The Tsar Cannon in the Moscow Kremlin is an unsolved mystery. Tsar Cannon and Tsar Bell Why Tsar Cannon

This powerful weapon, located on Ivanovskaya Square, is a monument to Russian artillery. The largest in caliber in the world, it has become a monument to foundry.

From the history of the Tsar Cannon in Moscow

The Tsar Cannon in Moscow was cast at the Cannon Yard in 1586 during the reign of Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich by Russian master Andrei Chokhov. A weapon was created for the defense of the Kremlin and therefore was installed on a log flooring (roll) on Red Square near Lobnoye Mesto. They brought it here on 200 horses, dragging the gun over logs. To move it, there are four brackets on each side of the trunk for attaching ropes. Later, the wooden beams on which the gun stood were replaced with stone ones. As the Pole Samuil Matskevich wrote, “In the Russian capital lies huge gun. So big that Polish soldiers hide inside it from the rain...” Later the gun was in different places Kremlin. And when the Kremlin Palace of Congresses was built, it was moved to Ivanovskaya Square to the Cathedral of the Twelve Apostles. Although it is believed that this formidable weapon was intended for the defense of the Kremlin, many researchers believe that it was unlikely to cope with this task. Such weapons are used only for destroying walls.

Description of the Tsar Cannon in Moscow

Now the powerful weapon is on a decorative cast-iron carriage, and next to it lie hollow decorative cast-iron cannonballs weighing 1.97 tons, cast in 1835 (the gun cannot fire such cannonballs). The gun is cast from bronze, the carriage is cast iron. At the vent on the right side is depicted Fyodor Ivanovich on horseback wearing a crown and with a scepter in his hand. Above the image is the inscription: “By the grace of God, King, Grand Duke Fyodor Ivanovich, Sovereign Autocrat of All Great Russia." According to one version, thanks to the image of Fyodor Ivanovich, the Tsar Cannon got its name. According to another version, it is called that way because large sizes. The gun was also called the “Russian Shotgun”, since it was designed to fire “shot” (buckshot).

The length of the gun is 5.34 m, the outer diameter of the barrel is 120 cm. The caliber is 890 mm. Weight - 39.31 tons. On the left side there is an inscription: “The cannon was made by cannon litts Ondrei Chokhov.” Some experts believe that the great weapon never fired, but was made in order to frighten foreigners, including the ambassadors of the Crimean Tatars. Examination of the gun in 1980 at the Artillery Academy named after. Dzerzhinsky showed that the Tsar Cannon is a bombard and is designed to fire stone cannonballs. The weight of the stone core was about 819 kg, and a cast iron core of this caliber weighs 1970 kg. An examination of the gun bore showed the presence of gunpowder particles. This means that the famous gun was fired at least once.

Copies of the Tsar Cannon

In the spring of 2001, by order of the Moscow government, a copy of the famous cast iron gun was made in Udmurtia. Its weight was 42 tons, the weight of the core was 1.2 tons. The diameter of the barrel was 890 mm. This copy was donated to the Ukrainian city of Donetsk.

In 2007, a copy of the gun for Yoshkar-Ola was cast at the Butyakovsky shipyard. It is installed next to the Art Gallery.

The Perm Tsar Cannon is presented in the open-air museum of military equipment of JSC Motovilikha Plants. This is the world's largest cast iron cannon. The gun was manufactured in 1868 by order of the Navy Ministry and is a combat weapon. During its testing, 314 shots of cannonballs and bombs were fired with a range of up to 1.2 km. The gun was intended for Kronstadt to defend St. Petersburg from the sea.

Many, even in childhood, heard about the famous giant weapon in the Moscow Kremlin, but its greatness when viewed “in life” is impressive. And although the largest in size and weight is the German howitzer “Dora” with a caliber of 800 mm and a weight of 1350 tons, the Tsar Cannon in Moscow is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the largest caliber weapon.

Perhaps only our Russian history, with all its tendency to contradictions and extremes, could give rise to two such paradoxical monuments: the Tsar Bell, which never rang, and the Tsar Cannon, which, as many believe, never fired (as far as this statement corresponds Actually, we'll figure it out later). However, the Tsar Bell is a topic for a separate discussion, but now we will talk specifically about the Tsar Cannon.

