Spasskaya tower of the Kremlin chimes. Kremlin chimes: history and modernity

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 guidance 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.

The important question is when New Year? 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!

The Kremlin chimes are tower clocks with a set of tuned bells that strike in a certain melodic sequence, installed on one of the 20 towers of the Moscow Kremlin. Previously, this tower was called Frolovskaya, and now Spasskaya, named after the icon of the Savior of Smolensk, placed above the gate from the side of Red Square. The tower overlooks Red Square and has front gates, which were considered holy. And in the tented top of the tower, built by the Russian master Bazhen Ogurtsov, the main clock of the Russian state, the famous Kremlin chimes, are installed.

The history of the ancient Spassky chimes is inextricably linked with the history of the Kremlin and goes back into the distant past. The exact date of installation of the clock is not known, but it is assumed that the clock was installed immediately after the construction of the tower in 1491 by the architect Pietro Antonio Solario at the behest of Ivan III. Documentary evidence of the clock dates back to 1585, when watchmakers were at work at the three gates of the Kremlin, at the Spassky, Taynitsky and Troitsky gates. Whether these watches were the first or not is not exactly known, but they are counted from them.

In all likelihood, the clock had an old Russian (Byzantine) account of time. The then day, according to the account of time adopted in Russia, was divided into "day" hours, from sunrise to sunset, and "night" hours. Every two weeks, the length of the hours with the change in the length of day and night gradually changed. The watch was of an unusual appearance for us with one fixed hand in the form of a ray of the sun just above the dial. Under it, a dial with Old Slavonic letters denoting numbers rotated: A - one, B - two, and so on. There were 17 designations, in accordance with the maximum length of the day in the summer.

The watch mechanism was an outlandishly woven gears, ropes, shafts and levers. At the Spassky Clock, watchmakers were in the service, who monitored the mechanism and reconfigured it. At dawn and at sunset, the dial was turned so that the arrow fell on the first hour - A, and the counting of the hours began from the beginning. In order to know how long the day is and how long the night is, watchmakers were given tables - wooden tags in which everything was noted. The task of the watchmaker-caretaker was to strictly follow these tables and timely transfer the watch dial to day and night, as well as to repair them in case of malfunctions.

The clock on the Spasskaya Tower was given special attention because they were considered the main ones. But despite this, frequent fires damaged the details of the tower clock, and the clock mechanism often failed. After one of the fires in 1624, the clock was so badly damaged that it was sold as scrap, by weight, to the Spassky Monastery in Yaroslavl for 48 rubles. In place of the defective watches sold in 1625, under the guidance of the English mechanic and watchmaker Christopher Galovey, Russian blacksmith-watchmakers of the Zhdan family made new, larger watches.

For this watch, 13 bells were cast by the Russian caster Kirill Samoilov. To install a new clock, the tower was built on four tiers. On the ancient quadrangle of the Spasskaya Tower, under the direction of Bazhen Ogurtsov, an arched brick belt with white stone carved details and decorations was built on. And on the inner quadrangle a high tent top with arched chimes was erected, on which hour bells were hung. At 7,8,9 tiers, a new main clock of the state was installed. On the 10th tier there were 30 bells for the chime, which was heard for more than 10 miles.

The clock had an old Russian account of time, and the mechanism consisted of oak ties, collapsible, fastened with iron hoops. Thanks to a special mechanism, the clock from time to time chimed a certain melody, and they became the first Russian chimes. The dial diameter of the new watch was about 5 meters, weighed 400 kg and was assembled from heavy oak planks. The dial of this watch rotated, and the fixed hand was made in the form of a ray of the sun. The arrow was placed above the dial, indicating both night and day time. The inner circle of the dial was covered with blue azure and depicted the vault of heaven, on which golden and silver stars, images of the sun and moon were scattered. The numbers were denoted by Slavic letters, and the dial was called the “indicative word circle” (recognizable circle). The letters were made of copper and covered with gold. The dials, turned in different directions, were divided into 17 divisions and were placed in the central keel of a prominent arch of the reinforcing belt above the ancient quadrangle. At the top of the wall, in a circle, the words of a prayer were written and the signs of the zodiac carved from iron were located, the remains of which have survived to this day under the existing clock faces.

