Tsar Cannon: a weapon masterpiece or a toy? The huge Tsar-cannon of the little Tsar.

As you know, the Tsar Cannon is a medieval artillery piece and a monument to Russian artillery, cast in bronze in 1586 by Russian master Andrei Chokhov at the Cannon Yard. Today we will try to find out whether it is possible to shoot from it or is it still a prop.

The author writes: There are many misconceptions about her among the people. For example: “Russia had the most powerful and advanced production and technological base for the production of cast iron in the world, the monuments of which are these unique artifacts (this is about the Tsar Bell and the Tsar Cannon - author)... has long been proven, and there is documentary evidence that the Tsar Cannon actually fired.”

It’s clear from the bell. They are made exclusively from bronze, and not just any bronze, but special staff. Well, guns, of course, are different. For this purpose in hard times our wonderful people even used birch burl. They took a thick, stocky one birch log, they made a hole in it, bound it with iron strips, burned a small hole in the breech for a fuse, and now the cannon is ready. In the 17th…19th centuries, they were mainly cast from cast iron. But the Tsar Cannon is still bronze.
An important note about the documentary evidence that the cannon fired. Indeed, people are circulating information that certain experts have precisely established... discovered... etc. This rumor was started by journalists. Who and what actually established will be discussed in detail below. Let us also consider the question of another misconception that haunts the minds of scientists. Many of them believe that the Tsar Cannon is a huge shotgun. A very convenient opinion that allows historians to explain many of the mysteries associated with it. In fact, this is not the case, as will be convincingly shown.
There is another persistent misconception that makes one doubt the rationality of human nature. They say that the Tsar Cannon was made to frighten foreigners, especially ambassadors Crimean Tatars. The absurdity of this statement will also become obvious as you read the article.
What arguments can be given:
Firstly, the cast iron cannonballs are striking, which in the 19th century became the source of those same conversations about the decorative purpose of the cannon. In the 16th century they used stone cores, and they were 2.5 times lighter than the cast iron ones. It can be said with absolute certainty that the walls of the cannon would not have withstood the pressure of the powder gases when fired with such a cannonball. Of course, this was understood when they were cast at the Byrd plant.
Secondly, a fake carriage, cast there. You can't shoot from it. When fired with a standard 800 kg stone cannonball from a 40 ton Tsar Cannon, even with a small initial speed 100 meters per second, the following will happen:
expanding powder gases, creating high blood pressure, will, as it were, expand the space between the cannonball and the bottom of the cannon; the cannonball will begin to move in one direction, and the cannon in the opposite direction, while the speed of their movement will be inversely proportional to the mass (how many times lighter is the body, the faster will it fly).

The mass of the cannon is only 50 times the mass of the cannonball (in a Kalashnikov assault rifle, for example, this ratio is about 400), so when the cannonball flies forward at a speed of 100 meters per second, the cannon will roll back at a speed of about 2 meters per second. This colossus will not stop right away, after all, it’s 40 tons. The rollback energy will be approximately equal to a hard impact of the KAMAZ into an obstacle at a speed of 30 km/h. The Tsar Cannon will be torn off its carriage. Moreover, she simply lies on top of him like a log. All this can be held only by a special sliding carriage with hydraulic dampers (recoil dampers) and reliable mounting of the gun. I assure you, this is still quite an impressive device today, but then this simply did not exist. And all this is not just my opinion: “Currently, the Tsar Cannon is on a decorative cast-iron carriage, and next to it lie decorative cast-iron cannonballs, which were cast in 1834 in St. Petersburg at the Berda iron foundry. It is clear that it is physically impossible to either shoot from this cast-iron carriage or use cast-iron cannonballs - the Tsar Cannon will be smashed to smithereens!” (Alexander Shirokorad “Miracle Weapon” Russian Empire"). Therefore, that artillery complex, which we are shown in the Kremlin under the name Tsar Cannon, is a giant prop.

Today, hypotheses about the use of the Tsar Cannon as a shotgun are persistently discussed. The opinion is very convenient for historians. If it's a shotgun, then you don't need to carry it anywhere. I put it at the loophole and that’s it, wait for the enemy.
What Andrei Chokhov cast in 1586, that is, the bronze barrel itself, could really fire. It would just look completely different from what many people think. The fact is that by its design the Tsar Cannon is not a cannon, but a classic bombard. A cannon is a weapon with a barrel length of 40 calibers and above. The Tsar Cannon has a barrel length of only 4 calibers. But for a bombard this is just normal. They were often of impressive size, and were used for siege, like battering rams. To destroy a fortress wall, you need a very heavy shell. This is what giant calibers are for.

