This publication presents the history of Russian defense architecture using the example of ancient Russian cities, fortresses, monasteries. Nowadays, these strongholds of the Russian land, once called upon to protect civilians in the event of an enemy threat, have become objects of study, tourism and national pride. They personify both heroic pages inscribed in the history of the state, and the skill of military architects, and the great work of the people, and their aesthetic representations. This publication offers to get acquainted with these great structures, to find out when, by whom and for what purpose they were erected, what place they occupied in history and what is their fate today.