In what year was the Tsar Bell built? Silent Giant
Address: Russia, Moscow, Moscow Kremlin
Date of creation: 1735
Placed on a pedestal: 1836
Coordinates: 55°45"02.9"N 37°37"07.1"E
The Moscow Kremlin is famous for one of its most notable historical landmarks - the Tsar Bell.
Moreover, it amazes not with its sound (the Tsar Bell never rang), but primarily with its own mass and enormous size. Currently, the bell is located on Ivanovskaya Square and everyone can see it. It is reliably known that the Tsar Bell was cast in the 18th century by a family of then-famous foundry masters, the Motorins: father Ivan and son Mikhail.
Of course, the Tsar Bell is their best and most monumental work, but the Motorins cast many other bells and over 10 cannons. And not only for churches in the Russian capital - bells of their work, for example, can be seen in St. Petersburg and Kyiv.
The history of the creation of the Tsar Bell
The Tsar Bell, which can be seen in Moscow today, is not the first. It turns out there was an earlier version of it. It was cast in 1600 and weighed approximately 40 tons. Unfortunately, in the middle of the 17th century it crashed. Immediately after this sad event, they decided to smelt a new bell, much larger than the previous one. The weight of the new bell was 130 tons, which was installed next to the bell tower of Tsar Ivan the Great. But he was not destined to “live.” The exact date of his fall is known - it was 1654, Christmas. The bell was damaged during the Christmas bell ringing. But they decided not to stop there either. Turning to professional foundry worker A. Grigoriev, the master was ordered an even larger bell - already weighing 160 tons.
However, it was not destined to ring for a long time - the Grigorievsky bell broke during a severe fire that happened in 1701. And only 30 years later, Empress Anna Ioanovna decided to make another attempt to revive the Tsar Bell. The duration of preparatory work was 4 years.
To cast a new bell on Ivanovskaya Square, a special form in a hole 10 meters deep. The walls of the form were reinforced with bricks and special oak inserts, and an iron grating was placed on the bottom. Oak piles were used as the foundation of this structure. Next, a bell shape was placed in the pit, into which melted liquid was poured in four melting furnaces metal. The casting material was used from the remains of the old Tsar Bell, which was broken during a fire. The project was “officially” led and performed by Ivan Motorin. From this moment on, the chronology of the creation of the Tsar Bell is as follows: preparatory work were completely finished in November 1734. On November 26, a service was held in the Assumption Cathedral, immediately after which the smelting furnaces were flooded.
And now, it would seem, nothing should prevent the casting of a new bell. However, unexpected things happened again. Two furnaces malfunctioned, molten copper began to flow out and it all ended in a big fire. And after some time, Ivan Motorin died...
They decided not to abandon the work they had begun and another attempt The creation of the Tsar Bell was undertaken by Ivan Motorin's son Mikhail. 1 hour and 12 minutes is exact time, which was needed to cast the latest version of the Tsar Bell. The exact date of its creation is also known - November 25, 1735. After casting, the bell began to be decorated with chasing. However, fate intervened here too. In May 1737, another fire started in Moscow. As a result, they caught fire wooden logs and boards that served as a frame for the casing in the casting pit. The Tsar Bell began to heat up and to prevent it from melting again, it was decided to fill it with water. Naturally, the metal could not withstand such a temperature difference, and a piece broke off from the Tsar Bell. The weight of this piece was 11.5 tons. The most interesting thing is that after the fire no one pulled him out of the foundry pit. And the Tsar Bell lay in it for a long time - almost 100 years.
And only when the Kremlin was restored after the war with Napoleon, in 1836 the Tsar Bell was erected on a special pedestal. This is how you can see him now. Installed near the bell tower of Tsar Ivan the Great, this is truly a masterpiece of the foundry art of Tsarist Russia.
The history of the creation of the last Tsar Bell, which is accessible to tourists today, is inextricably linked with another remarkable person - Augustus Montferrand. August Montferrand gained fame as a great specialist in working with heavy structures weighing several tens of tons after the construction of St. Isaac's Cathedral. By the way, he was its chief architect. It was he who helped organize the raising of the Tsar Bell to its pedestal. By the way, the pedestal itself was also designed by Augustus Montferrand. People of that time were literally stunned when they saw the power and beauty of the raised Tsar Bell! The ornamental decorations were especially well done; this was noted in the newspapers of that time.
The same Augustus Montferrand cast a copper orb with a cross mounted on top of the Tsar Bell. The cross is not gold, as many people think, but just gilded. Nevertheless, this does not make the view of the Tsar Bell any less breathtaking. On the bas-reliefs decorating the Tsar Bell, you can see Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, under whom the previous copy was created, and Empress Anna Ioannovna, the inspiration for the creation of this copy.
After all, it was thanks to her decree that work began on casting a new copper bell. Immediately below the image of Empress Anna Ioanovna there is an inscription informing about the creators of the Tsar Bell - father and son Motorins. They also did not forget about the Christian saints - on the Tsar Bell there are images of Christ with the Mother of God, the Apostle Peter and John the Baptist. However, the fire that happened in 1737 Once again did not allow the plan to be completed. It is for this reason that traces of unfinished minting are visible on the Tsar Bell. By the way, another master did the chasing. Only recently was his name established - Fedor Medvedev.
The Legend of the Tsar Bell
There is an incredible legend about the Tsar Bell. According to it, the bell was cast during the time of Peter I (late XVII - beginning of XVIII centuries). With the return of the Tsar to Moscow after the Battle of Poltava, all the bells rang in honor of the victory. Only one bell did not ring, despite the efforts of the bell ringers to shake up the bell language. In anger, Peter I sent a company of soldiers to help, but they only tore off his tongue, and the Tsar Bell never rang.
People said that the bell is more stubborn than the king. In his hands Peter held the club taken from the Swedish king. Furious that the bell did not want to announce the victory, the king hit it with a club. A piece broke off from the blow, and the Tsar Bell itself went into the ground with a roar. Old Believers and sectarians believe that on the day of the Last Judgment the Tsar Bell will rise and begin to ring.
