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On January 7, 1598, the servant of God Fedor Ioanovich, Grand Duke of Moscow and Tsar of All Russia, died in the Moscow Kremlin. During the reign of the last of the direct Ruriks, significant events happened quite a few. Cities were founded: Samara, Saratov, Tsaritsyn (Volgograd), Voronezh, Arkhangelsk, Tobolsk, Surgut - new frontiers of the actively growing Russian State were fixed.
The next Russian-Swedish war was completed and Russia, as a result of which access to the Baltic Sea was returned along the Koporye-Yam line ... Not a few worthy deeds are obtained, but Tsar Fedor is not remembered for this ... The main memory of him still stands on the Ivanovskaya Square of the Moscow Kremlin, and the name her - Tsar Cannon!
Story
Not much time has passed since the death of Ivan the Terrible, the dust raised by the hooves of the guardsmen's horses has not yet settled, and in Moscow the world's largest artillery gun was created, which remains so until today. Let not in size, but in terms of the caliber of the barrel - for sure.
In 1586, on the royal command, work began on the creation of a grandiose cannon. Historians are still struggling with the reason for such an unusual move, but most are inclined to believe that the weapon was created to produce an external effect on foreign ambassadors. Like, look what we can do. Let's eat so much that it won't seem enough!
More seriously, the cannon was intended to testify to the growth of the power of the Russian State, both industrial and military. And, of course, she exalted the ruling Sovereign! (and Fyodor Ioanovich, according to contemporaries, was very unsightly physically and meek in character).
The production was led by foundry master Andrey Chokhov.
Andrey Chokhov (1545 - 1629) - the famous Russian caster, the creator of a large number of cannons and church bells. One of the surviving examples of the uniqueness of creativity is Chokhov's siege squeakers. The students continued and developed the traditions of the master (in particular Alexey Nikiforov).
Casting work was carried out at the Moscow Cannon Yard (now the area of Lubyanskaya Square) for several months. The main material for production was bronze. According to the production technology, the gun fully corresponded to the standards adopted at that time. Only more…much more!
With the help of two hundred horses, the finished superweapon was dragged to the Red Square of the Kremlin for demonstration to the sovereign. The barrel of the cannon was skillfully decorated with the image of Fyodor Ivanovich with all the royal regalia and on horseback. In addition, the patterns go around the entire circumference of the trunk in the form of a ligature. Whether the giant cannon was fired during the demonstration - no evidence has been preserved, and, given the meek disposition of Tsar Fedor, most likely not.
On the trunk there is also a dedication to Tsarina Irina Fedorovna Godunova (wife of Tsar Fyodor) and a mention of what the “Litez Chokhov” made the monster.
According to one version, in connection with the presence of the image of the king, the cannon was called “Tsar Cannon”.
According to the second version, the name is associated primarily with the size of the work of cannon makers and casters of medieval Russia.
Another name for the gun was "Shotgun", as it was intended for firing small shells - "shot" (stone or metal uncalibrated buckshot).
Having admired enough, the gun was hoisted onto a wooden peal (carriage) and placed on combat duty near the walls of the Kremlin (opposite the modern GUM). There she stood for almost a century! Once they tried to use a weapon against the Tatars of Khan Kazy Giray who had run up, but they did not dare to approach the distance of effective shooting and the shot fell off.
Subsequently, already under Pyotr Alekeseevich Romanov in 1706, having gathered their strength, the cannon was dragged to the courtyard of the Kremlin Arsenal. And for a long time the whole country admired the skill of gunsmiths and were amazed at the size, and also showed it to overseas guests.
In 1835, a new cast-iron carriage was cast for the cannon (designed by Academician A.P. Bryullov) and decorative cannon balls weighing approximately 2 tons each. Then they rolled it to the Armory, where other models of guns were put on display.
In the 60s of the twentieth century, the Tsar Cannon was finally hoisted to the place where it still stands, at the bell tower of Ivan the Great. Or not quite right, since already in the 70s the gun was sent for restoration to Serpukhov, where it was equipped with a new decorative carriage and returned to its place in 1980.
