To the Bell Factory of Nikolai Shuvalov
There is something mesmerizing about bells.
After all, they are not just tools for creating sound of special quality and exceptional purity. Bells are also a means of communicating with God and people. They seem to draw his attention to the event taking place in the church. After all, bell ringing can be solemn and mournful; it can communicate good news or simply delight the ear with the music created by the bell ringer.

But not only that. Each bell, in itself, is also a work of art.
In the small town of Tutaev in the north Yaroslavl region there is a bell factory. He is probably known throughout the world. Tutaevsky bells ring in churches throughout Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan.

No, the bell, of course, does not “begin” like that. First you need calculations, you need to calculate on paper what the new bell will be like, then cut out patterns that will determine its shape. And only then does a long process begin, during which clay is placed on the axis (rod) layer by layer. Moreover, even the clay here is special - it is taken out from a certain quarry in the Yaroslavl region. But don’t ask which one: this is the secret of Tutaev’s masters.

The owner and soul of the plant is Nikolai Shuvalov. Actually, that’s what it’s called: Nikolai Shuvalov’s Bell Factory. And who better than him can tell about bells and the process of making them?!

Clay is applied layer by layer to the workpiece, and its quality gradually improves: it becomes thinner and thinner, until finally a fully “formed” bell appears on the spindle. But clay, not copper. And this is still the inner surface of the bell. Then another pattern is put on the rod, according to which the outer profile of the future bell is “cut”. Layer after layer lies clay, but of a different quality.

And in the next photo you can see the bells in varying degrees of readiness.

And here you can see a pattern raised above a clay bell blank. The pattern moves around the mold, making more than a hundred circles a day.

And when the form is ready, decorations are applied to it. This is also very painstaking work: jewelry is first made from plasticine, then cast into special molds, from which a new cast is made - this time in wax. And wax letters and images are superimposed on the clay bell. It turns out something like this:

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When the outer shape of the bell is ready, the top casing is carefully removed, and underneath is an exact copy of the future bell. But clay. It is taken out and destroyed.

And now, after more than two months of work, the moment of casting comes. The casting itself lasts a little over ten minutes. Well, for large bells, probably about twenty. Then the metal cools, and here it is, an almost finished bell!

The tongue needs to be attached to it. One of these. Or maybe one of these.

And that's it, the bell is ready.

You can call it. And Vladimir Degtyarev, artist and bell ringer, does it with elegant skill.

And if you look closely at the small bell in the center of the picture, you can see what is written on it.

To the president’s credit, it must be said that this bell is quite modest in size.

Read our community also on VKontakte, where there is a huge selection of videos on the topic “how it’s done” and on Facebook.

There are many resources dedicated to bells. Here I want to briefly highlight the topic of bells, since they are an integral part of Orthodox architecture, which does not go against the theme of my site.

§1 History of bells

1. The first bells

The making and use of bells dates back to ancient times. Bells were known to the Jews, Egyptians, and Romans. Bells were known in Japan and China.

In the debate about the origin of the bell, a number of scientists consider its homeland to be China, from where the bell could have come to Europe along the Great Silk Road. Evidence: it was in China that the first bronze casting appeared, and the most ancient bells from the 23rd to 11th centuries BC were also found there. measuring 4.5 - 6 cm or more. They were used in different ways: they were hung on the belt of clothing or the neck of horses or other animals as amulets (to ward off evil spirits), they were used in military service, in the temple for worship, during ceremonies and rituals. By the 5th century BC. The passion for bell music became so great in China that entire sets were required. bells

However, in the literature sometimes, as the oldest, the one stored in British Museum Assyrian bell from the time of Shalmaneser II (860 - 824 BC), discovered during excavations of the palace of Nineveh.

The Egyptians used bells in rituals dedicated to the holidays of the god Osiris.

The Romans used them to call servants and slaves, military signals, gathering people for public meetings, during sacrifices, and, finally, they decorated chariots at the ceremonial entries of triumphants. IN Ancient Rome The ringing of the bells also served as a signal for watering the streets in the midday heat.

In ancient times, bells were small in size and were not cast from metal as they are now, but riveted from sheet iron. Later, bells began to be riveted from sheet copper and bronze.

It is not known exactly when bells began to be used in Christian worship. During the persecution of Christians, the use of bells was out of the question; the call to worship was carried out through special persons of the lower clergy (Laosinacts-collectors of the people).

In Europe from the 1st century BC. and in subsequent centuries, a small bell about 20 cm high performed the following functions: its signal in Bonn meant the beginning of street cleaning; in Etampes (France) the last stroke of the bell was called the “Pursuer of Revelers”: after it the city lights were extinguished; in Turin (Italy) there was a “Bread Bell” for housewives; in medieval England, a bell accompanied a funeral procession; and in Beauvain (France) there was a bell that announced the beginning of the fish trade, it was called “Fish Trader”.

Church tradition dates the first use of bells in Christian worship to St. Pavlin, Bishop of Nolan (353-431) . In a dream vision, he saw an angel with bells that made wonderful sounds. Wildflowers and bluebells suggested to St. The shape of bells was given to Peacock, which were used during worship, and the introduction of “bell ringing” in Catholic rites was attributed to Pope Savinian (5?? - 604/606).

Historical monuments of the West first mention bells only in VII c., at churches in Rome and Orleans. TO VIII V. in the West, thanks to Charlemagne, church bells were already widespread. Bells were made from an alloy of copper and tin; later iron was added to these metals and in rare cases silver.

Middle IX c., can be determined by the time of widespread use of bells in the Christian West.

In the Orthodox East, bells appeared only in the second half IX c., when, at the request of Emperor Basil the Macedonian (867-886) The Venetian Doge Orso sent 12 bells to Constantinople for the newly built church. This innovation was not widespread and only after the occupation of Constantinople by the crusaders (1204) Bells began to appear at churches again.

2. Bells of Rus'

Initially, before the appearance of bells in Rus', a more general way of calling believers to worship was determined by VI century when they began to use beat and riveted.

Bila (and Kandi)- these are wooden boards, and riveted- iron or copper strips, bent into a semicircle, which were struck with special wooden sticks and only at the end X centuries, bells appeared.

