Message on the theme of the king of the cannon. Tsar Cannon in the Moscow Kremlin - an unsolved mystery

The Tsar Cannon and the nearby Tsar Bell are surprising in size, but they were never used for their intended purpose.
Some consider them the creations of a national genius, others the personification of bragging, window dressing and impracticality, recalling the well-known lines: "Russia cannot be understood with the mind."

The caliber of the Tsar Cannon is 890 mm, the barrel length is 5.345 m, the weight is 39.312 tons (2400 pounds), the weight of the stone core is 819 kg (50 pounds). A cast-iron core of the same size would weigh 120 pounds. To push it out would require a powder charge, which the barrel would not withstand.

200 horses moved the giant gun from place to place on wooden rollers, so it was practically non-transportable.

The main characteristic of an artillery gun is the barrel caliber. According to this indicator, the Tsar Cannon is in fourth place in the world. The first three share the two mortars of Mallet and the Little David mortar, made respectively in Britain and the USA in 1857 and 1945. All of them had a caliber of 914 mm (36 inches), like the Tsar Cannon, they were never used in combat and are museum pieces.

But is it? We'll get the expert's opinion at the end of the post.

The largest artillery gun used in practice (during the siege of Sevastopol in 1942) is the German Dora gun with a caliber of 800 mm. She also owns records for barrel length (32 m) and projectile weight (7.088 tons).

The Tsar Cannon was cast in the third year of the reign of Ivan the Terrible's son Fyodor, known for his meek disposition, extreme piety and lack of interest in state affairs. The actual initiator of the creation of the "superweapon" was his brother-in-law and de facto regent Boris Godunov.

It was intended to protect against the Crimean Tatars, who in 1571 burned Moscow and threatened to repeat the raid. In 1591, Khan Kazy-Girey again approached Moscow and withdrew without attempting an assault. Whether the presence of the Tsar Cannon in the Russians played any role in this is unknown. In the future, the military need to use it did not arise.

Experts from the Artillery Academy who examined the gun in 1980 determined that it had been fired at least once, probably for testing purposes.

Structurally, the Tsar Cannon was classic bombarda- a medieval tool with a thick short barrel, widespread in Europe, Ottoman Turkey and Mughal India. The bombard was dug into the ground with its breech, loaded from the muzzle and fired up to six shots a day, mainly with the aim of destroying enemy fortifications. A trench was set up nearby for calculation, because the bombards were often torn apart.

In Turkey, old bombards stood on the forts defending the Dardanelles until 1868. The last case of their successful application dates back to 1807. A 244-kilogram stone ball hit the powder magazine of a British battleship "windsor castle which sank as a result of the explosion.

Since the Tsar Cannon had to fire not at the walls, but at the infantry and cavalry approaching the Kremlin, it could fire both stone cannonballs and cast-iron shrapnel or small stones ("shot"), and therefore is referred to in many sources as the "Russian Shotgun" .

Its creator Andrei Chokhov was honored to put his name on the trunk next to the name of the monarch. He entered the Moscow Cannon Yard on the Neglinka in 1568 as a 23-year-old youth, quickly moved forward and cast more than twenty large guns in more than 40 years of work. The master successfully survived the terror of Ivan the Terrible and Time of Troubles and died at the age of 84, witnessing six reigns.

The Tsar Cannon was located near the Execution Ground and covered the Spassky Gates of the Kremlin. At first, it lay on the ground, in 1626 it was hoisted onto a log cabin (“peel”) filled with soil, after 10 years a stone peal was built, inside of which there was a wine shop.

In 1701, the Tsar Cannon survived by a miracle. After the loss of most of the artillery near Narva, Peter I ordered the old Kremlin guns to be poured into modern ones. Only at the last moment did he spare the Tsar Cannon for its uniqueness.

At the beginning of the 18th century, it was moved to the Kremlin to the gates of the Arsenal (demolished in connection with the construction of the Kremlin Palace of Congresses), and in 1960 to its current location on Ivanovskaya Square.

The artistic casting decorating the Tsar Cannon is a work of art

The cast-iron carriage on which the Tsar Cannon now stands, and four hollow cast-iron cannonballs, cast in 1835 at the St. Petersburg factory of Charles Byrd, are decorative. Hoisting a gun on a carriage was technically complicated operation, for which the contractor Mikhail Vasiliev, who won the auction, received a huge amount of 1,400 rubles for those times.

At the time of its creation, the Tsar Cannon was, to use an expression now beloved in Russia, "a weapon that has no analogues in the world." At the same time, for the same money, it was possible to cast 20 guns of a smaller caliber, which would bring much more benefit. The main goal of the government was, speaking in a modern way, PR.

When in 1909 a heavy monument was erected in St. Alexander III the work of Paolo Trubetskoy, the poet Alexander Roslavlev responded with an epigram: "The third wild toy for the Russian serf: there was the tsar-bell, the tsar-cannon, and now the tsar-well ... a."

