Probably, each of us has heard the expression "crimson ringing". And what does it mean, and how can the ringing be “crimson” in general? It is interesting to note that this statement has absolutely nothing to do with the berry, or with the color in general. The thing is that the Belgian city of Mechelen has long been considered the European center of bell casting. The French call it Malin. This is how the expression "crimson ringing" appeared.

In 1717, the Russian Tsar Peter the Great visited this city and was delighted with the ringing of local bells. To date, bell concerts have been held in Malin from June to September. Every Monday evening, a fabulous ringing is heard in the city, which tourists from all over the world come to listen to.

In Russia, they said that the ringing of bells frightens the sinner and pleases the true believer. And it's not just a legend. For example, the famous Soviet physicists A. F. Okhatrin and B. I. Iskakov proved that the sound of bells removes harmful isotopes from a person, rejuvenating the body. Since ancient times in Russia, bells have stopped epidemics with their ringing. This, by the way, is also confirmed by scientists - the ringing disperses negative energy, cleanses the body and soul.

In 1591, after the city unrest, accompanied by bell ringing, due to the death of Tsarevich Dmitry, the Uglich bell was punished by a royal decree. He was first thrown from the Spasskaya bell tower, then the executioners used torture - they chopped off his ear, pulled out his tongue and punished him with 12 lashes. This seemed not enough, and the bell, which at that time was 300 years old, was sent into exile in Siberia.

For more than 70 years, the bells of the St. Danilov Monastery were in Harvard. In the thirties of the last century, during a powerful anti-religious campaign, they generally wanted to be sent for melting down. This was learned by the American industrialist Charles Crane, who bought them and donated them to Harvard University. Only in 2007 the old bells were returned to their homeland. In return, Russian craftsmen made exact copies for Harvard.

For a long time in the Italian city of Turin there was a "bread bell". In the morning, he reminded the housewives that it was time to knead the dough so that bread would be ready for dinner. And in German Bonn, the bell gathered residents for weekly cleaning of the streets of their native city.

Interestingly, the ship's bell "rynda" got its name from the English ship's team "ring the bell" ("ring the bell"). Russian sailors called her to "rynda bey", so the bell became a bell.

The city of Valdai was considered one of the centers of bell casting in Russia. There is an interesting legend about the appearance of this craft. After the annexation of Novgorod to Moscow, the veche Novgorod bell was sent to the capital. In the Valdai region, the bell fell from the sleigh and broke. And local craftsmen melted the wreckage into thousands of small bells. This, of course, is not a documented fact, but the Valdai bells were famous all over the world.

The most famous bells even had their own names. Moreover, some of them were called respectfully - "Red", "God", "Falcon" and so on. But the unsuccessful bells, the ringing of which was knocked out of the general choir, could also be “awarded” with an offensive name - “Baran” or “Dissolute”.

At the foot of the Ivan the Great Bell Tower in the Moscow Kremlin, there is a giant bell on a pedestal. This is the Tsar Bell - the largest in the world. Its height exceeds 6 meters, and it weighs 200 tons. True, the bell never rang. They didn’t even cast a tongue for it, and the one that lies inside the pedestal was taken from an unknown bell.

"Thousanders" called those bells that weighed more than a thousand pounds. And this is 16 tons! The first "thousander" in our country was cast in the first half of the 16th century and installed on the belfry of the Kremlin in Moscow. By the beginning of the 20th century, there were 39 "thousanders" in Russia. During the years of the existence of the USSR, only 5 of them survived.

What were the bells made of? Bell bronze contained an alloy of copper and tin. The amount of copper was 80% of the total mass, plus 20% tin. Small impurities of lead, zinc, sulfur were allowed. But in the alloy they should be no more than 2%.

Oxford University has an electric bell that has been ringing continuously since 1840. It uses electrostatic attraction, so it draws very little current. And it is fed by zambonia pillars, sealed in a glass flask.

There is even a bell in space. It is installed on the International Space Station. They call him during the change of captain of the crew.

