Towers of the Moscow Kremlin, history and interesting facts. Interesting facts about the towers of the Moscow Kremlin Modern view of the Kremlin

The symbol of the Russian capital, the Moscow Kremlin is an incredibly interesting and beautiful ancient fortress. Once erected for protection from enemies, these days it has become the most recognizable symbol not only of Moscow, but of all of Russia. Some cities also have preserved beautiful kremlins, but only the one located in the capital is always written with a capital letter, because it is unique.

1. It is this that is the oldest building in Moscow.
2. The thickness of the walls of the Moscow Kremlin in some places reaches 6.5 meters, and the height is 19 meters. At one time he was completely unapproachable.
3. The Kremlin that we see now was built in the 15th century on the basis of an old, white stone one, by order of Ivan III the Great (see).
4. The walls of the Moscow Kremlin are crowned by 20 towers, of which only three are round. The rest are rectangular.
5. Red stars were installed on the Kremlin towers only in the 30s of the 20th century.
6. Long before the Kremlin, a wooden Kremlin, built by Yuri Dolgoruky, first stood in its place. Then it was replaced with a white stone one by order of Dmitry Donskoy. This is where Moscow’s nickname comes from - “white stone” (see).
7. IN Russian cities About 20 kremlins have survived, interesting and remarkable in their own way, but the Moscow one is the most ancient among them.
8. In the very center of the Moscow Kremlin is the Assumption Cathedral, and all the towers are located the same distance from it.
9. Under the Kremlin walls there are numerous underground passages and shelters.
10. At one time the Kremlin was a real island. They dug ditches around it and connected them to the river. True, later the ditches were filled up, as this created a number of inconveniences.
11. In the 20th century, during the era of the USSR, 28 churches and monasteries located on the territory of the Moscow Kremlin were destroyed.
12. During World War II, the Kremlin was camouflaged with paint, plywood and mesh to protect it from possible airstrikes. However, during the fighting, 165 bombs fell on it, which damaged some buildings and destroyed the Arsenal.
13. According to experts, the cost of the Moscow Kremlin is about $50 billion, comparable to the cost of the entire island of Manhattan, the most prestigious part of New York (see).
14. In the 18th century, unique hanging gardens were located on the Kremlin territory, in which exotic overseas fruits and flowers were grown.
15. The two Kremlin towers never received names, so they were given the names First and Second Nameless, respectively.
16. The chimes located on the Spasskaya Tower of the Moscow Kremlin always show perfectly accurate time, because they are directly connected to the control clock of the astronomical institute.
17. The Moscow Kremlin is the largest fortress in all of Europe. There is nothing comparable in scale in any European city.
18. During the War of 1812, when Moscow was abandoned to the French, Napoleon Bonaparte ordered the Kremlin to be blown up. Some of the shells did not work, but three towers were completely destroyed, and many buildings were damaged (see).
19. Each of the stars crowning the Kremlin towers weighs more than a ton.
20. When built, the Moscow Kremlin was red, but during the 17th century it was painted white.
21. Before red stars were placed on the Kremlin towers, they were decorated with double-headed eagles.
22. The Kremlin stars are not motionless. When exposed to hurricane winds, they turn sideways to avoid damage.
23. In the middle of the 20th century, townspeople lived in the Kremlin, but in 1955 a law was passed prohibiting this, and the last residents were evicted from there in 1962.
24. According to legend, somewhere in the Kremlin dungeons the lost library of Ivan the Terrible is hidden (see).
25. The length of the walls of the Moscow Kremlin reaches 2.5 kilometers.

The Remlin chimes are a tower clock with a set of tuned bells that chime 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 passage gate from Red Square. The tower overlooks Red Square and has a front passage gate, which was considered holy. And in the hipped top of the tower, built by the Russian master Bazhen Ogurtsov, the main clock is installed Russian state, famous Kremlin chimes.

The history of the ancient Spassky chimes is inextricably linked with the history of the Kremlin and goes back to 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 in service at the three Kremlin gates, Spassky, Tainitsky and Troitsky. Whether these clocks were the first or not is not known for sure, but they are counted from them.

