18.09.2020

Hours of our life. Cathedral of the Apostles Peter and Paul of the Peter and Paul Fortress (photo tour) What did the chimes of the Peter and Paul Cathedral play after the revolution

It seemed to me that nothing could surprise me from climbing high-rise buildings. That summer was busy, almost all the most significant landmarks of the historical center of St. Petersburg were visited (St.

As you understand, we still climbed Petropavlovka, I want to tell you how we did it.

1. View towards Vasilyevsky Island

Walking around the fortress with Olya and tankizt "Oh, we decided to go to the museum of the Peter and Paul Cathedral, but we were refused, they said that the museum was closed, they offered to come another time. Then it was decided to look for other methods of getting into the Peter and Paul Tower. What would happen inside, we did not know what the road to the spire would be Same.

Quite simply and imperceptibly, Olya and I found ourselves first on the roof of the cathedral, and then went into the open window in the tower of the cathedral. Then there was a series of spiral staircases and not very, several doors, which, to our surprise, were open! A bunch of bells, a clock mechanism and other interesting things we passed by in the hope that the final door to the insides of the spire would not be closed. We were lucky, and we got to the last spiral staircase, which was already part of the spire. First thoughts - now there will be a hatch, we will get out into it, and then along the outer stairs to the Angel! But our hopes were dashed when we heard voices just above us.

It turned out that the watchmaker arranged an excursion for his acquaintances to the spire. People, two by two, climbed to the very top to the hatch, admired from it for several minutes and were replaced by others. Everyone went down satisfied, told about their impressions. We decided that we would not lose anything if we went up too. Having waited for our turn, we were the last to go up to the watchmaker, said hello and immediately began to photograph the views from the hatch. The watchmaker was surprised at us, asked who we were and how we got here. We said briefly - "We are photographers!". It was enough to hear the answer "I don't know who you are and how you got here, but you only have five minutes, then I have to leave, I'm already late."

There was little time, and there was only one lens - 10-20mm, so I managed to shoot a little, which I regret - beautiful views open up from there, which can be photographed on a telephoto for a long time.

2. frame down

After the spire, we went down with everyone, filmed everything that was on the way down. Below is a historical note.

3. towards Trinity Bridge

May 16, 1703 on the island of Lust-Eland (Yenisaari, Hare) in the Neva delta, the fortress of St. Peter - St. Peter-Burkh was laid. It was intended to protect the lands reclaimed during the Great Northern War with Sweden. The fortress was built according to a plan drawn up with the participation of Peter himself. According to the rules of fortification art, bastions were erected at its corners. Kronverk became the defense from land. By the end of 1703 the earthen walls of the fortress were erected, and in the spring in stone. They got their names from the names of the dignitaries who oversaw the construction. In the reign of Catherine II, the walls facing the Neva were lined with granite.

In 1712 on the site of the wooden church of the Apostles Peter and Paul, Trezzini laid a stone cathedral in the name of the chief apostles Peter and Paul (Peter and Paul), which became the burial place of the Russian Emperors. All emperors and empresses from Peter I to Alexander III inclusive were buried in the tomb, with the exception of Peter II, who died in Moscow in 1730, and Ivan VI, who was killed in Shlisselburg in 1764. According to the name of the cathedral, the fortress began to be called Peter and Paul, and its first name, which sounded in German St. Petersburg, was transferred to the city.

5. Golovkin Bastion and across the river the Military Historical Museum of Artillery, Engineering and Signal Corps.

In the entire history of the fortress, not a single combat shot was fired from its bastions (although this statement is controversial ... during the Great Patriotic War, anti-aircraft guns, machine guns and searchlights were placed on the territory of the fortress and they repelled enemy air raids). But the fortress was always ready to repulse enemies.

The main political prison of tsarist Russia was located on the territory of the fortress in the Trubetskoy bastion, it functioned from 1872 to 1921. Even in Petropavlovka there is one of the oldest industrial productions in the city - the Mint.

If we talk about the cathedral itself in modern times: the height of the cathedral is 122.5 m, the spire is 40 m, the hatch from which we shot is at a height of just over a hundred meters. The cathedral was consecrated on June 28, 1733, services are held according to a special schedule (since the 1990s, memorial services for Russian emperors have been regularly held in the Peter and Paul Cathedral, since 2000 - divine services, since Christmas 2008 services have been held regularly), the rest of the time it functions as a museum.

7. We start going down

The spire was damaged several times by a storm, the first time in 1777, the second in 1829. For the first time, the correction was carried out according to the drawings of arch. P. Yu. Paton. The new figure of an angel with a cross according to the drawing by A. Rinaldi was made by master K. Forshman. The second roofer Petr Telushkin made repairs without erecting scaffolding. The repair, carried out in October-November 1830, went down in the history of domestic technology as an example of Russian ingenuity and courage.

In 1856-1858. according to the project of engineer D. I. Zhuravsky, instead of a wooden one, a metal spire was built. Inside the spire, a spiral iron staircase leads to a hatch in the casing, arranged at a height of 100 m above the apple, a six-meter cross with an angel (sculptor R.K. Zaleman) The angel weather vane rotates around a rod installed in the plane of the figure itself. The volumetric parts of the angel are made by electroforming, the rest of the parts are stamped from forged copper. Gilding was carried out under the guidance of the chemist G. Struve by the gang of merchants Korotkovs. The height of the angel is 3.2 m, the wingspan is 3.8 m.

