Great Evangelical Bell of the Savvino-Storozhevsky Monastery

aka the famous Zvenigorod bell.

A little BS….sorry….MS History about this bell.

It is believed that the bell was cast in 1668 by “the sovereign cannon and bell master Alexander Grigoryev.” The bell weighed 2125 pounds 30 hryvnias (approx. 35 tons). Depicted on it are the coat of arms of Zvenigorod.

Historians believe that there were TWO Zvenigorod Evangelical bells. The first was cast “allegedly” in 1652 and its fate is UNKNOWN. The SECOND bell was cast in 1668. It was this one that remained in Zvenigorod until 1941, when it was destroyed.

Today, these remains of the bell are stored in the Zvenigorod Museum, in the Savvino-Storozhevsky Monastery.

On the tragic days of the German attack on Moscow in October 1941, the attempt to save the bell by removing it from the belfry ended in failure: the bell broke, got stuck in the belfry. With the help of EXPLOSIVE DEVICES, the metal was lowered down and used for military needs.

But ten years earlier, in 1930, an agent of the Rudometalltorg organization arrived in the monastery, presenting an order from the authorities to remove the bells and take them out for re-melting. 14 monastery bells were removed from the belfry and broken in January 1930.

Please note that at that time the Evangelist was NOT TOUCHED. After all, it was destroyed only in 1941, after 10 years!

What? Why? How? Who?

The Ravens of Dinefwr Chronicles

The Ravens of Dinefwr is the first in a series of novels-in-progress set in the early 12th century. It follows the dispossessed members of the South Wales House of Dinefwr from their origins in Deheubarth to the centre of the known world, Jerusalem. Come and be my fellow Far-Farer. Come travelling and unravelling with me through Wales, Norway, Ireland, England, Scotland, France, Russia, Constantinople, Italy, the Balkans, the Holy Land. Come and Far-Fare through every degree on my 12th century compass.