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...Whereas in reality, new hour, the day and year begin with the start of the chiming of the chimes, that is, 20 seconds before the first strike of the bell.

Clock on the Spasskaya Tower - clock-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 citizens of the brothers Johann (Ivan) and Nikolai Butenopov, whose company was known for installing the tower clock in the dome of the Grand Kremlin Palace.

The Butenop brothers began work in December 1850. They created new watches using some old parts and all the developments in watchmaking of that time. A colossal amount of work has been done.

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

The chimes received a Gragam stroke and a pendulum with a thermal compensation system designed by Harrison.

Appearance

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

The iron hands are wrapped in copper and plated with gold. The work was completed in March 1852. Ivan Tolstoy, who was the court watchmaker, reported that “the mechanism of the said clock was remade again with due clarity and, due to its correct movement and fidelity, deserves full approval.”

Chime melody

The famous melody of the chimes, which marks the onset of each hour and quarter, widely known throughout the world, was not specially composed: it is determined solely by the very design of the belfry of the Spasskaya Tower.

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

Restoration of the tower

At the same time, restoration of the tower itself was carried out under the leadership of architect Gerasimov. The metal ceilings, stairs and their pedestal 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 about choosing a melody for the chimes to play. Composer Verstovsky and conductor of Moscow theaters Stutsman helped select the sixteen melodies most familiar to Muscovites.

Nicholas I ordered to leave two, “so that the clock chimes would play in the morning - the Preobrazhensky March of Peter’s times, 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 mechanism of hourly music "

From that time on, the chimes played the “March of the Preobrazhensky Regiment” at 12 and 6 o’clock, and at 3 and 9 o’clock the hymn “How Glorious is Our Lord in Zion” by Dmitry Bortnyansky, which sounded over Red Square until 1917. Initially, they wanted to put the anthem on the playing shaft of the chimes Russian Empire“God Save the Tsar!”, however, Nicholas I did not allow this, stating that “the chimes can play any songs except the anthem.” In 1913, for the 300th anniversary of the House of Romanov, a full-scale restoration of the appearance of the chimes was carried out. The Butenop Brothers company continued to support the watch 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 stopped for almost a year.

In 1918, on the instructions of V.I. Lenin (“We need these clocks to speak our language”), it was decided to restore the Kremlin chimes. At first, the Bolsheviks turned to the company of Pavel Bure and Sergei Roginsky, but they, assessing the scale of the destruction, asked for 240 thousand in gold.

After this, the authorities turned to Nikolai Behrens, a mechanic who worked in the Kremlin. Behrens knew the structure 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 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 gold-plated, the mechanism for rotating the hands was repaired, and the hole in the dial was repaired.

By July 1918, with the help of his sons Vladimir and Vasily, Nikolai Behrens was able to launch the chimes. However, the Behrens did not understand the musical structure of the Spassky clock.

New ringtones

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

The clock began to play “Internationale” at 12 o’clock, and “You have fallen a victim...” at 24 o’clock. In August 1918, the Mossovet commission accepted the work after listening to each melody three times from Lobnoye Mesto on Red Square.

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 were now playing revolutionary anthems. The “Internationale” sounded first at 6 a.m., at 9 a.m. and at 3 p.m. the funeral march “You have fallen a victim...” (in honor of those buried on Red Square).

After some time, they reconfigured and the chimes began to play the “Internationale” melody at 12 o’clock, and “You have fallen a victim...” at 24 o’clock.

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 re-gilded, using 28 kilograms of gold. In addition, only "Internationale" was retained as the melody.

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

“the wires by which the bell hammers are supposed to be driven, being too long, swing; and in winter, due to the influence of frost, they shrink; from which the expression of musical sounds is not pure and incorrect.”

Due to the distortion of the melody, already in 1938 the chimes fell silent, and began to chime the hours and quarters with their chimes and chimes. In 1941, an electro-mechanical drive was installed specifically for the performance of the Internationale, which was subsequently dismantled.

In 1944, on the instructions of I.V. Stalin, they tried to set the chimes to play 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 its 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 in operation, 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 operation of the Kremlin chimes, but it turned out that three bells were missing to play the USSR anthem. They returned to this task in 1995. They planned to approve M. I. Glinka’s “Patriotic Song” 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 chiming and striking of the clock, began to play again after 58 years of silence. However, over the past years, only 10 bells remained on the belfry of the Spasskaya Tower. In the absence of several bells needed to sing the anthem, metal beaters were installed in addition to the bells.

At noon and midnight, 6 am and 6 pm, the chimes began to play the “Patriotic Song”, and every 3 and 9 o’clock in the morning and evening - the melody of the choir “Glory” from the opera “A 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 were again gilded. The historical appearance of the upper tiers was restored. By the end of the year, the final adjustment of the chimes was 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.

Photo gallery

Helpful information

Clock on the Spasskaya Tower

Old clock

The existence of clocks back in the 16th century. indicates that in 1585, at the three gates of the Kremlin, at Spassky, Tainitsky and Troitsky, chapels were in service.

In 1613–14 The chapels at the Nikolsky Gate are also mentioned. At the Frolov Gate in 1614, Nikiforka Nikitin was the chapelmaster.

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

The dial was called an index word circle, a recognized circle. The numbers were denoted by Slavic letters - the letters were copper, covered with gold, the size of an arshin. The role of the arrow was played by an image of the sun with a long ray, fixedly fixed 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 clocks divided the day into daytime hours and night hours, monitoring the rise and course of the sun, so that at the minute of rising the Russian clock struck the first hour of the day, and at sunset - the first hour of the night, so almost every two weeks the number of daytime 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 Kitai-Gorod.

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

On our watches the hand moves towards the number, but in Russia it’s the other way around - the numbers move towards the hand. A certain Mr. Galovey - a very inventive man - came up with a dial of this kind. He explains this as follows: “Since Russians do not act like all other people, then what they produce must be arranged accordingly.”

XVIII - XIX centuries

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

In 1763, a large English chiming clock was discovered in the building of the Chamber of Facets. The German master Fatz (Fats) was specially invited to install them on the Spasskaya Tower in 1767. During 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 began to play 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 melody. During the famous fires of 1812 they were damaged. After the expulsion of the French from Moscow, the chimes were examined.

In February 1813, watchmaker Yakov Lebedev wrote in his report that the watch mechanism was destroyed and offered to repair it with his own materials and his workers. Having received permission to carry out the work on the condition that he would not damage the mechanism, Lebedev began restoration. In 1815, the clock was launched, and Yakov Lebedev received the honorary title of watchmaker of the Spassky clock. However, time has not been kind to these Kremlin chimes. The report of the Butenop Brothers company and the architect Ton dated 1851 states:

“The Spassky tower clock is currently in a state of close to complete disarray: the iron wheels and gears are so worn out from long-term use that they will soon become completely unusable, the dials have fallen into great disrepair, the wooden floors have sagged, the staircases require indispensable reworking,... the oak foundation rotted under the clock from long periods of time.”

Technical data

The chimes occupy the 8th-10th 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 running the hands, another for striking the clock, a third for calling the quarters and another for playing the chimes. The minute hand guide shaft passes through the floor to the 8th tier, where the rotation is distributed over 4 dials. Behind each dial there are separate mechanisms that transmit rotation from the minute hand to the hour hand.

The chime dials, 6.12 m in diameter, extend onto 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 watch is unique in its own way, 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 walkers).

Winding the watch (lifting weights) is done 2 times a day. Initially, the weights were lifted manually, but since 1937 they have been lifted using three electric motors. Accuracy is achieved thanks to a 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 tower canopy in the open 10th tier of bells and consists of 9 quarter bells and one bell that strikes the full hour.