- In 1941, the bell housed the communications center of the Kremlin regiment. To prevent the giant from shining and being visible to German bombers, it was specially painted;
- Several times conversations began about soldering the bell to use it for its intended purpose. But experts assure that it will not be possible to obtain clear sound;
- 72 kg of gold and 525 kg of silver were added to the melt. This was supposed to improve the sound;
- The Tsar Bell never had a tongue. The tongue next to it was taken from another bell.
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The historical object symbol of the country is the Tsar Bell. His story
inextricably linked with the history of the entire country. But presented today
to the masses as a fun adventure with a known beginning and end
the verification turns out to be not so straightforward. Presented on the Museums website
Moscow Kremlin two images of a bell, modern and
ancient, and having fundamental differences, makes you look at
the history of the bell with a critical eye.
According to historical data, the personal decree of Empress Anna Ioanovna
(AI) about the recasting of the Tsar Bell from the remains of the broken Tsar bell
Alexei Mikhailovich (AM), took place in 1730, shortly after her
accession to the throne. However, it took about 4 years to
begin the actual casting of the bell. Cast his bells
master Ivan Motorin with his son Mikhail. The first attempt was unsuccessful. AND
master Ivan Matorin died either from frustration or from the plague. A year later in
In 1735, the transfusion was repeated by his son Mikhail Motorin. This attempt
turned out to be more successful, however, when the bell was still being processed in its native
hole, there was a fire. According to one version from cold water, when extinguishing
hit the bell, the bell cracked and a piece weighing
in 12 tone. The bell lay in the ground for 99 years before it was raised and
installed on a pedestal in 1836 by the famous architect Montferrand.
Here is a brief summary of the main story of the Tsar Bell. Bell height 6 m 14 cm,
diameter 6 m 60 cm, total weight 201 t 924 kg (12327 pounds).
So what is the strangeness of the mentioned images Fig. 1-3?
Rice. 1. The Tsar Bell today and in an engraving from the early 19th century.
Rice. 2. Portrait of the Empress on the bell and on the engraving.
Rice. 3. Portraits of the king.
As you can see in the engraving, both main figures turned out great and not
spoiled as now on the bell. In the angle in which it is depicted
bell, the figure on the right should not be visible, except that it is
additional image currently missing. But since it's over your head
the figures depict the same cartouche, it can be assumed that the artist
deliberately distorted the perspective in order to show both characters in one
picture. This engraving was placed in the book of the traveler Edward
Clark, published in 1811 and dated 1809. In addition to whole figures,
it is clear that there is still no cartouche with an inscription that talks about casting
Bells under Anna Ioanovna.
Why did the authorities need to spoil appearance bells and when
that was done? Low resolution makes it difficult to see details
both portraits, but what is visible no longer corresponds to the modern legend of
bell This especially applies to the royal figure on the right, where the king
depicted in CHALMA! The figure of “Anna Ioanovna”, with difficulty, but could fit
under the current legend. But the lithograph of 1837 casts doubt and
in it Fig.4.
Rice. 4. Tsar Bell. Drawing from life by J.I. Bell 1837
The lithograph shows the perspective of the image correctly and royally.
the figure on the right is not visible. But the queen’s figure looks great! But
Surprisingly, her image is different from the current one on the bell and
from the previous one in the engraving. And there is already a cartouche with the inscription Fig. 5.
Rice. 5. Fragment of the image of a bell with a female figure in a lithograph.
The Tsar Bell acquired its modern appearance around the middle of the 19th century.
Since the Englishman William Spottiswoode saw the bell in 1856 and
the notes were published in The Morning Post, May 6, 1857.
Describing the bell, he notes that the bas-reliefs are not finished, more or less
Only the top came out, everything else was a mess. That is, the bell to
already had this time modern look. What has changed in appearance?
empress? First of all, this dress and rug in the engraving were replaced
on a chic 18th century imperial coat in lithography, i.e. when the bell rings
has already been raised from the pit. But something has changed in the state ideology
The history of the bells and bas-reliefs were changed again. Now it's decided
it was easy to ruin the clothes of the figures by imitating a bad casting. And here
the heads of the figures have undergone major alterations. It must be assumed that when
during the first “restoration” they were not touched or not significantly changed and
have become dangerous for the new paradigm. Today we know what kind of portrait it was
taken as the original for the bas-relief of the Empress. This is a well known portrait
Anna Ioanovna by Louis Carravac Fig.6.
Rice. 6. Fragment of a portrait of Empress Anna Ioannovna by Louis Caravaque (1730).
To achieve a portrait resemblance, the crown was completely changed, and
her headband was lowered onto her forehead, braids were made from the collar of her coat, removed from
the chest is a tight necklace and has formed a powerful bust. Anna Ioanovna was
big woman under 2 meters tall. Due to low resolution it is impossible
judge facial features. But it is obvious that the original portrait belonged to
to another person. Not only the main figures were redesigned, but also
bas-reliefs above them! It is clearly visible that on the current bell there are portraits in
ROUND frames (at least with the image of Christ), and in the paintings
they are oval and approximately equal in size, which cannot be said about the current ones.
And the characters themselves in the drawings look more secular than
saints or spiritual, and the face of the Savior is clearly without a beard and short
shorn, which of course should not be. In the inscription "HOLY ANNA THE PROPHETESS"
the last letter in the word ANNA was covered with a decorative element, this
looks unlikely for the original intention.
The question deserves special attention: why were the beautiful
rugs from under the figures' feet? Harmless at first glance, but with a picture
Russian coat of arms! And the coat of arms, as you know, is a changeable symbol and for everyone
there was a ruler...
Let us remember that the main points of the history of the bell are described in two
inscriptions (there are three in total) located on it. These inscriptions are textually
independent and located on opposite sides of the bell. Ode from
they claim that a certain bell weighing 8,000 poods was cast during the reign of the Tsar
Alexei Mikhailovich, and the second, which was cast under Tsarina Anna Ioannovna
a new bell from an old one costs 8,000 poods with the addition of metal.
According to the current history of Russian bells,
Indeed, under both of these monarchs, giant bells were cast, and
it is believed that the current giant was cast from the wreckage
Tsar AM bells. And when checked, it turns out that the history of the creation of these
The bells look like twin brothers. It is known that the casting was witnessed
the bells of Alexei Mikhailovich were described by Pavel Alepsky in his
notes the whole process. Table 1 below compares the main
moments of creating two bells based on Alepsky’s memories and history
Tsar Bells.