The first chronicle mention of bells in Rus' dates back to 988 In Kyiv there were bells at the Assumption (Tithe) and Irininskaya churches. In Novgorod, bells are mentioned at the church of St. Sofia at the very beginning XI V. IN 1106 g. prp. Anthony the Roman, arriving in Novgorod, heard a “great ringing” in it.

Also mentioned are the bells in the churches of Polotsk, Novgorod-Seversky and Vladimir on Klyazma at the end XII V. But along with bells, beaters and rivets were used here for a long time. Oddly enough, Russia borrowed bells not from Greece, from where it adopted Orthodoxy, but from Western Europe.

During the excavation of the foundations of the Church of the Tithes (1824) , which was headed by Metropolitan Evgeniy (Bolkhovitnikov) of Kiev, two bells were discovered. One of them is made of Corinthian copper, better preserved (weighing 2 pounds 10 pounds, height 9 vershoks), it is considered the oldest Russian bell.

Russian bell-making masters were first mentioned in the chronicle under 1194 In Suzdal “and that miracle is like the prayer and faith of Bishop John, not the plaintiff of the masters from the Germans, but the presence of the masters from the minions of the Holy Mother of God and their own, others pouring tin...” At the beginning XII V. Russian craftsmen had their own foundries in Kyiv. The oldest Russian bells sounded small, completely smooth and had no inscriptions.

After the invasion of the Tatar-Mongols (1240) Bell making in Ancient Rus' died out.

IN XIV V. Foundry is being resumed in North-Eastern Rus'. Moscow becomes the center of foundry business. “The Russian Boris” gained particular fame at this time, casting many bells for cathedral churches. The size of the bells at that time was small and their weight did not exceed several pounds.

A wonderful event in 1530 The bell was cast by order of the Novgorod Archbishop St. Macarius weighing 250 pounds. Bells of this size were very rare, and the chronicler notes this event of great importance: “this has never happened before.” At this time, there are already inscriptions on bells in Slavic, Latin, Dutch, Old German languages. Sometimes the inscriptions could only be read using a special “key”. At the same time, a special rite of consecration of bells appeared.

The second half became an era in the history of bell making in Russia XV century, when the engineer and builder Aristotle Fiorovanti arrived in Moscow. He built a cannon yard where cannons and bells were fired. The Venetians Pavel Debosh and masters Peter and Jacob were also engaged in foundry at this time. At first XVI V. already Russian craftsmen successfully continued the work they had begun, surpassing their teachers in many ways in terms of bell casting. At this time, a special type of Russian bells, a system of fastenings, a special shape and composition of bell copper were formed.

And to XVI century the bells were already ringing throughout the country. Russian craftsmen invented a new method of ringing - tongue ringing (when the tongue of the bell swings, and not the bell itself, as was the case in Western Europe), this made it possible to cast bells of very large sizes..

Under Tsar Ivan the Terrible and his son Theodore, bell making in Moscow developed rapidly. Many bells were cast not only for Moscow, but also for other cities. Master Nemchinov cast the “Blagovestnik” bell, weighing 1000 pounds. Other famous craftsmen of this time, famous for the careful and artistic finishing of bells: Ignatius 1542 city, Bogdan 1565 g., Andrey Chokhov 1577 g. and others. At this time, there were up to 5,000 bells in churches in Moscow.

Troubled start time XVII V. foundry stopped for some time, but since the time of Patriarch Filaret (Romanov) this art has been revived again. The art of making bells developed and grew stronger, gradually reaching sizes never known before. Western Europe. From that time on, foreign craftsmen were no longer invited to cast bells.

Famous Russian masters of this time were: Pronya Feodorov 1606 g., Ignatiy Maksimov 1622 g., Andrey Danilov and Alexey Yakimov 1628 At this time, Russian craftsmen cast huge bells, which amazed even experienced foreign craftsmen with their size. So in 1622 In 1964, master Andrei Chokhov cast the “Reut” bell, weighing 2,000 pounds. IN 1654 The Tsar Bell was cast (later recast). IN 1667 A bell was cast for the Savino-Storozhevsky Monastery, weighing 2125 pounds.

In the first years of the reign of Peter I, bell making was not successful. This was facilitated by the cold attitude of the secular authorities towards the Church. By decree of the king from 1701 bells were removed from churches for the needs of the army. By May 1701 a huge amount was brought to Moscow for smelting church bells(in total more than 90 thousand poods). 100 large and 143 small cannons, 12 mortars and 13 howitzers were cast from the bells. But bell copper turned out to be unsuitable, and the remaining bells remained unclaimed.

3. "Tsar Bell"

The Tsar Bell occupies a special place among all the bells in the world. Beginning with XVI V. this bell rang several times.

Each time, additional metal was added to its original weight.

Work on the construction of the bell began in 1733 in Moscow, at the bell tower of Ivan the Great. TO 1734 all necessary preparatory work was completed. 1,214,000 units were used for the construction of furnaces. bricks But this year it was not possible to cast the bell; the furnaces burst and the copper spilled out. Soon Ivan Matorin dies and his son Mikhail continues his work. TO 1735 All work was carried out with great care. On November 23, the furnaces were flooded, and on November 25, the casting of the bell was completed successfully. Bell height 6 m 14 cm, diameter 6 m 60 cm, total weight 201 t 924 kg(12327 pounds).

Until spring 1735 The bell was in the foundry pit. On May 29, a large fire occurred in Moscow, known as the Troitsky fire. The Kremlin buildings were also engulfed in fire. The wooden buildings above the foundry pit caught fire. When extinguishing the fire due to a strong temperature difference, the bell developed 11 cracks, and a piece weighing 11.5 tons broke off. The bell became unusable. For almost 100 years the bell was in the ground. They wanted to transfuse it more than once. Only in 1834 The bell was lifted from the ground and installed on a granite pedestal under the bell tower on August 4.

From an artistic point of view, the Tsar Bell has magnificent external proportions. The bell is decorated with images of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich and Empress Anna Ioanovna. Between them, in two cartouches supported by Angels, there are inscriptions (damaged). The bell is crowned with images of the Savior, the Virgin Mary and the evangelists. The upper and lower friezes are decorated with palm branches. Decorations, portraits and inscriptions were made by: V. Kobelev, P. Galkin, P. Kokhtev and P. Serebyakov. Although some of the relief images were damaged during casting, the surviving parts speak of the great talent of Russian craftsmen.

