Tsar Cannon: a weapon masterpiece or a toy? Tsar Cannon in the Moscow Kremlin - an unsolved mystery Message about the Tsar Cannon monument

I think that each of us has heard about the Tsar Cannon, because this is the most famous and amazing artillery piece in the world!

The Tsar Cannon was cast during the reign of Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich - in 1586. It happened at the Cannon Yard, and it was cast by the best Russian foundry master Andrey Chokhov. From under his hands, a real miracle of artillery appeared, 5.34 meters long and 890 millimeters in caliber. Just imagine, the outer diameter of the Tsar Cannon barrel is 1.2 meters, the diameter of the patterned belt at the muzzle is 1.34 meters, and this giant gun weighs 39.31 tons! The cannon is literally dotted with reliefs, and on the right side of the muzzle, Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich himself is depicted on horseback.

On each side of the trunk there are 4 brackets for attaching ropes, and above the front right bracket, right above the image of the king, there is an inscription "By the grace of God, the Tsar and Grand Duke Fedor Ivanovich, Sovereign and Autocrat of All Great Russia"

There are two more inscriptions on the top of the barrel: on the right - "By the command of the faithful and Christ-loving Tsar and Grand Duke Fyodor Ivanovich, Sovereign Autocrat of All Great Russia under his pious and Christ-loving Tsaritsa Grand Duchess Irina", and on the left - "This cannon was merged in the most famous city of Moscow in the summer of 7094, in the third summer of his state. The cannon was made by the cannon man Ondrey Chokhov"

There are many versions of the appearance of such a majestic name, for example, some believe that it was named after the king depicted on it, while others are sure that the cannon received such a name for its size (like the Tsar Bell), and at the very beginning the cannon generally bore the name "Russian Shotgun", as it was designed to fire buckshot

In 1834, to demonstrate the true caliber of guns in St. Petersburg, special decorative cannonballs were made, decorated with ornaments. Such cannonballs weigh almost two tons each, but the gun cannot fire them.

The Tsar Cannon was intended to become the main defensive weapon of the Kremlin, in connection with which it was installed on a special log flooring not far from the Execution Ground, but it was never destined to take part in a real battle ...

The cannon was moved to the Kremlin in the 18th century. Initially, she stood in the courtyard of the Arsenal, and then was transferred to its gates. In the 1960s, when it was built Kremlin Palace Congresses, the gun was placed on Ivanovskaya Square, at the foot of the Cathedral of the Twelve Apostles

The Tsar Cannon is the largest howitzer in the world in terms of caliber, as evidenced by the corresponding entry in the Guinness Book of Records. The largest artillery piece ever created is the German "Dora" with a caliber of 800 mm and a weight in combat position of 1350 tons.

The Tsar Cannon was carefully examined in 1980 for the purpose of repair. During this examination, it turned out that the gun was designed to fire stone balls weighing about 800 kilograms and that it was fired at least once

In the spring of 2001, by order of the Moscow government, a copy of the Tsar Cannon weighing 42 tons was made.

In May 2001, the Moscow government donated this copy to Donetsk - since then, a "ghost" has flaunted in front of the local city hall legendary weapon

The Tsar Cannon and the nearby Tsar Bell are surprising in size, but they were never used for their intended purpose.
Some consider them the creations of a national genius, others the personification of bragging, window dressing and impracticality, recalling famous strings: "Russia cannot be understood with the mind."

The caliber of the Tsar Cannon is 890 mm, the barrel length is 5.345 m, the weight is 39.312 tons (2400 pounds), the weight of the stone core is 819 kg (50 pounds). A cast-iron core of the same size would weigh 120 pounds. To eject it would require powder charge, which the barrel would not withstand.

200 horses moved the giant gun from place to place on wooden rollers, so it was practically non-transportable.

The main characteristic of an artillery gun is the barrel caliber. According to this indicator, the Tsar Cannon is in fourth place in the world. The first three share the two mortars of Mallet and the Little David mortar, made respectively in Britain and the USA in 1857 and 1945. All of them had a caliber of 914 mm (36 inches), like the Tsar Cannon, they were never used in combat and are museum pieces.

But is it? We'll get the expert's opinion at the end of the post.

The largest artillery gun used in practice (during the siege of Sevastopol in 1942) is the German Dora gun with a caliber of 800 mm. She also owns records for barrel length (32 m) and projectile weight (7.088 tons).

The Tsar Cannon was cast in the third year of the reign of Ivan the Terrible's son Fyodor, known for his meek disposition, extreme piety and lack of interest in state affairs. The actual initiator of the creation of the "superweapon" was his brother-in-law and de facto regent Boris Godunov.

It was intended to protect against Crimean Tatars who in 1571 burned Moscow and threatened to repeat the raid. In 1591, Khan Kazy-Girey again approached Moscow and withdrew without attempting an assault. Whether the presence of the Tsar Cannon in the Russians played any role in this is unknown. Further military necessity didn't get to use it.