Table 1.
Bell AM 1653-4
Tsar A.M. first called craftsmen from Austria and instructed them to make
bell. They asked him for five years to complete it, because
the labor involved in its manufacture and the equipment required for this,
very large and countless.
Bell AI 1735
Count Minich was instructed to "find in Paris skilled man, so that
make a plan of the bell with all dimensions." Minich turned to
"Royal goldsmith and member of the Academy of Sciences Germain, who
in this regard, he is considered the most skillful mechanic."
“This artist was surprised when I told him the weight of the bell, and at first
thought I was joking, but, convinced of the truth of the proposal, I made a plan,
where he had increased the difficulty of the work and its cost so much that the empress
abandoned his plans."
AM
“They say that a Russian master appeared, a man of small stature, invisible
himself, a weakling, whom no one even thought of, and asked
the king to give him only one year's term." Based on these characteristics, you can
assume that the person was already old.
AI
The casting of the Central Committee was entrusted to Ivan Fedorovich Motorin (1660-1735), who was 74 years old at the time of casting the bell.
AM
According to Pavel Alepsky, this bell, cast by a Russian master, soon split due to the strong ringing and was lowered.
AI
The first attempt to cast a bell in 1734 was unsuccessful; the furnaces leaked.
AM
In the summer of the same year, 1654, Danilo Danilov also died of the plague.
AI
At the beginning of 1735, Ivan Motorin died,
AM
AI
A year later, a new bell was successfully cast.
AM
When he died, and this rare thing remained spoiled, another
one master from the survivors of the pestilence, a young man, short in stature,
puny, thin, under twenty years old, still completely beardless.
AI
Motorin's son Fedor cast a new bell.
AM
5 furnaces were built for metal smelting. They put 2,500 poods into each oven, and a total of 12,500 poods.
AI
Melting of metal for the bell was carried out in four melting flames
furnaces installed around the casting pit. Each furnace could hold up to 50 tons
metal those. 12500 pounds!
For the Tsar Bell, quite complex calculations of its weight are given: “From
the first casting left 14,814 poods of metal 21 pounds (242 t 662 kg), to
498 poods 6 pounds (8 t 160 kg) of tin were added to this. Total at
the second melt contained 15,312 poods 27 pounds (250 tons 822 kg) of metal. IN
the remainder turned out to be 2985 poods 8 pounds (48 tons 898 kg) of metal,
therefore, minus the waste, the poured bell weighs 12,327 pounds 19
pounds, or 201 t 924 kg. Losses amounted to 1.3%." When copper burns out
1.3% the weight of Alexei Mikhailovich’s bell turns out to be almost equal
the weight of the Central Committee is 12337.5 pounds! It is unlikely that such a coincidence could exist
random.
The inscription on the bell is not visible on the engraving, but there should be one
(all large bells have inscriptions)! And if you think about it, you can assume
that a figure with a torch in the background is carefully looking at something
looking at, precisely depicts a person reading the text. This
the impression is enhanced by the version of the colored copy of the engraving, where
the author more clearly depicted something on the bell, opposite the beholder
resembling a curl from the edge of a scroll with the inscription Fig. 7.
Rice. 7. Fragment of a colored engraving; the man with the torch appears to be reading the bell inscription.
In one of the early studies devoted to the Central Committee, the author is surprised
that “... the casting of this bell, although not related to
ancient times, but behind all that is covered in the unknown...” And further
laments that he was unable to find the original casting project
The bells are flattened, indicating that the archives either burned down in the Moscow fire of 1812
or are located somewhere in St. Petersburg. Why was it necessary like this?
Is it labor-intensive to change the legend of the Central Committee? Is the Central Committee a rarity passed off as
remake? And who was actually depicted on the Tsar Bell?
About 10 years ago I made the assumption that the female figure on
The engraving belonged to the Swedish queen Christina Vasa. Today,
Thanks to new data that has emerged, the history of the bell appears
It's completely different for me...
As you know, before being raised, the bell was in the ground in a foundry pit
arranged for his viewing. In watercolor by Fyodor Alekseev 1800
year, in front of the house, near the Assumption Belfry, there is a fence depicted, and that’s what
the pit with the central chamber is fenced off Fig. 8.
Fig.8. Ivanovskaya Square in the Kremlin. View of the Ivan the Great Bell Tower. Fedor Alekseev. 1800s
About the belfry we are told that it was blown up by the French in 1812
retreat from Moscow. What remains of it can be seen on the ancient
lithography Fig.9.
Rice. 9. View of the remains of the Assumption Belfry after the explosion.
Today we are informed that, according to one version, the reason for the breakdown of the Central Committee was
a burning log fell on it during a fire in 1735, when the bell
was still in the foundry pit. What then could be left of him?
falling into the pit of the entire Assumption Belfry?
However, another question arises - who actually blew it up, and
Was it blown up at all? The nature of the location of the belfry fragments
speaks of the direction of the blast wave towards the palace square i.e.
from the bell to the building. It is known that the French blew up the Kremlin on the night of 8
on October 9 (according to other sources from 11 to 12), but the artist Ivanov
Ivan Alekseevich (1779-1848), in his painting entitled “Exile
from Moscow to the enemy by a detachment of light cavalry under the command of Major General
Ilovaisky 4th, October 10, 1812,” had a completely different idea of
the fate of the belfry at that time Fig. 10.
Rice. 10. "Expulsion from Moscow on October 10, 1812 by the Cossacks of the general
Ilovaisky 4th French from the detachment of Marshal Mortier, who prepared the explosion
Kremlin".
As we can see, according to the artist, during the liberation of the Kremlin from the French,
The Assumption Belfry was still intact. One wonders what the artist was thinking about
choosing such a nature for your plot and placing it under the engraving
unprecedented lengthy signature with exact date illustrated
events?
Here is the architect A.N. Bakarev, who participated in the restoration of the Kremlin,
echoes Ivanov, leaving a drawing with a panorama of destruction Fig. 11.
