The clock on the Spasskaya Tower is a hallmark of the Moscow Kremlin. This tower has a gate to Red Square, the gate was considered holy, and the tower was called "Spasskaya", because it had an icon of the Savior of Smolensk. The hipped top of the tower is the authorship of master Bazhen Ogurtsov. Chimes are installed there - a tower clock with a set of tuned bells.

The history of the clock on the Spasskaya Tower

Presumably, the clock was installed in the tower after it was built in 1491 by the architect Pietro Antonio Solario at the behest of Ivan III. And in 1585 official watchmakers "passed" according to the documents.

The ancient "Byzantine time" chimes had one hand and showed "day" and "night" hours.

In 1624, after a fire, the clock had to be replaced. Under the supervision of the English mechanic and watchmaker Christopher Galovey, the Russian blacksmith-watchmakers Zhdan made larger clocks. 13 bells were cast for them by the Russian caster Kirill Samoilov. To accommodate the bells and mechanisms, the tower had to be built on. Strictly speaking, it was these watches that were the first chimes, since it was they who began to "call" the melody at certain points in time. The mechanism was made of oak. Only the time for them was again ... "Old Russian. Foreigners wrote:

In our watches, the arrow moves towards the number, in Russia, on the contrary, the numbers move towards the arrow. A certain Mr. Galloway - a very inventive person - came up with a dial of this kind. He explains this as follows: "Since the Russians do not act like all other people, then what they produce should be arranged accordingly"

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Of course, Peter I replaced them with Dutch ones - with a 12-hour dial. The clock chimed every quarter of an hour. The overseas thing often broke down, and in 1737 it burned down altogether. They were in no hurry to restore them - the capital was then transferred.

In 1767, a new clock was found - now English - and installed by master Fatz. Their song was "Ah, my dear Augustine" - the only time in the history of a foreign tune.

In 1851, the familiar clock was made and installed. It was a fundamentally new mechanism. Oak parts were replaced with cast iron, special alloys reacted minimally to temperature changes.

A modern pendulum, a more accurate move, a melody - everything was fundamentally new. The watches were made at the Russian factory of the Danish subjects of the Butenop brothers. The musical part of the mechanism was improved, 48 bells were involved, some of which were transferred from other towers of the Kremlin, where there was once a clock. hammers struck the bells.

Melodies were "programmed" with the help of a special rotating drum. In tsarist times, "How glorious is our Lord in Zion" and the march of the Life Guards of the Preobrazhensky Regiment of Petrovsky times were played.

In 1917, a shell hit the tower, and for a year the clock stood out of order. At the direction of Lenin, the clock was repaired, and other melodies were dialed - the Internationale and "You fell a victim ..."

But by the forties of the 20th century, the worn-out mechanism required a serious restoration. And the melodies were not played cleanly. This restoration took place only in 1974 - the clock was stopped for 100 days. The last major overhaul dates back to 1999.

Until 1996, the chimes were silent for 58 years, and at the inauguration of President Yeltsin they performed the melody "Glory" by Glinka, which at that time was performed as the anthem of Russia. Here is a modern drum responsible for "music"

Bell music has its own rhythm, so it is difficult to guess that at noon, midnight, 6 and 18 o'clock the Russian anthem is performed, at 3, 9, 15 and 21 o'clock - the melody of the choir "Slavsya".

The clock on the Spasskaya Tower is not the most accurate, but the most important. Four of their dials have a diameter of 6.12 meters, the height of the numbers is 0.72 meters, the length of the hour hand is 2.97 m, the minute hand is 3.27 m. The total weight of the chimes is 25 tons. This is a fully mechanical watch, and therefore - the watch is unique. They are subjected to regular lubrication (separate winter and summer lubricant composition), upgrades - they are "on a pencil" in scientific institutes.

An important question: when does the New Year come? With the first or last hit? So, the chiming clock has nothing to do with it. The new goal comes earlier, with the beginning of the chime!

In our watches, the arrow moves in a circle of numbers, in Russian, on the contrary, a circle of numbers rotates.

In the early morning of the 15th day of the spring month of April, on the 3rd Sunday of the month, running around free, on that day, municipal museums, in the museum of the "Old English Compound" in the Moscow Zaryadye, at an exhibition about ancient Russian arithmetic, I saw a strange-looking blue dial with 17 Slavic letters instead of numbers .. This was a drawing of one of the first clock faces of the Spasskaya (then Frolovskaya) tower of the Moscow Kremlin. Because the visit was free, I did not pay for photographing, so I just sketched the dial, and when I got home I googled it.

"In our watch, the hand moves in a circle of numbers, in Russians, on the other hand, the circle of numbers revolves. Mr. Holloway, a very skilled man, made the first such watch, saying that Russians are in no way similar to other peoples, and therefore their watches must have a special device ." I quote from: " The current state of Russia, set out in a letter to a friend living in London. Composition of Samuel Collins, who spent nine years at the Moscow Court and was the doctor of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich // Readings in the Imperial Society of Russian History and Antiquities. - M., 1846

Russian watches divided the day into day hours and night hours, following the rising and the course of the sun, so that in the minute of ascent, the Russian clock struck the first hour of the day, and at sunset - the first hour of the night, therefore, almost every two weeks, the number of daytime hours, as well as nighttime, gradually changed "...