In all likelihood, the clock had an Old Russian (Byzantine) timekeeping system. The days of that time, according to the calculation of time accepted in Rus', were divided into “day” hours, from sunrise to sunset, and “night” hours. Every two weeks, the duration of the hours gradually changed with the change in the length of day and night. The hours were unusual for us appearance with one fixed hand in the form of a sun ray just above the dial. Under it rotated a dial with Old Slavonic letters denoting numbers: A - one, B - two, and so on. There were 17 designations, in accordance with the maximum length of the day in the summer.

The clock mechanism consisted of strangely woven gears, ropes, shafts and levers. At the Spassky Clock, watchmakers were on duty, monitoring the mechanism and reconfiguring it. At dawn and sunset, the dial was turned so that the hand fell on the first hour - A, and the counting of hours began all over again. In order to know how long the day was and how long the night was, 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 set the watch dial to , as well as carry out repairs in case of problems.

The clock on the Spasskaya Tower was given Special attention because they were considered the main ones. But despite this, frequent fires damaged the parts 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. To replace the defective watches that were sold, in 1625, under the leadership of the English mechanic and watchmaker Christophor Galovey, new, larger watches were made by Russian blacksmiths and watchmakers of the Zhdan family.

For this clock, 13 bells were cast by Russian foundry worker Kirill Samoilov. To install the new clock, the tower was built on four tiers. On the ancient quadrangle of the Spasskaya Tower, under the leadership of Bazhen Ogurtsov, an arched brick belt with white stone carved details and decorations was built on. And on the inner quadrangle a high tented roof with arched bells was erected, on which the hour bells were hung. A new main clock of the state was installed on tiers 7,8,9. On the 10th tier there were 30 bells for chiming, which could be heard more than 10 miles away.

The clock had an old Russian timekeeping system, and the mechanism consisted of oak links, dismountable, fastened with iron hoops. Thanks to a special mechanism, the clock chimed a certain melody from time to time, and they became the first Russian chimes. The diameter of the dial of the new clock was about 5 meters, weighed 400 kg and was assembled from heavy oak boards. The dial of this clock rotated, and the stationary 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, along which were scattered gold and silver stars, images of the sun and moon. The numbers were designated by Slavic letters, and the dial was called the “indicative verbal circle” (recognizable circle). The letters were made of copper and plated with gold. The dials, turned in different directions, were divided into 17 divisions and were located in the central keel of the prominent arch of the reinforcing belt above the ancient quadrangle. At the top of the wall, in a circle, were written the words of prayer and the signs of the zodiac, carved from iron, the remains of which have been preserved to this day under the existing clock dials.

Christophor Galovey's clock was about a meter smaller than modern ones. The accuracy of the movement directly depended on the watchmaker servicing them. After installation, the clock burned in fires more than once, after which it was restored again. However, the Galovey clock on the Spasskaya Tower stood and served people for quite a long time.

By decree of Peter I in 1705, the entire country switched to a single daily clock. Returning from travels abroad, he ordered the English mechanism of the Spasskaya Tower clock to be replaced with a clock with a 12-hour dial purchased in Holland. The new Kremlin chimes chimed the hours and quarters, and also rang out a melody. The installation of the purchased clock on the tower and the alteration of the dial were supervised by the Russian watchmaker Ekim Garnov. The complete installation of the chimes was completed in 1709. To service Dutch watches, a whole staff of watchmakers was kept, most of whom were foreigners, however, despite all efforts, the watches often broke down and did not please Muscovites for long with their chimes. During that period, the clock was called by “assembly dances.” There were also bells there that sounded the “fire alarm.”

Dutch watches had 4 winding shafts: 1st for the clock mechanism; 2nd for striking the clock; 3rd for the quarter hour strike; 4th for playing melodies. The shafts were driven by weights. After the great fire of 1737, Peter's Clock was severely damaged. Then all the wooden parts of the Spasskaya Tower burned, and the chime shaft was damaged. As a result, bell music no longer sounded. Interest in the chimes disappeared after Peter I moved the capital to St. Petersburg. The chimes were broken and repaired many times, and the watches were serviced 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 unsuccessful, and by order of Catherine II, the “large English chiming clock” found in the Faceted Chamber began to be installed on the Spasskaya Tower.