Rice. 11. The Kremlin in 1812, after the French left. Drawing by architect A. N. Bakarev.
In the background of the picture you can see the spire of the bell tower of Ivan the Great, and in its
in the background the dome of the still intact Assumption Belfry when the walls and towers are already
destroyed...
It is also worthy of attention that the French blew up only part of
walls and towers of the Kremlin, but not a single cathedral was blown up! And destroyed
For some reason it turned out to be the Assumption Belfry...
Based on the above, it can be assumed that the Central Committee, as a carrier
some secret, was blown up after the liberation of Moscow from the French (from
which is possible and the bell tower collapsed). Since the bell was good
known to the world, they decided to keep the secret of destruction... by transfusion! A
so that the basic similarity of the bells is preserved, the new bell
Apparently they CUT a piece in the likeness of its predecessor, but it seems not
quite successful (the shape of the cutout turned out to be different). About what modern
the broken piece of the bell could not be the result of banal cracks,
For example, the head of the Moscow school of bell ringers, Ilya Drozdikhin, says:
“If you look at the bell itself, you can see that the cuts are very even.
Bells don't crack like that. If you see some kind of burst bell,
the cracks appear to be chaotic. And here it’s as if they cut one slice from him.”
The very first image of the Central Committee was placed in the book by Jonas Henway
(Jonas Hanway) 1753 . The image is schematic without decoration, but with
demonstrating the shape of the broken hole. A similar image was posted by
Lekoent de Lavaux J. in his book “Description of Moscow” 1835 Fig. 12.
Fig. 12. Central Committee from the book of 1753 (left) and from a book of 1835
Comparing these drawings it is not difficult to see the difference not only in shape
“cutouts”, but also in the shape of the bells themselves. Moreover, the “cutout” and the bell shape
in the drawing of 1753 are more consistent with the engraving of 1809 than
to the current original.
Only a few years have passed since the bell was recast and something
changed in views on the past, the bell again ceased to satisfy
new legend. But now they decided not to transfuse him, but subjected him to
re-minting its decor, while, apparently due to the great complexity
such work, some additional
a layer of metal simulating a failed casting. Along the bottom edge of the top
frieze shows how much metal was cut down to form new ones
bas-reliefs Fig. 13.
Rice. 13. Fragment of the edge of the upper frieze of the Central Committee.
One can make an assumption about when the bell was re-cast based on
from the history of another large bell - the Uspensky bell, hanging on
belfry of the same name. He died in its explosion and a number of engravings depict
its fragments Fig. 14.
Rice. 14. Analysis of the ruins of the Assumption Belfry. Drawing and lithograph by James John Thomas. First quarter of the 19th century.
In the lower right corner are the remains of the Assumption Bell. His story
no less mysterious and tragic than the history of the Central Committee. Without going into it here
details, I will give the inscription adorning today’s copy: “In
summer from the creation of the world 7325 from the incarnation of God the Word 1817 month of June in
22nd day, by command of the Most Pious Great Sovereign and Autocrat
of all Russia Alexander Pavlovich... in a happy and glorious manner
the end of terrible and bloody battles and the establishment of lasting peace
throughout Europe, this bell was recast from an old one cast in 1760, but
in 1812 damaged when the former bell tower fell and was blown up
by the frantic Gaul, who invaded Russia with twenty languages, when they,
being punished by the angry Lord of Hosts, whose name and holiness
they dared to quarrel, they rushed to flee from the capital, sowing with anger and rage
God's The enemies of shrines and humanity, by the power of God, are persecuted everywhere and
are affected, the entire space from the capital of Sey to the very borders of the Russian
covered them with their corpses, and barely a small part of them could be saved...”
The inscription, as we see, is patriotic, but on the defeated “frantic
Galla" dumped EVERYTHING, it’s bad to be defeated. And supposedly in 1817 there was
The large Assumption bell is rung. But this date is not
unambiguous. So famous writer, journalist and expert on Russian antiquity
Pylyaev M.I. (1842-1899), in his work on historical bells
, the date of its casting is indicated as 1819. The solution to the dilemma is we
we find in the historical guide to Moscow, where, when describing
history of the rise of the Central Committee, in particular, it is reported: “... Let us read what was opened on it
when cleaning his 1817 inscription...” That is, for the first time the inscriptions on
The Tsar Bell became famous only in 1817, as a result of his
cleaning immediately after casting. And as you can see from the 1809 engraving, the bell
even then it was clean and available for full viewing. Cast in 1819
year, the Assumption Bell was deliberately given a false date.
And so, based on the above, we can assume:
1. The Tsar Bell is a remake, passed off as a rarity.
2. The predecessor of the Central Committee was destroyed shortly after the liberation of Moscow from the French.
3. The Assumption Belfry was not blown up by Napoleon.
4. The current Tsar Bell was cast in 1817.
5. A few years after the bell was raised, its decor was redesigned.
So what is the world's largest bell silent about?
The article briefly tells for children about the Tsar Bell - one of the most famous, along with the Tsar Cannon, symbols of Russia. The Tsar Bell has no analogues in the world in terms of size (about 6 meters in height and 6.5 in diameter). The bell is the pride of Russian craftsmen.
- Raising the Tsar Bell
- Video
Predecessors of the Tsar Bell
The history of the creation of the Tsar Bell
- During the reign of Anna Ioannovna, the idea of the need to create the largest bell in Russia arose again. In 1730, the Empress issued a decree aimed at its casting. It was prescribed that the weight of the new bell be greater than that of the previous one. Invitations were even sent to famous French masters. However, they refused, considering such a project impossible. There is an opinion that the French decided that they were just being joked about.
- Finally, the Russian master Ivan Motorin volunteered to take on the task of making the Tsar Bell. After a long approval of the project, preparations necessary materials the work process has begun. Making large bells and cannons in those days was a very difficult and stressful task. What can we say about the casting of a gigantic, unparalleled bell.
- A 10-meter hole was dug on Ivanovskaya Square, and four huge smelting furnaces were built nearby. The walls of the pit were reinforced wooden beams, iron, lined with brick. In addition to the remains of the previous Tsar Bell, the missing amount of copper, tin and precious metals was prepared. Total in construction work and in the casting process itself, about 200 people were employed: carpenters, masons, sculptors, etc.