However, let me remind you that this is the opinion of an artillery specialist A. Shirokorad

He argues that venerable historians and dissident jokers are wrong all around. Firstly, the Tsar Cannon fired, and secondly, this gun is not a cannon at all.
Currently, the Tsar Cannon is on a decorative cast-iron carriage, and nearby are decorative cast-iron cannonballs, which were cast in 1834 in St. Petersburg at Byrd's iron foundry. It is clear that it is physically impossible to shoot from this cast-iron carriage or use cast-iron cannonballs - the Tsar Cannon will be blown to smithereens! Documents about the testing of the Tsar Cannon or its use in combat conditions have not been preserved, which gave rise to lengthy disputes about its purpose. Most historians and military men in the 19th and early 20th centuries believed that the Tsar Cannon was a shotgun, that is, a weapon designed to shoot shot, which in XVI-XVII centuries consisted of small stones. A minority of experts generally rule out the possibility of combat use of the gun, believing that it was made specifically to frighten foreigners, especially the ambassadors of the Crimean Tatars. Recall that in 1571 Khan Devlet Giray burned down Moscow.

In the XVIII - early XX centuries, the Tsar Cannon was called in all official documents shotgun. And only the Bolsheviks in the 1930s decided to raise her rank for propaganda purposes and began to call her a cannon.

The secret of the Tsar Cannon was revealed only in 1980, when a large automobile crane removed it from the carriage and placed it on a huge trailer. Then the powerful KrAZ took the Tsar Cannon to Serpukhov, where the cannon was repaired at military unit No. 42708. At the same time, a number of specialists from the Artillery Academy. Dzerzhinsky made her inspection and measurement. For some reason, the report was not published, but from the surviving draft materials it becomes clear that the Tsar Cannon ... was not a cannon!

The highlight of the gun is its channel. At a distance of 3190 mm, it has the form of a cone, the initial diameter of which is 900 mm, and the final one is 825 mm. Then comes the charging chamber with a reverse taper - with an initial diameter of 447 mm and a final (at the breech) 467 mm. The length of the chamber is 1730 mm, and the bottom is flat.

So this is a classic bombard!

Bombards first appeared at the end of the 14th century. The name "bombard" comes from the Latin words bombus (thunder sound) and arder (burn). The first bombards were made of iron and had screw-on chambers. So, for example, in 1382 in the city of Ghent (Belgium) the bombard "Mad Margaret" was made, named so in memory of the Countess of Flanders Margaret the Cruel. The caliber of the bombard is 559 mm, the barrel length is 7.75 calibers (klb), and the channel length is 5 klb. The weight of the gun is 11 tons. The Mad Margarita fired stone cannonballs weighing 320 kg. The bombarda consists of two layers: the inner one consisting of longitudinal strips welded together, and the outer one consisting of 41 iron hoops welded together and with the inner layer. A separate screw chamber consists of a single layer of discs welded together and is equipped with sockets where the lever was inserted when it was screwed in and out.

It took about a day to load and aim large bombards. Therefore, during the siege of the city of Pisa in 1370, whenever the besiegers prepared to fire, the besieged went to the opposite end of the city. The besiegers, taking advantage of this, rushed to the attack.

The charge of the bombard was no more than 10% of the weight of the core. There were no trunnions and carriages. The guns were stacked on wooden decks and log cabins, and piles were driven in behind or brick walls were erected to stop. Initially, the elevation angle did not change. In the 15th century, primitive lifting mechanisms began to be used and bombards were cast from copper.

Let's pay attention - the Tsar Cannon does not have trunnions, with the help of which the gun is given an elevation angle. In addition, she has an absolutely smooth rear section of the breech, with which she, like other bombards, rested against a stone wall or log cabin.

Protector of the Dardanelles

By the middle of the 15th century, the Turkish Sultan had the most powerful siege artillery. So, during the siege of Constantinople in 1453, the Hungarian foundry worker Urban cast for the Turks a copper bombard with a caliber of 24 inches (610 mm), which fired stone balls weighing about 20 pounds (328 kg). It took 60 bulls and 100 men to transport it to the position. To eliminate the rollback, the Turks built a stone wall behind the gun. The rate of fire of this bombard was 4 shots per day. By the way, the rate of fire of large-caliber Western European bombards was about the same order. Just before the capture of Constantinople, a 24-inch bombard exploded. At the same time, its designer Urban himself died. The Turks appreciated the large-caliber bombards. Already in 1480, during the fighting on the island of Rhodes, they used bombards of 24-35-inch caliber (610-890 mm). The casting of such giant bombards required, as indicated in ancient documents, 18 days.

