The bells fell down, crushing the wooden ceilings and destroying nave interiors (still incomplete). The side altars, however, survived and continued operation while the main tower stood decapitated until 1773. In 1773–1779 the tower was restored and acquired its current shape: instead of recreating the destroyed upper octagon, the new architects replaced it with a compact but complex baroque dome. Vases on the corners of the first octagon, installed in the 1770s, replaced the statues lost in 1723 (the vases were later regularly replaced and are now made of concrete). Window arches of the octagons were filled up with brick, rendering installation of bells impossible. Otherwise, sculptural finishes of this period were close to lost originals (present-day sculpture, again, is mostly concrete replica). Menshikov tower had no reliable heating facilities and was closed for the winters. Instead, the congregation built a smaller neoclassical church of St. Theodore Stratelates (completed 1806), which also doubled as the bell tower. In 1821–1850s the tower was a house church of the Central Post Office. The postmasters entertained the plans to reopen the upper level windows and install the bells, but they did not materialize. The church was repaired externally, and the only significant addition was the pineapple-shaped spire which remains extant. The church was looted in 1922 and lost its iconostasis; existing iconostasis comes from a church in Preobrazhenskoye that was demolished in the 1960s. References Pamyatniki arhitektury Moskvy (Памятники архитектуры Москвы. Белый город.). Moscow: Iskusstvo, 1989. pp. 245–251 External links Menshikov Tower, Church of Archangel Gabriel (Moscow) Detailed views of the church Russian Orthodox churches in Moscow Towers in Russia Religious buildings and structures completed in 1707 Towers completed in 1707 Baroque architecture in Russia Towers in Moscow Domenico Trezzini buildings and structures 1707 establishments in Russia Cultural heritage monuments of federal significance in Moscow