The weight of quarter bells is about 320 kg, and that of hour bells is 2160 kg. The clock strikes using 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 rung 4 times, and then a large bell chimes the hours.

The musical mechanism of the chimes consists of a programmed copper cylinder with a diameter of about two meters, which is rotated by a weight weighing more than 200 kg. It is dotted with holes and pins in accordance with the typed tunes. When the drum rotates, the pins press the keys, from which the cables connected to the bells on the belfry stretch. The rhythm of the melody played by the bells lags far behind the original, so recognizing the melodies can be problematic. At noon and midnight, 6 and 18 o'clock the anthem of the Russian Federation is performed, at 3, 9, 15 and 21 o'clock - the melody of the choir "Glory" from Glinka's opera "A Life for the Tsar". The melodies themselves differ in the rhythm of execution, so in the first case, one first line from Alexandrov’s anthem is performed, in the second, two lines from the chorus “Glory”.

Interestingly, the vast majority of Russians believe that the New Year begins with the first or last strike of the bell. Whereas in fact, a new hour, day and year begin with the start of the chimes, that is, 20 seconds before the first strike of the bell. And with the 12th stroke of the bell, exactly one 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 on the Grand Kremlin Palace.

RIA News"

310 years ago, the Kremlin chimes first struck the new hour. Since then, the capitals have changed and renamed, but the clock on the Spasskaya Tower still remained the main chronometer of the country. However, in Moscow there are no less interesting exhibits: Gazeta.Ru talks about the most remarkable of them.

Chime clock on the Spasskaya Tower of the Moscow Kremlin

The first clock on the Kremlin's Spasskaya Tower appeared back in the 16th century, at least this is evidenced by the mention of watchmakers in service at the Spassky Gate. For their work they were entitled to a good annual salary: 4 rubles and 2 hryvnias in cash, as well as four arshins per caftan. However, the first watch was sold to the Spassky Monastery in Yaroslavl by weight, so the Englishman Christopher Galloway made a new one.

The dial showed day and night hours, depending on the time of year and the length of the day, their ratio changed. At the same time, it was not the hand, made in the form of a golden ray of the sun, that rotated, but the dial itself.

Galloway, either jokingly or seriously, explained this by saying that “since the Russians do not act like all other people, then what they produce should be arranged accordingly.”

These chimes burned down in 1656. During interrogation after the fire, the watchmaker said that “he wound the clock without fire and what caused the tower to catch fire, he doesn’t know.” Contemporaries said that when Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, returning from the Lithuanian campaign, saw the burnt Spasskaya Tower, he cried bitterly. They decided to restore the watch only 13 years later. All metal parts were “washed in a large trough,” and then boiled for two days in a huge beer cauldron. After thoroughly cleaning all the metal parts, which involved a whole cartload of fine river sand, they were wiped with a rag and generously “greased with fermented lard.” However, by 1702 they had fallen into complete disrepair.

Peter I ordered the delivery of a new clock to Moscow “with bell playing and dancing, in the manner of those in Amsterdam.” The mechanism, purchased for 42 thousand silver thalers, was brought from Holland on 30 carts. The ringing of 33 bells installed on the Kremlin’s Spasskaya Tower was heard, according to the recollections of foreigners, “in the surrounding villages for more than ten miles.” Also, additional alarm bells were installed there to notify about fires in the city. The dial on Peter's watch finally became familiar, with 12-hour divisions.

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Unfortunately, history has not preserved the melody of the clock that Muscovites heard at 9 am on December 9, 1706. The chimes served until 1737 and died in another fire. There was no rush to repair them - the capital had by that time been moved to St. Petersburg. Almost 30 years later, a large English chime clock was found in the Chamber of Facets, no one knows how it got there. A German master was invited to install them, who tuned them so that they played the melody “Ah, my dear Augustine.”

This is the only time in the history of the country when the chimes played a foreign melody.

By 1851, due to fires (including one that engulfed the entire city in 1812) and repairs, the chimes had come, according to the description of the Butenop Brothers company, “to a state close to complete disorder.” The same brothers made a new mechanism and carried out restoration of the clock room. New iron dials were installed on all four sides. Nicholas I ordered that two melodies from the 16 most familiar to Muscovites be left for ringing: “... so that the clock chimes would be played in the morning - the Preobrazhensky March of Peter’s times, 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 mechanism of hourly music.” At the same time, the emperor refused to play “God Save the Tsar” with bells, writing that “the chimes can play any songs except the anthem.”

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 stopped for almost a year, until Lenin decided: “We need this clock to speak our language.” Thus, the restored clock from August 18, 1918 began to play “Internationale” at 6 am, and at 9 am and at 15 o’clock - “You have fallen a victim...”. Subsequently, the “Internationale” was left for midday, and the “victims” for midnight, but since 1932 only the “Internationale” remained. However, he did not have to dominate the ears of the townspeople for long: since the structure of the chimes was subject to deformation from time and frost, the melody became unrecognizable. So in 1938 the clocks fell silent - for a whopping 58 years! During Yeltsin's inauguration, the chimes with added bells played Glinka's "Patriotic Song". Later, the chorus “Glory” from the opera “A Life for the Tsar” was added to this melody.

Now the chimes strike the National Anthem of the Russian Federation at noon, midnight, 6 am and 6 pm, and “Glory” is performed at 3 and 9 am, 3 pm and 9 pm. Interestingly, many consider the bell to ring (either the first or the last) at midnight on December 31st to herald the coming of the new year.

However, in fact, a new hour, day and year begin with the start of the chimes, that is, 20 seconds before the first strike of the bell.

Clock on the Central Telegraph building

Inside the clock mechanism of the Central Telegraph. Photo: TASS

The first telegraph station was located in the building of the Nikolaevsky railway station on Kalanchevskaya Square (now the Leningradsky railway station on Komsomolskaya Square). Four years later, for the purpose of convenience of using the telegraph during the emperor’s stay in Moscow, a Proposal was adopted for the construction of a telegraph station in the Kremlin Palace in Moscow. This document stipulates: “It is intended to establish a telegraph station with the establishment there of receiving dispatches as private.” In 1859, in connection with the development of the telegraph network in Gazetny Lane The Moscow telegraph station opens.

From Nikitsky Lane you can see a huge clock, and attentive observers will notice that the number “four” on the dial is made in the ancient manner - IIII, while on the same Spasskaya Tower it is designated traditionally - IV.

The clock mechanism itself, which must be wound every week, is manufactured by Siemens-Halske. At that time it was the most practical and high-tech time control system. And the most accurate one - it was with this clock that the ministries and Moscow University checked. Even in the Regulations on the reception and transmission of telegraphic dispatches via electromagnetic telegraph, approved by Alexander II in 1855, there was a special paragraph “... on checking the clocks of all stations at all telegraphs of the empire,” so great attention was paid to the exact time.

The clock station, located in the “heart” of the telegraph, has been operating uninterruptedly for about 80 years, transmitting impulses to all the secondary clocks of the building. And the “external chimes” are installed in the attic. It is noteworthy that all this time the clock is marked every half hour and hour by the sound of bells. True, residents of neighboring houses complained about the noise back in the 30s of the last century, and since then the clocks have been striking more quietly. But nowadays you can’t hear their ringing at all due to the noise of Tverskaya Street.

By the way, the telegraph bell, like the roof, is green. But this is not a copper patina, but paint applied to objects in wartime for the purpose of camouflage - after all, the telegraph has always been an important strategic object and the first target in air raids.

In addition to the unusual clock, on the building of the Central Telegraph you can now see one of the early designs of the coat of arms Soviet Union(1923): the globe is surrounded by ears of corn, a red star at the top, and a hammer and sickle on the sides.