There was no talk of any gun carriage then. The trunk was simply buried in the ground. The flat end rested on deeply driven piles (Fig. 2). Nearby they dug 2 more trenches for the artillery crew, since such guns were often torn apart. Charging sometimes took a day. Hence the rate of fire of such guns is from 1 to 6 shots per day. But all this was worth it, because it made it possible to crush impregnable walls, avoid months-long sieges and reduce combat losses during the assault.

Only this can be the meaning of casting a 40-ton barrel with a caliber of 900 mm. The Tsar Cannon is a bombard - a battering ram gun designed to besiege enemy fortresses, and not a shotgun at all, as some are inclined to believe.

Here is the opinion of a specialist this issue: “...As a shotgun, the Tsar Cannon was extremely ineffective. At the cost of the cost, instead of it, it was possible to make 20 small shotguns, which would take not a day to load, but only 1-2 minutes. I note that in the official inventory “At the Moscow Arsenal of Artillery” in 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), followed by calibers: 25 pounds - 2, 22 pounds - 1, 21 pounds - 3, etc. Largest number shotguns, 11, are in the 2-pound gauge. Rhetorical question: what place did our military think when they recorded the Tsar Cannon as shotguns?..” (Alexander Shirokorad “Miracle Weapons of the Russian Empire”).

The Tsar Cannon was never used for its intended purpose

As was said at the beginning of the article, there are rumors about some “documentary evidence” that the Tsar Cannon fired. Actually, it has great value not only the fact of the shot, but also what she shot with, and under what circumstances. The cannonballs that were used to load the cannon could have been different weights, and the weight of gunpowder could be different. The pressure in the barrel bore and the power of the shot depend on this. All this cannot be determined now. In addition, if trial test shots were fired from a gun, then this is one thing, but if it was used in battle, it is completely different. Let me give you a quote about this:
“Documents about the testing of the Tsar Cannon or its use in combat conditions have not been preserved, which gave later historians the basis for long-term disputes about its purpose... A minority of specialists generally exclude the possibility of combat use of the cannon, and it was made to frighten foreigners, especially Crimean ambassadors Tatars... An interesting detail: in 1980, specialists from the Academy named after Dzerzhinsky concluded that the Tsar Cannon was fired at least once...” (Alexander Shirokorad “Miracle Weapon of the Russian Empire”).

By the way, the report of these same specialists was not published for unknown reasons. And since the report is not shown to anyone, it cannot be considered evidence. The phrase “they shot at least once” was apparently dropped by one of them in a conversation or interview, otherwise we would not have known anything about it at all. If the gun had been used for its intended purpose, then inevitably there would have been not only particles of gunpowder in the barrel, which according to rumors were found, but also mechanical damage in the form of longitudinal scratches. In battle, the Tsar Cannon would fire not cotton wool, but stone cannonballs weighing approximately 800 kg.

There should also be some wear on the surface of the bore. It cannot be otherwise, because bronze is a fairly soft material. The expression “at least” just indicates that, apart from particles of gunpowder, nothing significant could be found there. If this is so, then the gun was not used for its intended purpose. And particles of gunpowder could remain from test shots. The fact that the Tsar Cannon never left Moscow puts an end to this issue:
“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. To move the gun, ropes were tied to eight brackets on its barrel; 200 horses were harnessed to these ropes at the same time, and they rolled the cannon, which lay on huge roller logs. Initially, the “Tsar” and “Peacock” guns lay on the ground near the bridge leading to the Spasskaya Tower, and the Kashpirov cannon was located near the Zemsky Prikaz, located where the Historical Museum is now. In 1626 they were lifted from the ground and installed on log frames densely packed with earth. These platforms were called roskats...” (Alexander Shirokorad “Miracle Weapons of the Russian Empire”).
At home, using a battering gun for its intended purpose is somehow suicidal. Who were they going to shoot at with an 800-kilogram cannonball from the Kremlin walls? It is pointless to shoot at enemy manpower once a day. There were no tanks then. They were probably expecting Godzilla to appear. Of course, these huge battering guns were put on public display not for combat purposes, but as an element of the prestige of the power. And, of course, this was not their main purpose. Under Peter I, the Tsar Cannon was installed on the territory of the Kremlin itself. There she remains to this day. Why has it never been used in combat, although it is quite combat-ready as a battering weapon? Perhaps the reason for this is its excessive weight? Was it realistic to move such a weapon over long distances?