Experts from the Artillery Academy who examined the gun in 1980 determined that it had been fired at least once, probably for testing purposes.

Structurally, the Tsar Cannon was a classic bombard - a medieval gun with a thick short barrel, widespread in Europe, Ottoman Turkey and India of the Great Moghuls. The bombard was dug into the ground with its breech, loaded from the muzzle and fired up to six shots a day, mainly with the aim of destroying enemy fortifications. A trench was set up nearby for calculation, because the bombards were often torn apart.

In Turkey, old bombards stood on the forts defending the Dardanelles until 1868. The last case of their successful application dates back to 1807. A 244-kilogram stone ball hit the powder magazine of a British battleship"Windsor Castle", which sank as a result of the explosion.

Since the Tsar Cannon had to fire not at the walls, but at the infantry and cavalry approaching the Kremlin, it could fire both stone cannonballs and cast-iron shrapnel or small stones ("shot"), and therefore is referred to in many sources as the "Russian Shotgun" .

Its creator Andrei Chokhov was honored to put his name on the trunk next to the name of the monarch. He entered the Moscow Cannon Yard on the Neglinka in 1568 as a 23-year-old youth, quickly moved forward and cast more than twenty large guns in more than 40 years of work. The master successfully survived the terror of Ivan the Terrible and the Time of Troubles and died at the age of 84, witnessing six reigns.

The Tsar Cannon was located near the Execution Ground and covered the Spassky Gates of the Kremlin. At first, it lay on the ground, in 1626 it was hoisted onto a log cabin (“peel”) filled with soil, after 10 years a stone peal was built, inside of which there was a wine shop.

In 1701, the Tsar Cannon survived by a miracle. After the loss of most of the artillery near Narva, Peter I ordered the old Kremlin guns to be poured into modern ones. Only at the last moment did he spare the Tsar Cannon for its uniqueness.

AT early XVIII century, it was moved to the Kremlin to the gates of the Arsenal (demolished in connection with the construction of the Kremlin Palace of Congresses), and in 1960 to its current location on Ivanovskaya Square.

The artistic casting decorating the Tsar Cannon is a work of art

The cast-iron carriage on which the Tsar Cannon now stands, and four hollow cast-iron cannonballs, cast in 1835 at the St. Petersburg factory of Charles Byrd, are decorative. Hoisting the cannon on the carriage was a technically difficult operation, for which the contractor Mikhail Vasiliev, who won the auction, received a huge sum of 1,400 rubles for those times.

At the time of its creation, the Tsar Cannon was, to use an expression now beloved in Russia, "a weapon that has no analogues in the world." At the same time, for the same money, it was possible to cast 20 guns of a smaller caliber, which would bring much more benefit. main goal government was, speaking in a modern way, PR.

When in 1909 a heavy monument to Alexander was erected in St. III works Paolo Trubetskoy, the poet Alexander Roslavlev responded with an epigram: "The third wild toy for the Russian serf: there was the tsar-bell, the tsar-cannon, and now the tsar-well ... a."

However, let me remind you that this is the opinion of an artillery specialist A. Shirokorad

He argues that venerable historians and dissident jokers are wrong all around. Firstly, the Tsar Cannon fired, and secondly, this gun is not a cannon at all.
Currently, the Tsar Cannon is on a decorative cast-iron carriage, and nearby are decorative cast-iron cannonballs, which were cast in 1834 in St. Petersburg at Byrd's iron foundry. It is clear that it is physically impossible to shoot from this cast-iron carriage or use cast-iron cannonballs - the Tsar Cannon will be blown to smithereens! 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 shoot shot, which in XVI-XVII 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. Recall that in 1571 Khan Devlet Giray burned down Moscow.

In the XVIII - early XX centuries, the Tsar Cannon was called in all official documents shotgun. And only the Bolsheviks in the 1930s decided to raise her rank for propaganda purposes and began to call her a cannon.

The secret of the Tsar Cannon was revealed only in 1980, when a large automobile crane removed it from the carriage and placed it on a huge trailer. Then the powerful KrAZ took the Tsar Cannon to Serpukhov, where the cannon was repaired at military unit No. 42708. At the same time, a number of specialists from the Artillery Academy. Dzerzhinsky made her inspection and measurement. For some reason, the report was not published, but from the surviving draft materials it becomes clear that the Tsar Cannon ... was not a cannon!

The highlight of the gun is its channel. At a distance of 3190 mm, it has the form of a cone, the initial diameter of which is 900 mm, and the final one is 825 mm. Then comes the charging chamber with a reverse taper - with an initial diameter of 447 mm and a final (at the breech) 467 mm. The length of the chamber is 1730 mm, and the bottom is flat.

So this is a classic bombard!