Clock tower of the main building of Moscow State University

Clock on the Main building of Moscow State University

The clock on the main building of Moscow State University may well be called the “Russian Big Ben”. More precisely, four “big bens”, since each tower has two dials, looking at different directions of the world. Engineers call them: Eastern, Northern, Southern and Western. The diameter of their dial is nine meters, just like the London landmark. Previously, they were considered the largest in the world, but now they have moved to the end of the top ten and share space with the clock of the railway station of the Swiss town of Aarau. The length of the minute hand is more than four meters, and once the watch almost lost it. During the next lubrication, the craftsmen loosened the gears a little more than they should have, and they literally had to hold the huge arrow with their hands so that it would not fall down.

The clock was installed in 1953, when construction of the main building of Moscow State University was completed. Initially, the pendulum mechanism was driven by heavy weights, lowered on cables into shafts six floors deep. However, many people had to maintain the system, which was simply unprofitable. Therefore, in 1957, all the tower clocks of Moscow State University were transferred to operation from an electric motor. In addition, Soviet engineer Evgeny Lapkin invented, designed, implemented and patented a unique development. Namely, a clock power station with a reverse control system that connected all 1,500 clocks located in the university buildings. If the movement of at least one clock was disrupted, a signal about this was immediately sent to the display, and the foreman at the station knew exactly the location of the malfunction.

In 1983, a funny thing happened.

Vigilant Soviet pensioners wrote a letter to the Pravda newspaper complaining that the clocks on different towers of Moscow State University showed different time.

They say it's a mess. A fuss arose, a correspondent was urgently sent, who, upon arriving at the place, to his own surprise, found out: it turns out that the university installed not only a clock, but also the largest barometer and thermometer in the world, which “showed the time” at odd intervals.

After the first and only major repair in 2000, the watch received a new “heart” - a modern motor. The clock station now automatically adjusts the time based on signals from the radio broadcast network. In addition, it manages bells notifying the start and end of classes, which is important for Moscow State University. If a temporary power outage occurs, the clock “remembers” the time for up to 30 days and automatically sets all 1,500 secondary clocks. But once upon a time they stopped the clock and waited for the moment when the position of the hands coincided with the “correct” time.

Clock at the Obraztsov Central Puppet Theater

Clock on the building of the Obraztsov Puppet Theater

The famous clock, made from the same material as jet parts, was installed on the puppet theater building in 1970 in parallel with the opening of the center itself. A clock on a dull windowless concrete box attracts attention unusual appearance: this is an ensemble of 12 houses with forged closed doors. When the arrow points to the house, they swing open, a crow is heard, and to the music “Whether in the garden or in the vegetable garden,” some fairy-tale character - an animal or bird - comes out of the house. The “menagerie” has a donkey, an owl, a cat, a hare, a fox and other characters that change depending on the time of day. At noon and midnight, all the animals come out of their houses at once, often attracting a large crowd of spectators.

Spasskaya Tower in Moscow - outstanding monument architecture and history of the late 15th century, an object of national and international significance, part of the historical ensemble of the Kremlin (north-eastern wall), facing Red Square - opposite the monument to Minin and Pozharsky. This is the most famous tower of the Kremlin; it houses the capital’s famous chimes, and the top is decorated with a five-pointed star.

The historical name of the tower is Frolovskaya, since the road through its gates led to the church of Frol and Lavra that existed at that time.

The gate of the Spasskaya Tower is the current main entrance to the Kremlin.

History of the Spasskaya Tower

The Moscow Spasskaya Tower was erected in 1491 under Grand Duke Ivan III Vasilyevich on the site of the archery known as Frolovskaya. At this time, at the turn of the 15th and 16th centuries, the brick Moscow Kremlin was being comprehensively built; The walls and most of the towers from that period still form the appearance of the Kremlin today.

The architect of the Spasskaya Tower (at that time - Frolovskaya) is Pyotr Fryazin (Pietro Antonio Solari). The construction of the Spasskaya Tower in Moscow was carried out in uniform style with other Kremlin buildings created with the participation of Italian craftsmen.

The wooden bridge from the tower across the Alevizov ditch was built by 1508.

The history of icons on the Spasskaya Tower in Moscow began in 1514: with the placement of the image of the Savior of Smolensk above the gate. In 1521, the icon was replaced by a fresco of the Savior of Smolensk, painted on the gate wall facing Red Square.

In the 16th century, the Spasskaya Tower was decorated with a wooden double-headed eagle. In 1624-1625, the decorative appearance of the tower was changed by the English architect Christopher Galovey together with the Russian architect Bazhen Ogurtsov: a multi-tiered Gothic top was built, which included sculptures in the style of mannerism, which spread in Western Europe. From this design, fantastic nude figures entered history (note - this is not the 16th, but the 17th century), which lasted until 1628. In Tsarist Russia, the nakedness of these sculptures was even covered with robes sewn for them, but they were removed from the tower not for national aesthetic reasons, but after a fire in which they were badly damaged.

Officially, the gates were named Spassky much later - under Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, who signed the corresponding decree on renaming in 1658. With him, a copy of the icon “Savior Not Made by Hands” is fixed above the gate on the Kremlin side.

Until the 17th century, the Spasskaya Tower housed preserved historical reliefs of the strelnitsa, made of white stone - like most of the previous Kremlin buildings.

In the middle of the 17th century, on the top of the Spasskaya Tower, state symbol- double-headed eagle. Afterwards, other large Kremlin towers - Nikolskaya, Troitskaya and Borovitskaya - were decorated in a similar way.

Historically, on both sides of the tower gate there were operating chapels of St. Basil's Cathedral - Smolenskaya and Spasskaya, built in stone in 1802. In 1812, the chapels were destroyed during the retreat of Napoleonic troops. Miraculously, the tower itself survived - the explosion was prevented by the Don Cossacks, who extinguished the wicks in time. The chapels were rebuilt according to a completely different design. They were rebuilt again in 1868 during the comprehensive restoration of the Spasskaya Tower. The chapels were demolished without restoration in 1925.

In 1895, the gate fresco of the Savior of Smolensk was restored. During the Soviet years, this image turned out to be lost (no written evidence of its fate was preserved), like the list from the icon “Savior Not Made by Hands,” and was considered as such until 2010. The image was discovered under a layer of plaster, approximately 80% preserved - cleaned and restored by restorers. The gatehouse on the Kremlin side, where the “Savior Not Made by Hands” was previously located, is now empty.

Large-scale restoration work inside and outside the tower was carried out in 1999, the last time in 2014.

Gate of the Spasskaya Tower

The Spassky Gate has always been revered as sacred, as well as the main gate of all the Kremlin towers.

It was from these gates that the combat regiments left Moscow; the route certainly ran through the gate religious processions from the Kremlin, through them foreign ambassadors entered the meeting with the monarch. The Spassky Gate is still used for the main entrance.

Interestingly, historically it was not allowed to enter the gates of the Spasskaya Tower on horseback. In addition, until the 19th century, men were supposed to take off their hats in front of the Savior, consecrated by a lamp, located on the outer wall of the tower, in front of the entrance.

Clock on the Spasskaya Tower

The diameter of the chimes is 6.12 m, the height of the gilded Roman numerals on the tower dial is 0.72 m. The length of the minute hand of the clock on the Spasskaya Tower is 3.27 m, the hour hand is 2.97 m. There is one of these on all sides of the tower dial - the chimes are clearly visible from afar and from different angles.

The chimes on the Spasskaya Tower, immortalized more than once in art, first started working in the 16th century, which is confirmed by historical evidence of the work of the Kremlin clockmakers. Over the past centuries, the main clock of the Kremlin has been modified several times.