At the break, the color of bell copper is whitish, which other bells do not have. There is a strong consensus that this is due to the high content of gold and silver. After the bell was raised, the question of its repair was repeatedly raised. There were bold decisions to solder the broken part, but all attempts remained only bold proposals.

During the reign of Nicholas I, the bell tower of Ivan the Great was cast in 1817 g. bell "Big Assumption" ("Tsar Bell") weighing 4000 pounds (cast by master Yakov Zavyalov), now the largest operating bell in Russia. The best in tone and sound. The largest bell in operation in the world, cast in 1632 weighing 4685 pounds, located in Japan in the city of Kyoto. the bell "St. John" weighing 3500 pounds and the bell, called the "New Bell", weighing 3600 pounds. In St. Petersburg, master Ivan Stukalkin, for St. Isaac's Cathedral At this time, 11 bells were cast. An interesting fact is that all the bells for this cathedral were cast from old Siberian nickels. For this purpose, 65.5 tons of them were released from the royal treasury. The largest bell, weighing 1860 pounds, had images in 5 medallions of Russian emperors.

Alexander II donated a bell called “Blagovestnik” to the Solovetsky Monastery. This bell was imprinted with the whole historical event - Crimean War- in prose and pictures. Monastery in 1854 The city was subjected to severe shelling by the English fleet; in 9 hours, 1,800 shells and bombs were fired at the monastery. The monastery withstood the siege. All these events were recorded on the bell. Several medallions contained images: a panorama of the Solovetsky Monastery, the disgraced English fleet, pictures of the battle. The bell was crowned with images of the Mother of God and the Solovetsky miracle workers.

Rostov ringings occupy a special place among all Russian bells. The largest "Sysoy" (received the name in memory of the Rostov Metropolitan Jonah (Sysoevich)) weighing 2000 pounds was cast in 1689 g., "Polieleyny" 1000 poods per 1683 g., "Swan" weighing 500 pounds was cast in 1682 The total number of bells on the belfry of the Rostov Kremlin is 13. They ring in Rostov according to notes specially composed for three tunes: Ioninsky, Akimovsky and Dashkovsky, or Egoryevsky. For many years in XIX V. The harmonic tuning of the Rostov bells was carried out by Archpriest Aristarkh Izrailev.

Mostly all bells were made of special bell copper. But there were bells made of other metals. There were cast iron bells in the Dositheeva Hermitage on the banks of the Sheksna. The Solovetsky Monastery had two stone bells. In the Obnorsky monastery there were 8 bells made of sheet iron. There was a glass bell in Totma. In Kharkov, in the Assumption Cathedral there was a bell weighing 17 pounds made of pure silver. The bell was cast under Nicholas II in 1890 at the P. Ryzhov plant. in memory of the deliverance from the death of the royal family in a train crash. disappeared without a trace civil war. There were six gilded bells in Siberia in the city of Tara, at the Kazan Church. They are all small, from 1 to 45 poods.

TO 1917 In Russia there were 20 large bell factories, which cast 100-120 thousand pounds of church bells per year.

4. Bell device

A distinctive feature of Russian bells is their sonority and melodiousness, which is achieved by various means, such as:

1. The exact proportion of copper and tin, often with the addition of silver, i.e. the correct alloy.
2. The height of the bell and its width, i.e. the correct proportion of the bell itself.
3. The thickness of the bell walls.
4. Proper hanging of the bell.
5. The correct alloy of the tongue and the method of attaching it to the bell; and many others.

The bell, like many instruments, is anthropomorphic. Its parts correspond to human organs. Its upper part is called the head or crown, the holes in it are the ears, then the neck, shoulders, mother, belt, skirt or shirt (body). Each bell had its own voice, received consecration like baptism and had its own fate, often tragic.

A tongue was suspended inside the bell - a metal rod with a thickening at the end (an apple), which was used to beat along the edge of the bell; it was called a lip.

The most common spelling in bell inscriptions is XVII And XIX centuries or modern traditions. The inscription on the bell is done in capital Church Slavonic letters without using punctuation marks.

Bell decorations can be divided into several types:

Horizontal bands and grooves

Ornamental friezes (floral and geometric)

Convex molded or engraved inscriptions, a combination of both is possible

Relief execution of icons of the Lord, the Blessed Virgin Mary, images of Saints and Heavenly Powers.

The figure shows the diagram of the bell:

The decoration of the bell bears the imprint of the era and corresponds to its tastes. Typically includes the following elements: relief icons, ornamental friezes, inscriptions and ornaments.

The internal inscription usually contains information about the time the bell was cast, the names of the customer, craftsman and investors. Sometimes the inscription contained words of prayer, defining the meaning of the bell as the voice of God.

5. Times of Silence

After the October Revolution 1917 g., church bells became especially hated by the new government.

The ringing of bells was considered harmful, and by the beginning 30's years all the church bells fell silent. According to Soviet law, all church buildings, as well as bells, were placed at the disposal of Local Councils, which “based on state and public needs, used them at their discretion.”

Most of the church bells were destroyed. A small part of the bells of artistic value was registered with the People's Commissariat for Education, which disposed of them independently "based on state needs."

To liquidate the most valuable bells, a decision was made to sell them abroad. “The most expedient way out for eliminating our unique bells is to export them abroad and sell them there along with other luxury items...” wrote the ideologist of atheism Gidulyanov.

So in the USA, at Harvard University, the unique bells of the Danilov Monastery turned out to be. The unique bells of the Sretensky Monastery were sold to England. Great amount The bells went into private collections. Another part of the confiscated bells was sent to large construction sites in Volkhovstroy and Dneprostroy for technical needs (making boilers for canteens!).

Russia was losing its bell wealth catastrophically quickly. The seizure of bells from ancient monasteries and cities was especially noticeable. IN 1929 the 1200-pound bell was removed from the Kostroma Uspensky cathedral. IN 1931 Many bells of the Spas-Evfimiev, Rizopolozhensky, and Pokrovsky monasteries in Suzdal were sent for remelting.