The German watchmaker 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 sound the Austrian melody “Ah, my dear Augustine” because it was very popular with the watchmaker, a German by birth, servicing the clock. And for almost a year this melody sounded over Red Square, and the authorities did not pay any attention to it. This was the only time in history when the chimes played a foreign melody.

In 1812, Muscovites saved the Spasskaya Tower from destruction 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 the honorary title of Master of the Spassky Watch. The clock installed under Catherine II operated successfully for eighty years without major repairs. However, after an examination 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 a critical condition, close to complete breakdown (the iron gears and wheels are worn out, the dials are dilapidated, the wooden floors have settled, the oak foundation rotted under the clock, the staircase needs redoing).”

In 1851, the Butenop Brothers company, famous for installing tower clocks in the dome of the Grand Kremlin Palace, took on the task of correcting the Spassky chimes and entrusted the production of new clocks to skilled Russian craftsmen. Based on the drawings of the experienced architect Ton, the interior decoration of the Spasskaya Tower was refurbished. The new watches used parts from old watches and all the developments in watchmaking of that time.

Extensive work was carried out. 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 that could withstand high humidity and significant temperature changes. The chimes received a Gragam stroke and a pendulum with a thermal compensation system designed by Harrison.

Special attention was paid to the appearance of the Kremlin clock. New black iron dials were made with gilded rims on 4 sides, for which numerals were cast in copper, as well as minute and five-minute divisions. The iron hands are wrapped in copper and plated with gold. 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 numbers is 72 centimeters, the length of the hour hand is about 3 meters, the minute hand is another quarter of a meter longer. Digitization on the dial was done at that time with Arabic numerals, and not Roman numerals, as now.

Also, the Butenop Brothers company completely redesigned the music unit. To the old clock bells, they added bells taken from other Kremlin towers whose clocks 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 chiming and accurate execution of melodies. The striking of the clock was achieved by striking 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 the bells located in the uppermost tier of the Spasskaya Tower. On the playing shaft of the clock, according to the personal order of the sovereign Emperor Nikolai Pavlovich, the melodies of the hymn “How Glorious is Our Lord in Zion” (music by Dmitry Bortnyansky) and the march of the Life Guards Preobrazhensky Regiment from the times of Peter the Great were set. New chimes rang over Red Square every three hours, and the melodies had 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 House of Romanov. The Butenop Brothers company continued to service the clockwork.

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

In 1918, by decree of V.I. Lenin, it was decided to restore the Kremlin chimes. First of all, the Bolsheviks turned to the company of Pavel Bure and Sergei Roginsky, but after the price for repairs was announced, they turned to a mechanic working in the Kremlin, Nikolai Behrens. Behrens knew the structure of the chimes since his father worked in a company that previously serviced the chimes. Together with his sons, Behrens was able to start the clock by July 1918, repairing the mechanism for turning the hands, repairing the hole in the dial and making a new pendulum about one and a half meters long and weighing 32 kilograms. Since Behrens was unable to adjust the musical device of the Spassky Clock, 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 scored revolutionary melodies on the playing shaft. In accordance with Lenin’s wishes, at 12 o’clock the bells rang “Internationale”, and at 24 o’clock - “You have fallen a victim...” (in honor of those buried on Red Square). In 1918, the Mossovet commission accepted the work after listening to each melody three times on Red Square. The “Internationale” sounded first at 6 a.m., and at 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. the funeral march “You have fallen a victim.” After some time, the chimes were reconfigured. At 12 o'clock the bells rang "Internationale", and at 24 o'clock "You have fallen a victim."

In 1932, the exterior was repaired and a new dial was made, which was an exact copy of the old one. 28 kg of gold was spent on gilding the rim, numbers and hands, and “Internationale” was left as the melody. At the direction of I.V. Stalin, the funeral march was cancelled. A special commission found the sound of the chimes' musical device unsatisfactory. Frosts and wear 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, beginning to chime the hours and quarters.

In 1941, an electromechanical drive was installed 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. Mikhalkova, and G.G. El Registana. In this regard, by order of J.V. Stalin, they tried to set up chimes to ring out the new anthem, but for a reason unknown to us, this never happened.