The clock of Christopher Galoway was less than modern by about a meter. The accuracy of the movement directly depended on the watchmaker serving them. After installation, the clock burned in fires more than once, after which it was restored again. However, the Galoway clock on the Spasskaya Tower stood and served people for a long time.

By decree of Peter I in 1705, the whole country switched to a single daily countdown. Returning from foreign travels, he ordered to replace the English mechanism of the Spasskaya Tower clock with a clock bought in Holland with a 12-hour dial. The new Kremlin chimes chimed the hours and quarters, and besides, they called back the melody. The installation of the purchased clock on the tower and the alteration of the dial were led by the Russian watchmaker Ekim Garnov. The complete installation of the chimes was completed in 1709. A whole staff of watchmakers was kept to service the Dutch watches, most of whom were foreigners, however, despite all efforts, the clock often broke down and did not please the Muscovites for a long time with their chime. At that time, the clock caused "assembly dances". Bells were also arranged there, knocking out the "fire alarm".

Dutch watches had 4 winding shafts: 1st for the clock mechanism; 2nd for the fight of the clock; 3rd for a quarter hour fight; 4th for playing melodies. The shafts were driven by weights. After a grandiose fire in 1737, the Petrovsky clock was badly damaged. Then everything burned down wooden details Spasskaya Tower, and the shaft for the chimes was damaged. As a result, the bell music no longer sounded. Interest in the chimes disappeared after the transfer of the capital by Peter I to St. Petersburg. The chimes were broken and restored many times, and the maintenance of the clock was carried out negligently.

Having ascended the throne and visited Moscow, Empress Catherine II became interested in the Spassky chimes, but by that time the clock had already fallen into complete disrepair. Attempts to restore them were not successful, and on the orders of Catherine II, the “large English chimes” found in the Faceted Chamber began to be installed on the Spasskaya Tower.

The German master Fatz was invited for installation, and together with the Russian watchmaker Ivan Polyansky, within 3 years, the installation was completed. In 1770, the chimes began to call the Austrian melody "Ah, my dear Augustine" because the watchmaker, a German by origin, who serviced the clock, liked it very much. And for almost a year this melody sounded over Red Square, and the authorities did not pay any attention to it. It was the only time in history when the chimes rang out a foreign melody.

In 1812, Muscovites saved the Spasskaya Tower from being destroyed by French troops, but the clock stopped. Three years later, they were repaired by a group of craftsmen led by watchmaker Yakov Lebedev, for which he was awarded honorary title- master of the Spassky clock. The clock installed under Catherine II worked successfully for eighty years without overhaul. However, after a survey in 1851 by the brothers Johann and Nikolai Butenopov (Danish subjects) and the architect Konstantin Ton, it was established: “The Spassky tower clock is in critical condition close to complete breakdown (iron gears and wheels have worn out, the dials have dilapidated, the wooden floors have settled, the oak foundation rotted under the clock, the staircase needs to be reworked).

In 1851, the Butenop Brothers company, known for installing tower clocks in the dome of the Grand Kremlin Palace, took up the repair of the Spassky chimes and entrusted the manufacture of new clocks to skilled Russian craftsmen. According to the drawings of the experienced architect Ton, the interior of the Spasskaya Tower was refurbished. The new watches used parts from old watches and all the achievements of watchmaking of that time.

A massive amount of work has been done. A new cast-iron frame was cast under the clock, on which the mechanism was located, the wheels and gears were replaced, and special alloys were selected for their manufacture, which could withstand high humidity and significant temperature changes. The chimes received a Gragham move and a pendulum with a thermal compensation system designed by Garrison.