Blacksmiths have always been considered special people. After all, they have an almost magical ability to give any shape to the metal. And there is something divine in this. Therefore, the products of blacksmiths have dual properties - on the one hand, they defeat the dark forces, on the other hand, they are inextricably linked with these forces. A striking example of this duality is the bells.

Prayer in bronze

The first bells appeared in China more than three thousand years ago. They were slightly different in form from modern ones, but the meaning of the object remained the same. They did not have a language, the sound was obtained by hitting the bell with a special mallet.
In the 4th century AD, bells were first used in Christian ceremonies. It happened in the following way: Saint Peacock saw in a dream that the field bells were making beautiful sounds. The shape of the flower served as a prototype for a musical instrument. In Russia, bells appeared immediately after the adoption of Christianity - they were brought to us from Western Europe.
Why did the bells take root so quickly and become so popular with the people? Firstly, their ringing was associated with thunder, and thunder is known to have the ability to drive away evil spirits. Secondly, as an object so closely associated with the church rite, the bell was immediately endowed with many sacred and magical properties. Thirdly, the bell ringing itself, which was heard at a certain time of the day, inspired the idea of ​​the regularity of being and helped to navigate in time.
You can talk about the magical properties of this item for a long time. For example, in Russia it was believed that the ringing of bells heals the sick, helps hysterics and holy fools, facilitates difficult childbirth, and relieves deafness. A special plaque, which covered the bell, was carefully collected and smeared with sores and wounds.
During epidemics, the bells rang continuously - medieval physicians believed that they dispersed the heavy stuffy plague air, and "prescribed" to listen to their ringing as a medicine.

Soul of the community

The bells were often animated - they were endowed with the features of people. For example, they sprinkled holy water, baptized and gave names - as a rule, in honor of saints: As punishment for a bad ringing, the bell could be torn off its ear, tear out its tongue, carve it with rods or send it into exile. For example, when Tsarevich Dmitry died in Uglich, the local bell rang by itself, informing people about it. For which he was whipped and sent into exile in Tobolsk, where he was considered miraculous. The peasants sincerely believed that it helps against childhood diseases.
When a community was under attack, the bells could warn people by ringing on their own or even speaking with a human voice. And if the city was ruined, the bell could bleed...
The same applied to ship's bell- he was generally considered the embodiment of the soul of the ship. The sailors were sure that the bell would ring on its own before the ship went under water. It was strictly forbidden to change the bell, and if the ship changed its name, the old bell with the old name remained on it. In the English town of Shropshire, there is a legend about a bell, which, once at the bottom of the river, sometimes rings from there by itself.
In Russia, it was believed that at night churches become a haven for witches, devils and other evil spirits - just like in N. Gogol's story "Viy". His spirit also lived in the bell tower - it became a sorcerer, who was inscribed in this church and buried in the local cemetery. His ghost was doomed to guard the church bell.
In general, bells were credited with the ability to raise the dead from the graves with their ringing. It was believed, for example, that at midnight, with the last blow of the bell, the dead rise from the ground and go to drink on the river.

There are a number of other beliefs that are also associated with bells. Since ancient times, their ringing has been associated with thunder, and thunder, in turn, is a harbinger of a rich harvest. Therefore, in Russia there was a sign - the first one who, on Christ's day, rises to the bell tower and rings, will have the best harvest this year. If with the first stroke of the bell you started some business or, conversely, finished it with the last stroke, this is a good omen. No wonder in Portugal it is customary to eat a grape with each stroke of the bell on New Year's Eve. If you manage to do this, the year will be happy.
Happiness is also brought by small bells or bells - if you wear them as an accessory on your clothes.