This miracle of arms production was made at the end of the 16th century, during the reign of Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich, the son of Ivan the Terrible and the last tsar of the Rurik dynasty. Most historians believe that this happened in 1586, but some researchers also name another date - 1591, when Moscow faced the danger of raids by the Crimean Khan Kazy-Girey, and the Tsar Cannon was intended to protect against his troops. Yes, it was cast not as a “museum exhibit”, but as military weapon! The name of the master who did this is well known - it is immortalized in the inscription on the gun; it was the outstanding cannon and bell foundry master Andrei Chokhov, who worked at the Moscow cannon yard for more than 60 years and created more than 20 guns during this time. But the Tsar Cannon undoubtedly became the pinnacle of his creativity. Its dimensions are amazing: the weight of the gun is 39,312 kilograms, its length is 5,345 meters, and its barrel diameter is 1,210 meters!

Nowadays, few people remember that until later times this weapon was called a “cannon” only in colloquial speech Yes, in verse, and in official documents it is up to the 30s. XX century was listed as... a shotgun! Perhaps fuel to the fire was added to the decorative cannonballs cast in St. Petersburg in 1934, which can still be seen today next to the cannon, and which, of course, were not even supposed to be fired, and this is impossible: the cannon will immediately blow apart! The cast iron carriage, cast at the same time, is also unsuitable for use in combat conditions, and initially the gun was mounted on a wooden flooring made of logs (the so-called cannon roll).

The i's were dotted by the restoration of the gun in 1980, the results of which for some reason were not presented general public. Studies carried out at the same time showed that its channel has the shape of a cone with an initial diameter of 0.9 meters and a final diameter of 0.825 meters. The 1.73 meter long, flat-bottomed charging chamber has a reverse taper. This structure suggests that this is not a cannon or even a shotgun, but a bombard, from which it was supposed to fire stone cannonballs weighing about 100 kg, while a cast-iron cannonball of this caliber (and guns fired cast-iron cannonballs) was supposed to weigh about two tons True, using old guns for such shooting was risky; they could be blown apart when fired, so after a certain time they were classified as shotguns that fired “stone shot,” but in the 19th century such details were no longer obvious, so confusion arose with the types weapons.

Then, during restoration in 1980, researchers discovered another interesting detail: particles of burnt gunpowder in the channel. This means that the Tsar Cannon, contrary to popular belief, still fired! However, there were no scratches from the stone cannonballs on the walls of the canal, but they definitely should have remained. This suggests that the shot was a test shot, but the Tsar Cannon was not used in combat conditions. There is a legend that the ashes of False Dmitry were shot from it, but this is just a legend, there is no talk of any evidence.

It should be noted that one day this monument was under threat. When Peter I began intensively casting cannons, not only church bells were used, but also ancient guns of historical value. The Tsar Cannon was saved by its colossal size: the irresponsible Tsar did not dare to attempt such a miracle. Two more works by master A. Chokhov survived then, which can still be seen today in the St. Petersburg Artillery Museum.

The Tsar Cannon has long become one of the symbols of Russia. And it was also included in dozens of jokes that feature the Tsar Cannon that never fired, the Tsar Bell that never rang, and some other non-working Russian miracle. In the second half of the 19th century, a number of works appeared that proved that the Tsar Cannon was as fake as its carriage. She never fired and was intended only to intimidate the Crimean Tatars. One of the proofs of the fake function of the cannon is an elementary mathematical calculation, showing that when firing cast-iron cannonballs, it will be blown to pieces.

But many historians doubted that 2,400 pounds of copper were spent on creating a fake weapon. And in the middle of the twentieth century, the historian A. Pozdneev wrote: “In 1591, when the Tatar hordes of Kazy-Girey approached Moscow, combat readiness All Moscow artillery was brought in, including Chokhov's Tsar Cannon. It was installed in Kitay-Gorod to protect the main Kremlin gates and the crossing of the Moscow River.”