Special attention was paid to the appearance of the Kremlin clock. New black iron dials with gilded rims on 4 sides were made, for which figures were cast from copper, as well as minute and five-minute divisions. The iron arrows are wrapped in copper and covered with gilding. The total weight of the watch was 25 tons. The diameter of each of the four dials is over 6 meters; the height of the digits is 72 centimeters, the length of the hour hand is about 3 meters, the minute hand is another quarter meter longer. Digitization on the dial was done at that time in Arabic numerals, and not in Roman numerals, as it is now.

Also, the Butenop Brothers company completely redesigned the musical unit. The old clock bells were supplemented with bells taken from other towers of the Kremlin, the clocks of which were not working by that time (16 from Troitskaya and 8 from Borovitskaya), bringing the total number of bells to 48 with the aim of more melodic chime and accurate performance of melodies. The fight of the clock was achieved by hitting special hammers on the surface of the lower base of the bell. The musical mechanism itself consisted of a drum with a diameter of one and a half meters, in the middle of which a gear wheel was fixed. Parallel to the axis of the musical drum, there is an axis for 30 levers of the hammer cocking mechanism, which ensures the sound of bells located in the uppermost tier of the Spasskaya Tower. On the playing shaft of the clock, by the nominal order of the sovereign Emperor Nikolai Pavlovich, the melodies of the hymn “Kol our Lord is glorious in Zion” (music by Dmitry Bortnyansky) and the march of the Life Guards of the Preobrazhensky Regiment of Petrovsky times were dialed. New chimes were called over Red Square every three hours, and the melodies had an important ideological significance and sounded until 1917. At 12 and 6 o'clock the march of the Life Guards of the Preobrazhensky Regiment, and at 3 and 9 o'clock the anthem "How glorious is our Lord in Zion."

In 1913, a full-scale restoration of the appearance of the chimes was carried out, timed to coincide with the 300th anniversary of the Romanov dynasty. The Butenop Brothers Company continued to service the clock mechanism.

In 1917, during the storming of the Kremlin, the clock on the Spasskaya Tower was seriously damaged. One of the shells, hitting the clock, interrupted the arrow, damaging the mechanism for rotating the hands. The clock stopped, and for almost a year it was faulty.

In 1918, by decree of V.I. Lenin, it was decided to restore the Kremlin chimes. First of all, the Bolsheviks turned to the firm of Pavel Bure and Sergei Roginsky, but after the announced sum for the repair, they turned to Nikolai Berens, a locksmith working in the Kremlin. Behrens knew the device of the chimes since his father worked in a company that served the chimes earlier. Together with his sons, Behrens was able to start the clock by July 1918 by repairing the mechanism for rotating the hands, repairing a hole in the dial and making a new pendulum about one and a half meters long and weighing 32 kilograms. Since Berens could not set up the musical device of the Spassky Clock, 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 scored revolutionary melodies on the playing shaft. In accordance with Lenin's wish, at 12 o'clock the bells rang "International", and at 24 o'clock - "You fell a victim ..." (in honor of those buried in Red Square). In 1918, the commission of the Moscow City Council accepted the work, having listened to each tune three times on Red Square. The first at 6 in the morning sounded "Internationale", and at 9 o'clock and 15 o'clock - the funeral march "You fell a victim." After some time, the chimes were reconfigured. At 12 o'clock the bells rang "International", and at 24 o'clock "You fell a victim."

Refurbished in 1932 appearance and made a new dial, which was an exact copy of the old one. 28 kg of gold was used to gild the rim, numbers and hands, and "Internationale" was left as the melody. At the direction of I.V. Stalin, the execution of the funeral march was canceled. A special commission recognized the sound of the musical device of the chimes as unsatisfactory. Frost and wear and tear of the mechanism greatly distorted the sound, as a result of which in 1938 it was decided to stop the musical drum and the chimes fell silent, starting to strike the hours and quarters.