Interesting facts about bells

Traveling bell
There is something strange, bewitching in the bells. In Goethe's ballad The Traveling Bell, for example, a heavy metal instrument tries to cover the child as if to eat him.
This terrible image is not at all accidental. After all, in the Middle Ages there was such a sophisticated execution - a person was killed with the help of a huge lead cap. The weight of the metal slowly broke a person's bones or choked him. And the victim died a painful death.
Symbol of mortal life
In later times, when the importance of the church diminished, the bell ringing took on a slightly different meaning. Since they denoted time, it became a reminder of the frailty of life and the transience of the human lot.
This is vividly reflected in the lines of the 17th-century English poet John Donne: “The death of every Man diminishes me; for I am one with all Humanity, and therefore do not ask for whom the bell tolls: it tolls for You,” he writes. Later, Ernest Hemingway called just that - "For Whom the Bell Tolls" - his best novel, and took a quote from John Donne as an epigraph to it.
Chakra theory
Recently, scientists have received unexpected confirmation of the ancient belief that many diseases can be cured with the help of bell ringing. They found that the sound itself during the ringing of bells moves along a unique spiral trajectory and becomes detrimental to pathogens.
According to an ancient theory, the management of chakras - special formations that redistribute different types of energy - is carried out with the help of mantras - that is, certain combinations of sounds. And the sound emitted by the bell just corresponds to the mantra. Thus, you can control your chakras with the help of bell ringing. It enters into resonance with the energy system of the body, activates its vitality, contributes to the harmonization of feelings and consciousness.

The most famous bells

Mingyn- This bell is located in the center of Burma. Its weight is from 90 to 100 tons.
Bell in Kyoto is the largest bell in Japan. It was cast in 1632, and its weight is 468S poods.
Big Ben- symbol of Great Britain. "Big Ben" - and this is how the name of the bell is translated - was christened in honor of its creator, master Benjamin Hall. Its height is more than two meters, and its diameter is more than three. Since 1859 it has rung every hour on the bell tower of the English Parliament.
Liberty Bell- symbolizes America's struggle for independence from Great Britain. It was cast in 1751, its weight is. 2080 pounds (about a ton), and it consists of an alloy of copper (70%) and tin (25%). The 3 won bells commemorated the proclamation of the American Declaration of Independence in 1776.
Today, the Liberty Bell is located in Philadelphia in a purpose-built building. Every year on July 4, in honor of the commemoration of independence, they call him, observing, however, great caution.
Bell in Beijing- the largest bell in China. It was cast more than 500 years ago, its weight is 46.5 tons, height - 6.75 m, and diameter - 3.3 m. The outer and inner surface of the bell is covered with Buddhist sayings, the total volume of which is 227 thousand hieroglyphs.
St. Peter- the largest bell in Germany and all of Europe. It was cast in 1923 and weighs 24 tons.
- the largest bell in the world. Installed in the Moscow Kremlin. Weight over 200 tons, height (with lugs) 6.14 m, diameter 6.6 m. It was cast from bronze by masters I.F. Motorin (the most prominent caster of his time) and his son Mikhail in 1733-1735. Decorations, portraits and inscriptions on the bell were made by V. Kobelev, P. Galkin, P. Kokhtev, P. Serebryakov and P. Lukovnikov. The Tsar Bell is an amazing work of Russian bell art. It is unmatched in both size and weight.
True, the Tsar Bell was never rung.
After casting, the Tsar Bell remained in the pit in which it was cast. He stood on an iron grate, located on twelve oak piles driven into the ground. A wooden floor was made over the pit. On May 20, 1737, a fire broke out in the Kremlin, and the wooden scaffolding that surrounded the giant flared up. They poured water over the fire, and the bell cracked from the difference in temperature. A piece weighing 11 tons broke off from it.
In 1836, the Tsar Bell was installed on a pedestal near the Ivan the Great Bell Tower.
Two more bells are known under the same name, cast at the beginning of the 17th century and in 1654 (about 130 tons). The latter crashed in a fire in 1701, and its scrap was used in the casting of the last Tsar Bell.

