The first reference to fortifications on the site dates to 1044, with additional construction taking place in 1116.
The current fortress was built between 1484 and 1490 by Muscovite builders in the wake of Grand Prince Ivan III's conquest of the city in 1478; a third of it was paid for by the Novgorodian archbishop Gennady, a Muscovite appointee (1484-1504) [REF].