Even more tragic was the story of the death of the famous bells of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. The death of the pride of Russia - the bells of the first monastery in Rus' - was followed by many. Illustrated official publications such as “Atheist” and others printed photographs of the overthrown bells. As a result, 19 bells with a total weight of 8165 pounds were handed over to Rudmetalltorg from the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. In his diary about the events in the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, the writer M. Prishvin wrote: “I witnessed the death ... the most majestic bells in the world of the Godunov era were thrown down - it was like the spectacle of a public execution.”

A peculiar application, parts of Moscow bells, was found in 1932 city ​​authorities. Bronze high reliefs were cast from 100 tons of church bells for the new building of the Lenin Library.

IN 1933 At a secret meeting of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, a plan was established for the procurement of bell bronze. Each republic and region received a quarterly allocation for the procurement of bell bronze. Over the course of several years, in a planned manner, almost everything that Orthodox Rus' had carefully collected for several centuries was destroyed.

Currently, the art of casting church bells is gradually being revived. With the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Alexei II of Moscow and All Rus', the Bells of Russia Foundation was established, which revives the ancient traditions of bell art. In their workshops, bells from 5 kg to 5 tons are cast. The biggest for last years became a bell for the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow.

Bells, having traveled a long historical path, have become an integral part of the life of the Russian people for Russia. Without them, none of them was unthinkable. Orthodox church, all events in the life of the state and the Church were consecrated by the ringing of bells.

Bells are usually cast from so-called bell copper, consisting of an alloy of 78 percent pure copper and 22 percent tin. But there were examples that bells were made of cast iron, glass, clay, wood and even silver. So, in China, in Beijing, there is one cast iron bell, cast in 1403. In Uppsala, Sweden, there is a glass bell of excellent sound. In Braunschweig, at the church of St. Blasius, one wooden one is kept as a rarity, also very old, about three hundred years old, which was once called the bell of St. Great heel; it was used during Catholicism and was rung during Holy Week. In the Solovetsky Monastery there are clay bells, it is unknown when and by whom they were molded.

We have bells of many types and names. So are known: alarm bells, veche, red, royal, captives, exiles, good news, polyeleos, gilded and even bast; There are also small bells called candia or zvonets. They let the bell ringer in the bell tower know about the time of the bell or ringing.

The first of the alarm bells hung in Moscow, in the Kremlin, near the Spassky Gate, in a wall tent or floor turret (Russian Sovereigns, after their coronation, came here to show themselves to the people gathering on Red Square); it was also called royal; watchful and alarmed; it was rung during enemy invasions, rebellion and fire; such a ringing was called a flash and alarm (See “Russian Antiquity”, compiled by A. Martynov. Moscow, 1848). On this half-turret hung, as it was believed, a veche bell, brought to Moscow from Veliky Novgorod after its conquest by John III. There is an assumption that the Novgorod veche bell was poured into the Moscow alarm or alarm bell in 1673. By decree of Tsar Feodor Alekseevich, he was exiled in 1681 to Korelsky Nikolaevsky Monastery(where the children of the Novgorod mayor Martha Boretskaya were buried) for frightening the king with his ringing at midnight. The following inscription is poured on it: “On the 25th day of July 7182, this alarm bell of the Kremlin of the city of Spassky Gate was poured, weighing 150 pounds.” Added to this inscription is another, carved one: “On the 1st day of March 7189, according to the personal name of the Great Sovereign Tsar and Grand Duke Feodor Alekseevich of all Great and Lesser Russia, the autocrat decree that this bell was given to the sea, to the Nikolaev-Korelsky Monastery for the sovereign’s long-term health and according to his sovereign parents, eternal remembrance is inalienable under Abbot Arseny" ("Dictionary of the Geographical Russian State". Works by Shchekatov).

According to the testimony of old-timers, the tongue of another alarm bell, which hung on the tower of the Spassky Gate after the first bell and which is now kept in the Armory Chamber, was taken away by order of Catherine II because it called the people during the Moscow riot in 1771; in this form it hung until 1803, when it was removed from the tower and placed under a stone tent at the Spassky Gate along with large cannons. After the tent was demolished, it was first placed in the arsenal, and then in the Armory; on it there is the following inscription: “On the 30th day of July 1714, this alarm bell was poured from the old alarm bell, which was broken, the Kremlin of the city to the Spassky Gate, weighing 108 pounds. This bell was poured by the master Ivan Matorin.”

In addition to alarm bells, there were also messenger bells; they existed in ancient times in Siberia and in many border cities of southern and western Russia. They were used to let people know that the enemy was approaching the city. We had veche bells in Novgorod and Pskov, and, as one must assume, the latter were not very heavy. Even at the beginning of the 16th century, in the entire Novgorod region there was no bell weighing more than 250 pounds. So, at least, says the chronicler, mentioning the bell of the Blagovestnik, poured down to St. Sophia in 1530 by order of Archbishop Macarius: “The great bell was poured out quickly, as such majesty had never happened in the great Novegrad and in the entire Novgorod region, like a terrible trumpet sounding "("Complete Collection of Russian Chronicles", III, p. 246).

Red bells were those that had a red ringing, that is, good, delightful, cheerful; red bells are the same as beautiful, euphonious. In Moscow, in Yushkov Lane, there is a church of St. Nicholas “at the red bells”; This temple has been famous for its “red ringing” for more than two centuries. There is another temple in Moscow, behind Neglinnaya, on Nikitskaya Street, known under the name “Ascension good bell tower”.

"Hearing the gospel, with You,
Creator, I say."
Zhukovsky V.

The production and use of bells dates back to ancient times. Bells were known to the Jews, Egyptians, and Romans. Bells were known in Japan and China.

Every bell consists of three main parts: 1) mounting ear, 2) bell head (frame), 3) fields, 4) tongue.

In ancient times, bells were small in size and were not cast from metal as they are now, but riveted from sheet iron. Later, bells began to be riveted from sheet copper and bronze.

It is not known exactly when bells began to be used in Christian worship. During the persecution of Christians, the use of bells was out of the question; the call to worship was carried out through special persons of the lower clergy (Laosinacts-collectors of the people).

Church tradition dates the first use of bells in Christian worship to St. Paulinus, Bishop of Nolan (353-431). In a dream vision, he saw an angel with bells that made wonderful sounds. Wildflowers and bluebells suggested to St. The peacock is in the shape of bells, which were used during the service.