In 1941, an electromechanical drive was mounted specifically for the performance of the Internationale, which was subsequently dismantled.

In 1944, a new anthem of the USSR was adopted to the music of A.V. Alexandrov and poems by S.V. Mikhalkov, and G.G. El Registan. In this regard, by the decree of I.V. Stalin, they tried to adjust the chimes for the ringing of a new anthem, but for a reason unknown to us, this did not happen.

In 1974, a major restoration of the Spasskaya Tower and chimes was carried out, the clock was stopped for 100 days. During this time, the clock mechanism was completely disassembled and restored by specialists of the Research Institute of the Watch Industry, and the old parts were replaced. An automatic parts lubrication system was also installed, which was previously carried out manually, it was added electronic control hours.

In 1996, during the inauguration of B.N. Yeltsin, the chimes, silent for 58 years, after the traditional chime and striking the clock, began to play again. At noon and midnight, the bells began to sing “Patriotic Song” by M.I. Glinka, and every 3 and 9 o'clock in the morning and evening the melody of the choir "Glory" from the opera "Life for the Tsar" (Ivan Susanin) M.I. Glinka. The choice of the song was not accidental, "Patriotic Song" from 1993 to 2000 was the official anthem of Russia. The implementation of this project required research work carried out by specialists from NIIchasoprom. As a result of the work, recordings of the chime of the bells on the Spasskaya Tower, which have survived to this day, were listened to. IN different time, there were up to 48 bells, the tone of each of the 9 surviving bells was revealed. After that, it became clear that they would not be enough for the normal sound of the selected melodies, 3 more bells were needed. According to a special spectral recording of the sound of each missing bell, new ones were made.

The last major restoration work was carried out in 1999. Work was carried out for half a year. The arrows and numbers were again gilded and the historical appearance of the upper tiers was restored. Important improvements were made in the work and control over the work of the Kremlin Chimes: a special ultra-sensitive microphone was installed for more accurate timely control of the movement of the clockwork. The microphone picks up the accuracy of the movement, on the basis of which the software helps to determine the presence of problems and quickly identify which part of the watch mechanism is out of rhythm. Also, during the restoration, the chimes were reconfigured, after which, instead of the “Patriotic Song”, the chimes began to play the approved national anthem Russian Federation.

The Kremlin chimes in our time are located in the tent completion of the Spasskaya Tower and occupy 8, 9, 10 tiers. The main mechanism is located on the 9th floor and is located in a dedicated room. It consists of 4 winding shafts, each of which is assigned certain functions. One is for keeping the hands, the other is for striking the clock, the third is for calling the quarters and another is for playing the chimes. Each mechanism is driven by three weights weighing from 160 to 220 kg, pulling the cables. The accuracy of the watch is achieved thanks to the pendulum, weighing 32 kg. The clock mechanism is connected to the musical unit, which is located under the tent of the tower in the open 10th tier of chimes, and consists of 9 quarter bells and 1 bell that strikes the full hour. The weight of quarter bells is about 320 kg, hour bells - 2160 kg.

The strike of the clock is achieved by striking a hammer connected to the mechanism of each of the bells. At the beginning of the hour, the chimes are called 4 times, and then the big bell strikes the clock. Every 15, 30, 45 minutes of the hour the chime plays 1, 2 and 3 times. The musical mechanism of the chimes itself consists of a software copper cylinder with a diameter of about two meters, dotted with holes and pins in accordance with the typed melodies. It is rotated by a kettlebell weighing more than 200 kg. The drum, when rotated, causes the pins to press the keys, from which the cables are connected to the bells on the belfry. At noon and midnight, the anthem of the Russian Federation is played, and at 3, 9, 15, 21 hours - the melody of the choir "Glory" from Glinka's opera "Life for the Tsar". The melodies differ greatly from each other in the rhythm of performance, therefore, in the first case, one first line from the anthem is performed, and in the second, two lines from the “Glory” choir are performed.