1. "Silent" Tsar Bell. Its casting was completed in 1735, after which one of the symbols of Russia remained in the pit, since there was no suitable building that could support its weight. And in 1737, during a large-scale Moscow fire, a piece weighing 11 tons broke off from the bell. For another hundred years, the "giant" remained in the casting pit, after which it was installed on a pedestal in the Kremlin.

2. The big Assumption bell did not ring and will not. Several times the question was raised about how to solder the Tsar Bell and use it for its intended purpose. However, experts say that it will not work to get a clear sound after soldering. By the way, the tongue was not made for the Tsar Bell, but the one that lies on the pedestal was taken from another, unknown bell.

3. The current Tsar Bell had two "ancestors" with the same names."Grandfather" was cast for the Kremlin bell tower at the beginning of the 17th century by order of Boris Godunov. Its weight was 35 tons. And during one of the numerous Moscow fires, it crashed, after which the bell was poured, increasing its weight to 128 tons. It took a hundred people to set his tongue in motion! This bell "died" in 1701, after it broke again.

4. There is a bell that rings almost constantly. If the Tsar Bell has never rung, then at Oxford University there is a bell that has been ringing almost non-stop (except for short breaks caused by high indoor humidity) for about 170 years. So, with the help of Voltaic pillars (devices for generating electricity used in advanced electrical engineering), the tongue swings between two bells.

5. The ringing of a bell can serve a variety of purposes. So, for example, in Turin (Italy) there was a "bread bell" that rang at the moment when it was time to knead the dough for bread so that it was ready for dinner. In Gdansk (Poland) for a long time there was a "beer bell" that announced the opening of drinking establishments. And the "Bell of Purity" in Bonn (Germany) urged residents to sweep the streets.

6. The bell was a pagan symbol. Today, bell ringing is associated with Orthodoxy, but at the dawn of Christianity, bells were considered pagan symbols. There is a legend that the oldest bell in Germany called “Saufang” (“Pig prey”) was dug out of the mud by pigs. Even after he was washed and hung on the bell tower, he refused to call. This continued until the bishop consecrated it, thereby purifying it from pagan filth.

7. Crimson ringing appeared thanks to Peter I. The phrase "Mechelen (crimson) ringing" appeared after Peter I ordered the first carillon for Russia (a musical instrument with a number of bells) in the Belgian city of Mechelen, which in French is called Malines (Malin). It was there that in the Middle Ages they developed a successful alloy for casting bells, which gives a soft and very pleasant ringing, called today "raspberry".

8. Some bells in Russia were exiled and even tortured. In 1591, the Uglich bell was thrown from the Spassky bell tower, its tongue was torn out, its ear was cut off, it was publicly punished on the square with 12 lashes, and as a result, it was “exiled” to Siberia. The reason for such cruel treatment of the bell, which was then about 300 years old, was the "incitement" to rebellion (with its ringing he gathered the townspeople in the square) on the occasion of the death of Tsarevich Dmitry. There is also a legend that in 1681 the “Nabatny” bell of the Moscow Kremlin was “exiled” to the Korelsky Nikolaevsky Monastery (Nikolo-Korelsky Monastery): his fault was that he woke up Tsar Fyodor Alekseevich at night with his ringing.

9. There are bells not only on Earth, but also in space. So, there is a bell on the International Space Station. It is called when the captain of the crew is replaced.

10. Big Ben is called only the bell in the clock in the northern part of the Palace of Westminster. But often this name extends to the clock, and to the tower as well. However, since September 2012, the official name of the tower is "Elizabeth Tower". It was renamed in honor of the 60th anniversary of the reign of Queen Elizabeth II.

Moscow has a huge number of curious and amusing monuments from different eras, whose history arouses the irrepressible curiosity of both adults and children.

These can be sculptures dedicated to fairy tales, heroes of books and films, real people, the vices of society, and even such “ordinary” things as a stool, a fly, or the signs of students.

Some of these monuments have a rather long and interesting history. This should include 2 famous monuments Tsar Cannon and Tsar Bell, which are located on the territory of the Moscow Kremlin.