Thus, it is known that in 1625 the clock on the Spasskaya Tower was replaced: the old ones were purchased by the Spaso-Yaroslavl Monastery, and new ones were installed on the tower with the participation of Christopher Galovey. An improved and very original model mechanical watch could play music, indicated the night and daytime, the dial was rotating, and the hand in the form of a sun with a long beam was static. The clocks were located on two sides of the tower: the first dial was facing the Kremlin, the second - towards Kitay-Gorod. The first unusual clock did not last long: Galovey had to restore it after a fire in 1626, the next repair was carried out in 1668.

In 1705, Peter the Great ordered the installation of a Dutch clock on the tower with a dial converted to the German standard. These chimes were also musical, but they often broke down and could not survive the fire of 1737.

The English chimes from the Chamber of Facets are attached to the tower by 1770. The work was supervised by the German master Fatz, and by his will the chimes were set to play the German song “Ah, my dear Augustine.” In the entire history of the Kremlin chimes, this is the only period when they played foreign music. The clock was damaged in a fire in 1812. Master Yakov Lebedev managed to repair them by 1815.

The modern chimes of the Spasskaya Tower were manufactured by March 1852. By then wear and tear English clock was defined as critical. The creation of the most important clock mechanism of the Kremlin was entrusted to the Budenopov brothers' factory. The work was carried out since December 1850, and it was possible to use part of the old mechanism and apply modern achievements of watchmaking. The oak watch case is replaced with cast iron, and the mechanical parts are made of wear-resistant alloys, designed to withstand temperature changes throughout the year. The chiming of the chimes was ensured by the playing shaft, from which ropes were stretched to the 48 bells. Soon the melodies were chosen: “March of the Preobrazhensky Regiment” at 6 and 12 o’clock, the hymn “How Glorious is Our Lord in Zion” at 3 and 9. This music sounded from the Spasskaya Tower before the 1917 revolution.

During the storming of the Kremlin by the Bolsheviks on November 2, 1917, the clock hand was broken by a shell, and the clock did not work until September 1918. The mechanism was restored by watchmaker N. Behrens on the instructions of V. I. Lenin. Since 1937, the clock has been powered by three electric motors. Until 1938, the chimes played revolutionary anthems (“Internationale”, “You have fallen a victim...”), in the following years only chimes sounded at the hours and quarters.

During the inauguration of B. N. Yeltsin in 1996, the Spassky Astronomical Clock played a melody; from that time on, at 12 and 6 o’clock they played the “Patriotic Song”, and at 3 and 9 o’clock the melody of “Glory” by M. I. Glinka.

In 1999, a major restoration of the clock was carried out, with the appearance of the upper tier restored and the hands and numbers plated in gold. By the end of the year the melody is set national anthem Russian Federation (instead of “Patriotic Song”).

Star on the Spasskaya Tower

Before the star, the tower was crowned with a double-headed eagle: from the 17th century until 1935. For various reasons, the eagle had to be updated several times.

The Soviet five-pointed star with a hammer and sickle, based on a sketch by Fyodor Fedorovsky, was installed on Spasskaya and other Kremlin towers in August 1935. These first stars were made of stainless steel and red copper, the image of the hammer and sickle was made of Ural gems and covered with gold. Another decoration of the star is the rays diverging from the center to the tops.

In practice, the semi-precious copper-steel stars proved to be a poor solution: they quickly faded, so it took less than two years to replace them. However, the first Spasskaya Star, unlike many of its contemporaries, has been preserved; now it crowns the spire of the capital's Northern River Station.

The glowing ruby ​​star on the Spasskaya Tower lit up on November 2, 1937. The star with a ray span of 3.75 meters is double-layered, with a stainless steel frame: the inner layer is made of milky glass, the outer layer is made of ruby. Autonomous lamps are protected from overheating and were replaced with modern ones during a comprehensive restoration in 2014.

With the collapse of the USSR, the question of returning the double-headed eagle to the tower was repeatedly raised, and it still remains open.

Festival "Spasskaya Tower" in Moscow

The international military music festival, named after the Spasskaya Tower, has been held in Moscow since 2006. Time: late August - early September, before City Day. The duration of the festival changes every year. Tickets for the festival are sold by day, with the first and last ones being more expensive.

In that major festival Military bands participate, units of the honorary guard of the countries' top officials, and folk music and dance groups in national costumes perform.

The main event of the festival is a large-scale concert on Red Square, in front of the Spasskaya Tower. It is at this concert that you can see the best performances military musical groups from Russia, CIS countries, Europe, East and Southeast Asia.

How to get to the Spasskaya Tower in Moscow

A close-up view of the Spasskaya Tower open to tourists can be seen from Red Square, since access to the tower is not included in standard excursions to the Kremlin Museum-Reserve. Accordingly, it is advisable to get to Red Square, and not to the entrance to the Kremlin through the Trinity Tower.

The fastest way to get to the Spasskaya Tower overlooking Red Square is by metro to the Okhotny Ryad, Teatralnaya or Ploshchad Revolyutsii stations. These stations are part of the same metro interchange hub, so you should choose the nearest exit - No. 7 " Okhotny Ryad", from it to the foot of the tower - less than 500 meters on foot.

By bus you need to get to the “Red Square” stop along Varvarka Street. Flights No. 158, M5 are suitable.

The Spasskaya Clock Tower is clearly visible and recognizable from afar, but we still recommend checking the layout of the Kremlin towers:

A convenient option for those who want to learn as much as possible about the history of the Spasskaya Tower without losing sight of other attractions is an overview of the Spasskaya Tower with a tour of the Kremlin and Red Square. Suggestions from guides - on the project.

Panorama of the Spasskaya Tower on Google Maps

Video “Spasskaya Tower and the Kremlin in the New Year”

The chimes on the Spasskaya Tower in the minds of many generations are a symbol not only of the Moscow Kremlin, but of all of Russia. The clocks are synchronized by them, each new year begins with their striking. The famous Kremlin chimes have been decorating the Kremlin for many centuries and are inextricably linked with the history of Russia, with its glorious and sometimes dramatic pages.

There is a lot of documentary evidence left about the long history of the chimes. These are decrees and orders of great princes, kings, emperors, senior officials Russian state relating to the Spasskaya Tower and its clock; reports on the creation and adjustment of chimes, inventories of repair work, reports, reports of Kremlin commandants, architects, watchmakers, craftsmen who were and are engaged in maintaining their proper condition. Several major stages can be identified in the process of construction and reconstruction of the country's main clock, which coincide with the most significant eras of Russian history.

Each tower of the Moscow Kremlin is unique, has its own history, purpose, all of them have had proper names. The famous chimes are located on the Spasskaya Tower, which since ancient times was the main and especially revered Kremlin tower.

The Spasskaya Tower was erected in 1491 by the architect Peter Antonio Solario, who, along with other Italian architects, was invited to build the Kremlin by Grand Duke Ivan III. The years of his reign saw many significant events for Rus': the final overthrow of the Tatar-Mongol yoke and the practical completion of the long process of unifying Russian lands with the capital in Moscow. After the fall of Byzantium in 1453, Rus', which adopted Orthodoxy from it, declares itself its heir, and Moscow claims the role new capital Orthodox world. It was at this time that the theory of “Moscow is the third Rome” took shape and the concept of autocratic state power was born, which would receive further development under the grandson of Ivan III - Ivan IV the Terrible. Therefore, the grandiose restructuring of the ancient Kremlin was due to political and ideological reasons. The oldest part of the Kremlin was associated with the name of Grand Duke Ivan Kalita, who in the first half of the 14th century, when Rus' was under the Tatar-Mongol yoke, began the process of gathering Russian lands and promoting the Moscow principality as the center of the political and spiritual life of the country. The second famous builder was Grand Duke Dmitry Donskoy, whose victory on the Kulikovo field in 1380 marked the beginning of the liberation of Rus' from the Tatar-Mongol yoke.