The middle of the dial was covered with blue azure, gold and silver stars, images of the sun and moon were scattered across the blue field. There were two dials: one towards the Kremlin, the other towards Kitay-Gorod.

Before that, I thought that the ancient Japanese had the strangest watches, brought to Japan in the 16th century by Dutch traders (I have a model of an ancient Japanese watch from the Gakken constructor at home). The change in the length of seconds depending on the time of year (they change by regular changes in the length of the flywheels, of which there are 2: one swings during the day, the second at night), so that day and night have the same number of hours (6 hours each) .. Despite the fact that the length of night and day seconds coincided only 2 times a year, on the days of the equinoxes. The number of strokes in a watch with a strike is from 9 to 4, because 1, 2 and 3 strokes are reserved for signals for Buddhist prayers. It is clear that at the beginning of the day and night periods (dawn and sunset), the clock struck six strikes, then 5, 4, 9 (noon-midnight), 8 and 7

Turns out, our ancestors were also entertainers : they had constant seconds, there were no minutes at all, but the day was also divided into day and night according to (sunrise / sunset) and the day could be from 7 hours (winter solstice) to 17 hours (summer solstice) due to the increase or shortening the night. Clock resets at sunrise/sunset... Naturally, it was not the arrows that were spinning in the clock (as then in Europe), but the dial.

Already in 1404, the first clock was installed on the stone tower of the Kremlin - Frolovskaya (Spasskaya since the end of the 17th century). Muscovites heard the ringing of the bell every hour. The tower itself then had a different look. A canopy was arranged on its flat top, covering the bell from rain and snow. In 1491, the Italian Pietro Antonio Solarius built a new tower, which has survived to this day. At the end of the 15th - beginning of the 16th century, the tower was equipped with a new clock. The documents for the time being indicate that the Watchmen received 4 rubles a year, and 2 hryvnias and 4 arshins of cloth for meat and salt. The first chimes were installed on the Kremlin tower in 1585. But in the difficult years of unrest and foreign invasion, they died.

In the first years of the 17th century, the blacksmith Shumilo Zhdanov Vyrachev was called to the capital from the Komaritskaya volost of the Ustyug district. He was instructed to make and install new "fighting clocks" - chimes - on the Frolovskaya tower. Shumila was helped by his father and son. The hours of the Produced had 24 divisions, they showed daytime - every hour from sunrise to sunset. Then the rotating dial returned to its initial position and the countdown of the night hours began. At the time of the summer solstice, the day lasted for 17 hours, the rest fell at night. The rotating circle of the dial depicted the vault of heaven, the numbers went around the circumference. A ray of gilded sun, fixed above the circle, served as an arrow and indicated the hour. Vyrachev's clock ran properly for about twenty years, but when the tower was rebuilt in 1624, they were sold by weight to the Spassky Monastery in Yaroslavl for 48 rubles: that was the cost of 60 pounds of iron. In 1624-1626, under the guidance of master Christopher Galovey, the upper part of the Frolovskaya Tower was rebuilt. Here Galoway installed a new clock. To them, the bell-maker Kirila Samoilov cast thirteen new bells. During the fire of 1626, this clock was so damaged that Galoway had to do all the work again. Only two years later, the Kremlin chimes rang out again. The watchmen of the Spasskaya Tower were also court masters, one of them repaired large watches in the palace ... and small watches ... in silver. In 1621, the "English" master Christopher Galovey was invited to Moscow for the royal service. He was ordered a new clock, in order to save it from frequent fires, the wooden tower of the Spasskaya Tower in 1625 was replaced by the current stone top. The work on the construction of a multi-tiered roof and a beautiful tiled tent was carried out by Russian master masons under the guidance of architect Bazhen Ogurtsov. Galoway was given a rich reward from the royal treasury for installing the clock. On January 29, 1626, he received from Grand Duke Mikhail Fedorovich: a silver goblet, 29 arshins of expensive fabrics, forty sables and forty martens. In total, the royal gift pulled almost 100 rubles - a huge amount for those times. And the sovereign granted him (i.e., Galoveya) for the fact that he "made a tower clock in the Kremlin-city above the Frolovsky Gate."

It was an instrument of time of a very surprising device. The only arrow of the Kremlin clock, having the appearance of a sunbeam, was motionlessly fixed on the tower. Under an allegorical gilded sun, silver stars, a full moon and a lunar crescent were depicted on a blue disc. Around were 17 Arabic gilded numerals and the same number of decree words - Church Slavonic letters that were used in pre-Petrine Russia. The indicative words were copper, thickly gilded and each arshin in size, and half-hour signs were placed between them. Oak, with a diameter of more than 5 meters, the watch dial slowly turned, substituting the number of the next hour under the arrow-beam. To top it off, the arrow indicated the hours "day" and "night" - according to the division of time that existed then in Russia. The daytime hours began with the first sunbeam striking the Spassky Tower from the east. And in the evening, as soon as the last spark of dawn died out on gilded weathercocks, the creator of the Galoveev clock Shumilo Zhdanov, who was appointed to the honorary position of “driving” the clock, clutching the azure circle, translated the Kremlin “watch clock” into the night time account. Clocks built by Ustyug craftsmen served not only the city people, clerks in executive offices, but also merchants in the malls. For ten versts around, in the villages and villages, the sound of their bells, cast by the talented Russian foundry worker Kirill Samoilov, was heard. "Wonder of the World" - these watches were enthusiastically called by foreigners who came to Moscow in the 17th century.