9. Outside the windows dial with arrows

10. Clockwork

At a height of 16 m, the shaft of the clock mechanism begins, going up to 30 m. Until the 20th century, weights were raised and lowered inside the shaft, providing a winding watch. The chiming clock for the cathedral was made by the Dutch master B. Oort Krass in 1760. With the help of bells, the clock played various melodies.

Now in the bell tower of the Peter and Paul Cathedral there is a set of bells unique in quantity and variety; authentic Dutch bells of the 19th-20th centuries, modern Flemish bells. In total, there are about 130 bells in the bell tower.

12. Hours - chimes. Performing 2 melodies, every hour (Kohl our Lord is glorious in Zion) and a melody (God save the Tsar) at 6 and 12 o'clock. The drum in the photo sets the melody.

During the Great Patriotic War, the spire of the Peter and Paul Cathedral was painted over with gray paint. The camouflage of the spire deprived the fascist artillery of a reference point for conducting aimed fire at the most strategically important objects.

According to the memoirs of M.M. Bobrov, a participant in camouflage work in the winter of 1941-1942, a "Corner of Besieged Leningrad" was made in the museum, which shows the conditions in which climbers lived in the cathedral under the stairs to the bell tower.

14. We go even lower

17. I don't know where the museum starts and ends, but these and the following photos were probably taken on its territory.

18. Tower structure

19. On the left is shown how the ascent to the angel was realized in 1830

20. When we went down to the first floor, we were met by a policewoman who told us at the very beginning that the museum was closed. This time she said smiling "Well, are you done yet?" We answered "That's it!" and went out to meet the upset Tankman (on the left in the photo). Upset because he didn't climb with us. (But today I saw photos in contact that he also climbed the other day, with which I congratulate him.)

21. That's all. The last photo is for those who do not know how the Peter and Paul Cathedral looks from the outside.

Thank you for your attention!

The first clock-chimes appeared on the first wooden Peter and Paul Church built in 1703-04. Actually, the clock itself was intended for the Trinity-Sergius Lavra in Moscow, but if Peter decided to move the capital closer to the borders of his possessions, then the clock was ordered to be delivered to St. Petersburg and placed in the bell tower ... However, the life of the first St. Petersburg clock-chimes was short-lived ...
For reference: in those years, the clock was significantly different from what we are used to now - the dial was divided into 17 parts, the minute hand, as such, was absent (what for, you ask?), the battle was carried out by one large bell and several small bells. Watches were an indispensable attribute of developed cities.

In 1714, the construction of the stone Peter and Paul Cathedral began under the strict guidance of the architect Domenico Trezzini. For the new bell tower, Peter I acquires another clock in Holland during his last trip to Europe. Soon they are installed on the bell tower by the watchmaker Andrey Ferzen, but ... the office, considering that the artisans no longer need to be kept at the clock (and what will happen to them, with the clock, then?), They fire everyone and the clockwork, having lost proper care, soon breaks down. .. This is what Trezzini addresses to the Office of City Affairs: “It is now necessary to disassemble and repair the large clock that is placed on the bell tower of the Holy Church of Peter and Paul, for which cleaning is necessary for weapons ... blacksmiths who used to be in that case or the other four man at the request of the watchmaker Andrey Ferzen".

We immediately stumble upon the graves of the royal relatives. These were buried during the life of Peter - the second grave of the son of the king - Alexei Petrovich.

Where do you think the tradition of burying those close to power in the walls came from?))
Interestingly, the clock installed on the bell tower of the Peter and Paul Cathedral was equipped with a special mechanism - a carillon, with which various melodies could be played on the bells. The word "chimes" comes from the French word "carillon" meaning a set of bells of different sizes and systems. The bells were placed on the bell tower, and were connected to the mechanism of the clock tower or the keyboard by a cable system.
The clock of the Peter and Paul Cathedral had 35 bells, and all of them had two hammers and one tongue - that is, the clock itself, the carillon and the bell ringer issued a separate chime. Russian bells were not suitable for carillon, so all the bells were cast in Holland.

Rising even higher...

In 1756, the wooden spire of the Peter and Paul Cathedral burned down, and with it the bells and chimes burned down. Queen Elizaveta Petrovna, who ruled at that time, ordered Count G.I. Golovkin to find and buy a finished watch or order a mechanism from some master. Soon, the enterprising Golovkin finds watchmaker Bernard Ootkras in Holland and concludes a contract with him for the manufacture of clocks for the bell tower of the Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg. If the master had known that now his whole life would become a complete nightmare, he would have run away from the strange Russian and his no less strange and amazing proposal...

But, having a different mentality, Oortkras meticulously, scrupulously, completed the order on time. On April 22, 1760, the watch was examined and found fit for use. August 28, 1760, on a chartered Dutch ship "Frau Maria", Oortkras delivers them to St. Petersburg.

