ft)^[1] from the ground and the base is 9.5 metres (31 ft) square. The deviation of the top part of the tower from a right angle is about 3 degrees. The exact date of construction is unknown, but Russian historians believe that it was built between 1721 and 1745. There is no information about the architect of this unusual edifice.

The purpose of the tower

Historians still debate the exact purpose of the Nevyansk Tower. Some say that Demidov used it as a "bank safe", others believe it was either a watchtower, or a belltower, or a prison, or even a laboratory for conducting chemical experiments and producing counterfeit money. Some historians think that the tower was supposed to embody the might of the Demidov family and serve as an architectural symbol of their dynasty.

The bell-playing musical clockwork produced by Richard Phelps

During restoration work, archaeologists were able to determine the purpose of some of the rooms. It appears that the first floor of the tower was used for conducting some sort of secret work with the help of shackled serfs. According to documents that were discovered, the second floor may have been Demidov’s office, where he kept his archives and other papers. The third floor housed a kind of laboratory, equipped with a furnace. A soot sample taken from the flue showed traces of silver and gold in it, but scientists say that the story about Demidov minting coins is probably a myth. Most likely, the tower was used for smelting the top layers of ore-bearing deposits, which often contain silver or gold. Floors four to six have stairwells only. The seventh and the eight floors house a clock that plays music on a carillon made by English master Richard Phelps in 1730. The story has it that Demidov bought the clock for 5,000 rubles, which was an astronomical amount for that time (for comparison, the construction of the Nevyansk Tower itself cost 4,207 rubles). The clock has three dials, ten music bells weighing about four tons, and one alarm bell. The ninth floor was probably used as an observation post.

There is one mysterious room in the tower, the purpose of which is still debated. Archaeologists dubbed it the "acoustic room." It measures 20 square metres (220 sq ft) and is located between the fourth and the fifth floors. A person standing in one corner of this room can whisper words to another person in the opposite corner and they will be readily audible. Researchers do not know whether the room was built like this on purpose or not. It could be that Demidov used this acoustic room for gathering intelligence on his high-ranking guests.

The purpose of inclination

A view of the tower from the ground

One of the legends has it that the inclination of the tower was the idea of a talented architect. They say that the tower was purposely inclined to face southwest in the direction of Demidov’s birthplace in Tula. Supposedly, this is how Akinfiy wanted to demonstrate his affection for his former home. Another legend claims that right after the end of the construction of the edifice Akinfiy Demidov and the architect went on top of the tower. There, Demidov asked him whether he could build anything better than the Nevyansk Tower. The architect answered "yes", and Demidov ordered him thrown from the top of the building (a rather similar legend is attached to the construction of the Prague Astronomical Clock). The next morning the locals supposedly noticed that the tower had leaned forward a bit and water had started trickling down the walls as if the tower were "crying". One can see water constantly dripping down the southwest wall of the tower to this day (albeit as a result of a natural phenomenon).

The restorers say that there is no evidence to even assume that the Nevyansk Tower was purposely built inclined.^[1] The current surveying data shows that the defect had to be obvious during the construction. It appears that drifting grounds were to blame for the inclination of the tower from the very beginning. Scientists believe that an uneven subsidence took place when the tower had already been partially built. Most likely, the construction workers stopped building the tower on seeing the defect, but later on they decided to go on with their work. This is supported by the color of mortar between the bricks, the composition of which changed as the architects worked their way up. It is also visible how the workers started using specially trimmed bricks, with which they tried to even out the tower.^[1] It appears that the architects finally succeeded in straightening it out. Current measurements indicate that there is a 3-degree deviation of the base part from the axis, the middle part is already straightened, and the inclination of the tower equals only one degree. The top part of the tower is standing vertically. Local meteorologists say that one can make sure that the top of the tower is absolutely vertical without even using a theodolite by looking at the weather vane on the steeple. It shows the direction of the wind even when the wind is minimal. If the top of the tower were not vertical, the two-meter weathervane weighing 25 kg would always stand still in calm weather in the same position, and this never happens. This explanation ignores the possibility that the weather vane was mounted off-axis from the top of the tower, allowing the weather vane to be straight while the top of the tower is still inclined.