Features of the device and application
If we talk about the Tsar Cannon in the language of gunsmiths, then this is, first of all, combat weapon, a type of bombard, intended for firing at a flat or hinged trajectory. The charge was a small "shot" with a total weight of up to 800 kilograms. It does not have an ignition hole, although there is a platform for it. The shot could only be fired from the side of the barrel; for this, an ignition cord was inserted into the powder chamber from the side of the muzzle.
The total weight of the artillery dinosaur is about 39 tons 312 kg, the barrel length is 5 meters 34 centimeters, the barrel caliber is 890 millimeters.
There are several opinions whether the Tsar Cannon fired during its centuries-old history. When carrying out restoration work in Serpukhov, experts from the Artillery Academy named after F.E. Dzerzhinsky concluded that the cannon was fired at least once.
The historian L.N. Gumilyov there is a mention that the ashes of False Dmitry I were dispelled by a shot from a legendary gun.
However, there are supporters and versions that the cannon was never fired. As evidence, intact traces of the casting inside the barrel are indicated.
About records
Tsar Cannon takes pride of place among the world record holders in the Guinness Book as the largest caliber gun (890mm).
Family of Tsar Cannons
In 2001, in the city of gunsmiths Izhevsk, by order of the Government Russian Federation two copies of the symbol of artillery valor were made with almost exact observance of the main parameters. One copy was then solemnly presented to the Ukrainian city of Donetsk, where it was installed near the city hall.
The second replica adorns the territory of the OAO Izhstal plant in Izhevsk.
In Yoshkar-Ola, on Obolensky-Nogotkov Square, there is a relatively small copy (weight - 12 tons). Also, the design of the gun does not match the original, there is no number of patterns on the barrel, others have been changed, the decorative cores are also much smaller than the original ones. The gun was suitable for firing, so the barrel was caulked with a special core.
But the most interesting "Tsar Cannon" is located in the open-air museum "Motovilikha Plant" in the city of Perm. A real combat ship's mortar, created in 1868 for the defense of St. Petersburg from the forts of Kronstadt.
The weight of the gun with a carriage is 144 (!) tons, caliber 508 mm.
Having successfully passed artillery tests, the gun did not take up combat duty - during the tests and demonstrations in Vienna in 1873, it managed to become technically obsolete after Krupp created a shutter for loading guns from the breech. By decree of Tsar Alexander II, the cannon was preserved as a museum piece.
Conclusion
Why exactly the Tsar Cannon was created does not really matter in our time. The main thing is that it is an eloquent symbol of the centuries-old military and industrial power of Russia, a bronze embodiment of the fighting spirit of the Russian people!
Video
Everyone knows where the Tsar Cannon, one of the largest historical and cultural treasures of Russia, is located - outside the walls of the Moscow Kremlin, where hundreds of tourists come every day to see this amazing masterpiece of engineering art. By the way, the grandiosity of the scale of Russian masters was also appreciated by the international community, so this exhibit is included in the Guinness Book of Records.
Tsar Cannon: the history of the creation of a unique masterpiece
famous historical fact is that the Tsar Cannon, whose history began in a difficult time for Russia, was cast in 1586, when a horde of conquerors headed by the Crimean Khan was moving towards Moscow. The answer to the question of who cast the Tsar Cannon is also known to historians - the author of the project is the craftsman Andrey Chokhov, who decided to create an instrument of unprecedented size, which was supposed not only to frighten the Tatars, but also to protect Moscow from the horde of conquerors.
At first, the cannon was deployed on a hill from which it could protect the bridge over the Spassky Gates and the Moscow River. But since the horde was stopped earlier, the Muscovites were never able to see the cannon, called the Tsar Cannon for its dimensions unprecedented before the village, “in work”.
Here the gun stood until the end of the 17th century, and then it was moved to the walls of the Kremlin, where the gun towered until the beginning of the 18th century. But this site was chosen by Peter I, who started the construction of the Arsenal building (then it was called the Zeikhgauz). And the Tsar Cannon, as a vivid example of a Russian gun, was first installed in its courtyard, and then moved to the main gate, so that at a glance at it, visitors would think about the power of Russian artillery weapons.
