The Great Lavra Bell Tower or the Great Belfry (, ) is the main

bell tower A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell to ...

of the ancient

cave monastery A cave monastery is a monastery built in caves, with possible outside facilities. The 3rd-century monk Anthony the Great, St. Anthony the Great, known as the founder of Christian monasticism, lived in a cave. *Albania **Qafthanë Cave Church, ca ...

Kyiv Pechersk Lavra The Kyiv Pechersk Lavra or Kyievo-Pecherska Lavra (), also known as the Kyiv Monastery of the Caves, is a historic lavra or large monastery of Eastern Christianity that gave its name to the Pecherskyi District where it is located in Kyiv. Sin ...

Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

, the capital of

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

. It is one of the most notable buildings of the Kyiv skyline. The bell tower was the highest free-standing bell tower at the time of its construction in 1731–1745. It was designed by the architect

Johann Gottfried Schädel Johann, typically a male given name, is the German form of ''Iohannes'', which is the Latin form of the Greek name ''Iōánnēs'' (), itself derived from Hebrew name '' Yochanan'' () in turn from its extended form (), meaning "Yahweh is Gracious" ...

. Its total height, with the

Christian cross The Christian cross, seen as representing the crucifixion of Jesus, is a religious symbol, symbol of Christianity. It is related to the crucifix, a cross that includes a ''corpus'' (a representation of Jesus' body, usually three-dimensional) a ...

, is 96.5 metres (316 feet). The Great Lavra Bell Tower is a

Neoclassical architecture Neoclassical architecture, sometimes referred to as Classical Revival architecture, is an architectural style produced by the Neoclassicism, Neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century in Italy, France and Germany. It became one of t ...

construction with a total of four tiers, surmounted by a

gilded Gilding is a decorative technique for applying a very thin coating of gold over solid surfaces such as metal (most common), wood, porcelain, or stone. A gilded object is also described as "gilt". Where metal is gilded, the metal below was tradi ...

dome A dome () is an architectural element similar to the hollow upper half of a sphere. There is significant overlap with the term cupola, which may also refer to a dome or a structure on top of a dome. The precise definition of a dome has been a m ...

. The diameter of the tower's lowest tier at its base is 28.8 metres (''94 feet''), and the thickness of the first tier walls is 8 metres (''26 feet''). The tower's foundation exceeds 7 metres (''22 feet''). It is also inclined in north-eastern direction from the center point. The tower is decorated with many architectural columns: the second tier is decorated with 32 Dorian columns, the third tier is decorated with 16 Ionic columns, and the fourth with 8

Corinthian columns The Corinthian order (, ''Korinthiakós rythmós''; ) is the last developed and most ornate of the three principal classical orders of Ancient Greek architecture and Roman architecture. The other two are the Doric order, which was the earliest, ...

. On the third tier, there were some hanging bells, but they were later removed. To this day, only three small 18th-century bells have been preserved: the ''Balykjoe'', and ''Bezymiannyi'' bells. The former main bell of the Great Lavra Bell Tower, the ''Uspenskyi'', had a total weight of one ton and was cast in 1732 by Ivan Motorin, who was also responsible for the

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 ...

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 (fortification), Kremlin comprises five palaces, four cathedrals, and the enclosing Mosco ...

Tsar Bell. There is also a viewing platform atop the third tier, which provides visitors with a

bird's-eye view A bird's-eye view is an elevated view of an object or location from a very steep viewing angle, creating a perspective (graphical), perspective as if the observer were a bird in flight looking downward. Bird's-eye views can be an aerial photog ...

of the region around Kyiv. On the fourth tier there is a chiming clock, manufactured in 1903, which has a total weight of 4.5 tons. The current bell tower's clock, designed by the Moscow master A. Enodin and based on the Kremlin clock, replaced the older 18th-century clock of the master A. Levynskyi. The clock has stopped only once during its existence: it happened in September 1941 when the Dormition Cathedral of the Pechersk Lavra was blown up by army forces during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The clock was repaired following the destruction of the nearby cathedral, which took a total of six years to complete. Since that time, the clock has never needed any repairs. The clock's mechanism is very accurate; up to within 10 seconds. However, it has been observed that its accuracy depends on the time of the year: in the winter, the clock works somewhat slower than in the summertime. The clock's mechanism has to be rewound once a week, and the clock's bells chime every quarter of the hour.

Gallery

File:Kiev 1890s.jpg, 1890s File:Kiev caves.jpg, 1890s File:Great Lavra Bell Tower 2018 G1.jpg, detail File:Wiki 032.JPG, interior File:Kiev kolokolchik.jpg, bell

Footnotes

References

* * {{Pechersk Lavra Christian bell towers Religious buildings and structures in Kyiv Bell towers in Ukraine Kyiv Pechersk Lavra Pecherskyi District Towers completed in 1745 Inclined towers Round towers Neoclassical architecture in Kyiv Neoclassical church buildings in Ukraine

Gallery

See also

Footnotes

References