Verkhoturye Kremlin (ostrog) was founded in 1598 on the site of the ancient settlement of the Mansi tribe. For over a hundred years it was wooden. The construction of a white-stone fortress town on the top of a rocky cliff rising 26 meters above the Tura began in 1703 by the order of Peter I.
This is the northernmost Kremlin in Russia, which is located on the route of the busy 17 century trade route between the European part of Russia and Siberia. Merchants first sailed up the Kama to Solikamsk. It was near this city that the most convenient land passage over Ural Mountains to the Tura was. Then you could go down the Tura, Tobol and Irtysh rivers.
That is why Peter I attached so much importance to the city. It should be noted that at the turn of the century there was a tsar ban to construct stone buildings of public institutions and churches. An exception was made only for three cities: St. Petersburg Tobolsk and Verkhoturye. So in 1703-1709 a stone Kremlin was erected in Verkhoturye.
The more southern route was laid only in the 20th of 18 century, when the city of Yekaterinburg was founded in 1723. Thus, Verkhoturye can be considered the oldest city in the Ural.
At first, a garrison of the Streltsy was placed there, which defended trade caravans, then in 1600 customs was established. Customs duties levied on merchants contributed to the development of Verkhoturye. A city was grew around the Kremlin, which actively developed until 1763, when Catherine II abolished all internal customs in the Russian Empire.
The Verkhoturye Kremlin is considered the smallest Kremlin in Russia. Its dimensions are only 125 by 194 meters. The Trinity Cathedral, the main church of the Verkhoturye Kremlin, was consecrated in April 1709. It was built in the style of Moscow Baroque, with a high bell tower, in which a clock was installed in 1777.