It is curious that the bombards of the 15th-16th centuries were in service in Turkey until the middle of the 19th century. So, on March 1, 1807, during the crossing of the Dardanelles by the English squadron of Admiral Duckworth, a 25-inch (635 mm) marble ball weighing 800 pounds (244 kg) hit the lower deck of the Windsor Castle ship and ignited several caps with gunpowder, as a result of which there was a terrible explosion. 46 people were killed and wounded. In addition, many sailors, frightened, threw themselves overboard and drowned. The same core hit the ship "Active" and punched a huge hole in the side above the waterline. In this hole, several people could stick their heads out.

In 1868, over 20 huge bombards were still on the forts defending the Dardanelles. There is evidence that during the Dardanelles operation in 1915, a 400-kilogram stone ball hit the English battleship Agamemnon. Of course, it could not penetrate the armor and only amused the team.

Let's compare the Turkish 25-inch (630-mm) copper bombard, cast in 1464, which is currently kept in the museum at Woolwich (London), with our Tsar Cannon. The weight of the Turkish bombard is 19 tons, and the total length is 5232 mm. The outer diameter of the barrel is 894 mm. The length of the cylindrical part of the channel is 2819 mm. Chamber length - 2006 mm. The bottom of the chamber is rounded. The bombard fired stone cannonballs weighing 309 kg, and a charge of gunpowder weighed 22 kg.

The bombard once defended the Dardanelles. As you can see, outwardly and in terms of the channel structure, it is very similar to the Tsar Cannon. The main and fundamental difference is that the Turkish bombard has a screw breech. Apparently, the Tsar Cannon was made according to the model of such bombards.

Tsar Shotgun

So, the Tsar Cannon is a bombard designed to fire stone cannonballs. The weight of the stone core of the Tsar Cannon was about 50 pounds (819 kg), and the iron core of this caliber weighs 120 pounds (1.97 tons). As a shotgun, the Tsar Cannon was extremely ineffective. At the cost of expenses, instead of it, it was possible to make 20 small shotguns, which take much less time to load - not a day, but only 1-2 minutes. I note that in the official inventory "At the Moscow arsenal of artillery" # for 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), and then calibers follow: 25 pounds - 2, 22 pounds - 1, 21 pounds - 3, etc. The largest number of shotguns, 11, falls on the 2-pounder.

And yet she shot

Who wrote the Tsar Cannon into shotguns and why? The fact is that in Russia all the old guns that were in the fortresses, with the exception of mortars, were automatically transferred over time to shotguns, that is, in the event of a siege of the fortress, they had to shoot with shot (stone), and later - with cast-iron buckshot at the infantry marching to assault. It was not advisable to use old guns for firing cannonballs or bombs: what if the barrel would blow apart, and the new guns had much better ballistic data. So the Tsar Cannon was recorded in shotguns, in late XIX- at the beginning of the 20th century, the military forgot about the order in smooth-bore fortress artillery, and civilian historians did not know at all and decided by the name “shotgun” that the Tsar Cannon should have been used exclusively as an anti-assault weapon for firing “stone shot”.

The point in the dispute whether the Tsar Cannon fired was put in 1980 by specialists from the Academy. Dzerzhinsky. They examined the channel of the gun and, based on a number of signs, including the presence of particles of burnt gunpowder, concluded that the Tsar Cannon was fired at least once. 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. horses, and they rolled a cannon lying on huge logs - rollers.

Initially, the Tsar and Peacock guns lay on the ground near the bridge leading to the Spasskaya Tower, and the Kashpirova cannon was located near the Zemsky order, located where it is now Historical Museum. In 1626, they were lifted from the ground and installed on log cabins, densely packed with earth. These platforms were called roskats. One of them, with the Tsar Cannon and the Peacock, was placed at the Execution Ground, the other, with the Kashpir Cannon, at the Nikolsky Gate. In 1636, wooden roskats were replaced with stone ones, inside which warehouses and shops selling wine were arranged.

After the "Narva embarrassment", when the tsarist army lost all siege and regimental artillery, Peter I ordered that new guns be poured urgently. The king decided to get the copper necessary for this by melting down bells and old cannons. According to the “nominal decree” it was “ordered to pour the Peacock cannon into cannon and mortar casting, which is in China near the Execution Ground on a roll; a cannon to Kashpirov, near the new Money Yard, where the Zemsky order was; cannon "Echidna", which is near the village of Voskresensky; the Krechet cannon with a ten-pound cannonball; cannon "Nightingale" with a core of 6 pounds, which is in China on the square.

Peter, due to his lack of education, did not spare the most ancient Moscow casting tools and made an exception only for the largest tools. Among them, of course, was the Tsar Cannon, as well as two mortars cast by Andrei Chokhov, which are currently in the Artillery Museum in St. Petersburg.

Since the invention of gunpowder by mankind, the role of artillery on the battlefield has constantly increased. Cannons were first used to destroy the walls of enemy fortresses and other enemy fortifications, and then they began to be used to destroy enemy manpower. In the last century, artillery became a real "goddess of war", largely determining the outcome of two world wars.