Transportation

Modern historians extremely rarely ask themselves the question: “why?” And the question is extremely useful. So let's ask, why was it necessary to cast a siege weapon weighing 40 tons if it could not be delivered to the enemy city? To scare the ambassadors? Hardly. They could make a cheap mockup for this and show it from afar. Why spend so much work and bronze on a bluff? No, the Tsar Cannon was cast to be used practically. This means they could have moved it. How could they do this?
40 tons is really very heavy. A KAMAZ truck cannot handle such a weight. It is designed for only 10 tons of cargo. When you try to load a cannon onto it, first the suspension will collapse, then the frame will bend. To do this, you need a tractor 4 times more durable and powerful. And everything that could be made of wood, for the purpose of conveniently transporting a cannon on wheels, would have truly cyclopean dimensions. The axle of such a wheeled device would be at least 80 cm thick. There is no point in imagining it further; anyway, there is no evidence of anything like that. Everywhere it is written that the Tsar Cannon was dragged, not transported.

Look at the picture of loading heavy weapon. Unfortunately, here we only see the bombard being pushed off the flooring, and not the process of moving itself. But in the background you can see a transport platform. It has a bow curved upward (protection from sticking into uneven surfaces). The platform was clearly used for sliding. That is, the load was dragged, not rolled. And that's right. Rollers can only be used on a flat and hard surface. Where can you find one like this? It is also understandable that the curved bow is bound with metal, because the cargo is very heavy. The weight of most battering guns did not exceed 20 tons.

Let's assume that they covered the main part of the journey by water. Moving these bombards over short distances of several kilometers with the help of many horses is also a feasible task, although very difficult. But is it possible to do the same with a 40-ton gun? Usually such studies end with expressions like “historical incident.” It’s as if the idiots decided to surprise everyone by casting something record-breakingly gigantic, but didn’t think about how to carry it. Here, they say, is how it is in Russian - the Tsar Bell, which does not ring, and the Tsar Cannon, which does not shoot.
But we will not continue in this spirit. Let's say goodbye to the idea that our rulers were stupider than today's historians. It’s enough to blame everything on the inexperience of the craftsmen and the tyranny of the kings. The king, who managed to occupy this high post, ordered a 40-ton gun, paid for its production, was clearly no fool, and should have thought very carefully about his action. Such costly issues cannot be resolved out of the blue. He understood exactly how he was going to deliver this “gift” to the walls of enemy cities.

Huge gun Malik-e-Maidan

By the way, the excuse “first we did it, and then we thought about how to drag it” is quite common in historical research. It became a habit. Not long ago, the Culture channel told viewers about Chinese traditional architecture. They showed a slab weighing 86,000 tons carved into the rock. Explanation in general outline like this: “ Chinese Emperor, allegedly, had mental deviations due to gigantic pride and ordered a tomb of unimaginable dimensions for himself. He himself, the architects, thousands of stonemasons, allegedly were mentally deficient in terms of logic. For decades, they all carried out a megaproject. They finally cut down the slab and only then realized that they couldn’t even move it. Well, they abandoned this matter...” This seems to be our case.

The fact that the Tsar Cannon is not just a surge of enthusiasm among Moscow foundry workers is proven by the existence of the even more enormous Malik-e-Maidan weapon. It was cast in Ahman-dagar in India in 1548, and weighs as much as 57 tons. There, historians also sing songs about the 10 elephants and 400 buffaloes that dragged this cannon. This is a siege weapon with the same purpose as the Tsar Cannon, only 17 tons heavier. What is this, the second historical incident in the same historical time? And how many more such weapons need to be discovered in order to understand that at that time they were cast, delivered to besieged cities and practically used? If today we do not understand how this happened, then this is our knowledge.
Here we are again faced with the residually low level of our current technical culture. This is due to the distorted scientific worldview. WITH modern positions we don't see a solution that was obvious at the time. It remains to conclude that back in the 16th century in Rus' and India they knew something that made it possible to move such cargo.