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

In 1996, during the inauguration of B.N. Yeltsin, the chimes, which had been silent for 58 years, began to play again after the traditional chiming and striking of the clock. At noon and midnight the bells began to play “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 “A Life for the Tsar” (Ivan Susanin) by M.I. Glinka. The choice of song was not accidental; “Patriotic Song” was the official anthem of Russia from 1993 to 2000. To implement this project, research work carried out by NIIchasoprom specialists was required. As a result of the work, recordings of the chiming of bells on the Spasskaya Tower, which have survived to this day, were listened to. At different times, there were up to 48 bells, and the tone of each of the 9 surviving bells was identified. After which it became clear that they were not enough for the selected melodies to sound normally; 3 more bells were needed. Based on 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. The work took half a year. The hands and numbers were again gilded and the historical appearance of the upper tiers was restored. Important improvements were made in the operation and monitoring of the Kremlin Chimes: a special ultra-sensitive microphone was installed for more accurate timely monitoring of the movement of the clock mechanism. The microphone picks up the accuracy of the stroke, based on which software helps to establish the presence of problems and quickly identify in which unit of the watch mechanism the rhythm is disturbed. Also, during the restoration, the chimes were reconfigured, after which, instead of the “Patriotic Song,” the chimes began to play the approved national anthem of the Russian Federation.

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

The striking of the clock is achieved by striking a hammer connected to the mechanism of each bell. At the beginning of the hour, the chimes are rung 4 times, and then a large bell chimes the hours. 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 programmed copper cylinder with a diameter of about two meters, studded with holes and pins in accordance with the dialed melodies. It is rotated by a weight weighing more than 200 kg. When the drum rotates, the pins press the keys, from which the cables connected to the bells on the belfry stretch. At noon and midnight the anthem of the Russian Federation is performed, and at 3, 9, 15, 21 o'clock the melody of the choir "Glory" from Glinka's opera "A Life for the Tsar" is performed. The melodies differ greatly in the rhythm of their execution, so in the first case, the first line from the hymn is performed, and in the second, two lines from the “Glory” chorus are performed.

Today we see on the Spasskaya Tower of Red Square those chimes that were restored by the Butenop brothers in 1852. Since its appearance on the Spasskaya Tower, the clock has been constantly reconstructed in connection with the development of progress in one or another field of mechanics, materials science and other sciences. Until 1937, the clock was wound manually twice a day, and then this process was mechanized, thanks to 3 electric motors, lifting the weights for winding was done without much effort. For each shaft, weights weighing up to 200 kg are made from cast iron ingots, and in winter this weight is increased. Preventive inspection of the mechanism is carried out every day, and once a month - a detailed inspection. The clock's progress is controlled by the watchmaker on duty and a special device. The mechanism is lubricated 2 times a week, and summer or winter lubrication is used. The clock mechanism has been working properly for more than 150 years.

Although the word chimes is quite generally accepted and denotes a type of tower or large room clock with bells that strike a certain melody every hour, playing it in different quarters every 15 minutes, but for every Russian, there is only one chime in the world - the Chimes of the Moscow Kremlin.

Everyone knows that the Kremlin chimes are the main clock of the country. But not many people know that today’s chimes are the fourth to be installed on the Spasskaya Tower. When the first ones appeared is not known for certain. The first record that has survived to this day and indicates the presence of a clock on the tower dates back to 1585. It is also not known for sure whether this was actually the first clock, but it is from them that the modern account is made.

The first and second clocks had not 12, but 17 hours, indicating the maximum length of daylight in the summer. The first “correct” clock appeared on the Spasskaya Tower only in 1705 by decree of Peter I. Peter’s Kremlin chimes were not of very high quality, although they were bought in Holland. They often broke down, and a whole staff of watchmakers, most of whom were foreigners, were kept to service them. After the capital moved to the newly built St. Petersburg, the authorities’ interest in the Kremlin chimes completely disappeared. The watch was serviced carelessly. In 1770, the chimes even began to play an Austrian folk song only because the current clockmaker of the chimes, a German by birth, wanted it that way. And the authorities did not pay attention to this for almost a year.

The clock was severely damaged when the French invaded Moscow in 1812. After their expulsion, the clock was restored many times, but not for long. In 1852, the chimes that we see today appeared on the Spasskaya Tower. This time the watch was made in Russia, but under the direction of the Butenop brothers, they were Danish.