Unfortunately, the latter is remarkable not for its main purpose (ringing), but only for its appearance and weight. It is about him in this article that there will be a story from which you will find out in what year it was cast and how much it weighs.

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Appearance

This is not just a huge structure that stands in the Kremlin, but one of the main attractions of Russia. It is also considered a monument of the art of casting of the 18th century.

"Royal" copy. View from Ivanovskaya Square

In height, it exceeds the mark of 6 meters, in diameter it is more than 6.5 meters. The weight of the whole structure is more than 200 tons. The authors were well-known at that time casters father Ivan and son Mikhail Motorins. The design was originally created for the Ivan the Great bell tower, but was not used for some reason.

Outside, royal persons, the Mother of God, Christ and other saints are minted, there is a commemorative record with a description of the creation, the names of the creators and the date “1733”, although the copy was cast only after 24 months.

Above and below it is encircled by a pattern, at the top there is a large gilded cross. However, many researchers note differences in the coinage of reality and in the images of past centuries. Information and photos about this can be additionally found on the Internet.

Interesting fact: there is no tongue inside the structure: for the reasons indicated below, it was not cast at all, a tongue from someone else was placed inside.

According to the analysis carried out in the Soviet Union, the royal specimen consists of a mixture of several metals. Almost 85% is copper, another 13% is tin, a little more than 1% is sulfur. Less than 0.5% is occupied by silver and gold. However, gold accounts for more than 70 kg, silver for more than 500 kg.

It is interesting: According to Wikipedia, during the Civil War, Denikin, being a general, decided to print his own currency, choosing this monument as an image - because of this, after depreciation, they received the nickname "bells".

You can see the monument in the Moscow Kremlin: it stands on Ivanovskaya Square not far from Ivan the Great. He never left this place in his life.

"Ancestors"

The first Russian "Tsar Bell", which was cast at the beginning of the 17th century.

Today, this is far from the only "sovereign" that existed in Russia. Such a title appeared long before the current one - each had an outrageous mass and size at a certain moment:

1. For the first time, such a nickname was given to a copy cast at the beginning of the seventeenth century, which weighed 40 tons, but its fate turned out to be unenviable: in the middle of the century it crashed.
2. The next one was immediately smelted - already weighing 130 tons. But he lived even less: already in 1654 he fell and crashed during the Christmas bells.
3. The next was a bell weighing 160 tons, made by the foundry worker Grigoriev. In order to shake it, it took about a hundred bell ringers. He lived until the beginning of the 18th century. and fell down when a big fire started.

It is important to know: the material of the Grigorievsky bell went to the ebb of the current one.

1. After that, the bells were left alone for 30 years, but Empress Anna Ioannovna decided to try again to break the record and ordered the largest version - the one that stands in the Kremlin today. However, his fate was not much better than that of the "ancestors".

How was the work

The preliminary work took several years. First, four years were spent preparing the forms. To do this, a hole 10 meters deep was dug on Ivanovskaya Square, in which a mold was placed.

The distance between the walls of the pit and the form was filled with rammed earth, the form itself was reinforced with broken bricks and oak inserts. An iron grate was placed at the bottom, on which the form stood.

The embossing on the foundry monument-bogatyr belongs to the hands of the sculptor Fyodor Medvedev: he carved patterns and images from wood, and then made an impression on the inside of the casing. Also, several craftsmen took part in the work, who, by order of Peter I, took courses in molding and pedestal work abroad.

Chasing made by sculptor Fyodor Medvedev

Do you know that: at first, the work on casting was offered to the French royal mechanic by the name of Germain, but he decided that this was a joke - it was difficult to even imagine a product of the required parameters and weight.

Casting began in 1733 and took more than twelve months. In 1734, just before the start of work in the smelters, an accident occurred: spilled copper not only spoiled the sample, but also led to a major fire in the city. Its consequences were eliminated only a year later. During this period, the project manager changed: Ivan Motorin died, and the business passed to his son.