Bombards first appeared at the end of the 14th century. The name "bombard" comes from the Latin words bombus (thunder sound) and arder (burn). The first bombards were made of iron and had screw-on chambers. So, for example, in 1382 in the city of Ghent (Belgium) the bombard "Mad Margaret" was made, named so in memory of the Countess of Flanders Margaret the Cruel. The caliber of the bombard is 559 mm, the barrel length is 7.75 calibers (klb), and the channel length is 5 klb. The weight of the gun is 11 tons. The Mad Margarita fired stone cannonballs weighing 320 kg. The bombarda consists of two layers: the inner one consisting of longitudinal strips welded together, and the outer one consisting of 41 iron hoops welded together and with the inner layer. A separate screw chamber consists of a single layer of discs welded together and is equipped with sockets where the lever was inserted when it was screwed in and out.

It took about a day to load and aim large bombards. Therefore, during the siege of the city of Pisa in 1370, whenever the besiegers prepared to fire, the besieged went to the opposite end of the city. The besiegers, taking advantage of this, rushed to the attack.

The charge of the bombard was no more than 10% of the weight of the core. There were no trunnions and carriages. The guns were stacked on wooden decks and log cabins, and piles were driven in behind or erected brick walls for emphasis. Initially, the elevation angle did not change. In the 15th century, primitive lifting mechanisms began to be used and bombards were cast from copper.

Let's pay attention - the Tsar Cannon does not have trunnions, with the help of which the gun is given an elevation angle. In addition, she has an absolutely smooth rear section of the breech, with which she, like other bombards, rested against a stone wall or log cabin.

Protector of the Dardanelles

By the middle of the 15th century, the most powerful siege artillery was in ... Turkish Sultan. So, during the siege of Constantinople in 1453, the Hungarian foundry worker Urban cast for the Turks a copper bombard with a caliber of 24 inches (610 mm), which fired stone cannonballs weighing about 20 pounds (328 kg). It took 60 bulls and 100 men to transport it to the position. To eliminate the rollback, the Turks built a stone wall behind the gun. The rate of fire of this bombard was 4 shots per day. By the way, the rate of fire of large-caliber Western European bombards was about the same order. Just before the capture of Constantinople, a 24-inch bombard exploded. At the same time, its designer Urban himself died. The Turks appreciated the large-caliber bombards. Already in 1480, during the fighting on the island of Rhodes, they used bombards of 24-35-inch caliber (610-890 mm). The casting of such giant bombards required, as indicated in ancient documents, 18 days.

It is curious that the bombards of the 15th-16th centuries were in service in Turkey until the middle of the 19th century. So, on March 1, 1807, when the English squadron of Admiral Duckworth crossed the Dardanelles, a 25-inch (635 mm) marble ball weighing 800 pounds (244 kg) hit the lower deck of the Windsor Castle ship and ignited several caps with gunpowder, as a result of which there was a terrible explosion. 46 people were killed and wounded. In addition, many sailors, frightened, threw themselves overboard and drowned. The same core hit the ship "Active" and punched a huge hole in the side above the waterline. In this hole, several people could stick their heads out.

In 1868, over 20 huge bombards were still on the forts defending the Dardanelles. There is evidence that during the Dardanelles operation in 1915, a 400-kilogram stone ball hit the English battleship Agamemnon. Of course, it could not penetrate the armor and only amused the team.

Let's compare the Turkish 25-inch (630-mm) copper bombard, cast in 1464, which is currently kept in the museum in Woolwich (London), with our Tsar Cannon. The weight of the Turkish bombard is 19 tons, and the total length is 5232 mm. The outer diameter of the barrel is 894 mm. The length of the cylindrical part of the channel is 2819 mm. Chamber length - 2006 mm. The bottom of the chamber is rounded. The bombard fired stone cannonballs weighing 309 kg, and a charge of gunpowder weighed 22 kg.

The bombard once defended the Dardanelles. As you can see, outwardly and in terms of the channel structure, it is very similar to the Tsar Cannon. The main and fundamental difference is that the Turkish bombard has a screw breech. Apparently, the Tsar Cannon was made according to the model of such bombards.

Tsar Shotgun

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 the iron core of this caliber weighs 120 pounds (1.97 tons). As a shotgun, the Tsar Cannon was extremely ineffective. At the cost of expenses, instead of it, it was possible to make 20 small shotguns, which take much less time to load - not a day, but only 1-2 minutes. I note that in the official inventory "At the Moscow arsenal of artillery" # for 1730 there were 40 copper and 15 cast-iron shotguns. Let's pay attention to their calibers: 1500 pounds - 1 (this is the Tsar Cannon), and then calibers follow: 25 pounds - 2, 22 pounds - 1, 21 pounds - 3, etc. Largest number shotguns, 11, account for the 2-pounder caliber.

