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Constructed in 1771 in the Catherine Park to the design of the architect Yury Velten, his creation is the first Neo-Gothic structure in any Russian park. From the outside the tower looks like a Doric column that has sunk into the ground. It is topped by a large square platform supporting a round pavilion whose walls are pierced by lancet arches.
The wall facing the park is perforated by a semicircular arch. The gigantic keystone of this arch bears the inscription: “This stone was placed in 1768 in memory of the war declared on Russia by the Turks.” The arch serves as the entrance to a narrow corridor on the right side of which a spiral ramp begins the access to the upper platform. From up there, at a height of 21 metres, you get a splendid view of the Landscape Park.
The surface of the plaster was artificially aged with cracks imitating natural wear-and-tear. Because of this the tower resembled the ruins of some work of fortification, interest in which was particularly strong in the second half of the eighteenth century: the architects of that time appreciated the beauty of the picturesque ruins of Greece and Rome and created their own artificial ruins, producing an atmosphere of melancholy in the parks.