Historical monuments of the West first mention bells only in the 7th century, at churches in Rome and Orleans. By the 8th century. in the West, thanks to Charlemagne, church bells were already widespread. Bells were made from an alloy of copper and tin; later iron and, in rare cases, silver were added to these metals.

The middle of the 9th century can be defined as the time of widespread use of bells in the Christian West.

In the Orthodox East, bells appeared only in the second half of the 9th century, when, at the request of Emperor Basil the Macedonian (867-886), the Venetian Doge Orso sent 12 bells to Constantinople for the newly built church. This innovation was not widespread, and only after the occupation of Constantinople by the crusaders (1204) did bells begin to appear at churches again.

The appearance of bells in Rus' dates back to the very origins of Christianity. It is historically justified that bells came not from Byzantium, but from the West, but their widespread use dates back to much later times. It took considerable time for the “new bells” to organically enter church life.

The first chronicle mention of bells in Rus' dates back to 988. In Kyiv there were bells at the Assumption (Tithe) and Irininskaya churches. In Novgorod, bells are mentioned at the church of St. Sofia at the very beginning of the 11th century. In 1106, St. Anthony the Roman, arriving in Novgorod, heard a “great ringing” in it. Bells are also mentioned in the churches of Polotsk, Novgorod-Seversky and Vladimir on Klyazma at the end of the 12th century.

During excavations of the foundations of the Church of the Tithes (1824), which was headed by Metropolitan Evgeniy (Bolkhovitnikov) of Kiev, two bells were discovered. One of them is made of Corinthian copper, better preserved (weighing 2 pounds 10 pounds, height 9 vershoks), it is considered the oldest Russian bell.

Russian bell-making masters were first mentioned in a chronicle in 1194. In Suzdal, “and that miracle is like the prayer and faith of Bishop John, not the plaintiff of the masters from the Germans, but the presence of masters from the minions of the Holy Mother of God and their own, others pouring tin...” At the beginning XII century Russian craftsmen had their own foundries in Kyiv. The oldest Russian bells sounded small, completely smooth and had no inscriptions.

After the invasion of the Tatar-Mongols (1240), bell making in Ancient Rus' died out.

In the XIV century. Foundry is being resumed in North-Eastern Rus'. Moscow becomes the center of foundry business. “The Russian Boris” gained particular fame at this time, casting many bells for cathedral churches. The size of the bells at that time was small and their weight did not exceed several pounds.

A remarkable event in 1530 was the casting of a bell by order of the Novgorod Archbishop St. Macarius weighing 250 pounds. Bells of this size were very rare, and the chronicler notes this event of great importance: “this has never happened before.” At this time, inscriptions on bells were already found in Slavic, Latin, Dutch, and Old German. Sometimes the inscriptions could only be read using a special “key”. At the same time, a special rite of consecration of bells appeared.

An era in the history of bell making in Russia was the second half of the 15th century, when the engineer and builder Aristotle Fiorovanti arrived in Moscow. He built a cannon yard where cannons and bells were fired. The Venetians Pavel Debosh and masters Peter and Jacob were also engaged in foundry at this time. At the beginning of the 16th century. already Russian craftsmen successfully continued the work they had begun, surpassing their teachers in many ways in terms of bell casting. At this time, a special type of Russian bells, a system of fastenings, a special shape and composition of bell copper were formed.

Under Tsar Ivan the Terrible and his son Theodore, bell making in Moscow developed rapidly. Many bells were cast not only for Moscow, but also for other cities. Master Nemchinov cast the “Blagovestnik” bell, weighing 1000 pounds. Other famous masters of this time, famous for the careful and artistic finishing of bells: Ignatius 1542, Bogdan 1565, Andrei Chokhov 1577 and others. At this time, there were up to 5,000 bells in churches in Moscow.

Bells were also rung under Boris Godunov, although few of them have survived. One of the travelers who visited Moscow at this time described the miracle of the ringing of Moscow bells that amazed him: “The noise was such that one could not hear each other.”

Time of Troubles at the beginning of the 17th century. foundry stopped for some time, but since the time of Patriarch Filaret (Romanov) this art has been revived again. The art of making bells developed and strengthened, gradually reaching dimensions that Western Europe had never known. From that time on, foreign craftsmen were no longer invited to cast bells. Famous Russian masters of this time were: Pronya Feodorov 1606, Ignatius Maksimov 1622, Andrei Danilov and Alexey Yakimov 1628. At this time, Russian craftsmen cast huge bells, which amazed even experienced foreign craftsmen with their size. So in 1622, master Andrei Chokhov cast the “Reut” bell, weighing 2,000 pounds. In 1654 the “Tsar Bell” was cast (later recast). In 1667, a bell was cast for the Savino-Storozhevsky Monastery, weighing 2,125 pounds.

In the first years of the reign of Peter I, bell making was not successful. This was facilitated by the cold attitude of the secular authorities towards the Church. By decree of the tsar of 1701, bells were removed from churches for the needs of the army. By May 1701, a huge number of church bells (a total of more than 90 thousand poods) were brought to Moscow for melting down. 100 large and 143 small cannons, 12 mortars and 13 howitzers were cast from the bells. But bell copper turned out to be unsuitable, and the remaining bells remained unclaimed.

In 1717, Peter I ordered the casting of a bell weighing 1,100 pounds for the Novospassky Monastery, at the same time foundry worker Ivan Matorin cast a bell weighing more than 4,000 pounds for the Trinity-Sergius Monastery and the “Alarm” bell from the old one.

The Tsar Bell occupies a special place among all the bells in the world. Since the 16th century. this bell rang several times. Each time, additional metal was added to its original weight. In 1730, by the highest decree of Empress Anna Ioanovna, it was “ordered to drain the bell again.” The work was entrusted to Ivan Fedorovich Matorin and his son Mikhail.