And yet she shot

Who wrote the Tsar Cannon into shotguns and why? The fact is that in Russia all the old guns that were in the fortresses, with the exception of mortars, were automatically transferred over time to shotguns, that is, in the event of a siege of the fortress, they had to shoot shots (stone), and later - cast-iron buckshot at the infantry marching to assault. It was impractical to use old guns for firing 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, in late XIX- at the beginning of the 20th century, the military forgot about the order in smooth-bore fortress artillery, and civilian historians did not know at all and decided by the name “shotgun” that the Tsar Cannon should have been used exclusively as an anti-assault weapon for firing “stone shot”.

The point in the dispute whether the Tsar Cannon fired was put in 1980 by specialists from the Academy. Dzerzhinsky. They examined the channel of the gun and, based on a number of signs, including the presence of particles of burnt gunpowder, concluded that the Tsar Cannon was fired at least once. After the Tsar Cannon was cast and finished at the Cannon Yard, it was dragged to the Spassky Bridge and laid on the ground next to the Peacock cannon. horses, and they rolled a cannon lying on huge logs - rollers.

Initially, the Tsar and Peacock guns lay on the ground near the bridge leading to the Spasskaya Tower, and the Kashpirova cannon was located near the Zemsky order, located where the Historical Museum is now located. In 1626, they were lifted from the ground and installed on log cabins, densely 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 Kashpir Cannon, at the Nikolsky Gate. In 1636, wooden roskats were replaced with stone ones, inside which warehouses and shops selling wine were arranged.

After the "Narva embarrassment", when the tsarist army lost all siege and regimental artillery, Peter I ordered that new guns be poured urgently. The king decided to get the copper necessary for this by melting down bells and old cannons. According to the “nominal decree” it was “ordered to pour the Peacock cannon into cannon and mortar casting, which is in China near the Execution Ground on a roll; a cannon to Kashpirov, near the new Money Yard, where the Zemsky order was; cannon "Echidna", which is near the village of Voskresensky; the Krechet cannon with a ten-pound cannonball; cannon "Nightingale" with a core of 6 pounds, which is in China on the square.

Peter, due to his lack of education, did not spare the most ancient Moscow casting tools and made an exception only for the largest tools. Among them, of course, was the Tsar Cannon, as well as two mortars cast by Andrey Chokhov, which are currently in storage. Artillery Museum In Petersburg.

No matter how they call the Tsar Cannon: the first among guns in caliber, a masterpiece of foundry art, the pride of the artillery collection, a symbol of Russian power. Even one of these epithets is enough to attract the attention of tourists to it. The caliber of the miracle gun is 890 millimeters, and this figure is really the largest of all known world analogues.

The Tsar Cannon - both as a tool and as a museum exhibit under open sky, And How business card Belokamennaya among other historical monuments is very original. On the one hand, it is an example of the largest medieval tool, and on the other, clearest example gigantism of the 19th century. The origin of the name of the original attraction, which scientists have not yet figured out, is also intriguing. Some suggest that it is due to the fact that one of the Russian autocrats is depicted on the cannon. Others believe that the name is due to the exceptionally impressive size of this weapon.

Be that as it may, there are few foreign tourists who, having arrived in Moscow, would not want to look at this miracle of props. In addition to the fact that the Tsar Cannon is the largest-caliber gun in the world, it is 5.34 meters long and weighs about 40 tons. These indicators were enough to include the majestic Moscow beauty in the Guinness Book of Records. And after that, how can you pass by such a unique attraction, not touch it with your own hands and not take a picture against its background?

History of the Tsar Cannon

In 1586, alarming news spread throughout Moscow that the Crimean Khan Islyam II Gerai was moving into the city with his horde, so it was necessary to create a weapon for the defense of the Kremlin, and this task was entrusted to the Russian master Andrei Chokhov. In the same year, a huge cannon was cast in the cannon yard. It was installed right on Red Square, near the so-called Execution Ground. As a base, a log peal (flooring) was used. Before that, 200 horses had to be used, which dragged the gun along the logs, 4 brackets were provided on each side for attaching ropes. After some time, the log flooring was replaced with stone.

The Polish hussar Samuil Matskevich recalled on this occasion that “in the Russian capital there is a huge gun so big” that the soldiers of the Commonwealth during the rain can hide “inside it”.

Meanwhile, the Crimean Khan did not reach Moscow, so no one had a chance to see how the unique gun fired. In the 18th century, the cannon was moved to the Moscow Kremlin, and since then it has been located there, in the very heart of the capital. First, the gun was placed in the courtyard of the Arsenal, built by Peter I as a Zeikhgauz - a repository for old and captured weapons. Subsequently, the Tsar Cannon "guarded" the main gates of the Arsenal.

In 1835, along with other century-old tools, it was placed along the Armory. It was erected on a new cast-iron carriage, made according to the sketches of Academician A.P. Bryullov. In the 60s of the last century, the Tsar Cannon celebrated another "housewarming": it was placed in the place where it is still located.