The Spasskaya Tower was built on the site of the white stone Kremlin gates of the era of Dmitry Donskoy, which existed from 1367 to 1491, and was originally called Frolovskaya in honor of the Church of Saints Frol and Laurus, to which the path went through these Kremlin gates. These gates were also called Jerusalem, since the patriarchal procession to Moscow Jerusalem - St. Basil's Cathedral - took place through them.

In 1658, Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich issued a decree renaming all the Kremlin towers, and it began to be called Spasskaya in honor of two icons: the Savior of Smolensk, placed above the passage gates of the tower from Red Square, and the icon of the Savior Not Made by Hands, located above the gates from the Kremlin. Throughout its history, the gates of the Spasskaya Tower have been the main main entrance gates of the Kremlin. They have always been especially revered by the people and called “saints.” It was forbidden to ride through them on horseback or to walk through them with your head covered. Regiments going on military campaigns entered and exited through them; they served for the entry and exit of kings, ceremonial exits of the patriarch, processions of the cross, meetings of foreign embassies arriving for an audience with the Grand Duke or Tsar.

The first chiming clock in the Moscow Kremlin appeared on the gate tower under Grand Duke Vasily I in 1404. They were installed at the entrance to the courtyard of Grand Duke Vasily Dmitrievich, son of Dmitry Donskoy, next to the modern Trinity Tower. It is known that this clock was made and installed by the Serbian monk Lazar from the Athos Monastery. The clock was a huge dial that rotated, and the arrow pointing down was fixed motionless: “Russian clocks divided the day into day hours and night hours, monitoring the rise and course of the sun, so that at the minute of rising the first hour struck on the Russian clock day, and at sunset - the first hour of the night...” It is worth keeping in mind that only seventeen hours were marked on the chime dial. The fact is that at night, without artificial lighting, the dial was not visible, and the numbers were absent as unnecessary.

On the fortress towers of the Moscow Kremlin, clocks or chimes appeared in the second half of the 16th century in connection with the spread of the city and especially the large settlement, later Kitay-gorod, where trade and all kinds of industry were concentrated and where, therefore, it was necessary for everyone to know the time - it was necessary to arrange the clock for the benefit of all the inhabitants.” Exact date The appearance of the chiming clock on the Frolovskaya Tower is currently unknown. But it is most likely that this first happened soon after its construction and they were located above the gate. It is obvious that it was on the Spasskaya Tower that they appeared first, “since the Kremlin is built in a triangle, it was very convenient to show the time to the city on the other two sides, especially since the palace of the sovereigns really needed this, assigning an hour and time to everything when to get ready for the Duma, to go out, for lunch, for fun, etc. In addition, the tower clock located in this way with great convenience showed the time for all services and positions of the vast palace.”

By 1585 they already existed, as evidenced by documentary references to the master watchmakers of the Frolovsky, Tainitsky (Vodyany) and Trinity (Rizpolozhensky) gates. At the beginning of the 17th century there are mentions of a clock above the gates of the Nikolskaya Tower. Apparently, the clock-chimes were of a fairly simple design - Russian, divided into daytime hours, from sunrise to sunset, and nighttime hours.

In 1625, during the reign of Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich - the first tsar of the Romanov dynasty - they were replaced with more advanced ones. The old clock from the Spassky Gate was sold “by weight to the Spassky Yaroslavl Monastery.” The new clock was made and installed by the English master Christopher Halloway. A beautiful carved white stone tent top was built especially for them to protect the expensive clock from the terrible Moscow fires. The mechanism of their action was traditional for that era. It was not the hands that rotated, but the dial itself, drawing the numbers past the motionless ray of the sun nailed to the wall above the dial. The numbers, measured in arshins, were gilded; the middle of the circle, covered with azure paint and dotted with gold and silver stars, with the moon and sun, depicted the vault of heaven. The clock readings changed depending on the height of the solstice. On the longest days and hours they reached the number 17, the number of daylight hours.
The dials were placed on a floor lower than at present; in the same place where they are now, the words of prayer and the signs of the zodiac were located in a regular circle. The clock was 3 arshins long, 2¾ arshins high, 1½ arshins wide, and the dials were ¼ arshin in diameter. According to experts, they were not a very perfect device; the correctness of their movement largely depended on the skill of the watchmaker who observed them. The chimes had a musical mechanism; in 1624, master Kirill Samoilov specially cast thirteen bells for them.

Galovey's clock stood on the Spasskaya Tower for quite a long time, but the tower repeatedly suffered from fires; very severe destruction was caused by the fire of 1654. A review by Archdeacon Pavel of Aleppo has been preserved about the impression the described misfortune made on Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich when he returned to Moscow after the Polish campaign. This evidence is also important because it allows us to understand the significance of the Spasskaya Tower and its chimes among the Kremlin monuments. “Above the gate rises a tower, highly erected on solid foundations, where there was a wonderful city iron clock, famous throughout the world for its beauty and design and for the loud sound of its large bell, which was heard not only throughout the city, but also in the surrounding villages, more than 10 miles. “On the holiday of this Christmas (this is a mistake - the fire was on October 5 - authors' note), due to the envy of the devil, the beams inside the clock caught fire, and the entire tower was engulfed in flames along with the clock, bells and all their accessories, which were destroyed when they fell with its weight, two brick vaults and stones, and this amazing rare thing... was damaged. And when the king’s gaze fell from afar on this beautiful burnt tower, whose decorations and weather vanes were disfigured, and various statues carved from stone collapsed, he shed copious tears.” The tower and clock were restored. Their next renovation took place in 1668.

TO early XVIII centuries, they have become very worn out and are outdated in their technical characteristics. And in 1701, after another severe fire in the Kremlin, the clock burned down along with other buildings. Peter the Great ordered a clock from Holland for the Spasskaya Tower with bells and dances (chimes). In 1704, the watch was delivered to Moscow from Amsterdam on 30 carts to the Embassy Courtyard on Ilyinka, and it entered the custody of the Armory Chamber. Their cost was 42,474 rubles. In 1705, their installation began, which was partially completed in 1706, but finally only in 1709. I put them in place and assembled them by Yakim Garnov, Garnel (Gamault). The new watch had a traditional 12 o'clock dial. The appearance of the watch was reminiscent of Galovey's watch, as the dials were studded with stars. But Peter's clock often broke down and by the early 1730s fell into disrepair, although it finally died during the severe Trinity fire of 1737.

Frequent reports from watchmakers and architects about the sad state of the watches remained unanswered. The restoration of the clock began under Catherine II. It should be noted that Ekaterina Alekseevna had a good attitude towards Moscow and the Kremlin, she came there quite often, and lived for a long time in the 1760s. At the direction of the Empress, V.I. Bazhenov developed a grandiose project for the reconstruction of the entire Kremlin, which was never implemented.

The attempt to restore Peter's clock was unsuccessful. In 1763, in the premises under the Faceted Chamber, the archival files of the former Preobrazhensky and Semyonovsky orders were being sorted out, when a “large English chime clock” was found (perhaps once removed from one of the towers). By a personal decree of Empress Catherine II in 1767, this clock was ordered to be placed on the Spasskaya Tower, for which the watchmaker Facius was invited. In 1770 it was announced to the Senate that the work was completed. Since that time, for 250 years, this particular clock has been keeping track of time, adorning the Moscow Kremlin.

The clock installed under Catherine II operated successfully without significant repairs until the beginning of the 19th century. In 1812, during the stay of Napoleon's army in the Kremlin, the clock was damaged. After the expulsion of the French, the clock was examined, as evidenced by the petition of mechanic Jacob Lebedev to the Kremlin Building Expedition, dated February 10, 1813. In 1815 the clock was corrected.

