Russia’s third largest bell ready for Nizhny Novgorod

13.03.2012

The Baltic Shipbuilding Plant in St. Petersburg has executed a unique order from the Nizhny Novgorod Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church. The foundrymen of this company cast a giant bell called “Cathedral” – the third heaviest bell in Russia. On March 12, the bell was delivered to the customer.

The work on the order continued for almost six months. A delegation of the Nizhniy Novgorod clergy, headed by Archbishop of Nizhny Novgorod and Arzamas Georgy, arrived in St. Petersburg to accept the work.

The bell weighs 60 tons and is 4 meters high, company officials told ITAR-TASS. It will be installed at the Belfry in Nizhny Novgorod on the eve of the 400th anniversary of the militia of Minin and Pozharsky.

The idea of creating the “Cathedral” bell to commemorate the anniversary of the Nizhny Novgorod militia appeared in 2007. The production of the bell and its decor has taken a record amount of materials – 71 tons of copper and 17 tons of tin. The casting of the “Cathedral” was conducted non-stop for several hours due to its tonnage. The bell then was cooled slowly in the natural environment.

The “Cathedral” bell, adorned with expressive elements of decor, is to be mounted at a landmark place in Nizhny Novgorod – at the confluence of the Volga and the Oka rivers. The external contour of the bell will be decorated with relief images of the saints of Nizhny Novgorod – St. Seraphim of Sarov, Macarius Zheltovodsky, as well as Alexander Nevsky, and Yuri (George) Vsevolodovich – the founder of Nizhny Novgorod.

Church bells are used for calling the faithful to worship and for expressing the triumph of the Church. In the old days, bell tolls were used to call people for town meetings and to announce danger.

In Russia, bells appeared almost simultaneously with the adoption of Christianity by Prince Vladimir in 988. Bell-casting factories appeared in Russia in the 15th century.

The Tsar Bell still remains the biggest bell in the world. The bell rests on the pedestal at the foot of the Ivan the Great Bell Tower in the Moscow Kremlin. The giant bell was cast by Russian artists Ivan and Mikhail Matorin in 1733-1735. The Tsar Bell weighs 200 tons; it is 6 meters 60 centimeters in diameter.

Bells can show enormous influence on the spiritual state of human beings. According to experts, the tolling of bells can turn even shut-in personalities into sociable individuals.

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