- Evil fate still haunted the Tsar Bell. During metal smelting, an accident occurred: a leak was discovered in two smelting furnaces.
- It was necessary to repair the damage and hastily build additional furnaces. In addition to all the problems, in the midst of work, Ivan Motorin himself dies. His place is taken by the master’s son and student, Mikhail Motorin.
- Finally, in November 1735, the metal was successfully smelted, which took about a day and a half. The casting process itself lasted about an hour. Work began on the artistic chasing and decoration of the bell. After two years of hard work, a major fire occurred again in 1737. caught fire wooden structure over the pit. Fearing for the safety of their masterpiece, many Muscovites took part in putting out the fire. Unfortunately, due to sharp drop The metal could not withstand the temperatures: cracks appeared on the bell, and a huge (11.5 tons) piece broke off from it. Tsar Bell on for a long time remains buried in the pit.
Raising the Tsar Bell
- It has not yet been clarified why the Tsar Bell remained in the ground for almost a hundred years. There are only two known unsuccessful attempts to extract it.
- Most likely, there were no such masters who would consider this incredible operation possible.
- There was fear of possible damage to the work of art.
- In 1820, restoration work continued in Moscow after the fire of 1812.
- The pit in which the bell was located and the surrounding area were cleared.
- A special staircase was built to descend into the pit so that one could admire the decorative decorations of the Tsar Bell.
- Since then, the Russian government has been thinking about the project of bringing the work of art to the surface.
- This idea was realized by the architect A. Montferrand in 1836.
- There were, as always, some troubles.
- During the lifting process there was a danger of the ropes breaking.
- Only after the installation of additional mechanisms was the Tsar Bell finally raised from the ground.
- It remains on a specially installed pedestal to this day.
The Tsar Bell is an obligatory object for the tourist program of visiting the Moscow Kremlin. - He is the pride of not only Muscovites, but all Russians.
In the long-suffering Russian history, not the least place is occupied by the main historical symbol of the country - the Tsar Bell. Its history is inextricably linked with the history of the entire country. But what is presented to the masses today as a fun adventure with a known beginning and end turns out to be not so straightforward when tested. Two images of the bell, modern and ancient, and having fundamental differences, presented on the website of the Moscow Kremlin Museums, force one to look at the history of the bell with a critical eye.
According to historical data, the personal decree of Empress Anna Ioanovna (AI) on the recasting of the Tsar Bell from the remains of the broken bell of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich (AM) took place in 1730, shortly after her accession to the throne. However, it took about 4 years to begin the actual casting of the bell. The bell maker Ivan Motorin and his son Mikhail cast it. The first attempt was unsuccessful. And master Ivan Matorin died either from frustration or from the plague. A year later, in 1735, the transfusion was repeated by his son Mikhail Motorin. This attempt turned out to be more successful, but when the bell was still being processed in its original pit, a fire broke out. According to one version, cold water that fell on the bell during the fire caused it to crack and a piece weighing 12 tons broke off. The bell lay in the ground for 99 years before it was raised and installed on a pedestal in 1836 by the famous architect Montferrand. Here is a brief summary of the main story of the Tsar Bell. The height of the bell is 6 m 14 cm, diameter 6 m 60 cm, total weight 201 tons 924 kg (12327 pounds). So what is the strangeness of the mentioned images Fig. 1-3?
Rice. 1. The Tsar Bell today and in an engraving from the early 19th century.
Rice. 2. Portrait of the Empress on the bell and on the engraving.
Rice. 3. Portraits of the king. As you can see in the engraving, both main figures turned out perfectly and were not damaged as they are now on the bell. In the angle in which the bell is depicted, the figure on the right should not be visible, unless we consider that this is an additional image that is currently missing. But since the same cartouche is depicted above the figure’s head, it can be assumed that the artist deliberately distorted the perspective in order to show both characters in one picture. This engraving was placed in the traveler Edward Clark's book of 1811 edition and dated 1809. In addition to the whole figures, it is clear that there is still no cartouche with an inscription that talks about the casting of the bell under Anna Ioannovna. Why did the authorities need to spoil the appearance of the bell, and when was this done? The low resolution does not allow both portraits to be seen in detail, but what is visible no longer corresponds to the modern legend of the bell. This especially applies to the royal figure on the right, where the king is depicted in a turban! The figure of “Anna Ioanovna”, with difficulty, could fit the current legend. But the lithograph of 1837 casts doubt on it too
Rice. 4. Tsar Bell. Drawing from life by J.I. Bell 1837 In the lithograph, the perspective of the image is shown correctly and the royal figure on the right is not visible. But the queen’s figure looks great! But what is surprising is that its image differs from both the current one on the bell and the previous one on the engraving. And there is already a cartouche with the inscription
Rice. 5. Fragment of the image of a bell with a female figure in a lithograph.
The Tsar Bell acquired its modern appearance around the middle of the 19th century. Since the Englishman William Spottiswoode saw the bell in 1856 and his notes were published in The Morning Post newspaper, May 6, 1857. Describing the bell, he notes that the bas-reliefs are not finished, more or less only the top has come out, everything else is a mess. That is, by this time the bell already had a modern appearance. What changed in the empress’s appearance? First of all, this dress and rug in the engraving have been replaced by a gorgeous 18th century imperial manteau in the lithograph, i.e. when the bell was already raised from the pit. But something changed in the state ideology on the history of the bell and the bas-reliefs were changed again. Now it was decided to simply ruin the clothes of the figures by imitating a failed casting. But the heads of the figures have undergone serious alterations. We must assume that during the first “restoration” they were not touched or not significantly changed and became dangerous for the new paradigm. Today we know which portrait was taken as the original for the bas-relief of the empress. This is a well-known portrait of Anna Ioanovna by Louis Carravac Fig.6.
Rice. 6. Fragment of a portrait of Empress Anna Ioannovna by Louis Caravaque (1730).