Everything was ready only two years later. In four melting furnaces, the required amount of metal was melted in 36 hours, after which it was poured into molds.

The process took a little over an hour, and all this time about 400 firefighters were on duty nearby. A pit with a huge structure was covered with wooden ceilings and left to cool. Then, without pulling it out, they began to make chasing, since the image on the walls came out uneven and blurry.

Note: since the production, apparently, took place according to the old forms, this copy has the wrong casting date - “1733”.

How did the piece break off?

But the adventures did not end: in 1737 there was a major fire. The wooden ceilings above flared up, and then the bell was red-hot. It was decided to pull him out of the pit.

The metal was pre-cooled with cold water, but due to the huge temperature difference, several through cracks appeared. This was the main reason why, when raised, it split, making a fall. The fallen off piece weighed more than 11 tons.

However, some researchers believe that the fire was just a pretext, and the blame should be placed on carelessly done work, for example, on violations that occurred during the casting.

Confirmation is often called the price paid to the foundry worker Motorin: for his work he received a thousand rubles and the shopmaster rank of a foundry worker. However, his next orders were estimated at almost eight times more: 8 thousand per work.

This is how the uprising took place in Moscow in 1836. Pictures

The first projects to extract the "king" from the forms ended in failure. It was possible to do this only after a hundred years: the project of pulling out was made by the architect Mironovsky.

Note: when a huge colossus was pulled out, several ropes burst, and it lists dangerously. The case was saved by an unknown worker: having made his way under a loosely hanging object, he installed props that held the structure while the ropes were changed.

In mid-August 1836, the “king” was nevertheless pulled out of the pit and placed on a specially built bronze pedestal. The whole process was led by the architect of St. Isaac's Cathedral Auguste (August) Montferrand: he already had experience in lifting weights to considerable heights. He also created a copper cross, then covered the structure itself with gilding.

Today, a commemorative plaque flaunts on the pedestal. It contains a brief history, period of creation and time of pulling out of the form.

Further fate

A piece weighing 11.5 tons, which broke away from the main structure during the Trinity fire

Of course, no one wanted to lose such a huge and long-suffering colossus, and therefore the question of soldering a chipped piece was raised several times. But all this was just talk: the spike would completely distort the sound, and therefore would be meaningless.

During the Second World War, this attraction turned into a communications center: Signalmen of the Kremlin Regiment hid inside it. To prevent enemy bombers from noticing it, the structure was painted, and after the victory it was wiped off again.

Curious legend

Despite the fact that the fate of the monument of foundry art is interesting in itself, it seemed to many that this was not enough.

Peter I the last Tsar of All Russia (since 1682) and the first All-Russian Emperor (since 1721)

Incredible rumors about him circulated among the people. Many believed that the bell was cast much earlier, even before Peter I came to the throne, and even successfully raised to the bell tower.

When, after the victory over the Swedes near Poltava, all the bells of the country began to ring, the "Tsar" could not even be moved.

Angry, the king sent a company of soldiers, but they only tore out his tongue, without achieving a single sound. The people gathered in the square began to laugh, shouts were heard that Tsar Peter would have to yield to the stubborn one.

Perth I, who was standing on the bell tower, was furious and hit this landmark with all his might with a baton. Because of the impact, a piece bounced off and fell to the ground, even went deep into it, from where it was taken out only after several decades.

Good to know: among the Old Believers there was an opinion that when the Last Judgment came, the monument to foundry art would fly into the air by itself, and its ringing would be heard, even though it would be without a language.

Not only Muscovites, but also many tourists know about this attraction. Huge and completely useless, he lived an interesting life, although he never rang, and even managed to help his country during the war, albeit in an unusual way.

Watch the video in which the historian briefly tells the history of the creation and the further fate of the Tsar Bell:

The 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

Content:

The Moscow Kremlin is famous for one of its most notable historical sights - the Tsar Bell.