After this, for several decades there were no significant changes to the clock on the Spasskaya Tower. However, during the reign of Nicholas I, the clock required serious repairs. On November 27, 1850, watchmaker Korchagin made a report to the Palace office that “the tower clock with its accessories... must not only be cleaned due to the dirt from dust and grease that has accumulated in them for many years, but corrected due to their long-term existence in operation with 1769...” In the same year, after Korchagin’s report, the Butenop brothers carried out a small repair on the watch, but there was no guarantee that the watch would be able to operate flawlessly for a long time. On February 28, 1851, the President of the Moscow Palace Office wrote to the Minister imperial palace the condition of this watch is as follows: “... the iron wheels and gears have become so worn out over time that they will soon become completely unusable, the dials have become very dilapidated... the oak foundation under the watch has rotted from long-term use.” After this, a decision was made on a complete reconstruction of the clock, which was carried out in 1851 - 1852 by the Butenop brothers.

In 1878, watchmaker V. Freimut reported a malfunction of the Spasskaya Tower chimes, whose iron parts were noticeably rusty, as a result of which the entire mechanism needed to be repaired. The following year, repair work was carried out.

The clock worked in this form until the beginning of the twentieth century. Last time V pre-revolutionary time they were restored in 1911 by watchmaker M.V. Volynsky.

The next stage in the history of the chimes on the Spasskaya Tower is associated with dramatic events. During the October-November revolutionary events of 1917 in Moscow, the Spasskaya Tower, as well as the entire Kremlin, was seriously damaged. On November 2, 1917, during the shelling and assault of the Moscow Kremlin by the Red Guards, a shell hit the chimes dial, interrupted the clock hand, as a result of which the mechanism for rotating the hands failed and the clock stopped. True, for a short time. In 1918, at the direction of the new head of state V.I. Lenin, restoration work was carried out, which was carried out by N.V. Behrens. For the chimes, a new pendulum was made, about one and a half meters long and weighing 32 kg.

In 1937, the question of watch repair arose again. Over time, the watch dial, which was made of iron and gilded with gold leaf, was in poor condition. It was heavily rusted in places, had many holes from bullets left over from 1917, and the gilding was falling off from the dial rim. The numbers, signs and hands were copper and gilded and also needed updating. As a result of the repairs, the old dial was replaced with a new one. It was also made of iron, the thickness of which was 3 mm, the rims were made of red copper, which was silvered and gilded by electrolytic method. The numbers, signs and arrows were old, but they were again silvered and gilded. The thickness of the gold coating was about 3 microns; 26 kg of gold were used to cover the watch bezels and numbers. The dials were manufactured and installed on the Spasskaya Tower by the Parostroy plant, gilding was carried out by the Scientific Research Institute of Physics and Chemistry named after. L. Ya. Karpova. The clock mechanism was repaired by the Karacharovsky Mechanical Plant of the People's Commissariat of the RSFSR. It was completely disassembled, cleaned and painted, and partial replacements of individual parts were made. In particular, we replaced all the tripods that were made with rotating pins, installed a new escape wheel, bushings, went through all the bearings, replaced the hemp rope with a steel cable, cast a new weight for the pendulum, installed four electric motors for winding the clock, which had previously been done manually, made platform and ladder - for inspection and lubrication of transmission gears. The painting of the chimes dial was carried out by the Moscow company “Lakokraskopokrytiya”. The dial was hot painted, first with red lead and then with black varnish, and additionally the dials were tinted on site with matte black varnish.

The last repair work of the Kremlin clocks before the start of the Great Patriotic War passed in 1940, when the old five-tooth escape wheel bracket was replaced by a new seven-tooth escape wheel bracket, making the watch easier to run. In addition, the old pendulum shoulder strap, made of copper and iron rods, was replaced with a wooden one, to reduce the influence of temperature on the clock and increase the accuracy of the clock. In 1941, an electromechanical drive was installed, but the onset of war made it impossible to accept it by a government commission and install it in place.

In 1974, the Research Institute of the Watch Industry (NIIChasprom) received an order to restore the mechanism of the country's main clocks; one of the largest restorations of the mechanism was carried out in the Soviet years. The clock stopped at 100 days. Their mechanism was completely disassembled and more than a thousand unique parts were replaced with new ones. During the restoration, the latest automatic installations were used, in particular, to lubricate the surfaces of more than 120 rubbing parts, which until then had been carried out manually.

In 1995, a comprehensive restoration of the chimes was carried out. The dials and hands were dismantled, X-rayed, primed and gold plated. This work was carried out by restoration artists on site, that is, on the Spasskaya Tower (middle tier), where four dials, eight hands and 48 numbers were carefully processed. Then everything was installed in its place, the mechanism was adjusted and started again.

The last major watch restoration in the 20th century took place in 1999. Along with updating the clock, in particular, the hands and numbers were gilded, the chimes were adjusted, etc., and the historical appearance of the upper tiers of the Spasskaya Tower was restored.

In the new 21st century, the chimes were also restored. In 2005, the watch dial was restored. In 2014–2015, during a comprehensive restoration of the walls and towers of the Moscow Kremlin, the façade fragments of the chimes were updated: dials, numbers and hands. All of them were dismantled, and under special conditions restoration and conservation work was carried out on them, while the chiming mechanisms remained in working order, that is, they struck the quarters every hour and played the melody of the Russian Anthem.

Clock mechanism on the Spasskaya Tower

The Kremlin chimes are located in the tent-roofed end of the Spasskaya Tower and occupy three floors (tiers) – the 8th, 9th and 10th. The tower has 10 floors in total, five each in the lower and upper parts. The first floor is occupied by a passageway, which is painted with fresco paintings XVII century. In its walls there are 4 recesses for icons, which is not found in other Kremlin passage gates. In the southern wall of the passage there are two doors, one leads to the passage for sentry weights, the other, with stone stairs, – inside the tower.

The lower, main mass of the tower has double walls. The space between them is occupied from the Kremlin side by a stone staircase; and from the other three - corridors, the vaults of which divide it into floors, from the second to the fifth. The central part of the tower is a room with a barrel vault, very high, since the wooden platforms of the tiers were dismantled at the turn of the 18th - 19th centuries. Therefore, within its walls different heights there are windows and traces of blocked exits. At the top, this room narrows, making the corridors around it correspondingly wider. Top part the towers are smaller in area than the lower one and do not have double walls.

The watch consists of three separate units: the movement mechanism, the striking mechanism and the musical mechanism. Each mechanism is driven by three weights that tension the cables, weighing from 160 to 224 kg. The accuracy of the clock is achieved using a pendulum weighing 32 kg and 1.5 m long. The clock mechanism is wound twice a day. The clock has 4 dials with a diameter of 6.12 m, they are located at the level of the 8th tier and overlook the four sides of the tower.

There is a wide rim along the edge of the dial field. The signs defining the hours are indicated by Roman numerals - from I to XII. The height of the numerals is 0.72 m, the length of the minute hand is 3.27 m, the length of the hour hand is 2.98 m. The rim, numbers, minute markers and hands are gilded and stand out clearly against the black field of the dial. The dial is riveted from three-millimeter steel sheets and covered with matte black paint. The weight of the chimes is 25 tons.

In the room on the 8th tier there is a distribution mechanism for controlling the hands, which, by rotating the shafts from the main mechanism, ensures the movement of the minute hands on all four dials. The hour hands are moved by gears from the rotation of the minute hands.