The dispute over whether the Tsar Cannon fired was settled in 1980 by experts from the Academy. Dzerzhinsky. They examined the bore of the gun and, based on a number of signs, including the presence of particles of burnt gunpowder, concluded that the Tsar Cannon had been fired at least once.

STORY
In 1586, alarming news arrived in Moscow: the Crimean Khan and his horde were moving towards the city. In this regard, the Russian master Andrei Chokhov, by order of Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich, cast a huge weapon that was intended to protect the Kremlin.

A giant cannon weighing 2,400 pounds (39,312 kg) was cast in 1586 at the Moscow Cannon Yard. The length of the Tsar Cannon is 5345 mm, the outer diameter of the barrel is 1210 mm, and the diameter of the thickening at the muzzle is 1350 mm. After the Tsar Cannon was cast and finished at the Cannon Yard, it was dragged and installed on a hill to protect the bridge over the Moscow River and the defense of the Spassky Gate and laid on the ground next to the Peacock cannon. To move the gun, ropes were tied to eight brackets on its barrel; 200 horses were harnessed to these ropes at the same time, and they rolled the cannon, which lay on huge logs - rollers.

In 1626, both cannons were lifted from the ground and installed on log frames tightly packed with earth. These platforms were called roskats. One of them, with the Tsar Cannon and the Peacock, was placed at the Execution Ground, the other, with the Kashpirova cannon, at the Nikolsky Gate. In 1636, the wooden rolls were replaced with stone ones, inside which warehouses and shops selling wine were built.

Currently, the Tsar Cannon is on a decorative cast-iron carriage, and next to it lie decorative cast-iron cannonballs, which were cast in 1834 in St. Petersburg at the Berda iron foundry. It is clear that it is physically impossible to shoot from this cast-iron carriage, nor to use cast-iron cannonballs (only lighter stone ones) - the Tsar Cannon will be smashed to smithereens! It’s worth saying right away that 4 cast-iron cannonballs, stacked in a pyramid near the foot of the cannon, serve a purely decorative function. They are hollow inside.

Documents about the testing of the Tsar Cannon or its use in combat conditions have not been preserved, which gave rise to lengthy disputes about its purpose. Most historians and military men in the 19th and early 20th centuries believed that the Tsar Cannon was a shotgun, that is, a weapon designed to fire shot, which in the 16th-17th centuries consisted of small stones. A minority of specialists generally exclude the possibility combat use guns, believing that it was made specifically to frighten foreigners, especially the ambassadors of the Crimean Tatars. Let us remember that in 1571 Khan Devlet Giray burned Moscow.

In the 18th - early 20th centuries, the Tsar Cannon was called a shotgun in all official documents. And only the Bolsheviks in the 1930s decided to increase its rank for propaganda purposes and began to call it a cannon.
In fact, this is not a cannon or a shotgun, but a classic bombard. A cannon is usually called a gun whose barrel length is more than 40 calibers. And this gun is only four calibers long, the same as the bombard. Bombards are large-sized battering guns that destroy a fortress wall. The carriage was not used for them, since the barrel was simply buried in the ground, and two trenches were dug nearby for the artillery crew, since such guns often exploded. Please note that the Tsar Cannon does not have trunnions, with the help of which the gun is given an elevation angle. In addition, it has an absolutely smooth rear section of the breech, with which it, like other bombards, rested against a stone wall or frame. The first bombard shells were round stones wrapped in ropes to smooth out irregularities in their shape.
So, the Tsar Cannon is a bombard designed to fire stone cannonballs. The weight of the stone core of the Tsar Cannon was about 50 pounds (819 kg), and a cast iron core of this caliber weighs 120 pounds (1.97 tons). As a shotgun, the Tsar Cannon was extremely ineffective. At the cost of the cost, instead, it was possible to produce 20 small shotguns, which would take much less time to load - not a day, but only 1-2 minutes.

