The tower was built in 1491 by architect Pietro Antonio Solari and became the beginning of the eastern line of the Kremlin's fortifications. It replaced the Frolovskaya shooting range from 1367-1368. The gates of the tower, facing Red Square, have always served as the main ceremonial entrance to the Kremlin and were revered as sacred. Through them, the tsar would ride out, the patriarch would make solemn exits, and meetings with foreign ambassadors would take place.

The tower has a quadrangular shape and adjoins a powerful drawbridge that protected the passage gates. The gates were closed with descending iron grilles, called herses. If the enemy penetrated inside, the herses would drop, trapping the opponent in a stone bag, from which they were fired upon from the upper gallery. The facade of the tower shows holes for chains that raised and lowered the wooden bridge deck, and in the passage of the gates, grooves for the metal grille. Drawbridges descended from the gates.

Above the gates of the shooting range and Spasskaya Tower from the Kremlin side, inscriptions in Russian and Latin are carved on white stone boards, telling about the time of its construction: "In the year 6999 (1491), in July, by God's mercy, this shooting range was made by the command of Ivan Vasilyevich, sovereign and autocrat of all Russia, and grand prince of Vladimir, Moscow, Novgorod, Pskov, Tver, Ugra, Vyatka, Perm, Bulgaria, and others in the 30th year of his reign, and it was made by Pietro Antonio Solari from the city of Mediolanum (Milan)."

Originally, the tower was called Frolovskaya, as there was a church of Frol and Lavra nearby. In 1516, a wooden bridge was thrown across the moat from the tower. By the end of the 16th century, the tower had a tented top with a double-headed eagle. By decree of April 16, 1658, Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich renamed it Spasskaya, linking it to the icon of the Savior Not Made by Hands above the gates from the side of Red Square. The icon has not survived, but the place where it hung is visible.

In 1624-1625, architect Bazhen Ogurtsov and master Christophor Galovey erected a multi-tiered top with a stone tent above the tower. This was the first tented completion of the Kremlin towers. The lower part of the building is decorated with a white stone lace arched belt, turrets, and pyramids. Figures appeared, which by order of Tsar Mikhail Fyodorovich were covered with clothing. The tower became the most beautiful and slender in the Kremlin. During the construction, white stone reliefs by V.D. Yermolin depicting Saints George the Victorious and Demetrius of Thessalonica were removed from the facades. A fragment of the relief of Saint George is kept in the Tretyakov Gallery.

In the 17th century, a stone bridge on arches was thrown across the moat to the Spassky gates, where lively trade took place. In the 1650s, a coat of arms of Russia, a double-headed eagle, was installed at the top of the tent. Later, such coats of arms appeared on the high towers, Nikolskaya, Troitskaya, and Borovitskaya.

The first clock on Spasskaya Tower was installed by Christophor Galovey. In 1707, they were replaced by Dutch chimes with music. In 1763, the clock was replaced again, and in 1851, they were overhauled by brothers N. and P. Butenop. In 1920, during the repair of the tower, musician M.M. Cheremnykh and locksmith N.V. Berens tuned the chimes to the melody of the International.

The star on Spasskaya Tower first appeared in 1935, and in 1937 it was replaced with a new one with a wingspan of 3.75 m. Inside the star, a lamp with a power of 5000 W burns around the clock. The star rotates from the wind, like a weather vane.

Spasskaya Tower has 10 floors. Its height to the star is 67.3 m, and with the star, it is 71 m.