Decline of artillery technology in the Middle Ages

Using bombards as an example, one can see the obvious degradation of artillery art over the centuries of the Middle Ages. The first samples were made of two-layer iron. The inner layer was welded from longitudinal strips, and thick transverse rings strengthened it on the outside. After some time, they began to make cast bronze tools. This definitely reduced their reliability and, accordingly, increased their weight. Any engineer will tell you that wrought iron is an order of magnitude stronger than cast bronze. Moreover, if it is assembled as described above - in a two-layer package with the direction of the fibers corresponding to the current loads. Probably the reason is the desire to reduce the cost of the manufacturing process.
The design of the first bombards was also surprisingly progressive. For example, today you will not find modern examples small arms, which would be loaded from the side of the muzzle opening. It's very primitive. For a century and a half, loading from the breech has been in use. This method has a lot of advantages - the rate of fire is higher and the maintenance of the gun is more convenient. There is only one drawback - a more complex design with the breech of the barrel locked at the time of the shot.
How interesting it is that the first guns in history (bombards) immediately had a progressive method of loading from the breech. The breech was often attached to the barrel using a thread, that is, it was screwed in. This design was retained for some time in cast guns. Look at Fig. 6. Here the Turkish bombard is compared with the Tsar Cannon. In terms of geometric parameters, they are very similar, but the Tsar Cannon, cast a hundred years later, was already made one-piece. This means that in the 15th...16th centuries they switched to a more primitive muzzle loading.
There can be only one conclusion here - the first bombards were carried out with residual knowledge progressive design solutions artillery weapons, or perhaps they were copied from some older and more advanced samples. However, the technological base was already quite backward for these design solutions, and could only reproduce what we see in medieval tools. At this level of manufacturing, the advantages of breech loading are practically no longer evident, but they stubbornly continued to be made breech-loading, because they did not yet know how to do it differently. Over time, technical culture continued to degrade, and accordingly, the guns began to be made one-piece, according to a more simplified and primitive loading scheme from the muzzle.

Conclusion

So a logical picture has lined up. In the 16th century, the Moscow principality led numerous fighting, both in the east (capture of Kazan), in the south (Astrakhan), and in the west (wars with Poland, Lithuania and Sweden). The cannon was cast in 1586. Kazan had already been taken by this time. WITH Western countries a shaky truce was established, more like a respite. Could the Tsar Cannon be in demand under these conditions? Yes, definitely. The success of the military campaign depended on the presence of battering ram artillery. The fortified cities of our western neighbors had to be taken somehow. Ivan the Terrible died in 1584, 2 years before the cannon was cast. But it was he who identified the state’s need for such weapons, and the process of their manufacture was launched. Here's how events unfolded:
“From 1550 to 1565, work at the Moscow Cannon Yard was supervised by Kishpir Ganusov (Ganus), apparently a German by nationality. In the chronicles there are references to eleven guns cast by him, but not a single one has reached us. The largest copper cannon, cast by Ganusov in 1555, was called the Kashpirova cannon. Its weight was 19.65 tons. In the same 1555, Moscow master Stepan Petrov cast the Peacock cannon weighing 16.7 tons... It is curious that both huge guns Ivan the Terrible ordered to be delivered to Polotsk, besieged by the Russians. On February 13, 1563, the tsar ordered the governor, Prince Mikhail Petrovich Repnin, “large guns for Kashpirov and Stepanov, a Peacock, an Eagle, and a Bear and the whole outfit of the wall and put it on top close to the city gates” and shoot “without resting, day and night.” The ground trembled from this shooting - “the large cannons have twenty pounds of cannonballs, and some cannons have a little lighter.” The next day the gate was destroyed and several breaks were made in the wall. On February 15, Polotsk surrendered to the mercy of the victors. In 1568, Kashpir’s young student Andrei Chokhov (until 1917 he was written as Chekhov) cast his first gun... Andrei Chokhov’s most famous weapon was the Tsar Cannon (1586)” (Alexander Shirokorad “Miracle Weapons of the Russian Empire”).
Under Ivan the Terrible, the production of such weapons was established and their use, including transportation, was mastered. However, his strong-willed state acumen disappeared after his death and the accession of a successor to the throne. Fyodor 1 Ioannovich was a man of a completely different type. People called him sinless and blessed. Probably, through the efforts of the followers of Ivan the Terrible, the order for the production of the Tsar Cannon was nevertheless formed. However, the greatness of Andrei Chokhov’s creation still exceeded the demands of the new king. Therefore, the Tsar Cannon remained unclaimed, although military operations using siege artillery were carried out 4 years later (Russian-Swedish war of 1590-1595).

The Tsar Cannon is real. The surroundings around her are a sham. Formed public opinion about her - false. The Tsar Cannon should surprise us, much more than the ancient megaliths. After all, they are amazing in that huge stones weighing several tons are delivered... lifted... placed... etc. In the 16th century, nothing fundamentally new, different from the Neolithic, was used in transportation and loading (according to the official point of view), but a 40-ton weapon was transported. In addition, the stones were placed once and for centuries, and an equally heavy cannon was supposed to be moved repeatedly over vast distances.
It is all the more amazing because it was made relatively recently, back in the 16th century. After all, scientists are free to fantasize about the time of the megaliths as they please - hundreds of thousands of slaves, centuries of construction, etc., but a lot is known about the 16th century. You can't run wild with your fantasies here.
In the Kremlin, a real miracle is on display, disguised as an absurdity, but we do not notice it, because we are zombified by propaganda, false hypotheses and the opinions of authorities.
On the one hand, this is an example of a giant props of the 19th century, on the other, one of the largest working medieval weapons. At the same time, she is a remarkable witness to the decline of artillery technology in the Middle Ages.

