The Powder Tower is a round tower of the Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin. It is located in the upper part between the Dmitrievskaya and Georgievskaya towers, opposite the former building of the Nizhny Novgorod seminary on Minin and Pozharsky Square.

In the 17th century, the tower housed a storage for gunpowder and cannon ammunition, as suggested by its name. In the 1621 cadastre book, the Powder Tower was recorded as the Spasskaya Tower: behind it stood the Cathedral of the Transfiguration of the Lord, founded by Prince Yuri Vsevolodovich a few years after the construction of the first Nizhny Novgorod fortress. The cathedral was plundered by the hordes of Mamai’s Tatars, burned down, and rebuilt multiple times. Until the 1917 revolution, the main shrine of the church was the icon of the Holy Mandylion (Image of Edessa), which Prince Konstantin brought from Suzdal in 1352. In 1930, the Transfiguration Cathedral was demolished by explosion, and the House of Soviets was built on its site, where the city council now meets.

Historical documents also mention another name for the Powder Tower — Streletskaya (Sharpshooter’s Tower): due to the nearby Streletskaya Sloboda, where infantrymen (streltsy) lived.

The lower floors of the Powder Tower, deprived of frontal loopholes, were adapted as caponiers for conducting artillery fire flanking the approaches to neighboring fortifications. The upper tier has 11 combat windows. In 1621, the Powder Tower housed three small-caliber hand cannons (pishchali), which fired cannonballs weighing about 0.3 kg.

The Powder Tower was considered to have three tiers, but during restoration in 1952, a fourth underground tier was discovered. By 1952, lime stalactites had grown on the ceilings of the combat chambers, like in a cave. The lower floors of the Powder Tower were used for artillery fire. The upper tier has 11 combat windows. In 1621, the Powder Tower housed three small-caliber hand cannons that fired cannonballs weighing 0.3 kg.

In the lower part of the tower, traces of numerous repairs are visible, carried out in 1786 and in the 19th century. Before the 1952 restoration, the Powder Tower was considered three-tiered, until researchers discovered the fourth underground tier. On both sides of the underground room of the lower tier, there are adjoining walls (pryasla) equipped with loopholes. Interestingly, by 1952, lime stalactites had grown on the ceilings of the combat chambers, as if in a cave.

Sources:

https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Пороховая_башня_(Нижний_Новгород)

https://vk.com/@nizhny800-istoriya-goroda-3