To achieve a portrait resemblance, the crown was completely changed, its hoop was lowered onto the forehead, braids were made from the collar of the manteau, the tight necklace was removed from the chest and a powerful bust was formed. Anna Ioanovna was a large woman, 2 meters tall. Due to the low resolution, it is impossible to judge facial features. But it is obvious that the original portrait belonged to another person. Not only the main figures were altered, but also the bas-reliefs above them! It is clearly visible that on the current bell the portraits are in ROUND frames (at least with the image of Christ), and on the paintings they are oval and approximately equal in size, which cannot be said about the current ones. And the characters themselves in the drawings look more secular than holy or spiritual, and the face of the Savior is clearly without a beard and has a short haircut, which of course should not be the case. In the inscription “HOLY ANNA THE PROPHETESS” the last letter of the word ANNA was covered by a decorative element; this seems unlikely for the original design.
The question deserves special attention: why were the beautiful rugs removed from under the figures’ feet? Harmless at first glance, but with the image of the Russian coat of arms! And the coat of arms, as you know, is a changeable symbol and each ruler had his own... Let us remember that the main points of the history of the bell are described in two inscriptions (there are three in total) located on it. These inscriptions are textually independent and are located on opposite sides of the bell. One of them claims that a certain bell worth 8,000 poods was cast under Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, and the second that under Tsarina Anna Ioannovna a new bell was cast from an old bell worth 8,000 poods with the addition of metal. According to the current history of Russian bells, indeed, under both of these monarchs, giant bells were cast, and it is believed that the current giant was cast from the fragments of the bell of Tsar AM. And when checked, it turns out that the stories of the creation of these bells look like twin brothers. It is known that a witness to the casting of Alexei Mikhailovich’s bell was Pavel Alepsky, who described the entire process in his notes. Below in Table 1, the main points of the creation of two bells are compared based on the memoirs of Alepsky and the history of the Tsar Bell.
Table 1.
Bell AM 1653-4 Tsar A.M. first he called craftsmen from Austria and instructed them to make a bell. They asked him for five years to complete it, because the labor involved in its manufacture and the equipment required for this were very great and countless. Bell
AI 1735 Count Minich was instructed to “find a skilled person in Paris in order to make a plan of the bell with all the dimensions.” Minich turned to “the royal goldsmith and member of the Academy of Sciences, Germen, who is considered to be the most skillful mechanic in this regard.” “This artist was surprised when I told him about the weight of the bell, and at first he thought that I was joking, but, convinced of the truth of the proposal, he drew up a plan in which he increased the difficulty of the work and their cost so much that the empress abandoned his plans.”
“They say that a Russian master appeared, a man of small stature, invisible in appearance, weak in strength, about whom no one had even thought of, and asked the Tsar to give him only one year’s sentence.” Based on these characteristics, it can be assumed that the person was already old.
The casting of the Central Committee was entrusted to Ivan Fedorovich Motorin (1660-1735), who was 74 years old at the time of casting the bell.
According to Pavel Alepsky, this bell, cast by a Russian master, soon split due to the strong ringing and was lowered.
The first attempt to cast a bell in 1734 was unsuccessful; the furnaces leaked.
In the summer of the same year, 1654, Danilo Danilov also died of the plague.
At the beginning of 1735, Ivan Motorin died,
A year later, a new bell was successfully cast.
When he died, and this rare thing remained spoiled, another master appeared from among the survivors of the pestilence, a young man, short, frail, thin, under twenty years old, still completely beardless.
Motorin's son Fedor cast a new bell.
5 furnaces were built for metal smelting. They put 2,500 poods into each oven, and a total of 12,500 poods.
Melting of metal for the bell was carried out in four smelting flame furnaces installed around the casting pit. Each furnace could hold up to 50 tons of metal. those. 12500 pounds! For the Tsar Bell, rather complex calculations of its weight are given: “From the first casting, 14,814 poods 21 pounds (242 tons 662 kg) of metal remained, to this was added 498 poods 6 pounds (8 tons 160 kg) of tin. In total, during the second smelting there were 15,312 poods 27 pounds (250 tons 822 kg) of metal. The remainder turned out to be 2,985 poods 8 pounds (48 tons 898 kg) of metal, therefore, minus the waste, the cast bell weighs 12,327 poods 19 pounds, or 201 tons 924 kg. Losses amounted to 1.3%." With a copper loss of 1.3%, the weight of Alexei Mikhailovich’s bell turns out to be almost equal to the weight of the Central Committee - 12337.5 pounds! It is unlikely that such a coincidence could be accidental. There is no inscription visible on the engraving on the bell, but there should be one (all large bells have inscriptions)! And if you think about it, you can assume that the figure with a torch in the background, carefully examining something, precisely depicts a person reading the text. This impression is strengthened by the version of the colored copy of the engraving, where the author more clearly depicted on the bell, opposite the beholder, something reminiscent of a curl from the edge of a scroll with the inscription Fig. 7.
Rice. 7. Fragment of a colored engraving; the man with the torch appears to be reading the bell inscription.
In one of the early studies dedicated to the Central Committee, the author is surprised that “... the casting of this bell, although not dating back to ancient times, is still shrouded in uncertainty...” And then he complains that he was unable to find the original project for casting the bell, since the archives either burned down in the Moscow fire of 1812 or are located somewhere in St. Petersburg. Why was it necessary to change the legend of the Central Committee so laboriously? Is the Central Committee a rarity passed off as a remake? And who was actually depicted on the Tsar Bell? About 10 years ago I made the assumption that the female figure in the engraving belonged to the Swedish queen Christina Vasa. Today, thanks to new data that has emerged, the history of the bell seems completely different to me... As you know, before it was raised, the bell was in the ground in a casting pit equipped for its viewing. In a watercolor by Fyodor Alekseev from 1800, in front of the house, near the Assumption Belfry, there is a fence depicted, which is what encloses the pit with the Central Committee Fig. 8.
Fig.8. Ivanovskaya Square in the Kremlin. View of the Ivan the Great Bell Tower. Fedor Alekseev. 1800s
About the belfry we are told that it was blown up by the French in 1812 during their retreat from Moscow. What remains of it can be seen in the ancient lithograph Fig. 9.
