Nevyansk Tower is the symbol of Nevyansk and a monument of industrial architecture

The leaning tower is a big mystery. Not only the name of the architect who designed it is unknown, but even the date of construction. According to some data, the building was erected in the 1720s, according to others - in the 1740s, but not later than 1745th. The tower should be called precisely leaning, not falling - scientists have established that the angle of inclination of the building does not change over the years.

A windvane is installed on the roof of the tower, on which the Demidovs coat of arms is made, and a lightning rod in the form of a ball with protruding petals. The latter symbolizes the sun, and the petals - the rays. Unfortunately, to this day not a single “ray” has been preserved, and the ball itself has been strongly twisted by numerous lightning strikes. The lightning rod was installed on the roof of the tower 25 years before Benjamin Franklin invented this device.

Why Demidov needed a leaning tower is also unknown. Many researchers agree that in this way entrepreneurs would like to demonstrate their own greatness.

Proof that the tower was originally built leaning is a fairly heavy weather vane on its roof: it rotates perfectly, showing which way the wind is blowing, and if the tower bent after construction, the weather vane would not be able to rotate.

The clock installed on the tower cost Demidov more than the construction of the building itself.

Near the tower is a monument to Peter I and Nikita Demidov - the founders of the city. Behind the tower is the building of the old power station.

The leaning tower is a snow-white eight-story building with a clock on the upper levels of the building, a weather vane and a sun-shaped lightning rod on the roof. According to one of the versions, there were prison cells on the first floor of the tower. Now, in front of small cramped cells, the workplaces of the building caretakers and the guides are equipped. On the third floor there is the “secret laboratory of Demidov”, where, according to one version, the famous entrepreneur minted fake coins, and on the other - he personally smelted precious metals mined in one of his mines. The door leading to the “holy of holies” and the melting furnace in the corner of the room are original.

On the floor above is another local miracle - the famous “sound room”. Its peculiarity lies in the fact that if one speaks in one corner in a whisper, however quietly it is, then in the other everything will be perfectly audible, and if, on the contrary, to scream very loudly, then nothing will be heard. After inspecting the room, you can climb the upper tiers of the building to the bells and tower clock.

Legends
Many legends tell about the tower. According to one of them, the tower leaned when the basements of the building where workers minted coins flooded.

On the other legend, the Demidovs, being incredibly harsh people, walled workers into the walls of the tower, who either guilty or tried to escape from the factory. Scientists have refuted this myth, not finding voids in the walls of the tower and, accordingly, the remains of workers.

LOCAL FEATURES
The best points of photo and video
At the very top of the tower, where the bells are installed, there is a platform with a sloping balcony, through which you can bypass the entire building along the perimeter. From here there is a beautiful view of the Transfiguration Church and the embankment of the Neiva River.

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