And, finally, we reach a height of 16 meters from the ground (or from sea level?) - there is a small exhibition on the history of the bell tower of the Peter and Paul Cathedral - right in front of us is the skeleton of an angel on the spire. The frame is completely real. The angel stood for about 140 years and was completely replaced by the 300th anniversary of St. Petersburg

According to the terms of the contract, the terms of work on the clock were strictly stipulated, but upon arrival at the installation site, it suddenly turns out that there is no trace of the bell tower yet. The clock (so as not to spoil the mechanism) was placed in a small wooden house, which was built especially for them on the territory of the Peter and Paul Fortress, but, as usual, everything went wrong - either there were not enough boards, or they were stolen ... The house turned out to be much less than expected. The oversized watch barely fit in it. On top of that, Oortkras was ordered to wind up the clock in order to check its performance. Reluctantly, fulfilling the terms of the contract, the master rebuilds the house at his own expense and carries out all the manipulations with the mechanism.

From here begins the staircase inside the bell tower itself.

In order for the stubborn Dutchman to behave more quietly, he was assigned as an overseer, the watchmaker Drunk Miller, who experienced professional envy of his talented colleague and could not forgive the master that the order for making chimes "floated" out of his hands. In every possible way preventing Oortkras from working, unscrupulously accusing him of theft, incompetence, laziness and negligence, Miller ensured that the master was no longer paid a salary. As a result, Oortkras worked for free for two years and died in poverty from nervous exhaustion on May 27, 1764, without ever seeing his brainchild on the bell tower.

After the death of its creator, the clock lay idle for several years. In 1776, they were entrusted to the Viennese watchmaker Rediger, who completed them, noting that "they do honor to their creator." In the same year, the chimes were placed in the tower, and from that time on, the inhabitants of St. Petersburg began to hear the chimes emitted by the clock. The chimes worked without any significant intervention and repair for almost 64 years.

16 meters above ground, balcony above the colonnade of the west porch.
Pay attention to the swastika.))

There is a legend that before the start of the war (the Great Patriotic War), intelligence reported to Hitler about this beauty at the cathedral in the very center of the city of Leningrad. Hitler, seeing this as a good sign, forbade shooting at the cathedral on pain of death, which was done. Of course, random shells hit the territory of the fortress, but the cathedral remained intact.
True or false - who knows - correct!
In 1854, the clock was pulled out of the bell tower, the spire of which, by that time, had tilted significantly. They were placed until better times in the Kronverk bastion. In 1857, the architect D.I. Zhuravsky began to replace the wooden spire of the Peter and Paul Cathedral with a metal one, with a partial reconstruction of the lower dome of the bell tower, on which the chimes were placed. And since the watch, which had already served for over 81 years, did not have a major overhaul, it was decided to carry it out. Leading watch companies in Russia tried to get this order, but Zhuravsky preferred the Butenop Brothers firm. The company undertook to fix, update and improve the mechanism, install minute hands (which simply did not exist), make an internal dial on which one could put the hands on the outside. A new pendulum was made and the bell ring was reconstructed.

October 29, 1858 the clock was installed on the bell tower of the Peter and Paul Cathedral. The manufacturer left a two-year warranty on them, as well as detailed instructions for use, settings and amendments - in Russian.
After 48 years of continuous operation, the clock was again repaired, which lasted from June 26 to July 12, 1906. After the 1917 coup, the clock was stopped.
The revolutionary-minded masses, under the leadership of the composer M.I. Chulaki, tried to set them up for the performance of the Internationale, but failed ... the bells were subjected to mechanical processing, due to which some of them were ruined.

In 1947, steeplejacks carried out work on the automation of the winding of the chimes, which until that time were wound manually, with the help of several healthy serfs or, later, prisoners of the fortress. The plant was enough for a day.
At the same time, quarter chimes were launched and, in fact, the striking of the clock, tying the chimes to the lower, so-called "Russian" belfry.
The melody performance mechanism was launched in 2002. The “Russian” belfry was given to the ringers, and the clock began to “play” the Dutch bells, on the “Dutch” belfry, which is located just above the clock faces. Every hour, the chimes play the melody "How glorious is our Lord in Zion", and every six - "God save the king." Because of this motive, the Bolsheviks at one time, violently shot dials and bells with rifles. In some places there were holes and marks - for a long, good memory ...

Left below.

And we are going higher. Staircase to the "Russian" belfry...

And above - in hours.

Russian bells - now only the ringer plays them.

Small bells on the "Russian" belfry.

Clock mechanism. Size rather big - 3 x 3 meters!
Located at a height of 45 meters from the ground, indoors. The room temperature is maintained positive around the clock, with the help of several thermal fans, otherwise the clock freezes and starts to behave unpredictably.

The inscription "the clock was remade in 1858 by the Butenop brothers in Moscow" is clearly visible - for overhaul they were dismantled and sent in parts to Moscow. I can hardly imagine how they were pulled out and then, lifted and collected. You must have unmeasured strength, and heroic health - after all, there is no elevator in the bell tower.)) Up and down - everything is on the stairs ...

A gear that tracks the sound of a large hour bell.

Inner dial added by the Butenop brothers in order to see the position of the hands on the outdoor dials, of which there are four pieces, oriented to the cardinal points. One floor above there is a distribution mechanism.

Escape gear and balancer - do not let the clock rush.

Another gear.

Well, it was necessary to come up with this ... It doesn’t fit in my head. Everything here is quite complicated, but it works like clockwork.))

Bass drum melodies centrifugal regulator. Before starting to play hourly melodies, the mechanism cocks itself and begins to rotate at a frantic speed. This crap kills speed. When it breaks for some reason, it starts to gouge several times faster, it turns out some kind of parody of the chimes.