The first modernization of the Tsar Cannon took place in 1835. The gun has long been turned into an exhibit, so it was installed on a new cast-iron carriage, the author of which was Academician A.P. Bryullov, and moved to the Armory. Here it stood until 1950, because that year, on the orders of V.I. Stalin, the construction of the Kremlin Palace of Congresses began, so the Armory was demolished, and the cannon was moved back to the Arsenal.
Today, the Tsar Cannon proudly stands on Ivanovskaya Square, having survived a comprehensive restoration (1980) during this time.
Tsar Cannon: "pearl" of the collection of artillery weapons
Today, the Tsar Cannon and the Tsar Kolokol are excellent examples of Russian bronze casting, but besides this, the cannon can be proudly called the pearl of the collection of Russian artillery weapons. And this is not surprising, because the dimensions of this weapon are really grandiose, especially by the standards of the 16th century:
- length - 5 meters;
- weight - almost 40 tons;
- stem diameter - 1.2 meters;
- caliber - 890 mm.
Made of high-quality bronze and the best cast iron (the carriage and cannonballs lying nearby are cast from it), the cannon glorifies the Russian prince Fyodor Ioannovich, who is depicted on the right side of the cannon in the form of an equestrian rider with a scepter and a crown. The image is equipped with an explanatory inscription, stating that this horseman is Fedor Ioannovich, the Grand Duke and Sovereign-Autocrat of Russia.
By the way, many modern historians are inclined to believe that it was not the gigantic dimensions, but it was this picture that gave the gun such a sonorous title, because in the historical annals there are records indicating that it was often called the “Shotgun”.
On the other hand, there is an inscription stating that the creator of the gun is "Ondrej Chokhov", and its barrel is decorated with a magnificent decorative pattern.
The base is also unique in its kind - the casters depicted on it a lion, which is a symbol of unlimited power, fighting a snake, and covered the base with an amazing floral ornament. The authors of the project made the wheels no less original, decorating them with knitting needles from intertwining leaves.
Tsar Cannon and its secrets
Cannons were actively used in the Middle Ages, but looking at the Tsar Cannon and the cannonballs lying near it, you involuntarily doubt the possibility of using it as a weapon. We note right away that the cores are really a decorative element. As for the cannon itself, experts are sure that it is hardly possible to shoot from it, since according to all the laws of physics it should have been torn apart after the first released core (by the way, no tests of the weapon or evidence of its participation in battles were officially recorded anywhere) .
One of the hidden secrets of the unique Tsar Cannon was partially revealed only in 1980, during the restoration in Serpukhovo. Outstanding scientists studied it for several months, but the final report prepared by them, unfortunately, was not published, remaining under the heading "Top Secret". But the records in the drafts that have survived to this day allow us to make an unambiguous conclusion that this unique weapon is not a cannon, but a real bombard for firing stone cannonballs (this is evidenced by the measurements of the barrel and its flat bottom).
By the way, the remains of gunpowder were found in the channel, which could indicate that the gun still fired, but the absence of scratches in the barrel, which leave stone balls, refute this version.
So, we can say that the Tsar Cannon reliably keeps its secrets, which even modern scientists cannot reveal.
Tsar Cannon: The Legend of the Cannon and False Dmitry
There is one very old Moscow legend, which says that the Tsar Cannon was loaded once and even fired. Such an extraordinary event happened almost immediately after the exposed False Dmitry tried to escape. He was caught up, brutally killed and buried, but after burial, the impostor's body was found near the cemetery. It was buried again, but in some incomprehensible way it ended up in another cemetery. The Muscovites began to whisper that the body of a traitor who encroached on the royal power, and the land does not want to accept, and then they decided to burn it. The remaining ashes were then mixed with gunpowder and fired with this “shell” in the direction of Poland, where False Dmitry was from, from the Tsar Cannon.
Of course, this is just a legend, so let's not disturb the past, but enjoy the present, admiring this magnificent masterpiece and being proud of the skill of Russian craftsmen!