Despite the surviving evidence that the sovereign Fedor I Ioannovich gave the order to make such a large weapon to meet the troops of the Crimean Khan, many researchers believe that in fact the Tsar Cannon was only supposed to make a “frightening” impression on foreigners with its impressive appearance. The writer Albert Valentinov, for example, claimed that the master himself, Andrei Chokhov, initially knew that his huge clumsy offspring would not shoot. Even assuming, the writer reasoned further, that a huge amount of gunpowder, which is necessary to push out a two-ton cannonball, will not blow the barrel to smithereens, it is simply impossible to imagine the Tsar Cannon in battle. After all, because of this heavy weight dragging from one position to another would be an almost insoluble problem. Valentinov also claimed that the caster set himself, first of all, the goal of showing the capabilities of the Russian arms industry, and the cannon itself was supposed to become a symbol of Russia's power in the face of possible enemies. Chokhov's logic, in his opinion, was simple and should have convinced all foreigners: if Russian craftsmen could create such a large cannon, they could do even more with smaller weapons.

The opinion of the writer echoes the assessments of many highly specialized gunsmiths. So, one of them, Alexander Shirokorad, in his work “Miracle Weapon Russian Empire” claims that at a cost of cost, instead of this gun, two dozen small-sized shotguns could be made, which would take only 1-2 minutes to load. While it would take a whole day to load our mighty beauty. Shirokorad, in this regard, asks a rhetorical question, a quote: “What place did our military think, who wrote the Tsar Cannon into shotguns? ..”

It would seem that the assessments of specialists, supported by simple logic and iron arguments, should have put an end to the discussion about whether the mission of this weapon was military or, conversely, only propaganda? However, subsequent studies did not confirm the version that the Tsar Cannon was cast only to frighten foreigners with its awesome appearance. As it turned out, it really belongs to the bombard type - large-caliber siege weapons with a slight extension of the barrel, designed to fire 800-kilogram stone cannonballs.

When the Germans advanced near Moscow in 1941, they seriously planned to use the Tsar Cannon to protect the capital from the enemy.

In 1980, the gun was sent for repairs to Serpukhov. At the same time, specialists from the Dzerzhinsky Artillery Academy examined it. They confirmed that the structure of the barrel clearly indicates that this is a classic bombard designed to fire precisely stone cannonballs, that is, “shot”. They classified it as a mounted fire weapon, which did not need to be transported from place to place - such weapons were simply dug into the ground.

Other researchers have no doubt that the Tsar Cannon was fired at least once, but still fired. Others object: tides of bronze remained in the barrel chamber, which should not have been there after firing. The latter reinforce their position by the fact that the gun does not have an ignition hole, and this circumstance makes firing from it a priori impossible.

What does the Tsar Cannon look like?

Regardless of whether the Tsar Cannon could have been used to defend the Kremlin, or whether it had a completely “decorative” purpose, it had and still has a ceremonial and majestic appearance. Cast in bronze, the beautiful cannon solemnly, even somewhat proudly, rises on a cast-iron carriage, which is almost two centuries old. Next to it are cannonballs cast back in 1834 from the same material, each of which weighs 1.97 tons. Of course, the gun cannot shoot such nuclei.

Once on the right side of the Tsar Cannon, you will see the image of the sovereign-autocrat Fyodor I Ioannovich, also known by the name of Theodore the Blessed, sitting on a horse. He has a crown on his head and a scepter in his hands. Those who are not very familiar with history will be able to read next to who exactly is depicted here.

It is believed, and we said about this at the very beginning, that the gun got its name - the Tsar Cannon - thanks to this image. After all, Fedor Ivanovich was not only the Grand Duke of Moscow, but also the king of all Russia. However, on this score, as well as on other points related to the history of the landmark, there is an alternative opinion: the gun got its name due to its dimensions, which really make it the “king” among all ordinary guns.

Now moved to opposite side trunk, which faces another famous landmark - the Tsar Bell. On it we can see the inscription that the cannon was cast in "the most famous royal city of Moscow in the summer of 7094 in the third year of his state", and that the cannon was cast by "cannon maker Ondrey Chokhov". But why is such a year indicated, which evokes associations with the Byzantine chronology, which, in turn, goes back to the Old Testament? The fact is that in the 16th century the chronology in Russia, as in Byzantium, was conducted from the "creation of the world." Counting the years from the Nativity of Christ, as we are used to today, began in Russia at the end of the 17th century, at the direction of Peter the Great.

And, of course, we will not ignore the barrel of the gun, decorated with beautiful ornaments. About the gun carriage, which was cast according to the drawings of Peter Jan de Wiet, let's say separately. The casters covered this 15-ton structure with a very original weave of plants, among which there is an image of a lion fighting a snake, which has a symbolic meaning. According to the general opinion, the king of beasts was placed here not by chance, but in order to emphasize the special status of the Tsar Cannon. The "plant" theme is continued on the spokes of large wheels, which are made in the form of intertwining leaves.