Here is what the Ambassador of the Austrian Emperor Leopold under Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, Baron Augustin Meyerberg, wrote about the clock of the Spasskaya Tower in his notes on Muscovy: “This clock shows the time from sunrise to sunset ... When there are the longest days, this machine shows and beats up to seventeen, and then the night lasts seven hours. Having made this entry, the Austrian ambassador diligently sketched the clock in his album: apparently, for him the clock was a fair attraction. But the clock was unlucky. On a May night in 1626, a terrible fire broke out over Moscow. The entire Kremlin was engulfed in flames. The wooden parts on the Spasskaya Tower burned down, the hour bell, breaking through two brick vaults, fell to the ground and broke. The newly restored clock has served people properly and faithfully for more than a quarter of a century. But on October 5, 1656, a fire broke out again on the Spasskaya Tower. The wooden staircase leading up was burned down, and the clock was also burned. During the interrogation, the clockmaker said that he started the watch without fire, “and from what the tower caught fire, he does not know about it.” Pavel of Aleppo, describing the journey of Patriarch Macarius of Antioch to Russia, speaks of this fire with great regret. He says that Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, who returned from the Lithuanian campaign, when he reached the Spassky Gates and saw the charred clock tower, wept bitterly. After the fire, the watch fell into complete disrepair and required cleaning and repair.

The chimes on the Spasskaya Tower of the Moscow Kremlin are known not only in Russia, but all over the world. In its current state, the Kremlin appeared at the end of the 15th century. Before that, wooden and later white stone buildings were located on Borovitsky Hill.

In the 21st century The Kremlin is the largest functioning castle in Europe. But no less famous are its unique towers, among which Spasskaya stands out due to its majestic appearance and dials installed on its walls.

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Help from the past

Image taken during the USSR period

Located on the eastern wall of the Kremlin, it is almost the highest in height, second only to Troitskaya by 9 meters. Together with the star, the size of the building reaches 71 meters; it was built under Ivan III.

Its architect is the Italian Antonio Solari. At first, the building was called Frolovskaya, because of the church of the same name, past which the only road to the main passage passed. The current name appeared later, almost a hundred years later.

The name was transferred to the gate from two icons of the Savior (Not Made by Hands and Smolensk), hung on top of the passage on both sides. However, the entire structure was later renamed. Important: only the icon of the Savior of Smolensk has been preserved, the second was lost during the USSR.

Less than a quarter of a century after the construction, a wooden bridge was stretched across the moat. After that, the Englishman Galoway completed the upper floors and the hipped roof, which significantly "stretched" the appearance. Nude sculptures were installed as decorative elements - however, they were covered almost immediately by sewing special caftans. A few years later, they were badly damaged in a fire, they had to be completely removed.

In the next century, the tent was crowned with the image of a double-headed eagle - it survived until the period of the USSR, periodically updated. It was replaced by a Soviet star with five rays.

View inside

Quite quickly, the star had to be changed: the first version became very dim due to precipitation, and the dimensions turned out to be too large. Instead, the so-called "ruby" stars appeared, the size of which does not even reach 4 meters.

They have a frame made of stainless steel, flat edges are made of two-layer glass. Inside them, lamps with autonomous action work, and there is a ventilation system. The stars standing on the “crown” are not the first: they have already been changed before.

This design has always occupied a special place in the life of Muscovites, being the main one among its “sisters”. Horses did not enter through its gates, and men on foot took off (later it was fixed by decree) their hats and bowed. This was done by all those passing by, regardless of religion, otherwise they would be punished.

Local legend confirms the sanctity of the main gate: when Emperor Bonaparte was riding through the passage, an unexpected wind tore off his cocked hat. During the retreat, the French wanted to blow up the tower, a miracle happened - the wicks were extinguished, no harm was caused to the structure.

Criminals were led through the described building to the Execution Ground for execution, who prayed before the icons of the Savior. Also, kings and emperors followed through it on the way to the place of coronation, religious processions followed. Russians are accustomed to seeing the Spasskaya Tower during the president's speech, and they also give a countdown.

Appearance

The chimes are located on the eighth, ninth and tenth floors - the latter is located directly under the upper tent.

The discs are over 6 meters high. The size of the numbers is 72 cm, the hand has a length of 2.97 meters, the minute hand is 3.3 m. The whole structure has a rather impressive weight - 25 tons.

The principle of operation is the same as that of ordinary walkers: winding occurs by lifting three weights, the move is carried out by the movement of the pendulum. Inside it consists of 4 shafts, it is located on the ninth floor.