Work on the construction of the bell began in 1733 in Moscow, near the Ivan the Great Bell Tower. By 1734, all the necessary preparatory work was completed. But this year it was not possible to cast the bell; the furnaces burst and the copper spilled out. Soon Ivan Matorin dies and his son Mikhail continues his work. By 1735, all work was carried out with great caution. On November 23, the furnaces were flooded, and on November 25, the casting of the bell was completed successfully. The height of the bell is 6 m 14 cm, diameter 6 m 60 cm, total weight 201 tons 924 kg (12327 pounds). Until the spring of 1735, the bell was in the foundry pit. On May 29, a large fire occurred in Moscow, known as the Troitsky fire. The Kremlin buildings were also engulfed in fire. The wooden buildings above the foundry pit caught fire. When extinguishing the fire due to a strong temperature difference, the bell developed 11 cracks, and a piece weighing 11.5 tons broke off. The bell became unusable. For almost 100 years the bell was in the ground. They wanted to transfuse it more than once. Only in 1834 was the bell raised from the ground and on August 4 installed on a granite pedestal under the bell tower.

From an artistic point of view, the Tsar Bell has magnificent external proportions. The bell is decorated with images of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich and Empress Anna Ioanovna. Between them, in two cartouches supported by Angels, there are inscriptions (damaged). The bell is crowned with images of the Savior, the Virgin Mary and the evangelists. The upper and lower friezes are decorated with palm branches. Decorations, portraits and inscriptions were made by: V. Kobelev, P. Galkin, P. Kokhtev and P. Serebyakov. Although some of the relief images were damaged during casting, the surviving parts speak of the great talent of Russian craftsmen.

At the break, the color of bell copper is whitish, which other bells do not have. There is a strong consensus that this is due to the high content of gold and silver. After the bell was raised, the question of its repair was repeatedly raised. There were bold decisions to solder the broken part, but all attempts remained only bold proposals.

During the reign of Nicholas I, for the bell tower of Ivan the Great, the "Big Assumption" ("Tsar Bell") bell weighing 4,000 pounds (cast by master Yakov Zavyalov), the "St. John" bell weighing 3,500 pounds and the bell, which received the name "New Bell", weighing 3600 pounds. In St. Petersburg, master Ivan Stukalkin cast 11 bells for St. Isaac's Cathedral at this time. An interesting fact is that all the bells for this cathedral were cast from old Siberian nickels. For this purpose, 65.5 tons of them were released from the royal treasury. The largest bell, weighing 1860 pounds, had images in 5 medallions of Russian emperors.

Alexander II donated a bell called “Blagovestnik” to the Solovetsky Monastery. This bell depicted an entire historical event - the Crimean War - in prose and paintings. In 1854, the monastery was subjected to severe shelling by the English fleet; in 9 hours, 1,800 shells and bombs were fired at the monastery. The monastery withstood the siege. All these events were recorded on the bell. Several medallions contained images: a panorama of the Solovetsky Monastery, the disgraced English fleet, pictures of the battle. The bell was crowned with images of the Mother of God and the Solovetsky miracle workers.

For the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow at the N.D. plant. 14 bells were cast from Finland, the largest of which was the “Solemn” bell, weighing 1654 pounds. "Festive" bell weighing 970 pounds (with images of Moscow saints). Both bells were cast by master K. Verevkin.

Rostov ringings occupy a special place among all Russian bells. The largest “Sysoy” weighing 2000 pounds was cast in 1689, “Polieleyny” 1000 pounds in 1683, “Swan” weighing 500 pounds was cast in 1682. There are 13 bells in the belfry of the Rostov Kremlin. They ring in Rostov according to notes, specially composed in three moods: Ionian, Akimov and Dashkovsky, or Egoryevsky.

In 1907, the bells of the Church of the Resurrection of Christ (on Blood) in St. Petersburg rang for the first time. Four large and many small bells, for the first time this year, called pilgrims to the first prayer service. The famous Rostov archpriest Aristarkh Izrailev tuned the bells. Father Aristarchus “taught” the bells to play, in addition to liturgical ringings, “God Save the Tsar,” “Kol Slaven” and other melodies. By the beginning of the 20th century, the St. Petersburg ringings were superior in tonal diversity and melody to the Moscow and even Rostov “raspberry ringings”. Careful selection of bells according to their sound provided the St. Petersburg bells with exceptional musicality.

Mostly all bells were made of special bell copper. But there were bells made of other metals. There were cast iron bells in the Dositheeva Hermitage on the banks of the Sheksna. The Solovetsky Monastery had two stone bells. In the Obnorsky monastery there were 8 bells made of sheet iron. There was a glass bell in Totma. In Kharkov, in the Assumption Cathedral there was a bell weighing 17 pounds made of pure silver. There were six gilded bells in Siberia in the city of Tara, at the Kazan Church. They are all small, from 1 to 45 poods.

Bells weighing over 1,000 pounds were found in many churches and monasteries and were commonplace.

By 1917, there were 20 large bell factories in Russia, which cast 100-120 thousand pounds of church bells per year.

Bells, having traveled a long historical path, have become an integral part of the life of the Russian people for Russia. Without them, not a single Orthodox church was unthinkable; all events in the life of the state and the Church were sanctified by the ringing of bells.

After the October Revolution of 1917, church bells became especially hated by the new government. The ringing of bells was considered harmful, and by the early 1930s all church bells fell silent. According to Soviet law, all church buildings, as well as bells, were placed at the disposal of Local Councils, which “based on state and public needs, used them at their discretion.” It was then that the instructions of the People's Commissar of Finance units "On the procedure for liquidating church property" appeared. Secret instructions allowed the destruction of part of the religious property. Church property turned into a significant source of income (40% of the proceeds went to the local budget), which in turn encouraged the strengthening of atheistic policies, the closure and demolition of churches. Most of the church bells were destroyed. A small part of the bells of artistic value was registered with the People's Commissariat for Education, which disposed of them independently "based on state needs."

To liquidate the most valuable bells, a decision was made to sell them abroad. “The most expedient way out for eliminating our unique bells is to export them abroad and sell them there along with other luxury items...” wrote the ideologist of atheism Gidulyanov. So in the USA, at Harvard University, the unique bells of the Danilov Monastery turned out to be. The unique bells of the Sretensky Monastery were sold to England. A huge number of bells went into private collections. Another part of the confiscated bells was sent to large construction sites in Volkhovstroy and Dneprostroy for technical needs (making boilers for canteens!). Russia was losing its bell wealth catastrophically quickly. The seizure of bells from ancient monasteries and cities was especially noticeable. In 1929, the 1200-pound bell was removed from the Kostroma Assumption Cathedral. In 1931, many bells of the Savior-Evfimiev, Rizopolozhensky, and Pokrovsky monasteries in Suzdal were sent for remelting.