Centrifuge from the snare drum in charge of the quarter beat.

The quarter beat drum is a kind of music box.

The music box is more serious. Drum with dialed melodies "How glorious is our Lord in Zion" and "God Save the Tsar".

Well, everything seems to be ... it's time to say goodbye to the clock, I'm going down, but then I notice one more interesting detail ...

Behind the clock is a spiral staircase to the switchgear, and in front of it is one of eight internal rods that support the spire in a vertical position.

She's closer...

And eight more rods inside the wall (they are considered external). The engineering genius of Dmitry Zhuravsky, who replaced the wooden spire with a metal structure, built on the principle of bridge trusses, still arouses genuine admiration. After all, if for some reason the spire deviates from its vertical axis, it can always be returned to its previous position with the help of ...

Here is this sickly wrench)))
But they have never been used. The construction of the spire is very durable. In strong winds, which St. Petersburg is famous for, the spire, together with the angel-weather vane, "walks" about half a meter on the sides.

Well, I got out of the cathedral.

Of course, citizens and guests of the city walking along Nevsky can keep track of the time by the clock on the Duma. Dials on the Admiralty tower are visible from afar. But still, the chimes of the Peter and Paul Fortress Cathedral have long been considered the main ones in St. Petersburg. The keeper of this watch, mechanical engineer Andrey Kudryavtsev (pictured), monitors the accuracy of the St. Petersburg time. With him on the bell tower of the cathedral on the eve of the New Year and Christmas rose the correspondents of "St. Petersburg Vedomosti".

PHOTO Alexander DROZDOV

The clock has been adjusted for centuries, 158 years have passed since its overhaul, - says Kudryavtsev, who has been acting as the keeper of the chimes of the Peter and Paul Cathedral for almost two decades. - However, they require constant care: wiping parts, changing lubricants, monitoring the accuracy of the stroke.

Before starting this work, the mechanic must walk 280 steps up to a height of 47 meters, where the clock's massive gear mechanism is installed. This time we are going up with him. The excursion along the stairs of the bell tower is also very interesting. At the level of 16 meters is the attic of the cathedral. It sounds rude, but that's the way it is, then the steeple of the bell tower rises above the cathedral.

The attic rooms of the cathedral are used. It is here that part of the largest collection of bells in St. Petersburg, which is possessed by the Museum of the History of the City, is located, it includes 131 copies. The collection was assembled for three centuries - from the founding of the city, the construction of which, as you know, began with the construction of the Peter and Paul Fortress. The first carillon - a musical mechanism for clocks with bells - was brought to Petropavlovka during its construction. Later, bells for the cathedral were cast both in Russia and in other countries. Many of them are still in the collection of the cathedral.

In the very same bell tower in 2001, a gift from the Belgian province of Flanders was installed - 51 bells for four octaves. This is in addition to others. And now a unique three-level ringing is heard from the bell tower of the Peter and Paul Cathedral - as they say, this is not found anywhere else in the world. On the first levels, modern bells from Flanders are installed, and above - a Russian belfry.

However, not so many bells are involved in the musical block of the clock: 14 are driven by a large drum, which starts a melody every hour, and 9 bells are driven by a small one, which includes a chime at a quarter of an hour.

The mechanism of the clock-chimes with all their gears, musical drums, shafts and cables is placed on a base measuring 3 by 3 meters and occupies almost the entire space of the room allotted for it in the spire. The master has very little space to bypass the mechanism and care for the watch.

On all four sides there is an inscription: "The clock was remade in 1858 by the Butenop brothers in Moscow." And the first clock-chimes appeared on the wooden Peter and Paul Church, built in 1703-1704. However, when the architect Domenico Trezzini began to build the cathedral, Tsar Peter, after traveling around Europe, brought another carillon from Holland, which was installed in the clock on the spire of the cathedral. But in 1756, the wooden spire burned down, and with it the Peter's clock. Then Empress Elizaveta Petrovna ordered to order new ones, Count Golovkin found the master again in Holland. In August 1760, the clock was delivered by ship to St. Petersburg on a special flight, but the bell tower had not yet been restored. The clock lay for a long time in a house specially built for them on the territory of the fortress, they were installed on the spire of the cathedral several decades later. But it is this watch, redesigned by the Butenop brothers, that now shows the time and plays melodies.

A major overhaul of the clock was started in 1857 in connection with the replacement of the wooden spire of the Peter and Paul Cathedral with a metal one. In October 1858, the clock was installed in its place. By the way, only then did they have a minute hand, before that there was only an hour hand, and the bells beat the quarters of an hour.

Then people were in no hurry and did not follow the minutes, - Andrey Kudryavtsev explains. - Where is the hurry? Tick-tock, tick-tock - here it is, eternity.

As if in response to the master, a small musical drum spun in the clock and a quarter chime rang out over the Peter and Paul Fortress.

There are several melodies in the music box of the clock. In addition to the quarter chimes, every hour the chimes perform the church melody of the composer Bortnyansky "How glorious is our Lord in Zion."

The work was used in the 17th - 18th centuries as an anthem before the adoption of the official "God Save the Tsar". But the official anthem of Tsarist Russia has not been forgotten either, it is played every six hours.