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In connection with repair and restoration work, visitors enter the Kremlin through the Trinity Gate, exit - through Spassky and Borovitsky. Visitors enter and exit the Armory through the Borovitsky Gate.

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The Tsar Cannon in Moscow is a famous monument to artillery and foundry, one of the main attractions of the Moscow Kremlin. The caliber of the legendary gun is recognized as the largest in the world. Like the Tsar Bell standing next door, this ancient instrument is of particular historical and tourist significance for tourists and guests of the capital.

The weight of the Tsar Cannon is 39.31 tons, length is 5.34 meters, the diameter of the patterned belt at the muzzle is 1.34 meters, while the outer diameter of its barrel is 1.2 meters. Caliber - 890 mm. The gun is cast from bronze, the carriage is cast iron.

Despite the fact that this gun has a competitor in the form of the German cannon (caliber - 800 mm, weight - 1350 tons), the Kremlin Tsar Cannon is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the most large-caliber gun on the planet.

Brief history

Many people heard about the Tsar Cannon in childhood. In the books this weapon was called the Giant of the Moscow Kremlin. Since her birth, she has never ceased to amaze not only children, but also adults with her beauty, strength and power.

The Tsar Cannon in the Kremlin was cast at the Cannon Yard by foundry worker Andrei Chokhov. This event took place in 1586. Initially, the cannon barrel was placed on a wooden beam near the Execution Ground. Later, log beams were replaced with reliable stone ones.

The enormous weight made its transportation extremely problematic. But this task was accomplished with the help of 200 horses, which dragged heavy weapons along the log flooring. For ease of transportation, four special brackets are mounted on each side of the trunk for securing rope strips.

The gun was moved several times to different places in the Kremlin. After the construction of the Kremlin Palace of Congresses was completed, the gun was moved to a new location - Ivanovskaya Square.

Today the Tsar Cannon is located next to the Cathedral of the Twelve Apostles on a decorative special carriage, manufactured much later than the cannon itself in 1835 at the Berda factory in St. Petersburg.

It is believed that the weapon was created for the defense of the Kremlin, but modern researchers claim that the Tsar Cannon would not have coped with the mission assigned to it. Due to its dimensions and design features, it is only suitable for destroying thick fortress walls.

According to historian Alexei Lobin, by its design the Tsar Cannon is not a cannon at all, but a bombard. What does the barrel length indicate - 3.4 calibers, which is the standard ratio for bombards of that time, while a classic gun usually has a barrel length exceeding 40 calibers.

Hollow cast-iron cannonballs, cast in 1835, are stacked in front of the cannon. Each shell weighs almost two tons. True, the cannon is not capable of firing such cannonballs - due to their enormous weight, the cannon would most likely simply explode. Therefore, they have an exclusively decorative function. According to experts' calculations, the cannon could fire stone cannonballs weighing no more than 1 ton or buckshot.

Did the Tsar Cannon ever fire?

It is believed that the Tsar Cannon never fired, but was made in order to instill fear in foreigners. It was supposed to instill fear in all enemies, including the leaders of the Crimean Tatars.

In the 1980s, a group of restorers came to the conclusion that the gun could not fire, as evidenced by sagging and unevenness in the barrel, as well as the absence of traces of cleaning after casting the gun. Also, no seed hole was made.

There is another version according to which particles of gunpowder were found in the cannon channel, which means that the bombard was still fired at least once.

Registration

The bombard and gun carriage are decorated with cast patterns and ornaments. There are fastenings for transportation on the sides of the barrel. On the right side is depicted Prince Fyodor Ivanovich sitting on horseback. He has a crown on his head, and on top there is an inscription describing the personality of the ruler. There is an opinion that thanks to the image of Fyodor Ivanovich, the legendary Tsar Cannon received its name. Another version claims that the name of the weapon is associated solely with its large size.

In order to perpetuate the name of the foundry worker, an inscription was made on the gun: “Cannon maker Andrei Chokhov worked on the creation of the cannon.”