The shaft responsible for minutes descends to the eighth floor, the musical component - to the tenth. The latter consists of a hammer and a dozen bells: the largest is responsible for beating when the arrow points to 12, the rest - when the arrow points to 3, 6 and 9.

It is important to know: one of the main features is that the device is completely mechanical.

Melodies are played using a copper cylinder with a diameter of 2 meters and a weight of 2 centners. The action is similar to music boxes: notches and bulges are applied to the surface of the cylinder. During rotation, they press the keys, from which the cables stretch to the bells and the applied melody is played.

However, due to a significant lag behind the desired tempo, the melodies are not always recognizable. Now the anthem of Russia is played there (it beats every 6 hours, starting at 12 o'clock) and "Glory" from Glinka's opera A Life for the Tsar (played every 6 hours, starting at 3 o'clock).

It is curious to note that the onset of a new calendar period in the life of people and the country does not occur with the last chimes, but with the first chime. By the time the ringing ends, a whole minute has passed.

Story

Surprisingly, the chimes were installed back in the 16th century. Even then, the watchmaker's position existed in the Kremlin: their service took place at the Spassky, Troitsky and Tainitsky gates, later Nikolsky gates were added to them.

At the beginning of the 17th century, after less than 40 years of service, the first device from the Frolovsky (at that time) gate was sold to the monastery in Yaroslavl. Already 24 months later, a new device for determining the time appeared in their place. The Englishman Galloway (Galovey) and the family of Russian blacksmiths Zhdanov and Shumilov worked on it. The first ones were equipped with 13 bells made by Samoilov.

However, the structures were not destined to stand for a long time: having worked a little, they died in a fire, but were quickly remade by the same master Galoway.

In the 70s of the same century, the device underwent a major overhaul. Now he could play music, the disk was covered with blue azure, images of celestial bodies were applied to it. Instead of the usual movable arrow at the very top of the dial, they attached an image of the sun, from which a long beam descended. The disk itself was divided into 17 compartments to make it convenient to designate a long summer day.

The main feature was the mechanism: it was not the hands that moved, showing the exact time, but the dial: sunrise was the first daytime phenomenon, sunset was the last. Thus, the disk either moved in the direction of the arrow, or against it. To ensure that the readings did not lag behind the movement of the sun, the device was corrected every 2 weeks.

Note: on this occasion, an English doctor who worked in the capital described Moscow to his friend and wrote that the actions of the Russians are completely incomprehensible - even in their watches, the arrow does not run after the numbers, but vice versa.

We owe the appearance of new watches to Peter the Great

At the beginning of the 18th century, Peter I decided to transform the tower in a European way and purchased a new instrument in Holland. It already had the usual dial with 12 digits. The watchmaker Garnov (Garno) was engaged in the installation. But this mechanism turned out to be extremely unreliable and constantly broke down until, after a fire in 1737, it completely failed.

However, this upset few people: the capital moved to St. Petersburg, and the arrangement was delayed. I had to wait more than a quarter of a century until a clock of English work was found in the Faceted Chamber - it was the German Fatz who installed them on the tower. The installation lasted about 3 years, and in 1770, over Red Square, the chimes played the words of the German song "Ah, my dear Augustine" - for the first time in its existence. A few days later, the melody was changed to the usual one.

The described device was not destined to stand for a long time. During the famous Moscow fire that happened during the offensive of Napoleon, he suffered. When the watchmaker Lebedev checked them, he spent a long time restoring them. After the repair work was completed, he was awarded.

Modern version

However, they again did not live long. When a specialist examined them in the middle of the 19th century, he came to a deplorable conclusion: the condition of the Kremlin chimes leaves much to be desired.

Iron parts are worn out, wooden stairs, floors and foundations will soon crumble. The creation of a new mechanism immediately began: the Danish firm of the Butenopov brothers, whose factory was located in Russia, took up the drawing. They already had experience in creating watch "giants": a couple of years ago they installed a clock mechanism in the Kremlin's palace dome.

Completely updated with a special durable alloy, they look like a modern version, a pendulum was installed inside. The craftsmen replaced the dial, numbers, divisions, covered them with copper and gilded them. At the same time, the tower building was reconstructed. The work was supervised by the architect Ton.

At the same time, the clock melody was changed. By decree of Nicholas I, the clock performed the "March of the Preobrazhensky Regiment" and the prayer "How glorious is our Lord in Zion." Curiously, the emperor himself rejected the proposal to choose the national anthem.

In honor of the tercentenary of the ruling house, the mechanism was restored. All this time he was followed by the masters of the firm of the Butenop brothers.

Watch repair and cleaning

In 1917, during the revolution, the Kremlin suffered from an attack by revolutionaries, a shell hit the clock. He damaged the arrows and the "insides" of the tower. Repairs were not able to start immediately, but only after Lenin's personal instructions.

The cost of repairs, put forward by specialists from the firm, amounted to 240 thousand gold. It was too much money, and it was decided to turn to the carpenter, the son of one of the Butenop Brothers specialists, who had previously participated in the repair.

The musician Cheremnykh was responsible for the music: they performed the "Internationale" once and twice - the funeral march. The latter was the memory of all the revolutionaries buried in front of the Kremlin on Red Square. Later, one performance was "taken away" from the funeral march.