Today we see on the Spasskaya Tower of Red Square those chimes that the Butenop brothers restored in 1852. Since its appearance on the Spasskaya Tower, the clock has been constantly reconstructed in connection with the development of progress in a particular area of ​​mechanics, materials science and other sciences. Until 1937, the watch was wound manually twice a day, and then this process was mechanized, thanks to 3 electric motors, the lifting of weights for the factory was carried out without much effort. For each shaft from cast iron ingots, weights weighing up to 200 kg are collected, and in winter period this weight is increased. A preventive inspection of the mechanism is carried out every day, and once a month - a detailed one. The course of the clock is controlled by the watchmaker on duty and a special device. The mechanism is lubricated 2 times a week, while summer or winter lubrication is used. The watch mechanism has been working properly for over 150 years. This is a symbol not only of the Kremlin, but of the whole of Russia, which, as in the old days, measures the course of the country's history.

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, Reverend 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.

The battle of the Kremlin chimes is a melody that every inhabitant of our country knows from childhood. It seems that the main clock of the country has always existed, and their sound comes from time immemorial. Alas, it is not. The clock located on the Spasskaya Tower of the Kremlin, as well as their sound, has many predecessors.

Birth of a legend

Despite the fact that for centuries the main clock in Russia was various types of chimes installed on the Spasskaya Tower of the Moscow Kremlin, they were not the first chimes in the country. More than a hundred years before the appearance of the clock on the Spasskaya Tower, their predecessors already measured the time in the residence of Grand Duke Vasily Dmitrievich, son of Dmitry Donskoy. The most amazing thing is that at that distant time it was not just a dial with arrows, but a complex mechanism outwardly made, like a figure of a man who beats a bell every hour with a special hammer. If we talk about the first chimes on the Frolovskaya (today Spasskaya) tower of the Moscow Kremlin, they appeared immediately after its construction in 1491.

However, in the annals the first description of the chimes appears only a hundred years later in 1585. The most interesting thing is that the tower clock was placed not on one as today, but on three towers of the Moscow Kremlin at once: Frolovskaya (Spasskaya), Tainitskaya and Troitskaya. Unfortunately, it has not reached our days appearance the first chimes of the Moscow Kremlin. Only data on the weight of the watch, which was 960 kilograms, have been preserved. When the clock fell into disrepair, they were sold to Yaroslavl for 48 rubles as scrap.

Second chimes: amazing

The second chimes that appeared on the Spasskaya Tower of the Moscow Kremlin during the reign of Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov. However, from the point of view modern man it was difficult to call them hours. The famous watchmaker Christopher Golovey arrived from England to create the second chimes. The blacksmith Zhdan, his son Shumilo and grandson Alexei became his assistants. Externally, the new watch was amazing. It was a giant dial that personified the sky. The clock had only one hand. But it was not she who rotated, but the dial itself, knocked together from boards and painted in the color of the sky. Yellow tin stars were scattered in a chaotic pattern on its surface. In addition to them, on the dial there was an image of the Sun, whose beam was at the same time the only hand of the clock and the Moon. Instead of numbers on the dial, there were letters of the Old Slavonic alphabet. Bells rang every hour.

Moreover, day and night, the bells of the chimes rang differently, and the clock itself was able to distinguish light day from night. For example, on the summer solstice, the bells of the clock struck seventeen times a daytime melody and seven times a nighttime one. The ratio of daylight to night changed, and the number of night and daytime bell melodies also changed. Of course, for the clock to work accurately, the watchmakers had to know exactly the ratio of day and night on each specific day of the year. For this, they had special plates at their disposal. It is not surprising that foreigners visiting Moscow called the unusual chimes "Diva of the World". Unfortunately, they served only about forty years, dying during a fire in 1626.