The watches were constantly reconstructed with the development of progress in one or another field of mechanics, materials science and other sciences. But the melodies played by the chimes changed even more often. The coronation of the new sovereign, and subsequently the turbulent events of 17, changeable Soviet period The music played by the bells of the Spasskaya Tower was changed more than once. Today the clock plays two melodies - the Russian Anthem at the 6 and 12 o'clock positions, and Glory from the opera A Life for the Tsar at the 3 and 9 o'clock positions. The rest of the time there is a characteristic chime and a normal fight. Until 1937, the clock was wound manually twice a day, and then the process was mechanized by installing as many as three electric motors for the winding.

Today, the Kremlin chimes are one of the symbols of Russia, which, as in the old days, measure the course of the country’s history.

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For modern man speaking Russian, the word exists only in a stable phrase - the Moscow Kremlin, which marks every hour with a melodic chime. The striking of the clock is preceded by several chords that call every quarter of an hour. The adjective Kremlin is clear, but what exactly are chimes? In the dictionary of foreign words, chimes mean running. The explanation in relation to clock mechanisms is dubious: we say the clock is running when it shows the wrong time, longer than it actually is. This does not apply to the Kremlin chimes: this is a very precise mechanism by which the whole country compares its watches.

Let's turn to history. The word chimes is of foreign origin. However, in none of the European languages ​​are tower clocks with musical chimes called chimes:
in Polish - zegar wygrywajacy melodie (“a clock playing a melody”);
in German - Turmuhr mit Glockenspiel (“tower clock with bell chime”);
in French - horloge a carillon (“tower clock with a bell chime”);
in Italian - orologio a cariglione (“tower clock with bell chimes”).
Clocks with musical chimes appeared in Russia under Peter I on the bell tower of the old St. Isaac's Church, the predecessor of the current St. Isaac's Cathedral, as well as in Peter and Paul Fortress. However, at that time such clocks were not called chimes, but fighting or bell clocks. And yet, in one monument of this era we come across the expression chiming clock: “... from the aforementioned lightning, St. Petersburg caught fire, on which the spitz and the chiming clock burned down” (“Marching Journal”, 1721).
Was there a noun called chimes and what did it mean?
In the “Archive of Prince F.A. Kurakin” (1705) we read: “In Amsterdam there is a large clock on the town hall - the custom is this: every Monday the clockkeeper himself plays on that clock for half an hour after twelve, as he strikes different chimes, with his hands and feet, and then very difficult, since I could see in one case that I came into a great sweat.”
Here chimes mean musical pieces. The name comes from a dance tune originating in France: danse courante literally “running dance” (as opposed to ceremonial bowing dances). Presumably, the dance was considered extremely fashionable and popular - if its melody sounded not only in town halls, but also in bell towers. Over time, the dance went out of fashion and was forgotten, but its name continues to appear in the texts. For example, in “Arap of Peter the Great” by A. S. Pushkin: “This honored dance master was about 50 years old, his right leg was shot near Narva, and therefore was not very capable of minuets and chimes.” In “The Golovlev Gentlemen” (1875) by M. E. Saltykova-Shchedrin, Arina Petrovna says to her son: “My dear fellow, my money is not crazy; I didn’t acquire them through dancing and chimes, but through the backbone and then” (chapter “Family Court”). Nevertheless, the word chime ( female) as the name of an ancient dance is included in the seventeen-volume Dictionary of Modern Russian literary language(1948-1965), and the form of chimes (masculine) is characterized as obsolete.
In the second half of the 18th century, the word chimes was preserved only to designate simple melodies played manually or mechanically on tower clock bells. In the “Russian dictionary with German and French translations, composed by Ivan Nordstet,” the first volume of which was published in 1780, the Russian capital word chimes is translated as “ein Glockenspiel, un carillon,” that is, “bell chime.” Chimes were also the name given to a set of bells (or bells) on which a melody was played: “... he sent to ... the church and ordered that the dying song be played on the chimes located in the bell tower (magazine “Economic Store”, 1785, vol. 21). In “History of the Kingdom of Japan” (1789) we read: “They play flutes, harps, organs, trompettes, drums, tambourines, chimes and copper basins of various kinds.”
Already in the first half of the 18th century, the word chimes acquired another meaning - the mechanism of musical striking in clocks (including room clocks). The inventory of 1741 mentions “a large winding clock with chimes, in a wooden case, metalwork by master Stepan Yakovlev in St. Petersburg [made]” (“Materials for the history of the Imperial Academy of Sciences,” vol. 4). This meaning was preserved in G. Derzhavin’s poem “To the Portrait of N. A. Dyakov”:

Spiritual chime, ubiquitous:
Just start it
And go away
Plays heavenly arias.
This meaning of the word chimes, it seems, was the main one until the middle of the 19th century. Thus, in the French-Russian dictionary of I. I. Tatishchev (1827), the French verb carrillonner is translated as “to set the chimes so that they play.”
A. I. Herzen writes in a letter to N. A. Zakharyina on November 30, 1836: “Suddenly the clock with chimes began to strike loudly.” This meaning is recorded in the Dictionary of the Academy of Sciences (1847): “Chimes. 1. Music in the clock. Clock with chimes..."
If the tradition of such use of the word chimes continued to this day, it would naturally lead to the fact that music in mobile phones began to be called this word. However, this did not happen. Clocks with musical chimes somehow disappeared from everyday life and are preserved only as antiques (or a counterfeit of such), and the word chimes has firmly become fused with the Kremlin’s Spasskaya Tower and acquired a touch of solemn statehood.

(Candidate philological sciences N. Arapova)

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The Kremlin Tower, or Spasskaya, was built in 1491 according to the design of Pietro Antonio Solari, and it was added to in 1625. The appearance of the Kremlin chimes on the tower was recorded in the same year. The Kremlin chimes are rightfully considered the main clock to this day.

1.Initially, the creation of the Italian Pietro Antonio Solari was named in connection with the nearby church of Frol and Laurus. The year 1658 was marked by the publication of a special royal decree, the tower was renamed Spasskaya, the reason for this was the placement of the icon of the Savior Not Made by Hands above its gates. It turns out that the first chimes appeared not on the Spasskaya Tower, but on the Frolovskaya Tower.

2. According to experts in the science of etymology, chimes owe their meaning to “salon clocks with striking and music” to the French dance “courante”; it was performed in salons, of course, to music.

3. The exact date has not been recorded, but it is believed that the clocks have adorned the Kremlin towers before - starting from the 15th century.

4. The clock installed by the “master of the clock and water platoon of England” Christopher Galovey in 1624-1625 on the Spasskaya Tower has many references in various sources. The tower was built in the form of a tent by the architect Bazhen Ogurtsov, and we can see the chiming clock with striking, that is, “perechas”, located on it thanks to Galovey.

5. The “Aglitsky master” was paid for his work in a silver cup; among the gifts there was an atlas, a sable, and a marten. However, in 1626, a fire caused the death of the clock. Galovey built a second clock, with the same dial depicting the sky and stars, the sun and the moon. Moreover, the dial was divided into 17 parts - this was exactly the measure of time in that century.

6. Since December 9, 1706, a clock made by a Dutch master, which Peter the Great brought to Russia, has been striking time. This watch was not destined to survive to this day either - the fire again made itself felt.

7. The brothers-masters Butenop gave the chimes their familiar appearance; 150 years have passed since then. Johann and Nikolai Butenop were representatives of Danish citizenship; in Moscow they owned a factory for the production of threshers and winnowing machines; as it turned out, they were also able to master the production of watches.

8. The dial that the current watch has is a little over six meters in diameter, and the size of the hands is approximately twice the height of a man. In 1917, the watch was hit by a shell and was the reason for its new restoration.

9. Absolute time accuracy is hidden under a layer of earth, thanks to the connection of the chimes with a cable that is adjacent to the control clock of the Sternberg Moscow Astronomical Institute.

10. There are many songs in the “repertoire” of the main clock of the state. These include the German song about Lieber Augustine (an invention of a German master), the march of the Life Guards of the Preobrazhensky Regiment, and the Masonic hymn “How Glorious is Our Lord in Zion.” Until 1932, every day at exactly 12, “The Internationale” was performed for hours, and at midnight “You have fallen a victim” was played. During Yeltsin’s reign, the chimes played Glinka’s music, but now the anthem of the Russian Federation, written by Alexandrov.