A few years later, the authorities were able to carry out cosmetic repairs externally: the dial, hands, and numbers were updated. The funeral march was removed altogether: now only the "Internationale" sounded. A few years after the repair, a special commission decided that the music was badly recorded and needed to be rewritten. In 1938, the mechanism lost its "voice" - only the chime remained.

The first reports of serious wear date back to the middle of the 19th century: the wires stretching from the cylinder to the bells were constantly shortened due to frost, which did not reflect well on the sound.

Interesting fact: surprisingly, the Kremlin clock mechanism survived the war quite well: together with all the walls and outbuildings, they were disguised as residential buildings, trying to deceive the bombers. There is no evidence of any damage, which suggests that the structure was not damaged at all.

Setting the clock on the Spasskaya Tower

After almost 30 years, the mechanism was stopped again - already for quite a considerable period. It was dismantled, reassembled, replacing all worn pieces, and installed an automatic lubrication system. But the machine was still silent.

In 91 of the twentieth century, it was decided to return the “voice” to the clock, but it turned out that this was impossible: several bells were lost. They were replaced by a bila in 1995.

The melody played again in 97 of the 20th century: this time they performed the Patriotic Song and Glory from the opera A Life for the Tsar twice each. By this time, the silence had lasted for almost 60 years.

The last global restoration took place in 1999: the external gilding was renewed, the upper tiers were restored to their historical appearance, and the work of the chimes was carefully adjusted. A new melody also appeared - the anthem of Russia, approved at the same time.

Spassky chimes are considered one of the main attractions of Moscow and all of Russia. Having lived for more than 4 centuries and frequent renovations, they still work great. They are easy to find in many photos with the sights of the capital and souvenirs, you can read brief information on Wikipedia.

How the chimes on the Spasskaya Tower are arranged, see interesting information in the following video:

Everyone who has ever visited the capital of Russia, Moscow and in its very center - on Red Square, admired the famous Spasskaya Tower of the Moscow Kremlin.

From the history of the Spasskaya Tower of the Moscow Kremlin

In 1491, under Prince Ivan III, the Spasskaya Tower was built to strengthen the northeastern part of the city. The construction was carried out by the architect Pietro Antonio Solari. At first it was called Frolovskaya, after the church in the name of the Holy Martyrs Frol and Laurus, located nearby. The structure was two times lower than it is now. The multi-tiered top and stone dome in the Gothic style were built much later - in 1624-1625. English architect Christopher Galovey and Russian master Bazhen Ogurtsov. By decree of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich on April 16, 1658, the tower was renamed Spasskaya. It received this name because the road to the Spaso-Smolensk Church went through it. It is believed that it received its name in honor of the icon of the Savior Not Made by Hands, placed above the gate from the side of Red Square.

The Spassky Gate is the most important of the Kremlin Gates. Men took off their hats in front of the image of the Savior from the side of Red Square. It was impossible to ride through them. According to legend, when Napoleon passed through this gate, the wind tore off his cocked hat. All the kings before the coronation passed through this gate. Warriors left here for decisive battles. For many years, the Spassky Gates were opened very rarely, only in exceptional cases, for example, for the passage of the presidential cortege. Since August 2014, through the gate you can go to Red Square. The only way to get to the Kremlin is through the Kutafya Tower.

The Spasskaya Tower is square at the base and has 10 floors. Its height is 71 meters. In the middle of the 17th century, a figure of a double-headed eagle, the coat of arms of Russia, was placed on it. Experts believed that the image of the Savior over its gates was irretrievably lost. Presumably in 1937, the year of the anniversary of the revolution, the icon of the Savior, like other images on the gates, was immured. But recently it has been found. On the initiative of the St. Andrew the First-Called Foundation, on June 29, 2010, specialists began its restoration. The icon is well preserved. Its plot is dedicated to the deliverance of Moscow from the invasion of Khan Mehmet Giray. Then, in 1521, Saints Sergius and Varlaam asked the Mother of God for intercession before God. And Mehmet Giray retreated. The icon also suffered from fire and during the war with Napoleon. After restoration, it will be restored.

Clock and chimes on the Spasskaya Tower of the Moscow Kremlin

The first clock on the Spasskaya Tower was installed in 1491. In the future, they were repeatedly changed and restored. So, in 1625, under the guidance of the English master Christopher Galoway, new ones were made that played music. In 1705, at the direction of Peter I, the clock was remade according to the German model with a dial at 12 o'clock. In 1851-1852. on tiers 8-10, chimes were installed, performing alternately the “March of the Preobrazhensky Regiment” and the anthem “How glorious is our Lord in Zion” by Dmitry Bortnyansky. These melodies sounded until 1917. In 1920, the melody of the Internationale was picked up on the chimes.

In 1999, the hands and numbers were gilded. The chimes began to play the national anthem of Russia. The height of the Roman numerals of the clock is 0.72 meters. The length of the hour hand is 2.97 m, the minute hand is 3.27 m. The watch is wound up with the help of three electric motors. The fight of the clock is carried out with the help of a hammer connected to the mechanism and the bell. The dials have a diameter of 6.12 m and come out on four sides.

