The tower got its name from the Vladimir gate church, built in 1311 by the order of Novgorod Archbishop David. This tower was the route to the Nerev end of the Sofia side of Novgorod. Before its construction, the path from Detinets to the Nerev end passed through the Fyodorovskaya tower. Archaeological excavations led by M.Kh. Aleshkovsky in 1957 showed that the tower was built on earlier foundations. In 1461, by the order of Archbishop Ion, the Vladimir gate church was completely rebuilt and a refectory was added to it. Probably, the tower was updated at that time as well. In the 16th century, an image of Nicholas the Wonderworker appeared on the outer facade of the tower, the fresco of which has survived to this day, giving the tower a second name, Nikolskaya. In the 16th century and in the 1660s, the loopholes of the tower were remodeled, and at the end of the 18th century, it was repaired. The attached refectory of the Vladimir church was dismantled, but a two-story Nikolskaya chapel with a passage to the Volkhov from the Archierian garden of Detinets was added.

During the Great Patriotic War, the tower was heavily damaged. In 1959 and 1961, according to the project of A.V. Vorobyov and N.S. Krivulina, it was restored in the forms of the 15th century. The two-story Nikolskaya chapel was dismantled, but the floors lost in the 18th century were restored. The strengthening of the foundations, begun in the 1930s, was also completed, which prevented the tower from settling.