Did 350-890mm bombards fire buckshot or crushed stone? Theoretically this is possible, but in practice it is very expensive and ineffective. Loading with a stone core lasted one and a half to two hours, and with crushed stone - several times longer. It was much more profitable to use buckshot from small and medium caliber guns.
Large bombards were intended to break through the walls of enemy fortresses. But at the end of the 16th century in Rus' there were dozens of battering guns that were much more effective, and most importantly, more mobile than the Tsar Cannon. Therefore, Chokhov's monster never left the walls of the Kremlin.
Instead of giant bombards, the functions of battering guns began to be performed by cannons. The invention of grained gunpowder, which was almost twice as effective as powder pulp, and the beginning of the production of cast iron cannonballs (first in France in 1493) made it feasible to manufacture long (20 calibers or more) guns. Such weapons had many names, of which one soon remained - cannon.

Who and why wrote the Tsar Cannon into shotguns? The fact is that in Russia, all the old guns located in the fortresses, with the exception of mortars, over time were automatically transferred to shotguns, that is, in the event of a siege of the fortress, they had to shoot shot (stone), and later - cast iron grapeshot at the infantry marching for the assault.
The fact is that a certificate about the state of artillery at the Moscow Arsenal in the early 1730s. provided by clerks who were not very literate in history and artillery.
Those guns that they wrote down as cannons could fire cast iron balls; howitzers and mortars - bombs, that is, hollow cannonballs filled with gunpowder. But the old guns could not fire either cast iron cannonballs or bombs, and stone cannonballs had long since been phased out. According to the clerks, these old artillery systems could only fire “shot,” so they were designated shotguns. It was inappropriate to use old guns to fire cannonballs or bombs: what if the barrel would blow apart, and the new guns had much better ballistic data. So the Tsar Cannon was recorded in shotguns.

FIRST SHOT
But the Tsar Cannon fired anyway. This happened once. According to LEGEND, after the impostor False Dmitry was exposed, he tried to escape from Moscow. But on the way he was brutally killed by an armed detachment.
The desecration of the body of False Dmitry showed how fickle the people are in their sympathies: a carnival mask was put on the dead face, a pipe was inserted into the mouth, and for another three days the corpse was smeared with tar, sprinkled with sand and spat on. This was a “trade execution”, to which only persons of “vile” origin were subjected.

On the day of his election, Tsar Vasily ordered the removal of False Dmitry from the square. The corpse was tied to a horse, dragged into a field and buried there by the side of the road. When the corpse of “Dmitry” was being transported through the fortress gates, a storm blew off the top of them.
Near the pit, which became the king’s last refuge, people saw blue lights rising straight from the ground.
The day after the burial, the corpse was found near the almshouse. They buried him even deeper, but after a while, the body appeared again, but in a different cemetery. People said that the land did not accept him.
Then the cold weather hit, and all the greenery in the city withered.

The clergy were alarmed by these events and the rumors accompanying them and deliberated for a long time on how best to put an end to the dead sorcerer and sorcerer.
On the advice of the monks, the corpse of False Dmitry was dug out of the hole, dragged through the streets of the city for the last time, after which it was taken to the village of Kotly, south of Moscow, and burned there. After this, the ashes were mixed with gunpowder and fired from the Tsar Cannon towards Poland - where False Dmitry came from.

Another refutation of the use of the weapon specifically for combat purposes is the absence of any traces in the barrel, including longitudinal scratches left by stone cannonballs.

The article briefly outlines for children the history of the Tsar Cannon - one of the symbols of the greatness and power of Russia. The Tsar Cannon embodies the skill of Russian gunners. Numerous tourists visiting Moscow consider it their duty to see this miracle.

1. Creation of the Tsar Cannon
2. History of the Tsar Cannon
3. The meaning of the Tsar Cannon
4. Video

Creation of the Tsar Cannon

• At the end of the 16th century, Russia waged war with the Crimean Khanate. Muscovites were in a state of fear of a possible attack by the Crimean Khan. In 1571, Devlet-Girey had already made a campaign against Moscow and almost completely burned it down.
• To protect the capital, the king decided to create a weapon that would instill panic in the enemy. As a result, in 1586 Andreev Chokhov cast the Tsar Cannon. The size of the gun exceeded all weapons that existed at that time. The cannon barrel was cast from bronze, and it was installed on a wooden flooring. Its trunk was decorated with various relief images. The main decoration was the image of Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich on a horse with a scepter in his hand. Some historians believe that the image of the king served as the basis for calling the cannon royal. Among other decorations, one can highlight the image of the king of beasts - a lion fighting a duel with a snake.
• The weight of the formidable weapon is about 40 tons, the barrel length is about 5 meters, the caliber is 890 cm. In order to deliver the cannon to its place, 200 horses were required. To move it, eight brackets located along the trunk were used, to which ropes were attached.
  The cannon was initially located near the Execution Ground, from where, if necessary, it could fire at the advancing enemy.

