Initially, the famous Spasskaya Tower was called Frolovskaya, since it was located near the Church of Frol and Laurus. In 1516, a wooden bridge was thrown from the tower across the moat. Only in 1658, by decree of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, the tower began to be called Spasskaya. The new name was associated with the icon of the Savior Not Made by Hands, which was located above the gate on the Red Square side. During construction, the tower was twice as low. Now its height together with the star is 71 meters. This is due to the modernization and additions that were carried out periodically throughout the tower’s life. Thus, in 1624-1625, the English architect Christopher Galovey, with the participation of the Russian master Bazhen Ogurtsov, erected a multi-tiered top in the Gothic style over the tower.

The Spassky Gate was considered holy. Therefore, it was forbidden to ride through them on horseback, and men who passed through these gates had to remove their headdresses in front of the image of the Savior, illuminated by a lamp. Those who did not obey this rule had to make 50 prostrations. Criminals sentenced to death who were executed at Lobnoye Mesto prayed to the image of the Savior of Smolensk. There is a legend associated with the icon of the Savior Not Made by Hands. In the middle of the 17th century, a plague epidemic swept through the central provinces. She bypassed the city of Khlynov and rumors spread that the reason was the miraculous image of the Savior Not Made by Hands, to whom the townspeople prayed. After Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich found out about this, he ordered the icon to be delivered to Moscow. The image was delivered in a religious procession in 1648. After the Bolsheviks came to power, the gate image and the icon of the Savior Not Made by Hands were lost. However, in June 2010, icon painter Dmitry Vinokurov wrote an accurate list of the famous miraculous icon.

According to legend, when Napoleon was passing through the Spassky Gate in captured Moscow, a gust of wind pulled the famous cocked hat from his head. During the retreat of the French army from Moscow, the Spasskaya Tower was ordered to be blown up, but the Don Cossacks arrived in time and extinguished the already lit wicks. To the left of the gate stood the chapel of the Great Council Revelation (Smolenskaya), to the right – the Great Council Angel (Spasskaya). They were demolished in 1925.

Initially, there was an English clock on the Spasskaya Tower. They were made in 1625 under the direction of the English mechanic Christopher Galovey. But in 1705, by order of Peter I, the clock was remade in accordance with German traditions – with a dial at 12 o’clock. In 1770, the English clock was reinstalled and found in the Chamber of Facets. Since 1770, the clock has played the German melody “Ah, my dear Augustine” for some time. Modern chimes were made by brothers Nikolai and Ivan Budenop in 1851-1852 and installed on the 8-10 tiers of the Spasskaya Tower. From that time on, the chimes played the “March of the Preobrazhensky Regiment” at noon and 6:00, and at 3:00 and 9:00 the hymn “How Glorious is Our Lord in Zion” by Dmitry Bortnyansky, which sounded over Red Square until 1917. Modern clocks weigh 25 tons and are driven by three weights weighing from 160 to 224 kg. The watch has four dials with a diameter of 6.12 m, the height of the numbers is 72 cm, the length of the hour hand is 2.97 m, the minute hand is 3.28 m. They are wound twice a day.