In Soviet times, the watch was retrained to perform the Internationale, and since 1952 - the Anthem of the Soviet Union. To do this, some of the bells were machined so that they took the right note. True, those who remember know that the clock was still very fake. In 1989, the melodies were turned off, only hourly intervals were beaten off and quarter chimes sounded. In the early 2000s, the instrument was tuned to pre-revolutionary melodies.

However, not only the musical program changed in the clock mechanism. In 1947, four round antique weights (the largest weighing half a ton), which set the movement of the gears, as in grandmother's walkers, were replaced with lighter ones - "square". For the durability of the mechanism: the greater the weight, the greater the wear on the gears. Old weights are stored in the same place as the collection of bells - in the attic of the cathedral.

And the accuracy of the stroke sets the pendulum. Compared to the hands on the dial (minute, for example, one and a half meters), the pendulum is much smaller, no more than a meter. And the amplitude of its "ticking" is small, only three dozen centimeters.

The greater the amplitude, the less accurate the clock, explains Kudryavtsev.

The accuracy of the movement is periodically checked, if necessary, the mechanism is adjusted using a very small brass dial with a diameter of 30 cm, mounted on the watch frame. The given stroke from the pendulum is transmitted by means of gears to the shafts, which in turn transmit the movement to the arrows on the dials mounted on all four sides of the spire. These dials are not small, their diameter is 2.2 meters.

Of course, caring for an old clock is not an easy job, especially since it is done without stopping them. It would seem easier to install electronic ones.

Electronic - they are not alive, - says mechanic Andrey Kudryavtsev. - At one time, an electronic clock was launched on the Duma building. But then the owners of the building turned to me with a request to start the old, weight-lifting ones, they said that the whole mechanism was preserved. I looked and said that this was impossible, since the weight shafts were already filled with engineering networks. With that, he left. After some time, a new call: we liberated the mines. And now a real mechanical watch shows the time on the Duma.

Before leaving, we take a farewell glance at the clock mechanism: the pendulum is ticking, the gears are sorted out with their teeth and teeth, chains with weights go down a few meters, musical drums are spinning, preparing to once again set the melody to the bells. The clock is really alive.

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Somehow I never set out to get to the Bell Tower of the Peter and Paul Cathedral. I didn't really know that it was possible to get there. It's embarrassing, of course. It turns out that you can get there only with a guided tour and at a certain time (Tours start at 11.30 Moscow time, 13.00 Moscow time, 14.30 Moscow time, 16.00 Moscow time) The cost of tickets for adults is 130 rubles, students - 70 rubles, pensioners - 60 rubles. The number of tickets sold is limited .

The oldest church in St. Petersburg is the Peter and Paul Cathedral. A small wooden church in the name of the Apostles Peter and Paul was founded on Hare Island a month after the founding of the city, on July 12 (June 29), 1703, and on April 14, 1704 it was completed and consecrated in the name of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul. According to the memoirs of contemporaries, it was "cross-shaped in appearance and about three pins, on which pennants were raised on Sundays and holidays, it was painted with yellow marble to look like a stone." In 1712, when St. Petersburg became the capital of the Russian Empire, construction began on its site.
stone Peter and Paul Cathedral designed by the first architect of the city Dominico Trezzini. Peter hurried the builders with the erection of the bell tower, and already in August 1721 he and his associates climbed the bell tower and admired the city under construction and the panorama of the banks of the Neva and the Gulf of Finland. Chamber junker F. V. Berkhholz, who visited St. Petersburg at that time, wrote in his diary: “The fortress church ... it has a bell tower in a new style, covered with copper, brightly gilded sheets, which are unusually good in sunlight. But inside this temple is not yet completely finished..

Work on the construction of the wooden spire was completed by the end of 1724, and at the same time, chimes were installed on the bell tower, bought by Peter I in 1720 in Holland for huge money at that time - 45,000 rubles. The historian Ruban says this about this clock: “there are 35 large and small sentry bells on this clock. Each bell has two hammers and one tongue. Clock chimes play with hammers, and noon chimes play with tongues, driven by human hands.

The top of the spire of the bell tower was crowned with the figure of the patron angel of the city. Domenico Trezzini proposed to install an angel on top of the bell tower. The architect made a drawing according to which the work was done. That angel was different from the one that exists now. It was made in the form of a weather vane, the figure of an angel held the axle with two hands, in which the turning mechanisms were placed.

authentic frame and turning mechanism of an 1858 weather vane angel.

The height of the Angel is 3.2 meters, and its wingspan is 3.8 meters.

Even the angel on the spire of the Peter and Paul Fortress could have looked different (in the photo - Trezzini's original drawing), and the fortress itself was taken at least three times - and in 1925, by the decision of the Leningrad City Council, it was almost demolished, like the Paris Bastille. Fortunately, the project of the stadium, which was going to be built in its place, was never approved.

The second angel of the spire of the Peter and Paul Cathedral died during a hurricane in 1778. A strong wind broke the figure, the turning mechanism was damaged. The third angel was designed by Antonio Rinaldi. He combined the center of gravity of the angel and the cross, now the figure did not "fly" holding the cross with both hands, but seemed to be sitting on it. In addition, the angel ceased to function as a weather vane. He continued to rotate under the influence of the wind, but the effort for this had to be applied much more. The rotation of the figure was now only necessary to reduce its windage. The construction of the cathedral itself continued until 1733 (21 years). In 1733 the cathedral was consecrated under the Empress Anna Ioannovna. The completion of the construction of the cathedral was led by Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli. The grand opening and consecration of the cathedral took place on June 29, 1733.