Rice. 9. View of the remains of the Assumption Belfry after the explosion. Today we are informed that, according to one version, the cause of the breakdown of the Central Committee was the fall of a burning log on it during a fire in 1735, when the bell was still in the foundry pit. What then could be left of him after the entire Assumption Belfry fell into the pit? However, another question arises - who actually blew it up, and was it blown up at all? The nature of the location of the belfry fragments indicates the direction of the blast wave towards the palace square, i.e. from the bell to the building. It is known that the French blew up the Kremlin on the night of October 8-9 (according to other sources, from 11 to 12), but the artist Ivanov Ivan Alekseevich (1779-1848), in his painting entitled “Expelling the enemy from Moscow by a detachment of light cavalry under the command of Major General Ilovaisky on the 4th, October 10, 1812,” had a completely different idea about the fate of the belfry at that time Fig. 10.
Rice. 10. “The expulsion from Moscow on October 10, 1812 by the Cossacks of General Ilovaisky 4th of the French from the detachment of Marshal Mortier, who was preparing the explosion of the Kremlin.”
As we can see, according to the artist, when the Kremlin was liberated from the French, the Assumption Belfry was still intact. The question arises, what was the artist thinking about when he chose such a subject for his subject and placed an unprecedentedly lengthy signature under the engraving with the exact date of the illustrated event?
Here is the architect A.N. Bakarev, who participated in the restoration of the Kremlin, echoes Ivanov, leaving a drawing with a panorama of destruction
Fig. 11. 
Rice. 11. The Kremlin in 1812, after the French left. Drawing by architect A. N. Bakarev.
In the background of the picture you can see the spire of the bell tower of Ivan the Great, and in its background the dome of the still intact Assumption Belfry when the walls and towers have already been destroyed...
It is also worthy of attention that the French blew up only part of the walls and towers of the Kremlin, but not a single cathedral was blown up! And for some reason the Assumption Belfry turned out to be destroyed...
Based on the above, it can be assumed that the Central Committee, as the bearer of a certain secret, was blown up after the liberation of Moscow from the French (which may have caused the bell tower to collapse). Since the bell was well known to the world, they decided to keep the secret of its destruction... by recasting! And in order for the basic similarity of the bells to be preserved, a piece of the new bell was apparently CUT OUT in the likeness of its predecessor, but it seems that it was not entirely successful (the shape of the cutout turned out to be different). The fact that a broken piece in a modern bell could not be the result of banal cracks is said, for example, by the head of the Moscow school of bell ringers, Ilya Drozdikhin: “If you look at the bell itself, you can see that the cuts are very even. Bells don’t crack like that. If you see some a broken bell, its cracks seem to be going chaotically. And here it’s as if one slice was cut off from it.”
The very first image of the Central Committee was placed in the book by Jonas Hanway in 1753. . The image is schematic without decoration, but showing the shape of the broken hole. A similar image was placed by Lecoent de Lavaux J. in his book “Description of Moscow” in 1835 Fig. 12.
Fig. 12. Central Committee from the book of 1753 (left) and from a book of 1835
Comparing these drawings, it is not difficult to see the difference not only in the shape of the “cutouts”, but also in the shape of the bells themselves. Moreover, the “cutout” and the shape of the bell in the drawing of 1753 are more consistent with the engraving of 1809 than with the current original.
Only a few years have passed since the bell was recast and something has changed in views on the past; the bell again ceased to satisfy the new legend. But now they decided not to recast it, but re-minted its decor, and, apparently due to the great complexity of such work, an additional layer of metal was simply welded onto some of the figures’ clothing, imitating an unsuccessful casting. The lower edge of the upper frieze shows how much metal was cut down to form new bas-reliefs Fig. 13.
Rice. 13. Fragment of the edge of the upper frieze of the Central Committee.
An assumption can be made about when the bell was re-cast based on the history of another large bell - the Uspensky bell, which hung on the belfry of the same name. He died in its explosion and a number of engravings depict his wreckage (Fig. 14).
Rice. 14. Analysis of the ruins of the Assumption Belfry. Drawing and lithograph by James John Thomas. First quarter of the 19th century.
In the lower right corner are the remains of the Assumption Bell. Its history is no less mysterious and tragic than the history of the Central Committee. Without going into its details here, I will give the inscription adorning today’s copy: “In the year from the creation of the world 7325 from the incarnation of God the Word, 1817, the month of June on the 22nd day, by command of the Most Pious Great Sovereign and Autocrat of all Russia Alexander Pavlovich... by happy and the glorious end of the terrible and bloody battles and the establishment of lasting peace throughout Europe, this bell was recast from the old one, cast in 1760, but damaged in 1812 when the previous bell tower fell, blown up by the frantic Gallus, who invaded Russia with twenty tongues, when they, being punished by the angry Lord of Hosts, Whose name and shrines they dared to desecrate, they rushed to flee from this capital from the wrath and wrath of God. The enemies of shrines and humanity, persecuted and defeated everywhere by the power of God, covered the entire space from this capital to the very borders of Russia with their corpses, and barely a small part of them could be saved...”
As we can see, the inscription is patriotic, but EVERYTHING was blamed on the defeated “furious Gaul”; it’s bad to be defeated. And supposedly in 1817 the large Assumption bell was re-cast. But this date is not clear either. So the famous writer, journalist and expert on Russian antiquity M.I. Pylyaev. (1842-1899), in his work on historical bells, indicates the date of its casting as 1819. We find a solution to the dilemma in the historical guide to Moscow, where, when describing the history of the rise of the Central Committee, it is reported in particular: “... Let us read the inscriptions discovered on it during the cleaning of its 1817 year...”. That is, for the first time the inscriptions on the Tsar Bell became known only in 1817, as a result of its cleaning immediately after casting. And as can be seen from the engraving of 1809, the bell was already clean and available for full viewing. The Assumption Bell, cast in 1819, was deliberately marked with a false date.
And so, based on the above, we can assume:
- The Tsar Bell is a remake, passed off as a rarity.
- The predecessor of the Central Committee was destroyed shortly after the liberation of Moscow from the French.
- The Assumption Belfry was not blown up by Napoleon.
- The current Tsar Bell was cast in 1817.
- A few years after the bell was raised, its decor was redesigned.