Star on the Spasskaya Tower of the Moscow Kremlin

In 1935, the Tsar's Eagle on the Spasskaya Tower was replaced by the first five-pointed star, a symbol of the Soviet era. It was copper, covered with gold and Ural gems. After 2 years, she was replaced by a ruby ​​star. The first star now crowns the spire of the Northern River Station. The wingspan of the new star is 3.75 meters. This is slightly less than the first. Inside the star, a 5000-watt lamp burns around the clock.

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...While in fact, the new hour, day and year begin with the beginning of the chiming of the chimes, that is, 20 seconds before the first strike of the bell.

Clock on the Spasskaya Tower - chimes installed on the Spasskaya Tower of the Moscow Kremlin

Modern chimes

Modern chimes were made in 1851-52. at the Russian factory of the Danish subjects of the brothers Johann (Ivan) and Nikolai Butenopov, whose company was known for installing tower clocks in the dome of the Grand Kremlin Palace.

A. Savin, CC BY-SA 3.0

The Butenope brothers set to work in December 1850. They created a new watch, using some of the old parts and all the achievements of the watchmaking of that time. An enormous amount of work has been done.

The old oak body was replaced with a cast iron one. The craftsmen replaced the wheels and gears, selected special alloys that could withstand significant temperature changes and high humidity.

The chimes received a Gragham move and a pendulum with a temperature compensation system designed by Garrison.

Appearance

The appearance of the Kremlin clock did not go unnoticed. Butenops installed new dials, iron, facing four sides, not forgetting the hands, numbers and hour divisions. Specially cast copper numerals and minute and five-minute divisions were covered with pure gold.

unknown , Public Domain

The iron arrows are wrapped in copper and covered with gilding. The work was completed in March 1852. Ivan Tolstoy, who was the court watchmaker, reported that "the mechanism of the aforementioned clocks has been redone again with due clarity and deserves full approval in the correct course and fidelity."

Chime melody

The famous melody of the bell chime of the chimes, which marks the onset of every hour and a quarter, is widely known throughout the world, was not specially composed: it is due solely to the very design of the belfry of the Spasskaya Tower.

unknown , Public Domain

The performance of a certain melody by the chimes was laid on a playing shaft, which is a drum with holes and pins connected by ropes with bells under the tent of the tower. For a more melodic ringing and accurate performance of the melody, 24 bells were removed from the Troitskaya and Borovitskaya towers and installed on Spasskaya, bringing the total number to 48.

Tower restoration

At the same time, the tower itself was restored under the guidance of the architect Gerasimov. Metal floors, stairs and a pedestal for them were made according to the drawings of the talented Russian architect Konstantin Ton, who created the Cathedral of Christ the Savior.

Melody

Soon the question arose of choosing a melody to be performed by the chimes. Composer Verstovsky and bandmaster of Moscow theaters Shtutzman helped select sixteen melodies most familiar to Muscovites.

Nicholas I ordered that two should be left, “so that the clock chimes would be played in the morning - the Transfiguration March of Peter the Great, used for a quiet step, and in the evening - the prayer “How glorious is our Lord in Zion”, usually played by musicians, if both pieces can be adapted to the clock music mechanism ".

From that time on, the chimes played at 12 and 6 o’clock the “March of the Preobrazhensky Regiment”, and at 3 and 9 o’clock the anthem “How glorious is our Lord in Zion” by Dmitry Bortnyansky, which sounded over Red Square until 1917. Initially, they wanted to dial the anthem of the Russian Empire “God Save the Tsar!” on the playing shaft of the chimes, but Nicholas I did not allow this, saying that “the chimes can play any song except the anthem.” In 1913, for the 300th anniversary of the Romanov dynasty, a full-scale restoration of the appearance of the chimes was carried out. The Butenop Brothers continued to support the movement.

Destruction and restoration 1918

On November 2, 1917, during the storming of the Kremlin by the Bolsheviks, a shell hit the clock, breaking one of the hands and damaging the mechanism for rotating the hands. The clock has stopped for almost a year.

In 1918, at the direction of V. I. Lenin (“We must make this clock speak our language”), it was decided to restore the Kremlin chimes. First, the Bolsheviks turned to the firm of Pavel Bure and Sergei Roginsky, but they, having estimated the extent of the destruction, requested 240 thousand gold.

After that, the authorities turned to Nikolai Berens, a locksmith who worked in the Kremlin. Behrens knew the device of the chimes well, as he was the son of a master from the Butenop Brothers company, who took part in their reconstruction. In the conditions of the situation in Soviet Russia in 1918, with great difficulty, a new pendulum weighing 32 kilograms was made to replace the lost old one, which was lead and gilded, the mechanism for the rotation of the hands was repaired, and a hole in the dial was repaired.

By July 1918, with the help of the sons of Vladimir and Vasily, Nikolai Berens was able to start the chimes. However, the Berens did not understand the musical device of the Spassky clock.

New melodies

At the direction of the new authorities, the artist and musician Mikhail Cheremnykh figured out the order of the bells, the score of the chimes, and, in accordance with the wishes of Lenin, scored revolutionary melodies on the playing shaft of the chimes.

