Tsar Bell, which has never been rung, can amaze anyone by its gigantic sizes. Located at the bottom of the Ivan the Great Bell tower on the Square of the Moscow Kremlin, Tsar Bell is the unique example of the found art of the XVIII century.
Tsar Bell, which has never been rung, can amaze anyone by its gigantic sizes. Located at the bottom of the Ivan the Great Bell tower on the Square of the Moscow Kremlin, Tsar Bell is the unique example of the found art of the XVIII century.
According to the official information, the huge bell, which weighs approximately 200 tons, was cast in 1735. The Tsar Bell was made of the alloy of metal and the broken Grigoriev Bell of the Boris Godunov times by the decree of Anna Ioannovna. The making and shaping were made by the foundry masters Ivan and Mikhail Motorin (father and son) right in the hole, which was dug right on the Ivanovskaya Square. The relief works were held during 1.5 years. The picturesque decoration of the Tsar Bell amazes by its nicety, grace of the portraits of the Royal persons and sacred images of the saints. Misfortune happened with the bell, in 1737 the construction staging caught in fire over it. Trying to got the fire down, people poured cold water right in the hole with red-hot bell, so the alloy didn't stand and cleaved. The broken piece, which weighed more than 11 tons, made the bell unserviceable. That is why it was decided to leave it in a hole, where it was for almost a whole century. The special staircase was set up for visitors, who wanted to see the images of the Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich and the Empress Anna Ioannovna.
In 1836 the bell was lifted up under the management of the architect Auguste de Montferrand. Later, he also created the decorative element on the top of the bell in a shape of ball with golden cross. The Tsar Bell was set up on the octahedral stone pedestal on the territory of tу Kremlin, where for more than 2.5 century it serve as the national patrimony and demonstrate to the visitors the finesse of the foundry masters.