Military history knows dozens of examples of unique artillery pieces, some of which had unusual characteristics, while others participated in interesting events that sometimes changed the fate of entire countries or the outcome of military conflicts. The most famous and unique Russian artillery piece is, without a doubt, the Tsar Cannon. It is considered the largest cannon in the world, and for this reason it is listed in the Guinness Book of Records.

We can say that today the Tsar Cannon and the Tsar Bell are one of the main attractions of Moscow, few tourists leave without taking a selfie with these wonderful monuments of Russian antiquity. Children are especially happy with this curiosity.

The controversy surrounding the Tsar Cannon has not subsided for several centuries. It is not known for what purposes it was made, and did it ever shoot? Is this a prop or a real weapon created for the defense of Moscow in the Middle Ages? Who is he, the master who cast the Tsar Cannon? Where is this weapon located today?

Description

The Tsar Cannon is a medieval artillery piece, or more precisely, a bombard. It has a length of 5.34 m, the outer diameter of the barrel is 120 cm, the caliber of the gun is 890 mm, it weighs 39.31 tons. The barrel length is six calibers, therefore, according to the modern classification, the Tsar Cannon is a mortar.

The gun is completely made of bronze. It was made by Russian craftsman Andrei Chokhov (Chekhov) in 1586 at the Cannon Yard.

The master who cast the Tsar Cannon richly decorated it with various reliefs and inscriptions. On the right side of the muzzle of the gun there is a relief depicting Tsar Fyodor I Ioannovich, during whose reign this marvelous monument of foundry art was made. The Russian autocrat is depicted on a horse with a crown on his head, in one hand he holds a scepter. There are inscriptions on the barrel, from which you can find out when and by whom the Tsar Cannon was made. Some historians believe that the name of the cannon appeared precisely due to the image of the king on it. Although it is most likely related to huge size tools.

On each side of the barrel are four brackets designed to transport the gun.

The barrel bore of the Tsar Cannon is curious. Inside from the muzzle, it has the form of a cone, with an initial diameter of 900 mm and a final diameter of 825 mm. The charging chamber also resembles a cone: its initial diameter is 447 mm, and the final one (the one at the breech) is 467 mm. The bottom of the chamber is flat.

Story

As mentioned above, the Tsar Cannon was cast in 1586 by gunsmith Andrei Chokhov. At that time, raids by the Tatars were very frequent, which not only invaded Russian lands, but also captured and ravaged Moscow itself several times.

Therefore, it is believed that a gun of this size and caliber was made specifically to protect the capital from another Tatar raid.

Initially, the Tsar Cannon defended the bridge over the Moscow River and defended the Spassky Gates, later it was placed near the Execution Ground, installed on a special roll of logs. It was not possible to participate in the real battle of the Tsar Cannon.

During the reign of Peter I, the cannon was moved to the courtyard of the Arsenal, and later took its place at its gates.

In the 19th century (in 1835, to be more precise), a magnificent carriage was made for the Tsar Cannon, decorated with carved ornaments and cast-iron cannonballs. All this was done at the St. Petersburg plant of Byrd according to the sketches of the architect Bryullov.

In the 60s of the last century, the gun again had to change its location. Due to the construction of the Kremlin Palace of Congresses, the Tsar Cannon was solemnly moved to Ivanovskaya Square Kremlin. There she is to this day.

In 1980, they decided to repair the gun and sent it to the Serpukhov plant, where specialists examined it. It was then that it was established that the Tsar Cannon was still fired, probably it was during the zeroing of the gun. This is confirmed by the personal seal of the master, found on the inside of the barrel, in those days it was placed only after checking the gun. According to the poet Gumilyov, it was from the Tsar Cannon that the ashes of False Dmitry were fired towards the Polish border. When examining the gun barrel, particles of gunpowder and soot were found in it, which confirmed the fact that the gun was used for its intended purpose. Although, some authors doubt this, pointing to the tides of bronze in the barrel, which would inevitably fail at the first shot. In addition, the Tsar Cannon does not have an ignition hole, which raises many questions.

Usually, guns of this size and caliber were used in those days to shoot at the walls of enemy fortresses. A typical example of such tactics is the use of a huge cannon by the Seljuks during the siege of Constantinople in 1453. It was she who played a decisive role in the fall of Constantinople.

Bombards were laid on special wooden platforms, and piles were driven in from behind to stop when firing. An artillery crew hid next to the cannon in the trenches during the shot, because the guns of that time were very often torn apart.

An attentive observer will immediately notice that the Tsar Cannon does not have trunnions, with the help of which the elevation angle is given when shooting with modern guns. The bombards were fired with stone cannonballs, the process of loading them took hours, or even whole days. So using such a weapon on the battlefield against infantry or cavalry is extremely problematic. Those cast-iron cores (they are also hollow inside), which now lie next to the gun, are nothing more than props. When you try to shoot them, the gun is guaranteed to break.

