Peter and Paul Fortress clock on the tower. What melody is played by the clock - chimes at the Peter and Paul Cathedral

London's Big Ben, the Prague Eagle, the Kremlin chimes and many of their equally famous counterparts in the "watch shop" in many cities around the world adorn towers, palaces, stations and squares. And they do not just decorate, but help the ever-hurrying residents of megacities to find out the most accurate (well, or almost exact) time. Of course, the Northern capital of Russia can rightfully be proud of the masterpieces of watchmaking masters - both ancient and quite modern. Let's name the most famous chimes of present-day St. Petersburg.

Clock of the Peter and Paul Cathedral

It was here, in the Peter and Paul Fortress, on the now non-existent wooden church in 1704 that the first outdoor mechanical clock in Russia appeared, the mechanism for which was made by the Russian master Nikifor Arkhipov. These were “still those” chimes - their main bell beat the time every hour, and weighed more than two hundred pounds. But Peter, who prefers everything European, replaced this clock in 1720 with a clock brought from Holland, with 35 bells. But, alas, they died in a fire in 1756, along with the bell tower on which they were installed.

However, the Peter and Paul Fortress did not remain without chimes. In 1760, in Holland, a new watch was bought from master Bernard Oort Krase, which was delivered to St. Petersburg. True, they were installed only in 1776. And since that time, the inhabitants of St. Petersburg began to hear (and still hear) their famous chimes.

I must say that the clock worked properly, being repaired only in 1858 and 1906. But after the October Revolution, they stopped, not submitting to the "revolutionary will", which tried to impose on them the execution of the "Internationale". This had to be done in 1937. In 1947, the chimes that had suffered during the war were repaired, the steeplejacks carried out work to automate their “factory”, which until that time was carried out manually once a day. And from 1952 to 1989, the clock played the anthem of the USSR: at 6, 12, 18 hours and at midnight. Then they were silent for more than a dozen years, beating only time and quarter chimes.

And in 2002, over the Peter and Paul Fortress, the melodies originally intended for clocks sounded again: “How glorious is our Lord in Zion” and the anthem of the Russian Empire (1833-1917) “God save the Tsar, strong, sovereign, reign for glory ...”.

Where are: Peter and Paul Fortress, Cathedral Square, 1

Clock on the tower of the Main Admiralty

In 1711, a clock appeared on the tower of the Main Admiralty, which served the city faithfully for more than a century. And the clock we know today, made by the well-known St. Petersburg firm Friedrich Winter, was installed only in 1869. Then the mechanism in the clock was connected to the bells that chimed. So it was in the full sense of the word chimes. Their mechanism worked until 1907, the time when it was stopped in order to connect the dial to new electrical devices.

During the blockade, the clock on the tower of the Main Admiralty did not work. But already in 1944, their shooters "ran" again. It should be noted that these clocks are perceived rather than as a means of telling the residents of the city the exact time, but as a wonderful element of decor, just like the clock on the pediment of the Winter Palace.

Where are: Admiralteisky pr., 1.

Clock on the tower of the City Council

According to some reports, the tower erected by Giacomo Ferrari already initially had a clock. Which ones are unknown. It is only known that when F. Trepov, who held the position of mayor in the 70s of the 19th century, suddenly decided to organize night lighting of these clocks, they were examined and found out that the clock had fallen into absolute disrepair. And this means that they urgently needed to be replaced with new ones.

New chimes in June 1883 and ordered the master Friedrich Winter. The contract was such that if the clock made by the watchmaker began to fall behind by more than two minutes per month, he was to be fined. Winter himself wound up the watch mechanism - for 50 rubles a year. The chimes "celebrated" not only every hour, but also "quarter", that is, 15 minutes. The clock was distinguished by its precise movement and melodic chime of bells.

It is known that the clock was repaired several times, but already in Soviet times. The state of emergency was also connected with them, which the newspapers of that time dubbed "the clinical death of the main Leningrad avenue." This is when one drunken comrade entered the clock tower and for some reason unscrewed the nut from the clock mechanism. The nut was put back in place.

But today the clock on the tower is still running, and with a rate deviation of no more than 30 seconds per week. And this is despite the fact that the current mechanism basically retained the old design. The clock is still driven by a chain structure with weights located in a 20-meter-deep shaft. One "factory" watch is enough for a week. Moreover, even today you can hear the sound of these chimes. True, at a very close distance. After all, today's Nevsky is far from the quietest place.

Where are: Nevsky prospect, 33/Dumskaya street, 1-3

Clock on the arch of the General Staff Building

It is impossible to ignore the city clock under the arch of the General Staff building due to their history and uniqueness. They were installed in 1890 as mechanical by the same firm "F. Winter. But with the advent of the new century, their fate changed dramatically. In 1900, Dmitry Ivanovich Mendeleev, who was the custodian scientist for the Main Chamber of Measures and Weights, proposed to install an electric mechanism in this clock, synchronized with the reference clock of the Main Chamber of Weights and Measures. This project has been implemented. The synchronizing electrical signal was transmitted over a specially laid cable several kilometers long.

It should be noted that the modern clock on the arch of the General Staff building has a Swiss mechanism, donated to the city for the 300th anniversary. Two huge dials, 2 meters in diameter each, are today an adornment of the Northern capital and another opportunity for St. Petersburg residents and guests of the city to “check their watches”.

Where are: Palace Square, 6-10.