Copies of the Tsar Cannon

Throughout the years of its existence, the Tsar Cannon fell in love with many foundry workers. In 2001, they produced in Udmurtia exact copy guns. Its weight was 42 tons, and the weight of the core was 1.2 tons. This copy was solemnly presented to Donetsk (Ukraine).

There is also a copy of the Tsar Cannon in Perm. This weapon belongs to the combat category. He was actively tested. Therefore, more than 300 shots were fired with cannonballs, as well as bombs, the flight range of which was 1.5 km. The Perm Tsar Cannon was manufactured for Kronstadt in order to reliably protect the northern capital of our country from the naval side.

Replicas of the Tsar Cannon and monuments named after it also exist in Yoshkar-Ola and Izhevsk.

Opening hours and ticket prices in 2019

Tourists can come and see the artillery monument on all days of the week except Thursday. From May 15 to September 30, the attraction welcomes tourists from 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. From October 1 to May 14, the Tsar Cannon welcomes guests from 10 am to 5 pm.

To get to the Kremlin territory, you should buy a single ticket to visit the architectural ensemble of Cathedral Square. It will allow you not only to see the Tsar Cannon, but also to watch the Ceremonial Dividing of the Horse and Foot Guards of the Presidential Regiment. The ceremony takes place at noon on Saturdays.

The ticket costs 500 rubles. Tickets are sold to pensioners and full-time students at a discount - for 250 rubles.

How to get to the Tsar Cannon in Moscow

The best and fastest way to go by metro. The Tsar Cannon is located near the station. “Alexandrovsky Garden”, “Library named after. Lenin", "Borovitskaya". To get off the metro in the right place, you need to find the exit to the Alexander Garden at the sign. If you did everything correctly, you will have a long pedestrian crossing, at the end of which there will be cash desks for paying for a visit to the Kremlin territory. The ticket offices are located near the Kutafya Tower within the Alexander Garden.

After this, you should enter the Kremlin itself through the Trinity Tower. Then you need to walk along the Palace of Congresses and reach the legendary Tsar Cannon.

You can also get there by bus. The nearest stops are at the entrance to the Kremlin through the Kutafya Tower - Art. m. Library named after. Lenin. Suitable routes are M1, M2, M3, M6, H1, H2, K, 144.

For those who don't like public transport, there is taxi calling apps and: Uber, Yandex.Taxi, Gett and car sharing: Delimobil, Belkacar, Lifcar.

Panorama of Ivanovo Square near the Tsar Cannon

Video “Tsar Cannon in 1908”

The famous Tsar Cannon in the Kremlin, one of the most visited attractions of the Moscow Kremlin, can be seen today on the western side. Each of the tourists arriving in Moscow must include in their visit an inspection of the grandiose weapon of the 16th century. A brief history of the Tsar Cannon for both children and adults is given in our article.

Cast in gigantic sizes made of high-quality bronze, the gun is even listed in the Guinness World Records. And this is not without reason. Here are just its most basic parameters:

• length - more than 5 m.,
• the outer diameter of the trunk reaches 134 cm,
• caliber - 890 mm,
• the product weighs about 40 tons.

When and why was it created?

Photo 1. The Tsar Cannon is one of the main attractions of the Kremlin

History and little-known facts about the Tsar Cannon in the Kremlin

In 1586, an alarming message was brought to the city of Moscow: the Crimean Khan with his large army was marching on the capital. To repel the invasion, by decree of the then reigning Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich, a huge artillery gun was cast in the Moscow Cannon Yard by Russian foundry worker Andrei Chokhov, which was intended to fire stone grapeshot.

Since the gun was originally intended for the defense of the Kremlin, it was installed on a hill above the shore - on, not far from the famous and.

However, the Crimean Khan never approached the walls of the Mother See of the Capital, and therefore Muscovites were never able to find out how powerfully this weapon, nicknamed the Tsar Cannon for its size, fired.

Later, during the reign of Peter I, the gun was moved to the Kremlin territory with the help of special rollers: first to the courtyard of the building under construction, and then to its main gate. There it was mounted on a wooden carriage, which, along with the carriages of other guns, burned down in a fire in 1812.

In 1835, at the Berda shipyard in St. Petersburg, according to the drawings of the military engineer Witte (some sources mention Academician Alexander Pavlovich Bryulov as the author of the sketch), a more durable cast-iron carriage for the grandiose gun was made.

In 1843, the Tsar Cannon was removed from the Arsenal gates, where it had been located all this time, and installed next to the old building of the Armory Chamber. There it stood until 1960, when, as part of its construction, the gun was again moved, this time to Ivanovskaya Square, where it remains to this day.