A legend has survived to this day, according to which the Tsar Cannon still fired. And this happened only once, under False Dmitry I. When this self-proclaimed ruler was exposed, he tried to hastily leave the capital. On the way he was overtaken by an armed detachment. The soldiers brutally killed the impostor, but after the body was buried, the next day he was ... found near the almshouse. There was no limit to the surprise of the Muscovites, but the corpse should not be left unburied. For the second time, it was buried in another place, to an even greater depth. But when the body of False Dmitry appeared again, people were seriously worried. There was a rumor that even the earth would not accept an impostor. And it was decided to burn the body, after which gunpowder was mixed into the ashes and fired from the Tsar Cannon in the direction of the Commonwealth, from where, in fact, False Dmitry came. Of course, this is only a legend, but who knows - suddenly something like this happened? After all, it is not in vain that people say that there is no smoke without fire.

And further interesting fact. It turns out that in the place where the Tsar Cannon majestically “poses” in front of visitors, there used to be an ordinary tavern, in which the most diverse people liked to pass a glass or two.

Tsar cannon and its copies

One of the most famous copies of the legendary weapon is located in Donetsk. For the capital of Donbass, it was cast specially by order of the Moscow government at the Izhstal OJSC enterprise (Udmurtia). In terms of mass, the “clone” even surpasses the original, it weighs 42 tons, of which a total of 3 tons falls on both wheels. The weight of the core is 1.2 tons, and the diameter of the trunk is 89 cm.

The Donetsk Tsar Cannon, cast iron, unlike the Moscow one, was installed in front of the city hall in May 2001. In order to get closer appearance to the original, the barrel was covered with a special paint imitating medieval bronze. The production of the duplicate took almost three months, being divided into two stages. First, a casting mold was made, and then it was filled with cast iron. All artistic elements, and there are 24 of them (the head of a lion, patterns on the trunk, the image of Tsar Fedor and many others) were made by Donetsk cabinetmakers Vitaly Antonenko and Mikhail Berezovsky.

Another well-known copy of the Tsar Cannon is located in the capital of the Republic of Mari El, Yoshkar-Ola. It is installed at the entrance to the National Art Gallery, which is on Obolensky-Nogotkov Square. The Mari copy was specially cast at the shipbuilding and ship repair plant named after S. N. Butyakov.

No less famous is the Perm model of the Tsar Cannon. She is the youngest of all, she was made in the Motovilikha iron-cannon factory back in 1868, and in full size. Unlike " older sister"In Moscow, the Perm 20-inch model has successfully passed, as they say, a battle test. During testing, 314 shots were fired from it, and not only with ordinary nuclei, but also with bombs of various systems.

During the World Exhibition of 1873 in Vienna, the Perm cannon was installed in front of the Russian pavilion. After the exhibition, she was to be transported to Kronstadt, and a special carriage was even made for her. It was planned that the gun would serve for the defense of St. Petersburg from the sea. However, this giant was returned back to Perm. The fact is that by that time it was technically outdated. It was replaced by lighter guns made of high-strength cannon steel, the production technology of which was developed by the Zlatoust engineer-inventor Pavel Matveyevich Obukhov, who opened a plant in the city on the Neva. The Permian Tsar Cannon, like the Moscow one, was preserved as a monument.

How to get there

The Tsar Cannon is one of the most famous sights of Moscow, located in the heart of the city, so it is very easy to find it.

Using the metro, you get to the Alexandrovsky Sad station and go directly to this park, located on the northwestern side of the Kremlin walls. Here, at the subway station, are ticket offices to the Kremlin. Having bought a ticket, go up to the Kutafya tower and, after crossing the bridge and passing the Trinity Tower, you will find yourself directly on the territory of the Kremlin.

Next, go in the direction Senate Square and turn right, after which you reach the bell tower of Ivan the Great, next to which there is a unique, silent in its grandeur ancient weapon - Her Majesty the Tsar Cannon.

Let's go a little higher, to Ivanovskaya Square. Here it is famous Tsar Cannon. It is mounted on a carriage, and next to it are the cores. But, don't think, the Tsar Cannon cannot shoot with these cannonballs and from this carriage, and never could. Tsar Cannon- this is actually not a gun as such, but a bombard. Bombards fired large blocks of stones and were intended to break the walls of fortresses during their siege. The Tsar Cannon was also intended for firing stones weighing up to 800 kg. It took a day to charge such a bombard, and in order to shoot, they built special walls to pay off the rollback. At what to shoot, too, it was necessary to be able to. It's not like in the movies, when they bring a torch to the ignition hole of the gun - bang, and the core flew. No, it's not that simple. It was necessary to take a cord impregnated with a special combustible composition, carefully stick it into the igniter, set it on fire and quickly run into the nearest trench. It happened that the bombards exploded, taking with them not very smart gunners to the next world.