Clock on the tower of the Moscow railway station

Where else is a watch always urgently needed? That's right - at the station. And when in 1851 the construction of the Nikolaevsky (later Moscow) station was completed, erected for the needs of the railway connecting St. Petersburg and Moscow, it became obvious that a very important architectural accent in the appearance of the new building is the quadrangular tower above the entrance. Of course, with a watch on it. By the way, the clockwork with the bell was made by the same notorious firm “F. Winter. For those who were late for the train, the clock tower not only indicated the exact time, but also the direction of the main entrance.

Where are: Nevsky prospect, 85.

Clock on the tower of Vitebsk railway station

When in 1904, according to the project of the academician of architecture S.A. Brzhozovsky, a modern building of the Vitebsk railway station was built in the “modern” style, then the “clock tower” was also not forgotten, and, of course, the clock on it. It adorns the left side of the main, northern, facade of the building overlooking Zagorodny Prospekt. In the niches of the tower, owls comfortably “settled down”, spreading their wings over the clock faces.

Where are: Zagorodny avenue, 52.

Electronic clock-barometer on Malaya Konyushennaya

This miracle mechanism appeared quite recently - only at the end of the 90s of the last century - at the time when Malaya Konyushennaya Street was being equipped, turning it into a pedestrian zone. This modern watch is so charming that it certainly deserves attention. In addition, they are also unique, as their elegant cabinet contains a barometer, thermometer and clock at the same time.

Where are: st. Malaya Konyushennaya.

Clock-fountain "Flood"

As a matter of fact, this is not a city clock in its purest form, since it is not located on a building, street or square, but in the atrium of the Petrovsky Fort business center. But this is a unique clock of our city! Therefore, we simply cannot pass by them.

So, the fountain clock "Flood", having a dial diameter of 6 m, was made by the company "Chronotron" for the 300th anniversary of St. Petersburg and installed in 2003 in the newly opened business center "Petrovsky Fort". The design of the “Flood” watch was developed by the honored architect of Russia V. Struzman, the chief artist of St. Petersburg I. Uralov, as well as architects V. Shprits, A. Mikhalev, artists S. Repin, V. Sukhov, N. Fomin.

In fact, we have a fountain in front of us: the clock itself is installed in its bowl at an angle of 13 degrees to the horizon in such a way that part of the rotating map of St. It is believed that this is the largest clock in the world. Until now, the clock in Maruyama Park (Kasai, Japan) was considered the largest.

Where are: business center "Petrovsky Fort", the intersection of Pirogovskaya embankment and Finlyandsky prospect.

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.

You can discuss and comment on this and other articles in our group In contact with

Comments

St. Petersburg is one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Thousands of tourists from different countries are in a hurry to get acquainted with its history, cultural values, sights, unique architectural monuments. The abundance of theaters, art exhibitions, galleries, museums impresses to the core and delights.

During a trip to St. Petersburg, tourists admire the Peter and Paul Cathedral - the tomb of Russian emperors. The famous cathedral has a fascinating history, no less interesting is the chimes that adorn its tower.

* In 1704, the chimes made by Nikifor Arkhipov installed on the village bell tower of the Peter and Paul Church in the Peter and Paul Fortress became the first mechanical clock in the city. Chimes today

The first chimes were created by the Russian master Nikifor Arkhipov for a temporary bell tower made of wood, installed in 1704 in its upper part. Until that time, there was no tradition to equip towers with clocks. Peter I introduces an innovation borrowed from Europe.

When the majestic stone Peter and Paul Cathedral was erected in 1733 on the site of a wooden turret, designed by the architect D. Trezzini, Peter I in Holland purchased unique chimes for crazy money and installed them according to his decree. At the beginning of the 18th century, the original clock was considered a real miracle, it was the largest in St. Petersburg. But they soon burned down in a fire. The new clock, made in Holland by master Oort Krase, was put in place of the old one only 13 years later, when the tower was completely restored after a fire in 1773. The clock mechanism of the chimes of the Dutch master Oort Kras (the watch itself was bought for 45,000 rubles - just a huge amount for those times)

* photo: dedmaxopka.livejournal.com

Those who travel around the most beautiful Russian city are happy to accommodate numerous hotels in their cozy rooms, among them the atrium hotel st. petersburg is considered a city with a high culture of service, the hotel staff is professional and friendly. The hotel equipment is modern, made according to the latest hospitality industry, there is everything you need for a good rest. Rooms can be booked online.

It offers a variety of hotels in any area of the city, they offer elite rooms, economy and middle class. Tourists who prefer mini hotels in st. petersburg pay cheaply for a high level of service and comfortable accommodation.

The famous chimes were modernized several times, they were supplemented with minute hands, pendulums, and musical devices. In the second half of the 19th century, the chimes played the 3rd Russian anthem, written by D. Bortnyansky. Until now, this immortal melody sounds every hour, bells strike every quarter of an hour, at noon and at 18 o’clock the anthem of the Russian Empire (1833-1917) is heard: “God save the Tsar, strong, sovereign, reign for glory ...”

Twice in its entire history, the clock stopped for a long time. This happened during the periods of the 1917 revolution and the Great Patriotic War.

What melody is played by the clock - chimes at the Peter and Paul Cathedral - name and who is the author?

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!”

The well-known Dutch watchmaker Bernard Oorto Crass made and brought to St. Petersburg chimes and a set of bells in 1761. True, the master did not have to see his creation in action. The construction of the stone bell tower of the Peter and Paul Cathedral, instead of the burnt wooden one, turned into a long-term construction. Crassus was promised a reward only after the clock was set. The master remained in St. Petersburg, spent all his money on maintaining the mechanism in working condition, and a few years later died in poverty. The chimes were launched only in 1776.

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. 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 beat the time and quarter chimes.

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

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 made 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 the bell tower is not yet in sight. The clock (so that the mechanism would not deteriorate) 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.