The main clock mechanism is located on the 9th tier. It consists of three separate mechanisms mounted on one frame: a clock mechanism for guiding the hands, a mechanism for calling the quarter hours, and a clock striking mechanism. The overall dimensions of the main mechanism are: length 3.56 m, width 3.12 m, height 2.96 m. Each individual mechanism is driven by individual kettlebell motors. The weights of the weights for the mechanisms are different and are: for the movement of the clock 280 kg, for the strike of the quarters 280 kg and for the strike of the clock 220 kg. The maximum stroke height of the weights is 22 m, which ensures that the watch can run for 28 hours without winding.

The watch uses a Broco escapement regulator, which includes a pendulum and a wheel escapement system that converts the pendulum's oscillations into time intervals of an actuator.

The pendulum consists of a wooden rod and a gilded lead disk to reduce the dependence of the clock's accuracy on the ambient temperature. The watch has an auxiliary winding to ensure the functioning of the watch while lifting weights, since during winding the torque on the drum changes direction. To keep the clock running, temporary propulsion is provided using an auxiliary weight.

The main part of the quarter hour calling mechanism is a steel drum driven by an individual weight motor. On the surface of the drum, pins are located in a certain sequence, setting the program (melody) for the nine bells that ring the quarter hours. The clock strikes using special hammers striking the surface of the lower base of the bell.

The opening of the quarter hour strike is carried out automatically, through the action of levers kinematically connected to the watch mechanism. After the opening quarter of an hour, the program drum begins to rotate. At the same time, the pins located on it cling to the levers, which pull the cables that drive the hammers on the quarter-hour bells. The chime of the first quarter of an hour is made in the position of the minute hand, corresponding to 15 minutes, and is played once, the second quarter of an hour, corresponding to 30 minutes, - twice, the third quarter of an hour, corresponding to 45 minutes, - three times, the fourth quarter of an hour, before striking the clock. - four times.

The musical mechanism consists of a drum, the length of which is 1425 mm. In the middle of the drum, a gear wheel is fixed along its generatrix. 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 the bells located in the uppermost tier of the Spasskaya Tower.

On the topmost, 10th tier of the Spasskaya Tower, which is a spacious room with a dome and open openings, there are 10 bells. The bells hang in the openings on thick transverse beams, and thin steel cables stretch to each of them from the distribution device for striking the hours and “quarters” of the hour. The largest bell is suspended in the center under the dome. The relief inscription on it reads: “According to the highest all-August Empress Catherine the Great, the wise mother of the fatherland, the autocrat of the All-Russian command in favor of the capital city of Moscow, this Spasskaya tower is equipped with a clock with bell music This is how this bell was cast in the summer of Christ, 1769, May 27, weighing 135 poods, by the master Semyon Mozhzhukhin.” This bell is designed to reproduce the striking of a clock. The remaining 9 smaller bells are designed to ring the quarter hours. All bells, unlike church bells, do not have tongues. They sound from the impact of hammers acting when tensioning the cables.

The operation of the watch mechanism is constantly monitored. Watch maintenance is carried out by watch mechanics, whose responsibilities include on-site technical inspection of watches, daily winding of watch mechanisms and adjustment of their accuracy, weekly replacement of lubricant in dial wheels, and twice a month pouring special oil into the pumps of the automated lubrication system of watch mechanisms. The accuracy of the Spasskaya Tower clock is monitored 3 times a day using precise time signals transmitted by radio or by the time of a special chronometer installed in the clock service room. The time is checked by the first sound of the quarter hour bell. The average daily accuracy of the clock is ±10 seconds.

Correction of the clock rate is carried out by changing the length of the pendulum. To remotely control the operation of the clock, the clock service has installed an electrical equivalent of this clock, which is connected by wire to electrical sensors located on the pendulum of the clock in the tower.

Before the abolition of the seasonal clock change in 2011, the responsibilities of watch mechanics also included the task of changing the Kremlin clocks to summer and winter time calculus. The shift of the clock one hour forward from winter to summer time was carried out by accelerating the movement of the hands by ensuring their free rotation under the influence of a load of weights. And from summer to winter time - by stopping them for one hour at 2 am. The last time such a transfer took place was on October 26, 2014, when, according to the new law “On the Calculation of Time,” winter time was established as permanent in the Russian Federation.

History of the chimes of the Spasskaya Tower

As noted above, the first clock with music was installed on the Spasskaya Tower back in 1624. IN early XVII century, 13 bells were specially cast for the clock on the Kremlin's Spasskaya Tower. However, it is unknown what kind of music the bells on the Spasskaya Tower played then. History only mentions that in the winter of 1704, bells rang out over snow-covered Moscow and music began to play in the European style.

There are references to the fact that in 1770, after restoration carried out by the German master Facius, the Kremlin chimes began to play the German song “Ah, my dear Augustine.” This was the only time the chimes played a foreign melody.

During the mid-19th century reconstruction carried out by the Butenop brothers, at the direction of Emperor Nicholas II, musical melodies were composed for the first time.

The clock chime itself consists of a set of bells tuned to the same tone in a certain range. The chimes of the Spassky Clock made up a chromatic scale of two octaves in pitch. The chiming mechanism is connected to the clock mechanism, which determines the frequency of musical performance. The tower chimes were turned on to play melodies at 12, 15, 18, 21 o'clock, that is, every three hours.

To carry out the musical tuning of the chimes, as well as for striking the hours and quarters, 45 bells were removed from the Kremlin towers. The selection of bells based on sound was carried out not only for chimes, but also for striking the hours and quarter hours. 35 tone-matching bells were used in the clock, and the unused 10 bells were returned. The selection of bells according to their sound for the chimes and the setting up of the musical bell game for the performance of these plays was supervised by the conductor of the Moscow theaters Stutsman. On the program shaft of the chime mechanism, divisions are placed along the circumference by pins into one hundred and forty-four full beats, which is 288 half-beats, or 576 quarter notes.

The choice of melodies for chimes has always had important ideological significance. Emperor Nicholas I set a condition - not to type the anthem “God Save the Tsar”. As a result, the hymn “How Glorious is Our Lord in Zion,” written in 1794 by composer D. S. Bortnyansky to the verses of M. M. Kheraskov, and the ancient Preobrazhensky March, which is a symbol of the military glory of the Russian army, were chosen for performance. The Kremlin chimes played these melodies until 1917.

In March 1918, the Soviet government moved to Moscow, which again regained its status as the official capital. Naturally, the new government did not ignore “ musical abilities" hours. As the famous artist and musician M. M. Cheremnykh recalled, when the architect N. D. Vinogradov, who held the position of Deputy People's Commissar of Property of the Republic in 1918, gave him the order to put new music on the Kremlin chimes, he said so: “Vladimir Ilyich wants so that the Spasskaya Tower starts campaigning.”

The choice fell on two melodies: the international proletarian anthem “The Internationale,” which became the official anthem of Soviet Russia, and the funeral march “You fell a victim in the fatal struggle” (the author of the poems is the poet A. Arkhangelsky (real name - Amosov)).

M. M. Cheremnykh recalled: “I took up this matter, got acquainted with the musical mechanism, understood its simple mechanics, and within 10 days (August 5-15, 18), removing the “Preobrazhensky March” and “Kol Slaven” chimes from the shaft ”, staged the Internationale and the Funeral March. There were two people working - me and a mechanic (I don’t remember his last name), who was re-screwing the pegs on the drum according to my instructions.

I remember the Commission sat on Execution Place so that the sound of carts and car horns does not drown out the bells. I communicated with them from the Spasskaya Tower using signs. After listening to the International and the Funeral March three times, the Commission accepted the work and I received seven thousand rubles from the Moscow City Council cash desk.”