So what is the world's largest bell silent about?
The Tsar Bell, one of the Kremlin wonders, stands near the Ivanovo Bell Tower on a granite pedestal. It is larger than all known bells in the world. Many people believe that this is why it is called that. In fact, the royal or tsar bell in Rus' was the one on which there were images of kings.
The Tsar Bell weighs about 200 tons. Height - 6.14 meters. The circumference is 6.6 meters, the thickness of the walls is 61 centimeters. The bell fragment weighs about 11.5 tons.
Images of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich and Empress Anna Ivanovna are poured onto the surface of the bell on both sides. Above them in round medallions are images of the Savior, the Mother of God, the evangelists and the Moscow metropolitan saints - Peter, Alexy, Jonah and Philip. On the sides of the bell there are lengthy inscriptions about the history of its creation.
The image of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich indicated that the new bell was cast from an older one, made by this sovereign in the 17th century.
Image of Anna Ivanovna from reverse side The date of the bell is even more justified, since the adjacent inscription says that the bell was cast during her reign in 7241 from the Creation of the World, or in 1733 from the Nativity of Christ, weighing 10,000 pounds. In fact, both of them are incorrect, since the bell was created in 1735, and its weight is 2000 pounds more. The discrepancy arose due to the fact that the inscription on the casting casing was made in advance, but the work was not successful the first time. The bell was recast two years later with added weight, but the “birth certificate” remained the same.
Under the image of Empress Anna Ivanovna, on the lower edge, there is another inscription: “This bell was run by the Russian master Ivan Fedorov, son Motorin, with his son Mikhail Motorin.” Decorative decorations The Tsar Bell was created by sculptor Fyodor Medvedev. After casting, they began to be minted, but due to a fire in 1737
We didn’t have time to finish the year. Therefore, some of the images remained unprocessed.
There is an inscription on the pedestal that states that the bell was in the ground for 103 years and was placed here on August 4, 1836 at the behest of Emperor Nicholas I. It also repeats an inaccuracy regarding the year the bell was cast.
The Tsar Bell is made of bell tin bronze containing impurities and metals. Alloy composition: copper - more than 170 tons (about 85%), tin - about 26.5 tons (more than 13%), sulfur - 2.5 tons (more than 1%), zinc, arsenic and other impurities (gold and silver) - about 2 tons (1%) - A ball with a gilded cross is an orb, one of the symbols of royal power.
- The names of the craftsmen who cast the bell in 1735 are Ivan and Mikhail Motorin.
- The names of the authors of the cast images: sculptor Fyodor Medvedev, master minters - Vasily Kobelev and others.
- Images of kings.
- Images of saints.
- A piece weighing 11.5 tons broke off as a result of the fire.
- An octagonal pedestal designed by Montferrand in 1836.
- Inside the bell there is a tongue about 5 m long, probably from the predecessor of the Tsar Bell
History of the Tsar Bell
During the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich, in 1654, by the will of Patriarch Nikon, the predecessor of the Tsar Bell was cast.
It was called Tsarsky, or Greater Uspensky, and weighed 8,000 poods (over 130 tons). On it, according to some evidence, there were images of Alexei Mikhailovich and the patriarch himself. According to legend, the bell was cast from the wreckage of an even more ancient bell that crashed in a fire from the time of Boris Godunov. The foreign traveler Olearius wrote about an older bell that in 1611 it hung on a wooden tower about five meters high and its huge tongue was swung by 24 people. It was rung on major holidays and when ambassadors met. During one of the fires, the belfry burned down and the bell broke. During the next fire in the Kremlin on June 19, 1700, the new bell fell and broke.
Inside the bell there is a tongue about 5 m long, probably from the predecessor of the Tsar Bell For thirty years, huge fragments lay near the Ivan the Great, causing everyone's surprise. In 1730, the niece of Peter I, Anna Ivanovna, became the Russian Empress. As soon as she was crowned, she immediately ordered the restoration of this shrine and in a decree dated June 26, 1730, with a truly royal scale, she rounded the weight of the future bell to 10,000 poods (about 164 tons). No one in the world has ever cast such bells.
The French architect and academician Germain, who was involved in the work, expressed great doubt about the reality of the project, but made drawings. They were transferred for execution to the bell foundry of Ivan Motorin in Pushkarskaya Sloboda.
From January 1733 to November 1734, preparatory work took place in the Kremlin. In one of the courtyards between the Chudov Monastery and the Bell Tower of Ivan the Great, a small foundry had to be built. A hole 10 meters deep and 10 meters in diameter was dug next to the stoves.
The first casting was unsuccessful, but master Ivan Motorin was not going to back down. He made his drawings, added another 2,000 pounds to the weight, but soon died. In November 1735, the casting was made by his son Mikhail.
Then the bell, which remained in the pit on a lattice platform, was processed by master minters sent from St. Petersburg. In size and cost, the cast bell surpassed all existing bells in the world.
On May 29, 1737, on the day of the Holy Trinity, one of the strongest fires occurred in Moscow, called the Trinity. Flashed over the foundry pit wooden roof, and burning logs began to fall on the bell. People rushed to pour water on the hot metal. When the fire was extinguished, it was discovered that many cracks had appeared in the bell and a piece weighing 11.5 tons had fallen off.
Subsequently, the Tsar Bell lay in the pit for about 100 years.
Finally, in 1835, Emperor Nicholas I ordered that he be placed on a pedestal. The task was entrusted to the architect Auguste Montferrand, who first examined the bell back in 1819, having just arrived in Russia. Since then, he built St. Isaac's Cathedral and erected the Alexander Column in St. Petersburg.
However, the first attempt to remove the bell from the pit failed.
And then July 23, 1836 came.
Despite the early morning, everything in the Kremlin best places around the foundry pit were busy. At 6:55 the soldiers took up the winches again, and this time everything went well. It took 42 minutes 33 seconds for the bell to move along the inclined flooring to the granite pedestal. His final journey was accompanied by a service in the Assumption Cathedral (that day was the feast of the Pochaev Icon of the Mother of God), which ended just when the Tsar Bell was hoisted onto the pedestal.
You can see the Tsar Bell on all excursions on