History of the Tsar Cannon

• The gun was never used for its intended purpose. There is no evidence that she fired. By putting the cannon on public display, the tsar wanted to impress foreign diplomats. The point was that if such a huge thing was able to be cast in Russia, then what can we say about the rest of the weapons.
• The Tsar Cannon was transported several times. Under Peter I, it was moved to the territory of the Arsenal created by the Tsar. During the War of 1812, when Moscow was burned, the wooden base burned down. The government thought about installing the Tsar Cannon on a more solid foundation.
• In 1835, a special cast iron base (carriage) was made for it. Next to the cannon, cast iron cannonballs appeared, hollow inside, weighing about two tons. The weapon has survived in this form to this day.
  Last time the Tsar Cannon moved to Soviet time, when construction of the Kremlin Palace of Congresses began. This time the cannon was installed on Ivanovskaya Square, where it is now located.

The meaning of the Tsar Cannon

• For a long time it was believed that the Tsar Cannon did not fire a single shot. Due to its size and firepower, it should have participated in the siege of fortresses, but never left the territory of Moscow. In addition, a cannonball charge weighing about two tons should have exploded the cannon when fired. Cast iron cannonballs were cast only in the 19th century, when the cannon was no longer considered a real weapon.
• In 1980, the Tsar Cannon was restored, and it was inspected by a special commission. The commission's conclusion resolved all the issues. It was established that, judging by the ratio of barrel length to caliber (4 to one), the gun was a mortar-type weapon for mounted firing. The charge consisted of buckshot - a large number of relatively small stone cores. The base of the trunk was buried in the ground. The barrel was installed almost vertically (with a slight inclination) and shooting was carried out by eye. It took a whole day to charge such a cannon, so it could not be used effectively.
  This conclusion is confirmed by the fact that in sources the Tsar Cannon was sometimes called the “Russian shotgun”. The shot meant buckshot.
• To others important conclusion was that particles of gunpowder were found in the barrel. This meant that the cannon had been fired at least once. Most likely, it was an experienced sighting shot. This is also confirmed by the master's mark found inside the barrel. According to the rules of that time, the mark was placed only upon successful test firing.
• So the gun was probably tested, approved and installed for protection. But, since shooting from it took long time And a large number of forces, the gun was never used. Taking her to war was even more unprofitable.
• During the Great Patriotic War When the Germans were on the outskirts of Moscow, a very difficult situation developed. It is interesting that at this time projects arose to use the Tsar Cannon as a defense against the Nazis.
• The Tsar Cannon is one of the greatest monuments of the Moscow Kremlin. Even though it was never used in a real war, the fact that it was cast by a Russian cannon maker and, in principle, was a working and not a decorative weapon gives us the right to feel proud of the country. The Tsar Cannon remains a formidable symbol Russian weapons, warning that the state will be able to stand up for itself.

On Ivanovskaya Square of the Moscow Kremlin there are two unique monuments of Russian foundry art. One of them, the world's largest bell, is described. But in addition to the huge bell that has never rung, we also have the world’s largest medieval (I emphasize MEDIEVAL) cannon that has never fired.

It is called the Tsar Cannon not because of its size, but because of the image on the barrel of Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich, by whose order it was created.


Tsar Fedor is depicted as a horseman with a scepter in his hand on the right (facing the Tsar Bell) side of the barrel near the muzzle of the cannon. In addition, the following inscriptions were cast on both sides of the trunk - on the current northern side of the trunk, facing the building of the residence of the President of Russia: “By the command of the pious and Christ-loving Tsar and Grand Duke Fyodor Ivanovich, the sovereign autocrat of all great Russia under his pious and Christ-loving queen, Grand Duchess Irina.” .