Gunsmiths of the 19th and 20th centuries generally believed that the Tsar Cannon was made to intimidate the enemy, so to speak, to suppress his morale and doubted that this gun had ever been fired.

In the documents of the XVIII-XIX centuries, the Tsar Cannon is often called a "shotgun". Shot earlier, artillerymen called buckshot, which consisted of small stones. However, as a shotgun, this weapon is extremely ineffective. In short, for a shotgun, the Tsar Cannon has too big size. The inventories of the Moscow Arsenal at the beginning of the 18th century indicated the calibers of various shotguns. The largest of these was 25 pounds. However, the most numerous was an even smaller caliber - 2 pounds. In the same inventory, the Tsar Cannon is also indicated, its caliber was 1500 pounds.

If you have any questions - leave them in the comments below the article. We or our visitors will be happy to answer them.

The famous Tsar Cannon in the Kremlin, one of the most visited sights of the Moscow Kremlin, today can be seen on west side Ivanovskaya square. Each of the tourists who arrived in Moscow necessarily includes an inspection of the grandiose weapon of the 16th century in the program of their visit. A brief history of the Tsar Cannon for both children and adults is given in our article.

Cast in giant size made of high-quality bronze, the gun is even listed in the Guinness World Book of Records. And this is no accident. 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. Tsar Cannon - 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 was marching on the capital with his large army. To repel the invasion, by order of Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich, who was ruling at that time, at the Cannon Yard of Moscow, a Russian foundry worker Andrei Chokhov cast a huge artillery gun, which was intended for firing with stone buckshot.

Since the gun was originally intended for the defense of the Kremlin, it was installed on a hill above the banks of the Moskva River - on Red Square, not far from the famous Execution Ground and the Spasskaya Tower.

However, the Crimean Khan never approached the walls of the Mother See of the capital, and therefore the Muscovites were never able to find out how powerfully this gun, nicknamed the Tsar Cannon for its dimensions, shoots.

Later, during the reign of Peter I, the gun was moved to the territory of the Kremlin with the help of special rollers: first to the courtyard of the Arsenal 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 Berd shipyard in St. Petersburg, according to the drawings of the military engineer Witte (in some sources, academician Alexander Pavlovich Bryulov is mentioned as the author of the sketch), a more durable, cast-iron carriage for a grandiose gun was made.

In 1843, the Tsar Cannon was removed from the gates of the Arsenal, where it had been all this time, and installed next to the old building of the Armory. She stood there until 1960, when, as part of the construction of the Kremlin Palace of Congresses, the gun was again transferred, this time to Ivanovskaya Square, where it remains to this day.

So, we briefly described the history of the gun, and now for the more inquisitive children and adults we will continue our story.

Description of the legendary Tsar Cannon

As mentioned above, the gun carriage is made using the iron casting method and performs purely decorative functions. The body of the gun itself is cast in bronze. Next to the carriage are cast-iron cannon balls, 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 head of the prince is crowned with a royal crown, and in his hands is one of the symbols of Russian power - a scepter. There is an inscription explaining the image next to it.

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 gun, which is immortalized on the plane of the cannon. True, there is another name that occurs in Russian documents different eras, is a "Russian shotgun". The fact is that this is how the guns intended for firing shots (in a different way - buckshot) were designated.

The left side of the gun is decorated with an inscription commemorating its creator and which reads "Ondrey Chokhov".

The very plane of the trunk, 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 the high status of the artillery piece. Its main component is the image of a lion - a formidable and strong king of beasts. The symbolic depiction of a lion fighting a mythical serpent can also be seen in the intricacies of ornamental plants on the plane of the gun carriage.

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

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

We note right away that the cast-iron cores placed in a pyramid near the carriage are only a decoration, hollow inside. If they are made real, then the stone core will weigh about 819 kilograms, and the cast-iron core will weigh under 2 tons.

Further, according to experts, the carriage itself is not technically adapted for firing from such a powerful gun, and the heavy cast-iron cores themselves would not physically fit - the barrel of the Tsar Cannon would simply break during the shot. About him combat use facts in history are not attested.

But it cannot be that in those distant times, before the threat of an attack on Moscow, an artillery gun would be created only in order to “splurge”. 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. intended for shooting with buckshot, which was replaced in those days by ordinary small stones. The current name has been fixed only since 1930, when the authorities decided to raise the status of the weapon for propaganda purposes. What? Probably, based on the fact that in a great country, there should be everything grandiose in the world. It's like a joke from Soviet times that the USSR has "the largest radio components in the world."

