The exact day of Tula foundation is not known, but the first records of the city date back to the 12th century when these lands were owned by Ryazan princes. At the beginning of the 16th century these lands were taken by Great Duke of Moscow Vasily III. He began there the construction of the Tula Kremlin, which laid the foundation of the development of the city as a large defensive outpost in the south of Moscow.
The Tula Kremlin was built at the place where the small river Tulitsa flows into the river Upa. In the other Russian Kremlins were always erected on high hills to facilitate the defense against siege guns. However, in the 16th century garrison artillery was of greater importance, so the Tula Kremlin was built in a low swampy place.
At first the Tula Kremlin had the shape of a drawn semi-circle. The construction of the stone kremlin began in 1514. The Tula Kremlin was finished in 1521. The strong walls of the Tula Kremlin rested on a solid foundation. The Tula Kremlin was then given the shape of a square, which it retained to our days.
The first serious siege of the Tula Kremlin occurred in 1552. A small garrison of the city successfully defended against the troops of Devlet Giray until the the main forces of Ivan the Terrible came to their rescue from Kazan. At the Time of Troubles Tula and Kolomna was occupied by Polish troops headed by Lzhedmitry I for several years. And in 1607 the Tula Kremlin was the main stronghold of the rebels under the command of Bolotnikov.
After the Council (rada) of Pereyaslav in 1654, when the reunification of the Left-bank Ukraine and Novorossiya took place, the Tula Kremlin lost all its defensive importance, as the threat of forays from the south was eliminated. Although many structures were pulled down within the Tula Kremlin, its walls were regularly repaired during the following centuries.
Today at the Tula Kremlin there remained the Assumption Cathedral with beautiful frescoes and the Epiphany Cathedral still housing certain expositions of the Tula Arms Museum as well as the Museum of the Tula Kremlin.