The inscription on the opposite side of the barrel, facing the Tsar Bell, reads: “This cannon was poured out in the most famous royal city of Moscow in the summer of 7094 in the third year of its state. The cannon was made by cannon litts Ondrei Chokhov.”

The year 7094 comes as a surprise to many. The fact is that in the 16th century chronology in Russia was carried out from the “Creation of the World”. The more familiar chronology from the Nativity of Christ was introduced by Peter I only at the end of the 17th century.

The Tsar Bell was cast by the famous master Andrei Chokhov. Seven of his works have survived - four artillery pieces and three bells. Two cannons are located in Sweden, one in St. Petersburg.

The Tsar Cannon itself is a bronze barrel covered with the patina of time. Its dimensions are colossal: the weight of the gun is 40 tons (2400 pounds), the barrel length is 5 m 34 cm, the caliber is 890 mm. The cannon is mounted on a late decorative carriage, cast from cast iron in 1835 at the Berda factory in St. Petersburg.


At the same time, 4 decorative cores were cast. The decorative carriage was made according to the drawings of the architect Alexander Pavlovich Bryullov, brother of the famous painter Karl Bryullov.




The carriage was cast using the drawings of Pieter Jan de Witte. The weight of the carriage is 15 tons, each of the 4 decorative cores weighs 1 ton.


This information is taken from a book about the Moscow Kremlin, written by employees of the museum-reserve. Yes, and at the gun carriage, with south side, there is a sign about this.


I mention this due to the fact that for some reason in Internet sources there appears a figure of 1.97 tons that was taken from nowhere.

Of course, the Tsar Cannon cannot and should not have fired such heavy cannonballs. In ancient documents the cannon is often called the “Russian Shotgun”. The Tsar Cannon was designed to fire with shot, in other words, with buckshot.


The Moscow Tsar Cannon is truly the largest medieval weapon in the world. The famous “Mad Greta” or “Big Red Devil” from Ghent, created at the beginning of the 15th century, weighs only 16.4 tons, its caliber is almost half that of the Tsar Cannon and is 640 mm, but the barrel is slightly longer: 5 m 50 cm .


The name “Mad Greta” comes from Flemish folklore. The heroine of the same name led the female army to plunder... hell! The second name is associated with the historical red color of the gun.

No less famous is the Scottish cannon nicknamed “Mons Meg”. Its dimensions are significantly smaller than our Tsar Cannon. “Mons Meg” weighs only 6.6 tons, its length is 4 m 60 cm, and its caliber is 520 mm. “Mons Meg” was made in 1449 in Mons in what is now Belgium, and then presented as a gift to the King of Scotland. The cannon is installed in Edinburgh Castle and serves as one of the symbols of Scotland.


There are many mysteries associated with the Moscow Tsar Cannon. It is well known that initially the cannon did not have a carriage and stood on a special wooden machine opposite the Spassky Gate of the Kremlin not far from Lobnoye Mesto. It is believed that the Tsar Cannon never fired. During the restoration of the 19th century, the remains of a casting mold, which was made from special sifted earth, were found in its trunk. At the first shot, these remains would inevitably burn out. However, specialists from the Military Engineering Academy named after. Dzerzhinsky, who examined the cannon during the restoration of 1977-80, claimed that at least one shot was fired from the Tsar Cannon.

It is not known for sure, but is it a cannon? The fact is that, based on the design of the barrel, it can be classified as a mortar - a mounted combat weapon. Some call the Tsar Cannon a bombard, like “Mad Greta” and “Mons Meg.” But to the term “bombard”, i.e. medieval weapon should generally be treated with great caution.

Despite its colossal size, the Tsar Cannon changed its location several times. In the 18th century it was moved to the courtyard of the Arsenal, then placed at its main gate. In 1835, the Tsar Cannon was installed on the already familiar decorative carriage, fake cannonballs were laid out and placed opposite the Arsenal near the old Armory building. (not preserved). In 1958, on the initiative of N. Khrushchev, construction of the Kremlin Palace of Congresses - the current State Kremlin Palace - began in the Kremlin. The old Armory was demolished, and the Tsar Cannon was moved to its current location on Ivanovskaya Square.
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