The Tsar Cannon in Moscow is a famous monument of artillery and foundry, one of the main attractions of the Moscow Kremlin. The caliber of the legendary weapon is recognized as the largest in the world. Like the nearby Tsar Bell, for tourists and guests of the capital, this ancient instrument is of particular historical and tourist significance.
The weight of the Tsar Cannon is 39.31 tons, the length is 5.34 meters, the diameter of the patterned belt at the muzzle is 1.34 meters, while the outer diameter of its barrel is 1.2 meters. Caliber - 890 mm. A bronze gun was cast, a cast-iron gun carriage.
Despite the fact that this weapon has a competitor in the face of the German cannon (caliber - 800 mm, weight - 1350 tons), the Kremlin Tsar Cannon is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the largest-caliber weapon on the planet.
Short story
Many have heard of the Tsar Cannon in childhood. In the books, this weapon was called the Giant of the Moscow Kremlin. From the moment of her birth, she never ceases to amaze with her beauty, strength and power not only children, but also adults.
The Tsar Cannon in the Kremlin was cast at the Cannon Yard by the caster Andrei Chokhov. This event took place in 1586. Initially, the barrel of the cannon was placed on a wooden peal not far from the Execution Ground. Later, log peals were replaced with reliable stone ones.
The huge weight made its transportation extremely problematic. But they managed to cope with this task with the help of 200 horses, which dragged heavy weapons along the log flooring. For ease of transportation, four special brackets are mounted on the trunk on each side to secure the rope strips.
The cannon was transferred several times to different places in the Kremlin. After the construction of the Kremlin Palace of Congresses was completed, the gun was moved to a new location - Ivanovskaya Square.
Today, the Tsar Cannon is located next to the Cathedral of the Twelve Apostles on a decorative special gun carriage made much later than the cannon itself in 1835 at the Byrd factory in St. Petersburg.
It is believed that the gun was created to defend the Kremlin, but modern researchers assure that the Tsar Cannon would not have coped with the mission assigned to it. Due to its size and design features, it is suitable only for the destruction of thick fortress walls.
According to the historian Alexei Lobin, in its design, the Tsar Cannon is not a cannon at all, but a bombard. What does the length of the barrel say - 3.4 calibers, which is the reference ratio for bombards of that time, while the barrel length of a classic gun usually exceeds 40 calibers.
Hollow cast-iron cannonballs, cast in 1835, are stacked in front of the cannon. Each projectile weighs almost two tons. True, the cannon is not able to shoot such cannonballs - due to their enormous weight, the cannon would most likely simply be torn apart. Therefore, they are purely decorative. According to the calculations of experts, the gun could fire stone cannonballs weighing no more than 1 ton or buckshot.
Has the Tsar Cannon fired at least once?
It is believed that the Tsar Cannon never fired, but was made in order to instill fear in foreigners. She was supposed to instill fear in all enemies, including the leaders of the Crimean Tatars.
In the 1980s, a group of restorers came to the conclusion that the cannon could not fire, as evidenced by the sags and bumps in the barrel, as well as the absence of traces of stripping after the cannon was cast. Also, no seed hole was made.
There is another version according to which particles of gunpowder were found in the channel of the gun, which means that the bombard was still fired at least once.
Decor
The bombard and carriage are decorated with cast patterns and ornaments. Mounts for transportation are installed on the sides of the trunk. On the right side, Prince Fyodor Ivanovich is depicted sitting on horseback. He has a crown on his head, and on top there is an inscription describing the personality of the ruler. There is an opinion that thanks to the image of Fedor Ivanovich, the legendary Tsar Cannon received such a name. Another version claims that the name of the gun is associated solely with its large size.
In order to perpetuate the name of the foundry worker, an inscription was made on the gun: “The cannon gunner Andrey Chokhov worked on the creation of the cannon.”
Copies of the Tsar Cannon
The Tsar Cannon has made many casters fall in love with it throughout the years of its existence. In 2001, an exact copy of the gun was made in Udmurtia. Its weight was 42 tons, and the weight of the core was 1.2 tons. This copy was solemnly presented to Donetsk (Ukraine).