However, difficulties soon arose. Immediately after completing the work of installing new pieces of music on the chimes, Cheremnykh left Moscow, and when he returned, he learned that “the chimes are silent.” It turned out that V.I. Lenin expressed the wish that the chimes would play not only during the day, but also at night. The factory of the chimes was designed for 12 hours, and watchmakers began to look for a solution to the problem. Then Cheremnykh, together with watchmaker N.V. Berens, who was repairing the clock mechanism after the shelling of 1917, found a solution, proposing to wind it twice a day.

Until the early 1930s, the Kremlin chimes played the “Internationale” and the funeral march “You fell a victim in the fatal struggle” every day at 12 and 24 hours. But already on the 15th anniversary of the revolution in 1932, on the orders of I.V. Stalin, the funeral funeral march was canceled. In general, the performance of the latter over the Kremlin and Red Square created a peculiar, far from positive atmosphere, especially since they were not always involved in the setup knowledgeable people. This is how M. M. Cheremnykh recalled it: “Many years have passed. Once, walking along Red Square at night, I stopped to listen to the chimes. I felt terrified by the bell delirium that was heard from the heights of the Spasskaya Tower. Then they told me that after me, some crazy musician rearranged the music of the chimes. I can’t vouch for its authenticity, but it looks like it.

For the 15th anniversary of October, I considered myself obligated to correct the chimes and I was allowed to do so. At the request of the Kremlin Commandant, I removed the Funeral March and replaced it with the International, so that at 12, 3, 6 and 9 o’clock only the International is played.”

In February 1938, performances of the Internationale also ceased. Back in 1937, when the clock was being restored, a special commission consisting of Professor N. S. Golovanov, Professor N. A. Garbuzov and conductor Agankin recognized the performance of the “International” by the chimes of the Spasskaya Tower as unsatisfactory for two reasons. Firstly, due to the wear and tear of the musical mechanism, which had been working continuously for twenty years. Secondly, it was recognized that the bells of the Spasskaya Tower are not quite suitable in tone for the performance of the Internationale and the melody is distorted at a distance. In this regard, a decision is made to stop the musical drum of the country's main clock.

At the same time, specialists from the Moscow State Conservatory named after. P.I. Tchaikovsky was commissioned to develop the design and manufacture an electromechanical drive for the performance of the Internationale. In December 1938, the design of a device for performing the “Internationale” on bells from the Spasskaya Tower of the Moscow Kremlin was ready. In 1941, the electromechanical drive was installed and presented for delivery, but the outbreak of war prevented its acceptance. Thus, this attempt to establish the chiming of the chimes failed.

In 1944, a new anthem of the USSR was adopted with music by A. V. Alexandrov and poetry by S. V. Mikhalkov and G. G. El-Registan. In this regard, an attempt was made to set the chimes to play the new anthem, but it also turned out to be unsuccessful.

In 1970, on the basis of the 1938 project, an attempt was made to develop a unique complex “GYMN”. Developed technical documentation and created an installation model. But this system was not implemented either.

Characteristic is the fact that both developed systems for playing bells (the Internationale in 1938 and the USSR anthem in 1970) were supposed to be with an electromagnetic drive. The use of the mechanical chiming mechanism of the Spasskaya Tower clock was abandoned, while the mechanism itself, having worked for decades, required only major repairs.

Thus, the chimes fell silent for many decades, marking every hour and every quarter of their course with their chimes.

The task of reviving melodic sound was set in the mid-1990s, already in new historical conditions. The USSR has already ceased to exist, Russian Federation embarked on the path of democratic reforms. In 1995, the task was to return the musical sound to the chimes by the time President B.N. Yeltsin took office for a new term.

As a first step in reviving the chimes of the Spasskaya Tower of the Moscow Kremlin, a mechanical model of the chimes on a scale of 1:10 was created. Instead of bells, they used belas (“flat bells”). They were made of bell bronze. Acoustic measurements of the blowers were carried out. The same principles were used as in the measurement acoustic characteristics bells The manufactured bells for playing melodies, together with the model of the Spasskaya Tower chimes of the Moscow Kremlin, were successfully tested. Two works by M. I. Glinka were chosen for performance: “Glory” from the opera “Life for the Tsar” and “Patriotic Song”, which from 1993 to December 2000 was the official anthem of the Russian Federation.

In 1996, at the ceremony of inauguration of President B. N. Yeltsin for a second presidential term, after more than half a century of silence, the Kremlin chimes began to play again.

However, in 1998, specialists from NIIChasprom carried out a technical examination of the device for reproducing melodies by chimes. This examination revealed that the use of beats, firstly, violated the principle of restoration and reconstruction unique watches, because only bells have always historically been used on the Spasskaya Tower. Secondly, further use of beaters entails catastrophic wear of almost all components of the watch, since it implies an increase in the load on the mechanism, several times (up to 10 times) higher than the calculated one. In particular, already at the time of the inspection, destruction of the musical drum pegs, wear of the seats and axle, etc. were recorded. As a result, a disappointing forecast was made about the complete stop of the mechanism in 3-4 years.

In this regard, in the spring of 1999, NIIChasprom specialists began work on recreating the musical mechanism of the chimes of the Spasskaya Tower of the Moscow Kremlin in full, with the reconstruction of the system for reproducing melodies on the bells.

At the beginning, in order to achieve the goal, it was proposed to remove all the bells from the belfry of the Spasskaya Tower and replace them with new ones. The head of the Presidential Orchestra in those years, P. B. Ovsyannikov, proposed two combinations of a set of bells for consideration. However, after analyzing the weight characteristics of the proposed combinations of bells, it turned out that both sets would be unsuitable in weight for installation on the belfry of the Spasskaya Tower. On the other hand, the dependence of the sound strength on the weight of the bell was absolutely obvious. Light small bells simply will not be heard from the height of the Spasskaya Tower. In addition, the idea of ​​ordering a new set of bells had to be abandoned due to their high price. As a result, a special commission decided to use the existing bells of the Spasskaya Tower to perform “Glory” and the Russian anthem, adding new additional bells to their number.

The next step was to determine which bells (in terms of tone) needed to be made in order to ultimately obtain a set of bells capable of playing given musical phrases.

First, they recorded the chime of the bells preserved on the Spasskaya Tower; now there are 13 of them, but at different times, as historical research has shown, there were up to 35 bells here. Subsequently, as a result of computer processing, NIIChasprom specialists obtained a sonogram of the recording. By identifying the fundamental tone of each of the nine bells, they determined the tones of the missing bells. It turned out that three more bells were missing to perform the selected melodies.

Then, in order to make these three bells as close as possible to the existing ones in a number of sound parameters, it was necessary to make an audio recording of each bell separately, on the basis of which experts compiled the spectral characteristics of all bells. Based on the spectral analysis of the bells, the frequencies of the main spectral maxima were established, and from them the main tones of the sound of the bells were determined. Using a special spectral recording of the sound of each, the missing three bells were ordered from Holland. By the way, this corresponded historical tradition, since Peter I bought the entire “bell set” for the Spasskaya Tower in this country.

Thus, the implementation of this project required a unique research work carried out by specialists from the Research Institute of the Watch Industry (NIIchasprom).

In 2000, the updated Kremlin chimes began to sound again. Instead of the “Patriotic Song,” they played the Russian anthem, adopted in 2000, in the new music edition(music by A.V. Aleksandrov, lyrics by S.V. Mikhalkov). Since then, every three hours the chimes on the Spasskaya Tower regularly delight Muscovites and guests of the capital with the ringing of their bells.

The Kremlin chimes have long become one of the most recognizable monuments of the Moscow Kremlin, and the Spasskaya Clock Tower is perceived throughout the world as a symbol of Russia. The ancient chimes on the Spasskaya Tower of the Moscow Kremlin continue, as in past centuries, to count down the course of Russian history.