Even more tragic was the story of the death of the famous bells of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. The death of the pride of Russia - the bells of the first monastery in Rus' - was followed by many. Illustrated official publications such as “Atheist” and others printed photographs of the overthrown bells. As a result, 19 bells with a total weight of 8165 pounds were handed over to Rudmetalltorg from the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. In his diary about the events in the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, the writer M. Prishvin wrote: “I witnessed the death ... the most majestic bells in the world of the Godunov era were thrown down - it was like the spectacle of a public execution.”

Parts of Moscow bells were found in a unique way in 1932 by the capital’s authorities. Bronze high reliefs were cast from 100 tons of church bells for the new building of the Lenin Library.

In 1933, at a secret meeting of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, a plan was established for the procurement of bell bronze. Each republic and region received a quarterly allocation for the procurement of bell bronze. Over the course of several years, in a planned manner, almost everything that Orthodox Rus' had carefully collected for several centuries was destroyed.

Currently, the art of casting church bells is gradually being revived. With the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Alexei II of Moscow and All Rus', the Bells of Russia Foundation was established, which revives the ancient traditions of bell art. In their workshops, bells from 5 kg to 5 tons are cast. The largest bell in recent years was the bell for the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow.

Bibliography

1. Belov A. When the bells ring. - M., 1988.
2. Gidulyanov P.V. Church bells in the service of magic and tsarism. - M.: Publishing house "Atheist", 1930.
3. A clergyman's handbook. - M., t.4, 1983.
4. Olovyanishnikov N. History of bells and bell art. - M., 1912.

The Jews used small bells to decorate the clothes of the high priest (Ex. 28, 33-35) and (2 Chron. 4, 13.). The Greeks used small bells at the temple of Cybele and Prozernina, with which they called for worship. The oldest known is the Assyrian bell from the time of Shalmaneser 2 (860-824 BC), from the palace of Ninivea and kept in the British Museum.
An example is the bell of 613g. from the church of St. Sidilia, now in the Cologne Museum.
Under Pope Sabinianus (604-606).
Pope John XIV established the custom of “baptizing” bells, in which each of them was given the name of a saint.
The word bell itself comes from a German word, but there is an opinion that this word comes from the old Russian word kolo-krug.
In Rus', as in Byzantium, beats and rivets were used to call to worship. There are still mentions of them in the Typikon (chapter 7, after Easter). Beats were especially widespread in Rostov and were used until very late times along with bell ringing. Even in the Gethsemane monastery of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, founded in 1844, a large wooden beater was in use.
In 1066, Prince Wieslaw of Polotsk removed the bells from the Sofia Bell Tower.
One pood is 16 kg, one pound is 200 gr.
In the chronicle of 1342 the following is narrated: “Vladyka Vasily commanded to cast a great bell to St. Sophia and bring a master from Moscow, a good man, named Boris.”
Part of it has been preserved in Moscow, somewhat in the Trinity-Sergius Lavra.
Peter Petrey de Erlesund History of the Grand Duchy of Moscow M., 1867, p. 5-6.
This bell was cast for the Ivan the Great Bell Tower. In 1812, after Napoleonic troops attempted to blow up the bell tower, the bell fell, as a result of which its “ears” broke off. After the liberation of Moscow it was repaired. Another event is connected with this bell. During the oath of allegiance to Alexander II in the Kremlin (Lent 1855), this bell fell and crushed 10 people. During the coronation of Alexander II, it fell a second time, breaking through three arches and crushing 17 people. Then St. Filaret (Drozdov) said: “The reign will be good, but the end will be unfortunate.” The bell was repaired, but became unusable in 1912.
Bell copper is significantly softer than the copper needed to make military tools.
Perhaps the Novgorod bell was re-lit.
1,214,000 units were used for the construction of furnaces. bricks
There is an opinion that the bell was nevertheless raised from the foundry pit, but this is not documented.
In 1833, Emperor Nicholas I entrusted the famous architect and engineer Montferand with the work of raising the Tsar Bell. On the second attempt the bell was raised (in 43 minutes).
Metal composition: copper - 84.5, tin - 13.2, sulfur - 1.2, gold - 0.036 (about 72 kg), silver - 0.25 (about 525 kg), loss - 1.03 (loss includes the remainder zinc and arsenic). A study of the copper composition of other famous bells in Russia did not give positive results for the content of gold and silver.
The most famous were: in Moscow the Bogdanov plant, in Yaroslavl the Olovyanishnikov and Zatropezny plants.
The second place in the wealth of bells belonged to England at that time.
Sold by the Soviet government in the 30s of the XX century.


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For an Orthodox person, the temple of God and the ringing of bells are inseparable concepts. The ancient Russian tradition of taking off your hat when the bells ring suggests that Orthodox people treated the ringing with great reverence, which, in fact, is a special type of prayer. Only this prayer - the gospel - begins long before the service, and it can be heard many kilometers from the temple. And just as church singing intersects with the prayers of the priest, so the Orthodox ringing symbolizes important moments of the service. And no religious procession is complete without the ringing of bells.

From the history of bells

The bell has a very interesting story. Bells, which were more like bells, were known even before the Nativity of Christ. They were worn in national costumes in many countries. For example, in ancient Israel, the high priests decorated their clothes with small bells, which were distinctive signs of certain ranks.

The bell appeared as a musical instrument of a certain canonical shape by the 3rd century. The history of its origin is connected with the name St. Paul the Merciful, Bishop of Nolan, whose memory we celebrate on February 5 (January 23, O.S.). He lived in the Italian province of Campana. One day, returning home after visiting his flock, he became very tired, lay down in a field and saw in a dream how the Angel of God played the field bells. This vision struck him so much that, upon arriving in his city, he asked an artisan to make him bells from iron similar to those he had seen in his dream. When they were done they turned out to have a very good sound. Since then, they began to make bells of various shapes and sizes, which subsequently increased and led to the appearance of church bells.