The height of the bell tower is 122.5 meters. Volutes seem to serve as a continuation of the western wall, repeating the outlines of the decorative eastern wall. They create a smooth transition from the volume of the cathedral to the first tier of the bell tower; the outlines of the next two volumes of the bell tower, placed one on top of the other, smoothly pass through a small dome and a drum cut through by windows into a light, swift spire. The original height of the bell tower was 106 meters; in the 19th century, the wooden structure of the spire was replaced by a metal one. The spire was lengthened at the same time by 16 meters, which emphasized the slenderness of the bell tower, without violating the general proportional relationships.

The wooden spire did not have a lightning rod, and fires were repeatedly caused by lightning strikes. A particularly strong fire was on the night of April 29-30, 1756. The spire that caught fire collapsed, and the chimes perished. The fire engulfed the attics and the wooden dome (the iconostasis was quickly dismantled and carried out), the masonry of the walls gave cracks, and the bell tower was forced to be dismantled to the windows of the first tier.
In 1766, it was decided to restore the bell tower "... to do it exactly as it was before, since all other plans are not so beautiful." The work continued for 10 years. During the restoration, the size of the dome was reduced, the shape of the roof was simplified.

In 1776, a chiming clock was installed on the bell tower

The chimes of the Peter and Paul Cathedral are the oldest outdoor clock in the city of St. Petersburg.
It is almost a mechanical computer from the middle of the 18th century.
Every quarter they beat the quarter chime. Four different musical phrases.
Every hour they play the melody "How glorious is our Lord in Zion", and
every six hours - "God save the king."
And everything happens automatically!”

Empress Elizaveta Petrovna ordered the Chancellery to take care of the construction of court houses and gardens to create new clocks similar to those that had burned down. In a letter dated May 11, 1856, the Chairman of the Chancellery on the Construction, Count Fermor, asked the envoy to Holland, Privy Councilor Count Golovkin, to find ready-made clocks for placing them in the Peter and Paul Fortress. If it was not possible to find ready-made ones, it was supposed to order them again from the best masters. At that time, O. Crassus was very famous. It was he who in 1750 created the famous perpendicular clock for the elector in Cologne. The Governing Senate entrusted him with the creation of a new watch, ordering Count Golovkin to conclude a contract with him on the terms that Crassus submitted to the Governing Senate for consideration.

The contract was concluded on July 7, 1757, and O. Crass set to work. Already in November 1759, he notified Count Golovkin that by April next year the work on creating the clock mechanism would be fully completed and asked that by this time everything be ready in St. Petersburg for installing the clock on the Peter and Paul Bell Tower. In addition, Oort Krass expressed doubt that one apprentice would be enough for him to successfully install the clock on the bell tower, as was stipulated in the contract. Therefore, he asked Count Golovkin for permission to take four more apprentices to St. Petersburg and take their maintenance, as well as salaries, to the account of the Russian government. Count Golovkin agreed and on December 11, 1759 concluded an agreement with Crassus, which, due to the count's illness, was signed by his son and sealed with the seal of the embassy.

In 1760, as promised by the master Crassus, the clock was completely ready. After the clock arrived in Petersburg, Crassus was in for great grief. The bell tower, for which the clock was created, was not only not completed, but the construction did not even begin. Therefore, to accommodate the clock, it was decided to build a wooden house 4 soots wide. and a height of 6 ars. Oort Crassus was instructed by the office of the building to collect and force to put into action the entire complex huge mechanism, which was intended for a tower 26 sazhens high, in this small house. Therefore, many details that were created based on a high bell tower had to be completely redone.
Crassus was promised a reward only after the clock was set. The master remained in St. Petersburg, spent all the money to maintain the mechanism in working order, due to serious troubles in April 1764. Crassus fell very ill and died on May 27 of the same year .. So sadly ended his life in a foreign land, an outstanding mechanic who was known throughout Europe.
His death stopped the final setting of the clock for a long time. In 1765, a free watchmaker Johann Ridiger was found in St. Petersburg, who was instructed to assemble the clock and then install it on the bell tower. After inspecting the watch, Ridiger announced that the design of the watch was very successful and that it would take no more than 2 months to bring its movement into action. However, Ridiger's conditions were accepted by the Chancellery on the structure only in 1776.

At the end of 1776, the inhabitants of the capital again heard the music that they had lost in a fire exactly 20 years earlier. According to Ruban, the chime of the clock was as follows:
- half a quarter clock strikes a few bells a little;
- a quarter of an hour a few bells strike a small chime;
- for half an hour they play many bells a small chime in half a tone;
- the hour chimes play all the bells in full tone;
- a small bell is beaten for half an hour;
- at the end of the hour, the big bell is struck.

To this day, the clock mechanism has come down almost unchanged.

True, in 1856 it was overhauled, and minute hands were installed on the dials of the bell tower. Before that, it was possible to determine the time by the chimes only approximately: clockwise and a quarter chime. The only element that has been touched by technological progress is the mechanism for lifting weights, they set in motion musical drums and the clock itself. For almost two hundred years, four weights weighing 450 kilograms each were lifted by hand using a winch. Since the forties of the last century, this work has been performed by an electric motor.