There is also a copy of the Tsar Cannon in Perm. This weapon belongs to the combat category. He was actively tested. Therefore, more than 300 shots were fired with nuclei, as well as bombs, the flight range of which was 1.5 km. The Perm Tsar Cannon was made for Kronstadt in order to reliably protect northern capital our country.
Copies of the Tsar Cannon and monuments named after it are also in Yoshkar-Ola and Izhevsk.
Opening hours and ticket prices in 2019
Tourists can come and look at the artillery monument on all days of the week except Thursday. From May 15 to September 30, the attraction accepts tourists from 9:30 am to 6 pm. From October 1 to May 14, Tsar Cannon receives guests from 10 am to 5 pm.
To get to the territory of the Kremlin, you should buy a single ticket to visit the architectural ensemble of the Cathedral Square. It will allow not only to see the Tsar Cannon, but also to watch the Ceremonial Mounted and Foot Guards of the Presidential Regiment. The ceremony takes place at noon on Saturdays.
The ticket costs 500 rubles. Tickets for pensioners and full-time students are sold at a discount - for 250 rubles.
How to get to Tsar Cannon in Moscow
The best and fastest way to go Metro. The Tsar Cannon is located near the station. "Alexandrovsky Garden", "Library. Lenin", "Borovitskaya". To get off the metro at the right place, you need to find the exit to the Alexander Garden on the sign. If you did everything right, a long pedestrian crossing will await you, at the end of which there will be cash desks for paying for a visit to the Kremlin. Ticket offices are located near the Kutafya Tower within the Alexander Garden.
After that, through the Trinity Tower, you should enter the Kremlin itself. Then you need to go along the Palace of Congresses and reach the legendary Tsar Cannon.
Can be reached and by bus. The nearest stops at the entrance to the Kremlin through the Kutafya tower are st. m. Library them. Lenin. Suitable routes are M1, M2, M3, M6, H1, H2, K, 144.
For those who don't like public transport, there is taxi call apps and: Uber, Yandex.Taxi, Gett and carsharing: Delimobil, Belkacar, Lifcar.
Panorama of Ivanovskaya Square near the Tsar Cannon
Video "Tsar Cannon in 1908"
The famous Tsar Cannon in the Kremlin, one of the most visited sights of the Moscow Kremlin, can be seen today on the western side of Ivanovskaya Square. Each of the tourists who arrived in Moscow necessarily includes an inspection of the grandiose weapon of the 16th century in the program of their visit. A brief history of the Tsar Cannon for both children and adults is given in our article.
Cast in gigantic sizes from high-quality bronze, the cannon is even listed in the Guinness World Book of Records. And this is no accident. Here are just its most basic parameters:
- length - more than 5 m.,
- the outer diameter of the trunk reaches 134 cm.,
- caliber - 890 mm,
- the product weighs about 40 tons.
When and why was it created?
Photo 1. Tsar Cannon - one of the main attractions of the Kremlin
History and little-known facts about the Tsar Cannon in the Kremlin
In 1586, an alarming message was brought to the city of Moscow: the Crimean Khan was marching on the capital with his large army. To repel the invasion, by order of Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich, who was ruling at that time, at the Cannon Yard of Moscow, a Russian foundry worker Andrei Chokhov cast a huge artillery gun, which was intended for firing with stone buckshot.
Since the gun was originally intended for the defense of the Kremlin, it was installed on a hill above the banks of the Moskva River - on Red Square, not far from the famous Execution Ground and the Spasskaya Tower.
However, the Crimean Khan never approached the walls of the Mother See of the capital, and therefore the Muscovites were never able to find out how powerfully this gun, nicknamed the Tsar Cannon for its dimensions, shoots.
Later, during the reign of Peter I, the gun was moved to the territory of the Kremlin with the help of special rollers: first to the courtyard of the Arsenal under construction, and then to its main gate. There it was mounted on a wooden carriage, which, along with the carriages of other guns, burned down in a fire in 1812.
In 1835, at the Berd shipyard in St. Petersburg, according to the drawings of the military engineer Witte (in some sources, academician Alexander Pavlovich Bryulov is mentioned as the author of the sketch), a more durable, cast-iron carriage for a grandiose gun was made.
