Tula was first mentioned in the
Nikon Chronicle (year 1146). In the
Middle Ages, Tula was a minor fortress at the border of the
Principality of Ryazan. As soon as it passed to the
Grand Duchy of Moscow, a brick citadel, or
kremlin, was constructed in 1514–1521. It was a key fortress of the
Great Abatis Belt and successfully resisted a siege by the
Tatars in 1552. In 1607,
Ivan Bolotnikov and his supporters seized the citadel and withstood a four-months siege by the
Tsar's army. In the 18th century, some parts of the kremlin walls were demolished. Despite its archaic appearance, the five-domed Assumption Cathedral in the kremlin was built as late as 1764. In 1712, Tula was visited by
Peter the Great, who commissioned the
Demidov blacksmiths to build the first
armament factory in Russia. Several decades later, Tula was turned by the Demidovs into the greatest ironworking center of Eastern Europe. The oldest museum in the city, showcasing the history of weapons, was inaugurated by the Demidovs in 1724, and
Nicholas-Zaretsky Church in the city houses their family vault. The first factory to produce
samovars industrially was also established there in the course of the 18th century. After the Demidovs moved the center of their manufacture to the
Urals, Tula continued as a center of
heavy industry, particularly in the manufacture of
matériel. In the 1890s, Ivan Savelyev, a medical orderly, became the founder of
social democracy in Tula and set up a workers'
study circle. During
World War II, the city was important in the production of
armaments. Tula became the target of a German offensive to break Soviet resistance in the Moscow area between 24 October and 5 December 1941. According to
Erik Durschmied in
The Weather Factor: How Nature has Changed History, one German general reached the southwestern outskirts of Tula on 29–30 October 1941. The heavily fortified city held out, however, and
Guderian's
Second Panzer Army was stopped near Tula. The city secured the southern flank during the
Battle of Moscow and the subsequent counter-offensive. Tula was awarded the title
Hero City in 1976. It is home to the
Klokovo air base and the
Tula Arms Plant. ==Administrative and municipal status==