
Christopher Galloway was a
Scottish
Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including:
*Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland
*Scottish English
*Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...
engineer and architect who worked in Russia during the reign of Tsar
Mikhail
Michael is a common masculine given name derived from the Hebrew phrase ''mī kāʼēl'', 'Who slike-El', in Aramaic: ܡܝܟܐܝܠ (''Mīkhāʼēl'' ). The theophoric name is often read as a rhetorical question – "Who slike he Hebrew Go ...
(1621–1645). He is best known for constructing the clocks at the
tented roof
A tented roof (also known as a pavilion roof) is a type of polygonal hip roof, hipped roof with steeply pitched slopes rising to a peak.W. Dean EastmanHometown Handbook: Architecture./ref> Tented roofs, a hallmark of medieval religious archite ...
of the
Spassky Tower in the
Moscow Kremlin
The Moscow Kremlin (also the Kremlin) is a fortified complex in Moscow, Russia. Located in the centre of the country's capital city, the Moscow Kremlin comprises five palaces, four cathedrals, and the enclosing Kremlin Wall along with the K ...
, and the water engine in the
Vodovzvodnaya Tower.
Nothing is known about his early biography before his arrival in
Moscow
Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...
in 1621 (or 1620 in different accounts
[I. L. Buseva-Davydova. ''Россия XVII века: культура и искусство в эпоху перемен'']
Автореферат диссертации на звание доктора искусствоведения
(in Russian). Moscow, 2005.) and after 1645. Historian
Ivan Zabelin
Ivan Yegorovich Zabelin (Иван Егорович Забелин; 29 September 1820 – 13 January 1909) was a Russian historian and archaeologist with a Slavophile bent who helped establish the National History Museum on Red Square and presid ...
believes that Galloway was mentioned in a chronicle as ''Christophor Christophorov''; however, I. L. Buseva-Davydova thinks that those are two different persons.
[
He travelled to Moscow at the request of King ]James VI
James may refer to:
People
* James (given name)
* James (surname)
* James (musician), aka Faruq Mahfuz Anam James, (born 1964), Bollywood musician
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* Prince Ja ...
, who at that time arranged sale and diplomatic relations with the Tsar. It was agreed that Galloway receive 60 rubles per year, 20 copecks provision each day, and a carriage of firewood each week. In 1640 he now received 75 rubles in a year and doubled provision. Moreover, as a courtier he received "all kind of food and drink" by the Tsar's palace.[Ivan Zabelin. ''История города Москвы''. The History of Moscow]
Part I
(in Russian). Moscow, 1905. p. 188. Others say that for food he received 6 altyns and 5 denga
A denga (, ) was a Russian monetary unit with a value latterly equal to kopeck (100 kopecks = 1 Russian ruble). The denga was introduced in the second half of the 14th century during the reign of Dmitry Donskoy.
Etymology
The Russian word ' ...
s in 1641 (20 and a half of kopecks), and received the double from 1645 on.
According to chronicles, Galloway repaired the clocks of the Tsesarskaya Tower in 1628, and also "small clocks at the gates r: small pocket watches, as per Zabelin; meaning is unclear.[
When Mikhail Fyodorovich wished to see clocks on the Spassky Tower with more difficult mechanics as before, Galloway agreed and, because of the clocks' placement, also recommended to overbuild a high tower with a thatched roof over the gates, which was done from 1624 to 1625. When the work was finished and the bells controlled the clocks' time, Galloway received on 29 January 1626 from the Tsar and His father, Patriarch Philaret Nikitich, salary of one silver cube, 10 arshin scarlet ]satin
A satin weave is a type of Textile, fabric weave that produces a characteristically glossy, smooth or lustrous material, typically with a glossy top surface and a dull back; it is not durable, as it tends to snag. It is one of three fundamen ...
, 10 arshin azure
Azure may refer to:
Color
* Azure (color), a hue of blue
** Azure (heraldry)
** Shades of azure, shades and variations
Arts and media
* ''Azure'' (Art Farmer and Fritz Pauer album), 1987
* Azure (Gary Peacock and Marilyn Crispell album), 2013
* ...
damask
Damask (; ) is a woven, Reversible garment, reversible patterned Textile, fabric. Damasks are woven by periodically reversing the action of the warp and weft threads. The pattern is most commonly created with a warp-faced satin weave and the gro ...
, 5 arshin amber-coloured taffeta
Taffeta (archaically spelled taffety or taffata) is a crisp, smooth, plain woven fabric made from silk, nylon, cuprammonium rayons, acetate, or polyester. The word came into Middle English via Old French and Old Italian, which borrowed the Pers ...
, 4 arshin raspberry-coloured stuff, forty sable
The sable (''Martes zibellina'') is a species of marten, a small omnivorous mammal primarily inhabiting the forest environments of Russia, from the Ural Mountains throughout Siberia, and northern Mongolia. Its habitat also borders eastern Kaz ...
s for 41 rubles, forty marten
A marten is a weasel-like mammal in the genus ''Martes'' within the subfamily Guloninae, in the family Mustelidae. They have bushy tails and large paws with partially retractile claws. The fur varies from yellowish to dark brown, depending on ...
s for 12 rubles; altogether cost about 100 rubles. "The Tsar presented him all this for constructing the tower and clocks over the Frolovsky gates in the Kremlin".[Ivan Zabelin. ''История города Москвы''. ''The History of Moscow'']
Part I
(in Russian). Moscow, 1905. p. 187. In May that same year a heavy fire destroyed the clocks; Galloway restarted the work and finished in 1628; on 16 August 1628 he received almost the same presents as before.[
The arrangement of the clocks was not typical: the dial spun, and not the hands. The English physician Samuel Collins, when visiting Moscow, discovered that, and wrote to his friend ]Robert Boyle
Robert Boyle (; 25 January 1627 – 31 December 1691) was an Anglo-Irish natural philosopher, chemist, physicist, Alchemy, alchemist and inventor. Boyle is largely regarded today as the first modern chemist, and therefore one of the foun ...
:
On our clocks the hands move towards the numbers, in Russia it's the other way around – the numbers move towards the hand. Mr. Galloway – a very talented person – invented a dial of this type. He explains it like that: 'As the Russians are different than other people, the things made should be that way accordingly'
In 1633 Galloway constructed a machine to lift water from the Moskva
Moscow is the capital and largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents within the city limits, over 19.1 million residents in the urban area, and over ...
into the Sviblova (Vodovzvodnaya) Tower.[Ivan Zabelin. ''Дворец Московских царей до Петра Великого''. The Palace of Moscow Tsars till Peter the Great]
Part II
(in Russian). Moscow, 1849. p. 127.
Galloway also built the complex of the Printing House (Pechatnyy Dom). According to I. L. Buseva-Davydova, the plan of the Terem Palace
Terem Palace or Teremnoy Palace () is a historical building in the Moscow Kremlin, Russia, which used to be the main residence of the Russian czars in the 17th century. Its name is derived from the Greek word ''τέρεμνον'' (i.e., "dwelling ...
(1636–1637) may have belonged to Galloway.[
]
References
Sources
* Howard Colvin
A biographical dictionary of British architects
1600–1840. 2008. . p. 402.
* Jeremy Howard. The Scottish Kremlin Builder: Christopher Galloway - Clockmaker, Architect and Engineer to Tsar Mikhail, the first Romanov. Manifesto, 1997.
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Galloway, Christopher
Scottish clockmakers
Scottish architects
Scottish engineers
Year of death missing