In 1843, the Tsar Cannon was removed from the gates of the Arsenal, where it had been all this time, and installed next to the old building of the Armory. She stood there until 1960, when, as part of the construction of the Kremlin Palace of Congresses, the gun was again transferred, this time to Ivanovskaya Square, where it remains to this day.
So, we briefly described the history of the gun, and now for the more inquisitive children and adults we will continue our story.
Description of the legendary Tsar Cannon
As mentioned above, the gun carriage is made using the iron casting method and performs purely decorative functions. The body of the gun itself is cast in bronze. Next to the carriage are cast-iron cannon balls, which are also a decorative element.
On the right side of the gun there is an image of the autocrat Fyodor Ivanovich, sitting on a war horse. The head of the prince is crowned with a royal crown, and in his hands is one of the symbols of Russian power - a scepter. There is an inscription explaining the image next to it.
One of the hypotheses for the appearance of the name "Tsar Cannon" is precisely the image of the king who ruled at the time of the creation of this formidable artillery gun, which is immortalized on the plane of the cannon. True, there is another name that occurs in Russian documents of different eras - this is the “Russian shotgun”. The fact is that this is how the guns intended for firing shots (in a different way - buckshot) were designated.
The left side of the gun is decorated with an inscription commemorating its creator and which reads "Ondrey Chokhov".
The very plane of the trunk, among other things, is decorated with an original ornament.
Separately, I would like to highlight the carriage itself, which is decorated in such a way as to clearly highlight high status artillery gun. Its main component is the image of a lion - a formidable and strong king of beasts. The symbolic depiction of a lion fighting a mythical serpent can also be seen in the intricacies of ornamental plants on the plane of the gun carriage.
I would like to add that to move the cannon located in the Moscow Kremlin, 200 draft horses were harnessed at the same time.
Despite the impressiveness of the weapon, some experts agree that it was still made not for shooting, but solely to intimidate the enemy, in a particular case, the troops of the Crimean Khan advancing on the capital. The technical side of the gun will be discussed further, from which we will find out whether this is a props or a really formidable artillery gun.
We note right away that the cast-iron cores placed in a pyramid near the carriage are only a decoration, hollow inside. If they are made real, then the stone core will weigh about 819 kilograms, and the cast-iron core will weigh under 2 tons.
Further, according to experts, the carriage itself is not technically adapted for firing from such a powerful gun, and the heavy cast-iron cores themselves would not physically fit - the barrel of the Tsar Cannon would simply break during the shot. About him combat use facts in history are not attested.
But it cannot be that in those distant times, before the threat of an attack on Moscow, an artillery gun would be created only in order to “splurge”. Let's try to figure this out!
Let's start with the fact that until the 20th century, military experts and historians still designated the current "Tsar Cannon" as a shotgun, i.e. intended for shooting with buckshot, which was replaced in those days by ordinary small stones. The current name has been fixed only since 1930, when the authorities decided to raise the status of the weapon for propaganda purposes. What? Probably, based on the fact that in a great country, there should be everything grandiose in the world. It's like a joke from Soviet times that the USSR has "the largest radio components in the world."
But let's not slander and continue, especially since the veil of secrecy over the cannon was nevertheless lifted, and this happened during the planned restoration work carried out in 1980.
The gun was removed from the carriage and sent to one of the military factories in the city of Serpukhov, where it was restored. Together with the usual work in this case, the forces of military specialists from the Moscow Artillery Academy measured the Tsar Cannon, although the main report has not yet been made public. True, draft drawings have been preserved, which emphasize that this gun is not a gun at all in its actual designation.
So, in order. The diameter of the bore, from which the cannon is loaded with nuclei, is 90 centimeters, and by the very end of the warhead it decreases to 82. The depth of this cone is about 32 centimeters. Next comes the charging chamber with a flat bottom 173 centimeters deep, with a diameter of 44.7 centimeters at the beginning, increasing to 46.7 centimeters towards the end.
These data make it possible to attribute the gun to the bombard class, which means that it was quite possible to shoot stone cannonballs from it. It is impossible to call this artillery installation a cannon, because. one of the main conditions is not met: the length of the barrel must be at least 40 calibers. Right here we are talking only about four. As for using the weapon as a buckshot-shooting shotgun, then, based on the available characteristics, this would be very ineffective.