Tsar Cannon was cast in 1586 by our master Andrey Chokhov. Its length is 5.35 m, barrel diameter is 120 cm, caliber is 890 mm, weight is 39.31 tons (2400 pounds). So why was the cannon called the Tsar - the cannon. There are two versions. The first is because of her large sizes, the second - because of the engraved image of the last tsar from the Rurik dynasty - Fedor Ivanovich on horseback. Historians lean more towards the second version, because. there is a cannon with dimensions and caliber larger than ours - the Turks cast it.

It has long been believed that the Tsar Cannon never participated in battles and was never fired from it, because. by the time it was cast, the use of bombards had practically ceased. But in 1980, during repairs in Serpukhov, they found out that at least once the Tsar Cannon was fired. Therefore, when they say that in Russia there is a Tsar Bell that never rang and a Tsar Cannon that never fired, they are deeply mistaken. At least one shot, but the Tsar Cannon fired.

By the way, about the Tsar Bell. He is also here on Ivanovskaya Square not far from the Tsar Cannon. At the Tsar Bell tragic story. They never called him, because during the fire he fell off big piece, weighing 11.5 tons. And even if you put it in place and fix it now, the ringing will not be the same as if it was originally solid.

I must say that this is not the first bell in Russia with the name Tsar. First The Tsar Bell was cast back in 1600. It weighed 2450 pounds (about 40 tons). But during a fire in the middle of the 17th century. he fell from the bell tower on which he hung and crashed. In 1652, a new bell weighing 8,000 pounds was cast from the crashed Tsar, i.e. more than 130 tons. The bell was hoisted on the belfry next to. This bell lasted until 1654. At Christmas, when all the bells were ringing, the Tsar Bell broke. Looks like someone called him too hard :-). The following year, 1655, the Tsar Bell was poured again, and he gained more weight. New Tsar weighed about 10,000 pounds (more than 160 tons). After 3 years (what did they do all this time?) He was raised to a specially built belfry on Cathedral Square. And again the fate of the Tsar Bell was decided by a fire. In a fire on June 19, 1701, most of the wooden buildings burned down. The Tsar Bell fell and broke.

In 1730, Empress Anna Ioannovna issued a decree on the creation of a new bell. For 4 years, the project of the new Tsar Bell was developed and approved. But, when it came to casting, a fire started, and during the restoration work, the chief master, Ivan Motorin, died. All the casting of the bell was handed over to his son Mikhail. And finally, on November 25, 1735, the Tsar Bell was cast. So much time has gone into preparatory work, and the casting of the Tsar Bell itself took only 1 hour and 12 minutes. After that, chased work began, but in 1737 a fire broke out again in the Kremlin. People, fearing that the bell will melt from high temperature, sprinkled it with water. From abrupt change temperature, the Tsar Bell cracked and a piece of 11.5 tons fell off it. This became clear only after the fire. The cracked and broken bell became useless and was forgotten about for 100 years. In 1819, after the war with the French, during restoration work in the Kremlin, the Tsar Bell was finally raised and placed on a pedestal. The height of the Tsar Bell is 6.24 m, the diameter is 6.6 m, and the weight is almost 200 tons. There is an inscription on the bell that it was cast in 1733, although in fact it happened only in 1735. This is the fate of the largest bell in the world, all its troubles were mainly associated with fires. Now it stands on a pedestal next to the Ivan the Great Bell Tower, to which we are just heading.

The address: Russia, Moscow, Moscow Kremlin
Date of creation: 1586
Characteristics: length - 5.34 m, barrel diameter - 120 cm, caliber - 890 mm, weight - 39.31 tons
Coordinates: 55°45"05.2"N 37°37"04.8"E

The Tsar Cannon is considered one of the main attractions of the Kremlin in Moscow. This is the greatest monument of Russian artillery. There are few foreign tourists who left Moscow without looking at the cannon.

Being the largest caliber gun in the world, the Tsar Cannon is in the Guinness Book of Records.

History of the Tsar Cannon

In 1586, alarming news came to Moscow: the Crimean Khan was moving towards the city with his horde. In this regard, the Russian master Andrey Chokhov cast a huge gun that fired stone buckshot and was intended to protect the Kremlin. Initially, the gun was installed on a hill to protect the bridge across the Moscow River and the defense of the Spassky Gate.

However, the khan did not reach Moscow, so the townspeople did not see how the gun, called the tsar cannon for its size, beats. In the XVIII century. the cannon was moved to the Moscow Kremlin, and since then it has not left its limits. In that place, the tsar-tool stood until the beginning of the 18th century, until Peter I conceived the construction of the Zeikhgauz (Arsenal of the Moscow Kremlin), organizing weapons storage for ancient and trophy exhibits.

First, the gun was placed in the courtyard of the Arsenal, and then it guarded its main gate. In 1835, the gun was erected on a new cast-iron carriage, made according to the sketches of Academician Bryullov A.P.. The Tsar Cannon, along with other ancient guns, was placed along the Armory. In 1960, the construction of the Kremlin Palace began. The old building of the Armory was demolished and the gun was again delivered to the Arsenal.