But let's not slander and continue, especially since the veil of secrecy over the cannon 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 it was restored. Together with the usual work in this case, the forces of military specialists from the Moscow Artillery Academy measured 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 bore, from which the cannon is loaded with nuclei, is 90 centimeters, and by the very end of the warhead it decreases to 82. The depth of this cone is about 32 centimeters. Next comes the charging chamber with a flat bottom 173 centimeters deep, with a diameter of 44.7 centimeters at the beginning, increasing to 46.7 centimeters towards the end.

These data make it possible to attribute the gun to the bombard class, which means that it was quite possible to shoot stone cannonballs from it. Name this one artillery mount you can’t use a gun, because one of the main conditions is not met: the length of the barrel must be at least 40 calibers. Here we are talking about only four. As for using the weapon as a buckshot-shooting shotgun, then, based on the available characteristics, this would be very ineffective.

The bombards themselves belong to the class of battering rams designed to destroy fortress walls. In most cases, they did not even make a gun carriage for them, because. part of the trunk was simply buried in the ground. The calculation of the gun was located in the trenches arranged next to the bombard, because. the barrels were often torn 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 channel. The only question is, was it a test shot or did they manage to use the gun against the enemy? The latter is most likely impossible. It can also be confirmed by the fact that no longitudinal scratches were found on the walls of the barrel, which should have remained either from the core or from stone shrapnel.

The myth of the gun and the impostor tsar False Dmitry

And yet she shot!? The myth that has come down to our time says that the only shot was fired by the ashes of the temporary Russian Tsar False Dmitry.

After being exposed, he tried to escape from Moscow, but came across a combat patrol and was brutally killed. The body was buried twice, and twice it again appeared on the surface: either at the almshouse, or at the churchyard. Rumors spread that even the earth did not want to accept him, after which it was decided to cremate the body, and fire a cannon with the ashes, turning the gun in the direction of the Commonwealth (now Poland), where he was from.

Such is the history of the Tsar Cannon in brief - the largest weapon of its era.

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

7.1. Tsar Cannon and other old cannons in the Moscow Kremlin

Let us now turn to the famous Tsar Cannon, standing in the Moscow Kremlin, fig. 7.1–7.3. The 40-ton cannon was made by the Russian master Andrei Mokhov during the reign of Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich. This is evidenced by the inscription on the top of her vent, fig. 7.4. Caliber Tsar Cannon - 890, fig. 7.5.

Rice. 7.1. Tsar cannon, cast by Andrey Chokhov in the 16th century. Today it stands in the Moscow Kremlin. Taken from, p. 33.

Rice. 7.2. Tsar Cannon. Photo from 2003.

Rice. 7.3. Tsar Cannon. Photo from 2003.

Rice. 7.4. The 40-ton Tsar Cannon was cast by master Andrei Chokhov during the reign of Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich. This is evidenced by the inscription on the top of her vent. Photo from 2003.

Rice. 7.5. Caliber Tsar Cannon - 890. Photograph 2003.

N.V. Gordeev, author interesting book"Tsar Cannon", reports: "In Russia, the first guns appeared in the XIV century", p. 7. The compiler and author of the book “The Moscow Kremlin in Antiquity and Now”, S. Bartenev, wrote: “The walls and archers of the Kremlin in the 16th century ... were furnished with fortress artillery of the most diverse composition, among which were cast-iron, iron and copper tools, ranging from the most small ones, firing small bullets ... and ending with 6-8-pound guns (2400 g and 3200 g), placed one at each floor of the tower. In addition, HUGE MONSTERS, GIANT BOMBARDS, lay on the ground below, vol. 1, p. 40. Op. by , p. eight.

Some preserved ancient Russian cannons of the 16th-18th centuries can be seen today near the building of the Kremlin Arsenal, fig. 7.6. It turns out that the Russian army of the 16th-17th centuries was armed with large TROJAN GUNS. That is, the cannons on which the kings of the "ancient" TROY were depicted. Very interesting is one of these large cannons, made by the famous 16th-century master Andrey Chokhov. N.V. Gordeev reports: “In 1590, a cannon was made under the name “TROIL”, i.e. “TROJAN KING”. The barrel of the cannon is cast from bronze... There is an inscription on the breech of the barrel: “By the grace of God, by the command of the Sovereign Tsar and Grand Duke Fyodor Ivanovich of All Russia, this troil squeaker was made in the summer of 7098 (1590). Made by Andrei Chokhov. In the center of the toreli is a figure of the TROJAN KING with a banner in his left hand and with a sword in his right ... The caliber of the barrel is 195 mm, the weight of the gun is 7 thousand kg. The total length of the barrel is 4350 mm ", p. 22. In fig. 7.7 shows a detail of this cannon “with the image of the TROJAN KING”, p. 21. Recall that TROILUS is the name of one of the most famous Trojan kings, p. 230. He was the son of the no less famous Trojan king Priam, who ruled the "most ancient" Troy in the era of the Trojan War.