Initially, bells were cast from a variety of metals, but over time, the most suitable composition developed, which is still used today: bell bronze (80% copper and 20% tin). With this composition, the sound of the bell is ringing and melodious. The size of the bell gradually increased. This was due, first of all, to the skill of the bell-casters. The casting process became more complicated and improved. It is interesting to note that when the bells were over-watered, their weight necessarily increased. This is due to the fact that copper loses its properties during remelting, and tin burns out, so with each remelting it was necessary to add pure copper and tin, which increased the weight of the bell by at least 20%.

And the bells had to be re-watered, since they also have their own service life - usually 100-200 years. The service life of a bell depends on many things: on the quality of casting, on the ringing, on how carefully the bell is handled. A large number of The bells were broken only because the bell ringers did not know how to ring correctly. And they broke more often in the winter - in the cold the metal becomes more fragile, but on a great holiday you really want to ring the bell louder, hit the bell harder!

Three lives of the Tsar Bell

The recasting of the bell was as significant an event as the casting of a new one. It was often given a new name, hung in a new place, and if the bell tower did not allow it, a separate belfry was built. Large bells were cast right outside the temple, because transporting them was sometimes even more difficult than casting them and lifting them to the bell tower.

The Moscow Tsar Bell, one might say, had several lives. In 1652, Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich ordered the casting of the world’s largest “Uspensky” bell (our first Tsar Bell), weighing 8,000 pounds (128 tons), which was suspended in 1654 and soon broken. In 1655, the “Great Assumption” bell (the second Tsar Bell) weighing 10,000 poods (160 tons) was cast from it. It was suspended in 1668 on a specially built belfry, but during a fire in 1701 this bell was broken.

In 1734-1735, Anna Ioannovna completed the epic of the Tsar of Bells, casting a bell of 12,000 poods (about 200 tons). For further cleaning, the bell was lifted onto wooden saws. It was supposed to build a special bell tower for him, since he could not fit into either the bell tower of Ivan the Great or the Assumption Belfry.

But soon there was a strong fire in the Kremlin, and wooden structure the bell on which the bell hung caught fire and the bell fell into the pit. Fearing that burning wood falling on the bell might melt it, the people began to pour water on it. And after the fire it was discovered that a piece weighing 11 tons had fallen off the bell. What caused the bell to split—its fall into a pit (the base of which was rocky) or temperature changes when water was poured over it—is unknown. Without ringing once, the Tsar Bell lay in the ground for more than a hundred years. In 1836, under Nicholas I, the Tsar Bell was raised from the ground and placed in the Kremlin on a pedestal designed by the Italian engineer-scientist Montferrand.

Methods of bell ringing

There are two methods of bell ringing, characteristic of our country: terrible And lingual. The peculiarity of the first is that the bell is firmly mounted in a movable axis, to which is attached a lever (ochep) with a rope tied to it. The bell ringer stands on the ground and pulls on it, swinging the bell evenly. The language remains free. With the usual method of ringing, you can use small bells. If the weight of the bells is large enough, the system of their fastening becomes more complicated, and large loads lead to rapid wear of the moving parts, as well as the destruction of the walls of the bell tower themselves.

When, under Tsar Boris Godunov, a bell weighing 1,500 pounds (about 24 tons) was cast and hung on a belfry specially built for this purpose, it took a hundred people to swing it.

Belfry

The bells on the belfry are divided into three groups: evangelists(the heaviest), which are controlled through a pedal, and if the weight is very large, the second person swings the tongue; half-ringed(medium in weight), which are connected by a system of constrictions to the control panel and are operated by the left hand; ringing(the smallest ones), which are usually trilled with the right hand.

There are four types of Orthodox ringing: blagovest(uniform strikes on the largest bell), overkill(one by one they strike each bell once from small to large, and then all at once - strike “all the way”, and so on for several series), chime(several series of alternating single strikes on each bell from large to small, then “all the way”), pealing(the richest ringing in rhythm and composition, in which all three groups of bells are involved). Before the start of the service there is a bell ringing, then a trezvon, and at the end of the service a trezvon. The Blagovest calls Christians to worship, and the ringing of the trezvon symbolizes the joy of the celebrated event. The bell is placed during a funeral and symbolizes a person’s life: the sound of small bells signifies a person’s childhood and, in increasing order, his growing up, after which the blow “all the way” symbolizes the end of life. The chime (from large to small) symbolizes the exhaustion of Christ during the suffering of the cross, the blow “all over” symbolizes His death on the cross. The chime is set once a year - on Maundy Thursday evening on the removal of the shroud.

Bell ringing was used in Rus' not only during the celebration of church services. Bells were used to call people to a meeting, to warn about danger or bad weather (fire, etc.), to show the way to lost travelers (at night, in a snowstorm) or sailors (if the temple was located near the sea), to call for the defense of the Motherland, when sending troops to war, celebrating victories.

Having fallen in love with the ringing of bells, the people associated all their solemn and sad events with it. The bell was believed to have some kind of miraculous power, and it was often identified with a living creature. The names of its main parts speak about this: tongue, ears, queen cell, shoulder, body(or skirt). It is interesting to note that in foreign languages ​​the main parts of the bell do not have such “living” names. For example, in English or French, the tongue is called the drummer (hammer), the queen with ears is called the crown, the body and shoulder are called the ramp.

The effect of bell ringing on humans has been studied very little, but it is known for sure that ringing, even from a physical point of view, is good for health, since the ultrasound emanating from it (but inaudible) clears the air of germs. It is not for nothing that in the old days, during epidemics and terrible pestilences, bells were supposed to be ringed tirelessly. And it was noticed that in those villages where there was a church and bells were constantly ringing, the pestilence was significantly less than in those places where there was no temple. The ringing of bells can greatly influence a person’s mental (psychological) state. Scientists attribute this to the existence of biorhythms and resonant frequencies for each organ. Typically, low frequencies, characteristic of large bells, calm a person, and high ones most often excite. Today, special techniques have even emerged for using bell ringing to treat mental disorders. And the statement that all bell ringers are deaf is completely implausible. Talk to any experienced bell ringer, and he will probably tell you that he does not have any hearing disorders.

The Russian people found a worthy expression of the church idea of ​​the bell in their mighty, solemn ringings, in their tall, unique bell towers; he loves the bell and reveres it. This is his victorious banner, his solemn confession in front of the whole world of his best and most cherished hopes, of what is most dear and sacred to him, of what makes him strong and invincible.

Based on materials from the magazine “Slavyanka”