So, we have briefly described the history of the cannon, and now we will continue our story for more curious children and adults.

Description of the legendary Tsar Cannon

As mentioned above, the gun carriage is made using cast iron and performs purely decorative functions. The body of the gun itself is cast from bronze. Next to the carriage there are cast iron cores, which are also a decorative element.

On the right side of the gun there is an image of the autocrat Fyodor Ivanovich sitting on a war horse. The prince's head is crowned royal crown, and in the hands is one of the symbols Russian authorities- scepter An inscription explaining the image is poured nearby.

One of the hypotheses for the appearance of the name “Tsar Cannon” is precisely the image of the king who ruled at the time of the creation of this formidable artillery weapon, who is immortalized on the plane of the cannon. True, there is another name found in Russian documents from different eras - this is “Russian shotgun”. The fact is that this was the designation for guns intended for firing shotguns (in other words, buckshot).

The left side of the gun is decorated with an inscription immortalizing its creator and which reads “litz Ondrej Czokhov.”

The plane of the barrel itself, among other things, is decorated with an original ornament.

Separately, I would like to highlight the carriage itself, which is decorated in such a way as to clearly highlight high status artillery gun. Its main component is the image of a lion - a formidable and strong king of animals. The symbolic representation of a lion fighting a mythical serpent can also be seen in the intricacy of ornamental plants on the plane of the carriage.

I would like to add that to move the cannon located in the Moscow Kremlin, 200 draft horses were simultaneously harnessed.

Despite the impressiveness of the gun, some experts agree that it was not made for shooting, but solely to intimidate the enemy, in this particular case, the troops of the Crimean Khan advancing on the capital. ABOUT technical side guns and will be discussed further, from which we will find out whether this is a prop or a truly formidable artillery weapon.

Let us immediately note that the cast iron cores placed in a pyramid near the gun carriage are just decoration, hollow inside. If they are made real, then the stone core will weigh about 819 kilograms, and the cast iron core will weigh about 2 tons.

Further, according to experts, the carriage itself is not technically suitable for firing from such a powerful weapon, and the heavy cast-iron cannonballs themselves would not be physically suitable - the barrel of the Tsar Cannon would simply be torn apart during the shot. Oh him combat use facts are not attested in history.

But it cannot be that in those distant times, before the threat of an attack on Moscow, an artillery gun would have been created only to “show off.” Let's try to figure this out!

Let's start with the fact that until the 20th century, military experts and historians still designated the current “Tsar Cannon” as a shotgun, i.e. designed for shooting buckshot, which was replaced in those distant times by ordinary small stones. The current name was established only in 1930, when the authorities decided to improve the status of the weapon for propaganda purposes. Which ones? Probably, based on the fact that a great country should have all the grandest things in the world. It’s like the Soviet-era joke that the USSR had “the largest radio components in the world.”

But let’s not slander and continue, especially since the veil of secrecy over the gun was nevertheless lifted, and this happened during the planned restoration work carried out in 1980.

The gun was removed from the carriage and sent to one of the military factories in the city of Serpukhov, where its restoration was carried out. Along with the usual work in this case, military specialists from the Moscow Artillery Academy carried out measurements of the Tsar Cannon, although the main report has not yet been made public. True, draft drawings have been preserved, which emphasize that this gun is not a gun at all in its actual designation.

So, in order. The diameter of the barrel bore, from which the cannon is loaded with cannonballs, is 90 centimeters, and towards the very end of the warhead it decreases to 82 centimeters. The depth of this cone is about 32 centimeters. Next comes the flat-bottomed charging chamber, 173 centimeters deep, with a diameter of 44.7 centimeters at the beginning, increasing to 46.7 centimeters at the end.

These data allow us to classify the weapon as a bombard, which means that it was quite possible to fire stone cannonballs from it. Name this one artillery installation You can’t use a gun, because one of the main conditions is not met: the barrel length must be at least 40 calibers. Right there we're talking about about four in total. As for using the weapon as a shotgun that fires buckshot, based on the existing characteristics, this would be very ineffective.

The bombards themselves belong to the class of battering guns designed to destroy fortress walls. In most cases, they didn’t even make a carriage for them, because... part of the trunk was simply buried in the ground. The gun crew was located in trenches built next to the bombardment, because barrels often burst when fired. The rate of fire left much to be desired and rarely reached 6 shots... per day.

At research work Particles of gunpowder were found in the Tsar Cannon canal. The only question is, was it a test shot or did they manage to use the weapon against the enemy? The latter is most likely impossible. This can also be confirmed by the fact that no longitudinal scratches were found on the walls of the barrel, which should have been left either by the cannonball or by stone shrapnel.