Rice. 7.6. The building of the Arsenal in the Moscow Kremlin, near the Trinity Tower. Along its wall are exhibited old cannons - Russian and foreign. Moreover, for some reason, Russian guns are placed where the passage of strangers is prohibited. You can freely consider only foreign guns located closer to the Trinity Tower. An ignorant visitor may even get the impression that, they say, the “best” guns worthy of being exhibited in the Kremlin are foreign-made. Perhaps this is done on purpose. Photo from 2003.

Rice. 7.7. Large Moscow Troilus cannon, cast in the 16th century. «Detail depicting the TROJAN KING. Troilus gun. Master Andrey Chokhov, p. 21. Taken from, p. 21.

There are several such TROJAN cannons in Moscow. Here is another similar large cannon of the 17th century, also called "TROIL". N.V. Gordeev writes: “The Troilus cannon was cast from copper in 1685. The bore is smooth ... On the breech of the barrel there is a cast inscription:“ By the grace of God, by the command of the great sovereigns of the tsars and the great princes Ivan Alekseevich, Peter Alekseevich of all great and small and white Russia autocrats poured this squeaker is called TROIL ON WHICH THE TSAR OF TROJAN IS DESIGNED ON THE TREASURY ... “Torel is flat, with a cast relief image figure seated on a throne. On the sides of the figure there is an inscription: "Pishchal TROIL". Caliber 187 mm, weight 6438 kg, total length 3500 mm. The cannon stands on a decorative cast-iron carriage near the southern facade of the Arsenal, on the left side of the entrance arch”, p. 29. Detail of this big gun"Troil", cast by master Yakov Dubina, is shown in fig. 7.8.

Rice. 7.8. Another large Moscow Troilus cannon, cast in the 17th century. «Detail depicting the TROJAN KING. Troilus gun. Master Yakov Dubina. 1685" , With. 28. Taken from, p. 28.

Within the framework of the Scaligerian-Romanovian history, all this looks extremely strange. On the one hand, the Russian foundry craftsmen of the 16th-17th centuries, casting large Russian cannons, naturally depict Moscow great tsars on the cannons. For example, on the famous Tsar Cannon, cast by Andrei Chokhov in 1586, “on the right side of the barrel there is a cast image of a galloping horseman. This is a portrait of Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich, in which a cannon was cast. Above the image is the inscription: By the grace of God, the Tsar and Grand Duke Fyodor Ivanovich Sovereign and Autocrat of All Great Russia, p. fourteen.

On the other hand, on other large Russian cannons, allegedly “ancient” Trojan kings, who ruled in distant Troy allegedly about THREE THOUSAND YEARS AGO, are depicted, and DIRECTLY named. As historians assure us today.

In the 16th century, a large cannon called "ACHILLES" was also cast in Russia, p. 20. Today she is in St. Petersburg. Again we see a Russian cannon with an "antique" name. Note that according to our research, the presence of the name ACHILLES on old Russian cannons is quite understandable and natural.

We have given only three examples of Russian "ancient" guns, taken by us from a very small book. How many of these guns were cast and what percentage of them survived, we do not know.

Our reconstruction explains this picture well. Most likely, Russian cannon masters, even in the 17th century, not to mention the 16th century, knew or remembered well that the Ottoman-Ataman sultan, an ally of Russia-Horde, rules in Istanbul. Therefore, on some huge Russian-Horde guns, we see images of Russian Horde tsars-khans of the 16th century. And on others - their Ottoman allies - Ataman sultans. As we showed in the book "Empire", the Russian-Horde and Ottoman - Ataman troops fought together in that era, side by side. Being the troops of two constituent parts of a single Great = "Mongolian" Empire. Although in the 17th century, after the collapse of the Empire, Russia-Horde and Osmania = Atamania were no longer as closely connected as before, but the memory of the recent unity was, as we see, quite strong. In the 17th century, already under the first Romanovs, Trojan cannons were still being cast in Russia.

Let's take another example. On fig. 7.9 and fig. 7.10 shows a large Russian cannon called "New PERS", p. 36. The "Persian" is depicted in a TURB. An inscription was cast on the smooth breech of the cannon: “By the grace of God, the great sovereigns and tsars and grand dukes of John Alekseevich Petr Alekseevich ... this squeaker, called“ NOVI PERS ”was cast in the reigning city of Moscow in the summer of 7194 (1686) ...”, p. 33. Gun caliber 180 mm, weight 5800 kg, total length 4 meters 90 cm. There is an inscription along the edge of the torel: “Pishchal called PERS lita summer 7194 ...”, p. 33. In 1969, the Persian cannon stood at the southern facade of the Arsenal, to the left of the entrance arch, p. 33.

Rice. 7.9. Large Moscow cannon, called "New Persian", cast in the 17th century. Master Martyan Osipov. 1685. Taken from, p. 36.

