Tsar cannon
The tsar cannon ( Russian Царь-пу́шка / tsar-puschka ) is a stone rifle that has probably never been used , which is exhibited as a memorial in the Moscow Kremlin and, with its enormous dimensions, represents a striking monument to the artillery and the casting technology of early modern Russia .
general description
The tsar cannon was manufactured in Moscow in 1586 by the Russian master foundryman Andrei Tschochow , who in the late 16th and early 17th centuries created a large number of artillery pieces, some of which have survived to this day. Today the Tsar's cannon - which is actually not a real cannon in terms of its technical properties , but rather resembles a mortar - on a stylized carriage near the square of the three cathedrals ( Cathedral of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary , Cathedral of the Annunciation and Archangel Michael Cathedral ) and is a well-known tourist attraction in the ensemble of the Moscow Kremlin. The spherical cast iron projectiles, which can be seen next to the cannon - each of which is 1.97 tons - were produced only in 1834 as pure decoration for gun and would also not be used as projectiles: Especially the Tsar Cannon was to fire grapeshot constructed been.
The cannon is 5.34 meters long and weighs 39.312 tons. It has a caliber of 890 mm. The outer diameter of its high quality of bronze produced run is 120 cm. On each side there are four cast rectangular brackets attached to which the ropes were attached when the weapon was transported. Parts of the barrel are adorned with reliefs , including an equestrian portrait of Tsar Fyodor I , during whose reign the cannon was made. This fact may have given the cannon its name, although according to other versions the name " Tsar cannon" can only be traced back to its enormous size. Also in several places on the barrel there are cast inscriptions from the time the tsar cannon was manufactured. One of them reads: " On the orders of the orthodox and Christ-loving Tsar and Grand Duke Fyodor Ivanovich, the Lord of all the keeper of all great Russia with his pious and Christ-loving Tsarina and Grand Duchess Irina ", at another point it says: " This was poured Cannon in the most famous tsarist city of Moscow in 7094 [after creation ], the third year of his reign. The cannon was made by the cannon founder Ondrei [sic!] Tschochow ”.
The decorative gun mount made of cast iron weighs 15 tons. It was cast in Saint Petersburg in 1835 according to a design by the then renowned architect Alexander Brjullow (a brother of the important painter Karl Brjullow ) with the participation of the engineer Pjotr de Witte . According to the shape of the barrel, the carriage was painted the color of bronze and is extensively decorated with ornaments of stylized animal and plant representations.
history
The tsar cannon was manufactured at a time when the casting technique in the manufacture of weapons in tsarism Russia had a history of over 200 years and had already reached a technically remarkable level. From the 15th and 16th centuries, there are also several examples of artillery pieces that have survived to this day, all of which are not only striking due to their large dimensions (several tons in weight and sometimes over 500 mm in caliber), but also important masterpieces of applied art with their rich ornate ornamentation represent. In the Moscow Kremlin in particular, some specimens can be seen on the arsenal building , not far from the location of the tsar cannon. Many such guns were used in historically important battles for Russia (such as the conquest of the Kazan Khanate by the troops of Ivan IV "the Terrible" ).
The tsar cannon was also supposed to serve its actual purpose, presumably primarily to defend the Kremlin, which was the residence of the Russian tsars at the time. The exact history of their origins is no longer known, but it is known that Andrei Chokhov worked as a foundry master in the Moscow cannon foundry (near today's Lubyanka Square) between around 1568 and 1629 and that five striking guns alone, which are now in the Moscow Kremlin, created. While there is no evidence that the cannon was ever used in combat, an investigation in 1980 found that it was fired at least once.
In the course of history, the tsar cannon changed its location several times. It was originally placed on Red Square in the immediate vicinity of the grandstand known as Lobnoje Mesto so that it could be used in the event of an attack on the Kremlin from the east. At that time the gun did not have a mount and was instead placed on a special frame with a predetermined angle of inclination. It was not until the beginning of the 18th century, when there had been no case of defense, that the cannon was taken out of service and moved to the Kremlin as a memorial in 1706. There it was first set up on the building of the arsenal and also received a wooden carriage, which, however , fell victim to the flames during the spectacular fire in the war against Napoleon in 1812 . In 1835 the cannon was then placed on the new carriage on which it is still standing today. Around the same time, the other 20 or so historical guns were set up in front of the arsenal building, some of which can still be seen today.
In 1843, the Tsar's cannon, a particularly important monument of the Russian arms trade, was separated from the other exhibits at the arsenal building and relocated to the armory of the Moscow Kremlin , where it stood until 1960. It was then moved to its current location on Ivan Square in the Kremlin, near the three Kremlin cathedrals. In the spring of 1980 the cannon and its mount were used as part of Moscow's preparations for the XXII. It was temporarily removed from the Kremlin for the Summer Olympics and underwent a thorough restoration with the participation of specialists from the Dzerzhinsky Artillery Academy in Serpukhov until it was brought back to the Kremlin in the summer of 1980.
Plaque
The memorial plaque on the cannon has the following inscription (with German translation):
|
Царь-пушка |
Tsar Cannon |
Others
In the Guinness Book of Records , the Tsar Cannon is listed as the largest howitzer in world history, while the German Dora is considered the largest artillery piece in the world . In addition, the tsar cannon with its 890 millimeters has the largest caliber of all firearms ever known after the American Little David mortar .
In the spring of 2001, an almost original-size copy of the tsar's cannon was cast in the Russian republic of Udmurtia on behalf of the Moscow city administration. It weighs 42 tons with a barrel diameter of 89 centimeters. This copy was a gift from the city of Moscow to the Ukrainian city of Donetsk , where it has since been placed in the forecourt of the town hall.
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Portnov 1990, p. 19
- ↑ Portnov 1990, p. 20
- ↑ Popmech.ru (checked on January 17, 2009)
- ↑ Radiomayak.ru ( memento of July 13, 2009 in the Internet Archive ), accessed January 17, 2009
literature
- MEPortnov: Carʹ-Puška i Carʹ-Kolokol . Moskovskij Rabočij, Moscow 1990, ISBN 5-239-00778-0 .
- SKRomanjuk: Kremlʹ i Krasnaya Ploščadʹ . Moskvovedenie, Moscow 2004, ISBN 5-7853-0434-1 , pp. 131-136.
Web links
- The Tsar Cannon on kremlin.ru (English)
Coordinates: 55 ° 45 ′ 5.3 " N , 37 ° 37 ′ 4.6" E