The myth of the weapon and the impostor Tsar False Dmitry

And yet she shot!? A myth that has survived to this day says that the only shot was fired by the ashes of the temporary Russian Tsar False Dmitry.

After exposure, he tried to escape from Moscow, but stumbled upon a combat patrol and was brutally killed. The body was buried twice, and twice it again appeared on the surface: first at the almshouse, then in the graveyard. Rumors spread that even the earth did not want to accept him, after which it was decided to cremate the body and fire the ashes from a cannon, turning the gun towards the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (present-day Poland), where he was from.

This is the story of the Tsar Cannon in brief - the largest weapon of its era.

Today, smaller copies of the Kremlin gun are installed in Donetsk, Perm and Yoshkar-Ola. However, neither in parameters nor in characteristics do they even come close to the Moscow giant.

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Let's go a little higher, to Ivanovskaya Square. The famous Tsar Cannon is located here. It is installed on a carriage, and the cannonballs lie next to it. But don’t think, the Tsar Cannon cannot fire these cannonballs and from this carriage, and never could. Tsar Cannon- This is actually not a cannon 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 designed to fire stones weighing up to 800 kg. It took a day to load such a bombard, and in order to fire it, special walls were built to absorb the recoil. You also had to know how to shoot. It’s not like in the movies, when they bring a torch to the ignition hole of a cannon - boom, and the cannonball goes flying. No, it's not that simple. It was necessary to take a cord impregnated with a special flammable composition, carefully stick it into the igniter, set it on fire and quickly run to the nearest trench. It happened that bombards exploded, taking with them to the next world not very nimble gunners.

Tsar Cannon was cast in 1586 by our master Andrey Chokhov. Its length is 5.35m, barrel diameter is 120cm, caliber is 890mm, weight is 39.31t. (2400 pounds). So why was the cannon called the Tsar cannon? There are two versions. The first is because of her large sizes, the second - because of the engraved image of the last king from the Rurik family - Fyodor Ivanovich on horseback. Historians are more inclined towards the second version, because There is a cannon larger in size and caliber than ours - the Turks cast it.
It has long been believed that the Tsar Cannon never took part 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 the Tsar Cannon had been fired at least once. Therefore, when they say that in Russia there is a Tsar Bell, which never rang, and a Tsar Cannon, which never fired, they are deeply mistaken. The Tsar Cannon fired at least one shot.

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 it, because during the fire a large piece, weighing 11.5 tons, fell off of it. And even if you now put it in place and fasten it, the ringing will not be the same as if it was originally solid.

It must be said that this is not the first bell in Rus' with the name Tsar. First Tsar Bell was cast back in 1600. It weighed 2450 pounds (about 40 tons). But during a fire in the mid-17th century. he fell from the bell tower on which he was hanging and was broken. In 1652, a new bell weighing 8,000 pounds was cast from the crashed “Tsar”, i.e. more than 130 tons. The bell was installed on the belfry next to the bell tower of Ivan the Great. This bell existed until 1654. At Christmas, when all the bells were ringing, the Tsar Bell broke. Looks like someone was calling it too hard :-). The following year, 1655, the Tsar Bell was transfused again, and he gained more weight. The new Tsar weighed about 10,000 poods (more than 160 tons). After 3 years (what were they doing all this time?) he was raised into a specially built belfry on Cathedral Square. And again the fate of the Tsar Bell was decided by fire. Most of the wooden buildings burned down in a fire on June 19, 1701. The Tsar Bell fell and broke.

In 1730, Empress Anna Ioannovna issued a decree on the creation of a new bell. It took 4 years for the project of the new Tsar Bell to be developed and approved. But when it came to casting, a fire started, and during the restoration work the main master, Ivan Motorin, died. All work on casting the bell was transferred to his son Mikhail. And finally, in 1735, on November 25, the Tsar Bell was cast. So much time was spent on the preparatory work, and the casting of the Tsar Bell itself took only 1 hour and 12 minutes. After this, minting work began, but in 1737 a fire broke out in the Kremlin again. People, afraid that the bell will melt from high temperature, poured water on it. Due to a sharp change in temperature, the Tsar Bell cracked and a piece of 11.5 tons fell off. This became clear only after the fire. The cracked and broken bell became of no use to anyone 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 installed on a pedestal. The height of the Tsar Bell is 6.24 m, diameter is 6.6 m, weight is almost 200 tons. There is an inscription on the bell that it was cast in 1733, although in fact this 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 Bell Tower of Ivan the Great, to which we are heading.