Third chimes: unsuccessful

The next clock for the Spasskaya Tower of the Moscow Kremlin was purchased under Peter I in Holland. This time on the tower was an ordinary clock with a classic dial broken at twelve o'clock. The third chimes beat: an hour, a quarter of an hour, and also played a simple melody. It should be noted that Peter I timed the replacement of the chimes in the Moscow Kremlin to coincide with the country's transition to a new daily countdown adopted in Europe. However, the Dutch clockwork turned out to be extremely unreliable and often broke down. For its repair, a team of foreign watchmakers was constantly on duty in the Kremlin, but this did not help much. When the third chimes were destroyed in a fire in 1737, no one was very upset. Moreover, by this time the capital had moved to St. Petersburg, and the emperor had long lost interest, both in Moscow and in the chimes, once installed by his personal order.

Fourth chimes: German melody for Russian clocks

The next time, the clock on the Spasskaya Tower was replaced at the whim of Catherine II. Despite the fact that her imperial court was located in the northern capital, the empress did not leave Moscow with her attention. Once, after visiting the city, she ordered the installation of new chimes, which, as it turned out, had been bought long ago and were gathering dust in the Faceted Chamber of the Moscow Kremlin. The new watch worked pretty well, but there was an unpleasant incident. After the installation of the clock in 1770, they suddenly began to play a cheerful Austrian song "Ah, my dear Augustine." The scandal was terrible. However, the clock was not dismantled, but only the melody was removed.

Even after a shell hit the chimes in 1812, they were restored by watchmaker Yakov Lebedev. Only in 1815, after the clock gears were recognized as emergency, the chimes were significantly modernized. In fact, the entire clock mechanism was replaced, the floors in the mechanical hall were repaired, a new pendulum was installed, and the dial was replaced. From that moment on, it became black with Arabic numerals. As a melody, they set the melody of the hymn "How glorious is our Lord in Zion" at 3 and 9 o'clock and the march of the Life Guards of the Preobrazhensky Regiment of Petrovsky times "at 12 and 6 o'clock. This continued until the revolution of 1917.

Fifth chimes: modern

First time after establishment Soviet power, the country's leadership was not up to the chimes, which stood up after a shell hit them during the revolutionary unrest. However, after the government moved to Moscow, V.I. Lenin ordered the chimes to be restored. Alas, the watch company that previously serviced the watch broke an astronomical sum in gold, and its services had to be abandoned. Unexpectedly, an ordinary locksmith, Nikolai Berens, who, together with his father, maintained the chiming mechanism before the revolution, offered his help. Thanks to his efforts, the clock was repaired and started running again. Only the melody played by the chimes has changed. Now at 12 o'clock they performed "The Internationale", and at 24 o'clock - "You fell a victim ...". In 1932, by order of I.V. Stalin's clock was once again modernized. In 1974, the clock was stopped for 100 days in order to put it in order and install electronic control. Today, since 1999, the chimes have been playing the Russian anthem.

At the three gates of the Kremlin, at the Spassky, Taynitsky and Troitsky, watchmen were in the service. In -1614, watchmakers are also mentioned at the Nikolsky Gates. At the Frolovsky Gate in 1614, Nikiforka Nikitin was a watchmaker. In September 1624, the old fighting clock was sold by weight to the Spassky Yaroslavl Monastery. Instead, in 1625, a clock was installed on the Spasskaya Tower under the guidance of the English mechanic and watchmaker Christopher Galloway by Russian blacksmith-watchmakers Zhdan, his son Shumila Zhdanov and grandson Alexei Shumilov. 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 Galloway. In 1668 the clock was repaired. Via special arrangements they "played music", and also measured the time of day and night, indicated by letters and numbers. The dial was called index word circle, noble 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 longitude of the day in the summer.

"Russian watches divided the day into day hours and night hours, following the rise and the 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. 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”

XVIII - XIX centuries

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 "Internationale", 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).

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 ...".