Closer to 1980, the Tsar Cannon, along with the gun carriage and cannonballs, was taken out for a planned restoration. They were returned to their original place in 1980.

Today, the gun can be viewed on Ivanovskaya Square. Nearby is the bell tower of Ivan the Great and the Church of the Twelve Apostles.

Pride of the Artillery Collection

The Tsar Cannon is located on a cast-iron carriage, which performs a decorative function. The cannon itself was cast in bronze. Nearby are decorative cast iron cores. On the right side of the cannon, Fyodor Ivanovich is depicted on horseback. The prince has a crown on his head, and he holds a scepter in his hands. It says next to the picture that it is Grand Duke Fedor Ivanovich, who is the Sovereign Autocrat of Great Russia. It is believed that the cannon could have received its name due to the image of the prince. In addition to the Tsar Cannon, you can find another name - "Russian Shotgun". This name is due to the fact that the gun was cast specifically for firing shots, the so-called buckshot.

On the left side of the cannon it is written that its author is "Litecs Ondrey Chokhov". The gun barrel is decorated with beautiful ornaments. The gun carriage deserves special attention. To emphasize the high status of the tool, the casters depicted the king of animals - a lion. The gun carriage is covered with an extraordinary weave of plants, among which is the symbolic image of a lion fighting a snake. The spokes of the large wheels are made in the form of intertwining leaves.

The gun is striking in its size:

• Length - 500 cm;
• Barrel diameter - 120cm;
• Caliber - 890 mm;
• Weight - almost 40 tons.

The force of 200 horses was used to move the cannon. According to some experts, this huge gun never fired. And it was made solely in order to only scare strangers, in particular the Crimean Khan.

The Secret of the Tsar Cannon

This is a fairly strong artillery piece of the Middle Ages. However, looking at it and at the cannonballs located nearby, it becomes clear that it is simply impossible to shoot from such a weapon. So what is this weapon on display: props or not? It should be said right away that 4 cast-iron cores, folded in a pyramid near the foot of the cannon, perform a purely decorative function. Inside they are hollow, the weight of one such core is 1970 kg, and the weight of a stone one is 0.819 tons. It is physically impossible to shoot from such a carriage and use cast-iron cores, since the gun would most likely be torn apart. In addition, no documents have been preserved about any tests of the Tsar Cannon and battles with its participation. Therefore, today there are many contradictions around the purpose of the tool.

Until the 20th century, many military men and historians believed that this was a shotgun, that is, a weapon for buckshot, which at that time consisted of small stones. In 1930, the Bolsheviks decided to call the shotgun a cannon. They did this to increase the "rank" of the gun, for the purpose of propaganda.

The secret of this exhibit was revealed only in 1980, when it needed to be restored.

The gun was removed from the carriage and placed on a large trailer using a large truck crane. Then the weapon was taken to Serpukhov, where it was restored. At the same time with repair work specialists from the Artillery Academy examined the exhibit, made the appropriate measurements, but no one saw the report. However, the surviving drafts allow us to conclude that the Tsar Cannon is not a cannon at all.

The secret of the weapon lies in its design. At the very beginning, the diameter of the channel into which the projectile is placed is 90 cm, and at the end it is 82 cm. At a distance of 31.9 cm, the channel is cone-shaped. Next is the charging chamber. The diameter at the beginning is 44.7 cm and at the end 46.7 cm. The length of such a chamber is 173 cm. The flat bottom is characteristic. In this regard, it was stated that the Tsar Cannon is an ordinary bombard, which involves firing with stone cannonballs. A gun is usually called a gun with a barrel length of more than 40 calibers. And this gun has a length of only four calibers, the same as the bombard. As a shotgun, such a weapon is extremely inefficient.

Bombards are large-sized wall-beating weapons that destroy the 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 artillery crews, since such guns often burst. The rate of fire of such weapons is up to 6 shots per day.

When examining the canal of the gun, particles of gunpowder were found. This suggests that the gun fired at least once. Of course, this could have been a trial, so to speak, test shot, since the gun did not leave Moscow. And who in the city limits could be shot from it? Another refutation of the use of the tool is the absence of any traces in the barrel, including longitudinal scratches left by stone cannonballs.

The legend of the Tsar Cannon and the impostor False Dmitry

According to legend, the Tsar Cannon, nevertheless, fired. It happened once. 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 next day after the burial, the corpse was found near the almshouse. He was buried even deeper, but after a while, the body reappeared, but in a different cemetery.

People said that his land does not accept. The decision was made to burn the body. After that, the ashes were mixed with gunpowder and fired from the Tsar Cannon towards Poland - from where False Dmitry came.

But this is only a legend, so we can only contemplate and be proud of this most valuable exhibit.