St. Sophia Cathedral belfry (Sophia belfry) is an architectural
monument of the 15th-18th centuries in the Novgorod citadel. It is a
multi-span wall-shaped bell-shaped structure. For the first time in
the annals it is mentioned in 1437, when it contains information
that during the flood the belfry fell into the Volkhov along with
the fortress wall.
The belfry is located on the inside of the
eastern wall of the citadel, almost close to the wall, a few meters
north of the arch, built in the 19th century on the site of the
Prechistenskaya tower that collapsed in 1745. The belfry of St.
Sophia Cathedral is 22.5 meters long and 3.4 meters wide.
In 1439, at the direction of Novgorod Archbishop
Euthymius II, "a stone bell tower was erected in the old place, in the
city (that is, on the fortress wall)." There was also an assumption by
such researchers as K. K. Romanov, D. A. Petrov and others that the date
of the restoration of the bell tower was different - 1455, at that time
“Vladyka Eufimiy put a stone belfry at St. Sophia”, but according to the
results archaeological excavations in 1995, using the dendrochronology
method, determined the date of the beds under the foundation of the
belfry - 1437, which confirmed the date of 1439. There was also an
opinion that before falling into the Volkhov, the belfry stood on the
city wall and was designed for small bells, and the belfry, mentioned
under the date of 1455, stood at the southwestern corner of St. Sophia
Cathedral, which can be seen on the image of the Novgorod Kremlin on the
Mikhailovsky icon Mother of God”, end of the 17th century[4]. Also,
according to the version proposed by the architect Dmitry Petrov,
decorative elements on the walls of the Sofia belfry, such as niches and
belts with Gothic details of buildings of the 15th century, indicate the
possibility of building the belfry by Western European craftsmen, who
probably participated in the construction in Novgorod and the
Vladychnaya Chamber in 1433.
In the 1530s-1540s, in connection
with the restructuring of the wall, as well as with the development of
bell-casting technologies, which caused the appearance of new, much
larger bells, the belfry was reconstructed. The construction of a
one-story extension near the belfry on the inside of the citadel is
presumably attributed to the same time. During this restructuring, the
number of spans was increased to five (before the belfry had only three
spans), and the number of pillars from four to six; five octagonal brick
tents began to crown the belfry. The height of the ringing tier was also
increased then. According to the results of research by Yu. E.
Krushelnitsky, carried out during the repair and restoration work in the
1940s, it was assumed that there were originally three vaulted chambers
between the St. Sophia belfry and the wall, but, according to D. A.
Petrov, the chambers were built in the end of the 15th century during
the construction of new fortifications. The appearance of the belfry
before the reconstruction of Euthymius II, before post-war research,
could be judged by the image of the belfry on the omophorion of
Patriarch Nikon, where it is depicted as three-span [6], and after
reconstruction, the appearance of the five-span belfry can be judged by
the image on the icon "Vision of Sexton Tarasius ".
In the second
half of the 17th century, a second floor was added to the western
extension and a stone porch was attached to it on the south side,
supports were adapted for even larger bells, and the so-called bell
tower was added towards the Prechistenskaya tower, from the southern
wall of the belfry. "house at the belfry"; the five tents that crowned
the belfry were converted into high tongs-pediments.
In the
middle of the 18th century, the upper part of the belfry of St. Sophia
Cathedral was rebuilt to its current form, including installing a dome
on a cylindrical base in the center.
At the beginning of the 20th
century, the ceiling was replaced with a lighter one, from two flat
small brick vaults, along which a flat asphalt roof was laid. In the
early 1930s The Sofia belfry fell into disrepair, which entailed
significant repair work, during which the vault of the extension was
removed, and the western wall of the extension was partially rebuilt; an
iron roof was also made.
From June to October 2007, the belfry
was closed for restoration, as part of the preparations for the
celebration of the 1150th anniversary of Veliky Novgorod in 2009.
The house at the belfry of the 17th century, according
to the results of studies carried out in 1946, may have been one-story
and built before the middle of the 17th century. Modern windows may have
been built in the 19th century, the early windows were narrow and only
partially coincide with the current ones in terms of location. During
the restoration work under the leadership of V. N. Zakharova in 1946,
only part of the building was restored - the ruins of the southern part
were dismantled, since this part was destroyed by a direct bomb hit; the
interior redevelopment of the rest of the building was also done.
In the 19th century, the watchmen of the St. Sophia Cathedral and
the ringers of the St. Sophia Belfry lived in the building.
During the Great Patriotic War
In August 1941, when the Nazi troops
were approaching Novgorod, an order was received to evacuate the bells
from the Sofia belfry, but during the bombing, the barge with the three
largest bells was smashed by a direct hit, and the bells sank to the
bottom of the Volkhov. The two largest bells were buried near the
citadel in the ground. The belfry was also badly damaged by an air bomb
that hit the house near the belfry, the porch was destroyed by artillery
fire.
The belfry was restored in 1948. Now it is used for its
intended purpose, there is also an observation deck in the upper part of
the belfry and there is an exhibition "Ancient bells of Veliky
Novgorod".
bells
Installed near the belfry
100 pood bell,
cast in 1589 and donated by Boris Godunov to the Dukhov Monastery
200
pood bell, cast in 1599 for the Khutyn Monastery by craftsmen Vasily
Ivanov, Afanasy Pankratiev and Joachim Ivanov
a bell weighing 1614
pounds was cast in 1659 in the Novgorod citadel by master Yermolay
Vasiliev
590 pood bell, cast in 1839
300 pood bell. cast in 1677.
The largest bell is also called "Festive", and "Sunday" - the bell of
the XIX century, the rest are "daily" (XVII-XVIII centuries).
In
the belfry at the exhibition "Ancient Bells of Veliky Novgorod" there
are 14 bells weighing from 1.5 to 20 pounds.
On September 18,
2009, as part of the celebrations dedicated to the 1150th anniversary of
the city, the belfry hosted the rite of consecration by the Archbishop
of Novgorod and Starorussky Leo of a new bell cast in Voronezh with the
inscription “Lit this bell in 2009 in memory of the accomplished 1150th
anniversary of Veliky Novgorod under the President Russian Federation
Dmitry Medvedev, Governor of the Novgorod Region Sergey Mitin, Mayor of
Veliky Novgorod Yuri Bobryshev, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow
and All Russia. The first blow to the bell was made by the President of
Russia Dmitry Medvedev.
Legend
According to legend, when Ivan
the Terrible, while in Novgorod, was crossing the Great Bridge over the
Volkhov, the bell ringer of the Sofia belfry, seeing the king, beat the
largest bell (not preserved) so hard that he frightened the royal horse,
which reared up and threw the king . For this misconduct, the king
ordered to cut off all the ears of the bell, except for the middle one,
and the bell continued to hang on the belfry for a long time, but its
nickname became “earless”.