The bombards themselves belong to the class of battering rams designed to destroy fortress walls. In most cases, they did not even make a gun carriage for them, because. part of the trunk was simply buried in the ground. The calculation of the gun was located in the trenches arranged next to the bombard, because. the barrels were often torn when fired. The rate of fire left much to be desired and rarely reached 6 shots ... per day.
At research work particles of gunpowder were found in the Tsar Cannon channel. The only question is, was it a test shot or did they manage to use the gun against the enemy? The latter is most likely impossible. It can also be confirmed by the fact that no longitudinal scratches were found on the walls of the barrel, which should have remained either from the core or from stone shrapnel.
The myth of the gun and the impostor tsar False Dmitry
And yet she shot!? The myth that has come down to our time says that the only shot was fired by the ashes of the temporary Russian Tsar False Dmitry.
After being exposed, he tried to escape from Moscow, but came across a combat patrol and was brutally killed. The body was buried twice, and twice it again appeared on the surface: either at the almshouse, or at the churchyard. Rumors spread that even the earth did not want to accept him, after which it was decided to cremate the body, and fire a cannon with the ashes, turning the gun in the direction of the Commonwealth (now Poland), where he was from.
Such is the history of the Tsar Cannon in brief - the largest weapon of its era.
Today, smaller copies of the Kremlin guns are installed in Donetsk, Perm and Yoshkar-Ola. However, neither in terms of parameters nor characteristics, they even come close to the Moscow giant.
This powerful gun, located on Ivanovskaya Square, is a monument to Russian artillery. The largest caliber in the world, it has become a monument of 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 the Russian master Andrei Chokhov. A weapon was created for the defense of the Kremlin and therefore was installed on a log flooring (peal) on Red Square near the Execution Ground. They brought her here on 200 horses, dragging the gun along the logs. To move it on the trunk on each side, there are four brackets for attaching ropes. Later, the wooden peals on which the gun stood were replaced with stone ones. As the Pole Samuil Matskevich wrote, “In the Russian capital lies a huge weapon. So big that Polish soldiers hide inside it from the rain ... ”Later, the gun was located in different places in the Kremlin. And when the Kremlin Palace of Congresses was built, it was transferred 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 would hardly have coped with this. Such tools are used only to destroy walls.
Description Tsar Cannon in Moscow
Now the powerful gun is on a decorative cast-iron carriage, and nearby are hollow decorative cast-iron cannonballs weighing 1.97 tons, cast in 1835 (the gun cannot fire such cannonballs). A bronze gun was cast, a cast-iron gun carriage. At the vent on the right side, Fyodor Ivanovich is depicted riding a horse in a crown and with a scepter in his hand. Above the image is the inscription: "By the grace of God, Tsar, Grand Duke Fyodor Ivanovich, Sovereign Autocrat of All Great Russia." According to one version, thanks to the image of Fedor Ivanovich, the Tsar Cannon got its name. According to another version, it is called so because of its large size. Also, the gun was 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 the cannon man Ondrey 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. Survey guns in 1980 at the Artillery Academy. 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 the iron core of this caliber weighs 1970 kg. An examination of the gun channel showed the presence of gunpowder particles. This means that the famous gun 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 iron gun was made in Udmurtia. Its weight was 42 tons, the weight of the core - 1.2 tons. The diameter of the trunk - 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 Butyakov Shipyard. It is located next to the Art Gallery.
The Perm Tsar Cannon is exhibited at the Motovilikhinskiye Zavody open-air museum of military equipment. It is the largest cast iron cannon in the world. The gun was made in 1868 by order of the Naval Ministry and is combat. During its tests, 314 shots were fired with cannonballs and bombs with a range of up to 1.2 km. The gun was intended for Kronstadt to defend Petersburg from the sea.
Many have heard about the famous giant weapon in the Moscow Kremlin in childhood, but its greatness when considered “in life” is impressive. And although the largest in size and weight is the German Dora howitzer 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 gun.