In Soviet times, watches tried to teach new songs. Soviet ideologists could not allow the sound of “God Save the Tsar” to be heard over Leningrad. And since 1937, the chimes began to play the "Internationale", and from 1952 to 1989 - the anthem of the Soviet Union. True, not every hour, but only four times a day (at 6 am, at 12 noon, at 6 pm and at 12 am). In addition, apparently, for ideological reasons, the chiming mechanism was then connected not to the Dutch belfry, as it was before the revolution, but to the Russian one. On Russian bells, unlike Dutch ones, it is impossible to play melodies by notes. They "sound like a chord" and are intended exclusively for church chimes. Therefore, playing the "Internationale" and the anthem of the Soviet Union, the chimes were desperately out of tune. Then, for more than ten years, the chimes did not sing at all - they only chimed the time and quarter chimes.

The melodies originally intended for chimes resounded over Petropavlovka only five years ago.

But in 1830 there was a daredevil - a roofer Petr Telushkin. Having shown resourcefulness and fearlessness, he managed to climb the spire without any scaffolding with the help of ropes. At the base of the cross, he fixed a rope ladder and climbed the spire daily for six weeks to repair the figure of the angel and the cross.

In 1829, during a storm, the sheets were torn off the cross, and the wings of the angel were damaged. An expensive restoration with the preliminary construction of scaffolding was coming. At this time, the roofing master Pyotr Telushkin submitted a written statement that he undertakes to repair all the damage in the cross and the angel of the cathedral without building scaffolding. Telushkin, like a poor artisan, having no collateral necessary for contractors for construction work, “mortgaged,” as Sankt-Peterburgskie Vedomosti put it, “his life to secure the work he had taken over.” He did not appoint a certain remuneration for his work, leaving the authorities to establish its value, but asked only for the issuance of 1471 rubles for the materials that he would need in the manufacture of repairs. Telushkin's proposal was accepted, although no one believed in a favorable outcome of his enterprise. Nevertheless, Telushkin did the job he had taken on, showing extraordinary physical strength, dexterity and quick wits.

For his work he was paid from one to five thousand rubles in banknotes. President of the Academy of Arts A.N. Olenin introduced Telushkin to Tsar Nicholas I, who rewarded the brave roofer with money and a silver medal on the Annensky ribbon with the inscription "For Diligence".

There is a legend that Telushkin was also presented with a letter, seeing which they were obliged to pour for free in any tavern, but he lost it; then he was given a special brand under his right cheekbone, on which Telushkin, when he came to a drinking establishment, snapped his fingers - from here a characteristic gesture denoting drinking alcohol allegedly went. The event described in the legend would have been quite probable for the reign of Peter I, but it is unlikely for the reign of Nicholas I, so it is most likely an element of urban folklore.

In 1857 - 1858, the wooden structures of the spire were replaced with metal ones according to the project of the prominent scientist and engineer D. I. Zhuravsky. Metal structures were made in the Urals at the Votkinsk plant, they were transported in parts to St. Petersburg, partially assembled on the square in front of the cathedral, and then raised to the bell tower. The spire is made of a metal frame sheathed with gilded copper sheets. Its height was 47 meters, weight - 56 tons. Inside there is a staircase for 2/3 of the height, then there is an exit to the outside, brackets lead to the end of the spire. The total height of the spire with the cross and the figure of an angel was 122.5 meters. It is still the tallest architectural structure in St. Petersburg. The design is designed for vibrations in the horizontal plane up to 90 centimeters. Due to the rotation of the Earth, it sways constantly, but for all the time the spire has shifted to the side by only 3 centimeters. They replaced the figure of an angel, the figure slightly changed its appearance, it is in the form created then that you can see the angel to this day. When replacing the structures of the spire, the chimes are also reconstructed. A minute hand is added to the clock, the chimes are reconfigured to play two melodies ("How glorious is our Lord" and "God save the Tsar").

The multi-tiered bell tower of the cathedral is crowned with a spire upholstered in gilded copper sheets, which ends with a weather vane in the form of a figure of a flying angel with a cross. The Peter and Paul Cathedral is the tallest building in St. Petersburg, except for the tower of the TV center. The height of the cathedral is 122.5 meters, the height of the spire is 40 meters, the height of the figure of an angel is 3.2 meters, and its wingspan is 3.8 meters.

In the summer of 2001 in St. Petersburg, one of the most beautiful and powerful instruments in the world was installed on the bell tower of the Cathedral of St. Peter and Paul: 51 bells, designed for four octaves. Such a carillon was presented by Flanders to our city.

We still consider the word "carillon" foreign, although Peter the Great brought the first carillons from Holland to St. Petersburg - to the bell tower of St. Isaac's Cathedral and to the Peter and Paul Fortress (both have not survived), - explained Sergey Alekseevich Starostenkov, Vice President of the Association of Bell Art of Russia , researcher at the Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography. Peter the Great (Kunstkamera). - The second carillon for Petropavlovka was cast in 1760 and ceased to sound more than 150 years ago (now it is being restored). Both in Europe and in St. Petersburg, the same bells were used for playing by means of the keyboard (carillon) and for mechanical ringing (chimes). Therefore, contemporaries perceived the carillon as part of the clock-chimes and called it differently: "playing clock", "playing machine", "manual chimes", "colossus that is controlled by hands and feet", "organ clock", etc.