The clock began to perform at 12 o'clock "Internationale", at 24 o'clock - "You fell a victim ...". In August 1918, the commission of the Moscow City Council accepted the work, having listened to each tune three times from the Execution Ground on Red Square.

kremlin.ru, CC BY-SA 3.0

On August 18, 1918, the Bulletin of the press bureau of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee reported that the Kremlin chimes had been repaired and now they were playing revolutionary hymns. The first at 6 o'clock in the morning sounded "International", at 9 o'clock in the morning and at 15 o'clock - the funeral march "You fell a victim ..." (in honor of those buried on Red Square).

kremlin.ru, CC BY-SA 3.0

After some time, they retuned and the chimes began to play the melody "Internationale" at 12 o'clock, and at 24 o'clock - "You fell a victim ...".

Period of difficulties

In 1932, the external appearance of the watch was repaired. A new dial was made - an exact copy of the old one, and the rims, numbers and hands were gilded anew, having spent 28 kilograms of gold. In addition, only "Internationale" was left as a tune.

A special commission recognized the sound of the musical device of the chimes as unsatisfactory. The worn-out chiming mechanism, as well as frost, greatly distorted the sound. The Butenope brothers warned about this back in 1850:

“The wires by which the bell hammers are to be set in motion, being too long, sway; and in winter, from the influence of frost, they are reduced; from which the expression of musical sounds is not pure and wrong.

As a result of the distortion of the melody, already in 1938 the chimes fell silent, starting to beat the hours and quarters with their chime and strike. In 1941, an electro-mechanical drive was mounted specifically for the performance of the Internationale, which was subsequently dismantled.

In 1944, at the direction of I.V. Stalin, they tried to tune the chimes to the performance of the already adopted anthem to the music of Alexandrov. But the work was not crowned with success.

A major restoration of the chimes and the entire clock mechanism with their stop for 100 days was carried out in 1974. The mechanism was completely disassembled and restored with the replacement of old parts.

Since 1974, a system of automatic lubrication of parts has been operating, which was previously carried out manually. However, the musical mechanism of the chimes remained untouched by the restoration.

In 1991, the Plenum of the Central Committee decided to resume the work of the Kremlin chimes, but it turned out that three bells were not enough to play the USSR anthem. They returned to this task in 1995. They planned to approve the “Patriotic Song” by M. I. Glinka as the new anthem of the Russian Federation.

After 58 years of silence

In 1996, during the inauguration of B. N. Yeltsin, the chimes, after the traditional chime and striking the clock, after 58 years of silence, began to play again. However, over the past years, only 10 bells remained on the belfry of the Spasskaya Tower. In the absence of several bells necessary for the singing of the anthem, metal beaters were installed in addition to the bells.

At noon and midnight, 6 am and 6 pm, the chimes began to perform the "Patriotic Song", and every 3 and 9 am and pm - the melody of the choir "Glory" from the opera "Life for the Tsar" (Ivan Susanin) also by M. I. Glinka .

The last major restoration was carried out in 1999. The work was planned for six months. The hands and numbers are again gilded. Restored the historical appearance of the upper tiers. By the end of the year, the last tuning of the chimes was also carried out.

Instead of the "Patriotic Song", the chimes began to play the national anthem of the Russian Federation, officially approved in 2000. The chimes began to play the national anthem of Russia.

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Helpful information

Clock on the Spasskaya Tower

old clock

The existence of clocks as early as the 16th century. indicates that in 1585, at the three gates of the Kremlin, at the Spassky, Taynitsky and Troitsky, watchmakers were in the service.

In 1613–14 chapels are also mentioned at the Nikolsky Gates. At the Frolovsky Gate in 1614, Nikiforka Nikitin was the watchmaker.

In September 1624, the old fighting clock was sold by weight to the Spassky Yaroslavl Monastery. Instead, in 1625 on the Spasskaya Tower, under the guidance of the English mechanic and watchmaker Christopher Galovey, the Russian blacksmith-watchmakers Zhdan, his son Shumila Zhdanov and grandson Alexei Shumilov installed a clock. 13 bells were cast for them by Kirill Samoilov, a foundry worker. During a fire in 1626, the clock burned down and was restored by Galoway. In 1668 the clock was repaired. With the help of special mechanisms, they "played music", and also measured the time of day and night, indicated by letters and numbers.

The dial was called the index verbal circle, the familiar circle. The numbers were denoted by Slavic letters - copper letters, covered with gold, arshin in size. The role of the arrow was played by the image of the sun with a long ray, fixed motionless in the upper part of the dial. His disk was divided into 17 equal parts. This was due to the maximum length of the day in the summer.

“Russian watches divided the day into day hours and night hours, following the rise and course of the sun, so that at the minute of ascent, the first hour of the day struck on the Russian clock, and at sunset, the first hour of the night, therefore, almost every two weeks, the number of day hours , as well as night ones, gradually changed ... "

The middle of the dial was covered with blue azure, gold and silver stars, images of the sun and moon were scattered across the blue field. There were two dials: one towards the Kremlin, the other towards Kitay-Gorod.