Moreover, it impresses not with its sound (the Tsar Bell never rang), but first of all with its own mass and enormous size. Currently, the bell is located on Ivanovskaya Square and everyone can see it. It is authentically known that the Tsar Bell was cast in the 18th century by the family of the then-famous foundry masters 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 the churches of the Russian capital - the 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 today in Moscow, is not the first. Turns out it was an earlier version. It was cast in 1600 and weighed approximately 40 tons. Unfortunately, in the middle of the XVII century it crashed. Immediately after this sad event, they decided to melt 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 its fall is known - it was 1654, Christmas. The bell was damaged during the Christmas bell ringing. But we decided not to stop there. Turning to the professional caster A. Grigoriev, the master ordered the bell even more - weighing already 160 tons.

However, he was not destined to ring for a long time - the Grigoriev bell crashed during a strong fire that happened in 1701. And only 30 years later, Empress Anna Ivanovna decided to make another attempt to revive the Tsar Bell. The duration of the preparatory work was 4 years.

To cast a new bell on Ivanovskaya Square, a special mold was created in a pit 10 meters deep. The walls of the mold were reinforced with bricks and special oak inserts, and an iron grate 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 the metal melted in four melting furnaces was poured. The remains of the old Tsar Bell, which crashed during a fire, went to the casting material. The project was "officially" directed and executed by Ivan Motorin. Starting from this moment, the chronology of the creation of the Tsar Bell is as follows: the preparatory work was completely completed in November 1734. On November 26, a service was held in the Assumption Cathedral, immediately after which the melting furnaces were flooded.

And now, it would seem, nothing should prevent the casting of a new bell. However, the unexpected happened again. Two furnaces malfunctioned, molten copper began to flow out and it all ended in a big fire. And after a while, Ivan Motorin died ...

They decided not to leave the work they had begun, and the son of Ivan Motorin, Mikhail, took up the next attempt to create the Tsar Bell. 1 hour and 12 minutes is the exact time it took to cast the last 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. In May 1737 another fire broke out in Moscow. As a result, wooden logs and boards, which served as a frame for the casing in the casting pit, caught fire. The Tsar Bell began to heat up and so that it would not melt 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 it out of the casting 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 see it now. Installed near the bell tower of Tsar Ivan the Great, this is truly a masterpiece of the foundry art of Tsarist Russia.

Another remarkable person, August Montferrand, is inextricably linked with the history of the creation of the last Tsar Bell, which is now accessible to tourists. August Montferrand gained fame as a class 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 rise of the Tsar Bell to the pedestal. By the way, the pedestal itself was also designed by Augustus Montferrand. The people of that time were literally stunned when they saw the power and beauty of the raised Tsar Bell! Ornamental decorations were especially well done, this was noted in the newspapers of that time.

All the same August Montferrand cast a copper orb with a cross, installed at the top of the Tsar Bell. The cross is not gold, as many people think, but only gilded. Nevertheless, the view of the Tsar Bell from this does not become less exciting. 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 inspirer of 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 Ioannovna, there is an inscription informing about the creators of the Tsar Bell - the father and son of the Motorins. They also did not forget about 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 chasing are visible on the Tsar Bell. By the way, another master was engaged in chasing. Only recently was his name established - Fedor Medvedev.

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 17th - early 18th 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 swing the bell tongue. In anger, Peter I sent a company of military men to help, but they only tore off their tongues, and the Tsar Bell never rang.

The people said that the bell is more stubborn than the king. In his hands, Peter held a club taken from the Swedish king. Enraged 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 sank into the ground with a rumble. Old Believers and sectarians believe that on the day of the Last Judgment, the Tsar Bell will rise and start ringing.

• In 1941, the bell housed the communications center of the Kremlin regiment. So that the giant did not shine and was not visible to the German bombers, it was specially painted;
• Several times there were talks about how to solder the bell to use it for its intended purpose. But experts assure that it will not work to get a 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 language. The tongue next to it was taken from another bell.

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