The construction of a new, Flemish carillon began in 1994 on the initiative of Mr. Jo Haasen, director of the Royal Carillon School named after Jef Deneuin (Mechelen, Flanders, Kingdom of Belgium). He fell in love with our city so much that he not only married a Petersburger and learned Russian, but also raised 300 thousand dollars to make a carillon from 353 sponsors from all over the world - from Flanders, Belgium, the Netherlands, Russia, England, France, the USA, New Zealand and even Japan. The Belgian Queen Fabiola donated 1 million Belgian francs for the largest of the bells (diameter 1695 mm, weighs more than 3 tons!) , and ordinary Flemings gave one or two francs. Many bells were cast with private donations, including the smallest one (diameter 190 mm, weight 10.3 kg). Bell number 31 bears the name of Jo Haazen and his wife Natasha - as well as other donors. Among the sponsors are several Russian ones, including Mikhail Peskov, soloist of the Mariinsky Theater Orchestra. In the Royal Bell Foundry "Petit & Fritzen" (Netherlands), entire slogans were also cast on the bells, for example: "Let this bell ring for the glory of Russia!" Eternal memory to the Russians and Flemings who fell in Krasnoe Selo in the war of 1941-1945" (note: they fought on opposite sides of the front ...).

Most of all in St. Petersburg I love the Peter and Paul Fortress. The air is cleaner here, the atmosphere is different, the water is different, the people are different, with a different mentality, - expressively explains Jo Haazen. - Some kind of mysticism ... Maybe it's all because of the angel on the spire. Maybe because of the extraordinary beauty! Or maybe due to the fact that my last name is translated into Russian as "Zaitsev" - that's why Zayachy Island is especially close to me ...

The carillon is not a Catholic instrument, but a secular instrument, Mr. Jo Haazen explained. - You can play different melodies on the carillon: original baroque music, romantic music of the 19th century and modern rhythms, music of the 20th century, even folklore motifs ... My favorite music is from the opera "Prince Igor" by Borodin, and many, I know, like lyrical melodies. And the carillon has such a wide range of sound that it allows you to play any music. We have carillon concerts in Mechelen on Saturday, Sunday, Monday, it has long become a city tradition. I hope that soon the same tradition will appear in St. Petersburg - carillon concerts in the Peter and Paul Fortress will become regular, I will do my best for this.

Now on the belfry of the Peter and Paul Cathedral there is a unique building, the only one in the world, with three levels of ringing: two carillons (new Flemish and old Dutch, XVIII century, its 18 bells will soon "work" as chimes) and an Orthodox belfry, another 22 bells, about hundreds of bells!

Above the carillon is the so-called church bell or, as it is mistakenly called, the “Russian belfry”, although the belfry is not a set of bells, but a bell-bearing structure made in the form of a wall with bells hanging on it.

The bell ringing of the Peter and Paul Cathedral includes one of the heaviest surviving historical bells of St. Petersburg - a 5-ton evangelist. This bell was cast under Nicholas II in Gatchina at the Lavrov bell foundry and brought to the cathedral. And at the same plant, medium and small bells of Russian bell ringing were cast.

Due to some circumstances that are not clear to us now, the church bell ringing of the Peter and Paul Cathedral was in some desolation even before the revolution. Many bells were broken, many hung uselessly. And the ringing itself was quite "motley". The history of the largest bell is interesting. It was cast from an old bell cast under Tsars Ioann Alekseevich and Pyotr Alekseevich around the 80s of the 17th century. By the will of Tsar Peter the Great, he was moved from somewhere to the new capital, St. Petersburg.

Russian bells adapted for performance
melodies of the anthem of the Soviet Union

Big Annunciation Bell
clock hammer attached to it

The bell set of the Peter and Paul Cathedral is one of the few that survived after the revolution, and in fact most of the bells were melted down in the late 20s and early 30s. The "second wave" of the death of bells - the years of the so-called "thaw", they are also the period of exacerbation of the persecution of the Church.

It is difficult to say why the bells were preserved in the Cathedral of Peter and Paul. Perhaps they hung too high. Or maybe they were not of particular value for remelting: their total weight is only 8 or 9 tons, which is not much.

Above the Russian church bells, in an octagonal superstructure under the spire, there is another completely unique set of bells - Dutch tuned chimes of the middle - end of the 18th century, during the reign of Catherine II.

Under the Soviet regime, it was decided that the clock of the Peter and Paul Cathedral should play the anthem of the Soviet Union - "Unbreakable Union of Free Republics." But the local party organs forbade the anthem to be played on the upper bells, which were specially tuned for playing hourly melodies, because they considered it a flagrant disgrace to play the USSR anthem on foreign-made bells.

And an unheard-of decision was made: for the performance of the melody of the anthem of the Soviet Union, to adapt the bells of the Russian church ringing. They were added in quantity, outweighed, undermined, connected to a specially made clock mechanism ... A hammer was attached to a large 5-ton evangelist - and it struck the clock. For the first time the anthem of the USSR was performed on these bells in 1952.