The unusual device of the clock gave rise to Samuel Collins, an English doctor in the Russian service, to sarcastically remark in a letter to his friend Robert Boyle:

In our watches, the arrow moves towards the number, in Russia, on the contrary, the numbers move towards the arrow. A certain Mr. Galoway - a very inventive person - came up with a dial of this kind. He explains this as follows: “Since the Russians do not act like all other people, then what they produce should be arranged accordingly”

XVIII - XIX centuries

In 1705, by decree of Peter I, a new clock was installed in the Kremlin. Bought by Peter I in Holland, they were delivered from Amsterdam to Moscow on 30 wagons. The watch was redesigned in German fashion with a dial at 12 o'clock. The watch was set by watchmaker Ekim Garnov (Garnault). What melody these chimes played is unknown. However, the Dutch clock did not please the Muscovites for long with its chime. Peter's clock often broke, and after the great fire of 1737, it completely fell into disrepair. The capital was moved to St. Petersburg and they were in no hurry to repair the main clock of the capital.

In 1763, a large English chiming clock was discovered in the building of the Faceted Chamber. For their installation on the Spasskaya Tower in 1767, the German master Fatz (Fats) was specially invited. Within three years, with the help of the Russian master Ivan Polyansky, the clock was installed.

By the will of a foreign master, in 1770 the Kremlin chimes played the German song "Ah, my dear Augustine" and for some time this melody sounded over Red Square. This was the only time the chimes played a foreign tune. During the famous fires of 1812 they were damaged. After the expulsion of the French from Moscow, the chimes were examined.

In February 1813, the watchmaker Yakov Lebedev wrote in his report that the clock mechanism was destroyed and offered to repair it with his own materials and materials by his workers. Having received permission to carry out work on the condition that he did not spoil the mechanism, Lebedev began to restore it. In 1815, the clock was launched, and Yakov Lebedev received the honorary title of watchmaker of the Spassky Clock. However, time did not spare these Kremlin chimes either. In the report of the Butenop Brothers company and the architect Ton dated 1851, it appears:

“The Spassky tower clock is currently in a state close to complete disorder: the iron wheels and gears are so worn out from longevity that they will soon become completely unusable, the dials have become very dilapidated, the wooden floors have settled, the stairs require indispensable alteration, ... the oak foundation rotted under the clock from long time.

Technical data

Chimes occupy 8-10 tiers of the Spasskaya Tower. The main mechanism is located on the 9th floor in a special room and consists of 4 winding shafts: one for the hands, the other for striking the clock, the third for calling the quarters and one more for playing the chimes. The shaft of the minute hand passes through the floor to the 8th tier, where the rotation is distributed over 4 dials. Behind each dial are separate mechanisms that transmit rotation from the minute hand to the hour hand.

The dials of the chimes with a diameter of 6.12 m go out on the four sides of the tower. The height of the Roman numerals is 0.72 m, the length of the hour hand is 2.97 m, the minute hand is 3.27 m. The Kremlin clock is unique in its kind, being completely mechanical.

The total weight of the chimes is 25 tons. The mechanism is driven by 3 weights weighing from 160 to 224 kilograms (thus, according to the principle of operation, the Kremlin chimes are huge clocks).

Clock winding (lifting weights) is performed 2 times a day. Initially, weights were lifted manually, but since 1937 they have been lifted using three electric motors. The accuracy of the movement is achieved thanks to the pendulum weighing 32 kilograms.

Switching the hands to winter or summer time is done only manually. The clock mechanism is connected to a musical unit, which is located under the tent of the tower in the open 10th tier of ringing and consists of 9 quarter bells and one bell that strikes the full hour.

The weight of quarter bells is about 320 kg, hour bells - 2160 kg. The fight of the clock is made with the help of a hammer connected to the mechanism and each bell. Every 15, 30, 45 minutes of the hour, the chime is played 1, 2 and 3 times, respectively. At the beginning of each hour, the chimes are called 4 times, and then a large bell strikes the clock.

The musical mechanism of the chimes consists of a software copper cylinder with a diameter of about two meters, which rotates a weight of more than 200 kg. It is littered with holes and pins in accordance with the typed melodies. The drum, when rotated, causes the pins to press the keys, from which the cables are connected to the bells on the belfry. The rhythm of the performance of the melody by the bells is far behind the original, so it can be problematic to recognize the melody. At noon and midnight, 6 and 18 hours, the anthem of the Russian Federation is played, at 3, 9, 15 and 21 hours - the melody of the choir "Glory" from Glinka's opera "Life for the Tsar". The melodies themselves differ in the rhythm of performance, therefore, in the first case, one first line from the Alexandrov anthem is performed, in the second, two lines from the “Glory” choir are performed.

Interestingly, the vast majority of Russians believe that the New Year comes with the first or last bell. Whereas in fact, the new hour, day and year begin with the beginning of the chiming of the chimes, that is, 20 seconds before the first strike of the bell. And with the 12th bell, exactly a minute of the New Year has already passed.

Other clocks in the Kremlin

In addition to the clock on the Spasskaya Tower, the Kremlin also has clocks on the Trinity Tower and the Grand Kremlin Palace.