Who ordered the construction of the Tsar Bell?

Empress Anna Ivanovna commissioned the bell.

Why did the bell crack?

During a fire in the Kremlin, cold water thrown on the heated bronze caused the metal to crack and break.

Has the bell ever been rung?

The bell was never rung because it broke during the casting process.

Who raised the bell onto the stone pedestal?

Architect Auguste de Montferrand lifted the bell from the casting pit and placed it on the pedestal.

Was the bell ever used as a chapel?

The interior served as a chapel for a period, with the fracture serving as the entrance.

Moscow · Russia

Tsar Bell: what's nearby, how to get there and when to go · 2026

Residents navigate strict security checkpoints around the Kremlin grounds every morning, trading direct central walking routes for detours through adjacent side streets.

Tsar Bell · CC BY-SA 4.0

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About the place

The giant bronze bell stands on a granite pedestal inside the Kremlin as a cracked monument that never rang.

Russian bell founding announced state ceremonies and alarms rather than regular liturgies. Empress Anna Ivanovna commissioned the monument, directing local foundry masters Ivan Motorin and his son Mikhail to cast the bronze after foreign specialists declined. The alloy combined salvaged metal with added silver and gold. A Kremlin fire ignited the timber scaffolding, and cold water thrown by guards cracked the hot bronze, severing a slab.

Read on

The damaged bronze sat submerged in its pit across several generations. Invading French troops under Napoleon attempted to haul the relic away as wartime plunder but abandoned the effort because of its immense bulk. Architect Auguste de Montferrand eventually hoisted the assembly onto a granite pedestal. The hollow interior subsequently operated as a consecrated chapel, using the cracked breach as an entryway for worshippers.

Associations

Kremlin groundsThe monument stands permanently on public display inside the historic citadel.
Thermal crackingCold water thrown during a fire caused severe fractures and detached a giant slab.
Temporary chapelPriests held services inside the hollow bronze cavity through the fractured doorway.
VoltaireThe philosopher mocked the Kremlin for holding a silent bell and an unfired cannon.

Facts

Empress Anna Ivanovna commissioned the casting of the monument to surpass earlier Kremlin bells.
Foundry masters added silver and gold to the molten bronze mixture alongside remnants of a previous bell.
Architect Auguste de Montferrand directed the engineering operation that lifted the bell out of its casting trench onto a pedestal.
The broken opening in the bronze shell once served as an entrance when the structure functioned as an active chapel.

Updated September 8, 2026Source: Wikipedia

Tsar Bell: what's nearby, how to get there and when to go · 2026

What is around31

The giant bronze bell stands on a granite pedestal inside the Kremlin as a cracked monument that never rang.

Getting there and staying

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