Rice. 7.10. General form guns "New Persian". Taken from, p. 34.

As we have repeatedly written in our books on chronology, in the old chronicles PERSIA (P-RUSSIA), apparently, was often called White Russia. It is known that Russian Cossacks used to wear a turban,,. Therefore, "Persian in a turban" in that era could mean "White-Russian Cossack in a turban." The image of which on the Russian cannon is more than natural. Note that earlier White Russia was called not only Belarus in the modern sense, but much more extensive areas of Russia. In particular, the city of Moscow is located on the lands of old White Russia,,.

By the way, it is possible that before the "New Persian" there was another Russian gun called simply "PERS". The "new Persian" cannon may have been named after the famous old cannon of the same name. By adding the word "new".

Experts in cannon history note that the giant Russian cannons of the 16th century era clearly show the leading role of the Russian army at that time. The Tsar Cannon (XVI century, caliber 890) that has survived to this day was perhaps one of the largest of its time, but it turns out that there were other huge Russian cannons that were quite comparable in size. And there were a lot of them. Professor M.I. Falkovsky in his book “Moscow and the History of Technology” writes that “by its type, the Tsar Cannon is a mortar ... In the 16th century, of course, there was no caliber 890 in ANY COUNTRY. BUT THE RELATIVE DIMENSIONS OF THE Tsar Cannon DO NOT DIFFER SIGNIFICANTLY FROM OTHER MORTAR EVEN IN THE XVII-XVIII CENTURIES. Cit. by , p. fourteen.

“A lot of large cannons were also made by other masters of cannon casting... BEFORE THE CHOKOV Tsar Cannon, HUGE GUNS WERE KNOWN IN MOSCOW, WHICH ALSO BEARED THIS NAME... Thus, in 1488, master Pavel Debosis cast a cannon called the Tsar Cannon. In 1554, a cast-iron cannon with a caliber of 650 mm was cast in Moscow (recall that the caliber of the Tsar Cannon 890 mm - Auth.) and weighing 1200 pounds, and in 1555 - a cast iron cannon with a caliber of 600 mm, weighing 1020 pounds. The fact that there were other huge weapons in Moscow is evidenced not only by written sources, but also by plans and drawings of Moscow and the Moscow Kremlin, drawn up in the 16th-17th centuries, sketches of travelers and members of foreign embassies. The plans of the Moscow Kremlin of the 16th century show that the cannons were located at the main gates of the Kremlin - Spassky and Nikolsky, as well as on Red Square. These tools have not been preserved”, p. eighteen.

So it turns out that there were enough cannons or mortars comparable in caliber to the Tsar Cannon in the Russian army of that era.

By the way, the Tsar Cannon was designed FOR SHOOTING buckshot, NOT cannonballs. This is a mortar. So the four huge cannonballs lying in front of her in the Kremlin today, folded into a pyramid, have nothing to do with her. According to N.V. Gordeev, “these are DECORATIVE cast-iron grenades, hollow inside. The thickness of their walls is 9 cm. , With. 17–18.

“In ancient times, the Tsar Cannon was also called the Russian Shotgun, since it was designed to fire shot, that is, buckshot. The Tsar Cannon did not have to take part in hostilities (so historians believe today - Auth.), but there is no doubt that it was cast precisely as a military weapon, and not for purely decorative purposes ... M.I. Falkovsky believes that, expecting the invasion of the Tatars and building NEW fortifications, Muscovites would hardly have been engaged in the manufacture of a “fake” cannon weighing 2400 pounds. A number of other authors adhere to the same conclusion. 16. Isn't the opinion suggested to us today by historians - that the Tsar Cannon was "fake" and was cast only as a royal whim, to satisfy "Moscow vanity" - part of the propaganda campaign of the Romanov historical school? The purpose of which was and is to bring history to oblivion Great Empire. After all, evidence of a completely different kind of Russian guns has been preserved. For example, the following.

“Andrei Chokhov cast a lot of guns. So, guns with his name participated in all the campaigns of Ivan the Terrible, and in particular in Livonia. Under Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich, the famous master cast the Tsar Cannon and a whole series of OTHER HUGE GUNS, including an interesting mortar with the name False Dmitry (!? - Aut.). ALL CHOKHOV'S GUNS ARE DIFFERENT IN ITS COLOSSAL SIZES, SUPERB FINISHES AND EXCELLENT QUALITY OF WORK", p. 13.

“At this time (in the 16th century - Auth.) a number of guns were cast. So, for example, in 1588 Chokhov cast a HUNDRED PISCHAL from copper, that is, an instrument consisting of HUNDRED BARRELs. The caliber of each barrel is 50 mm. The casting of this squeak was, of course, the second miracle of foundry art after the Tsar Cannon”, p. eighteen.

“In the 40s and 50s of our century, on the walls and towers of the Kremlin and on the site of the old fortress ditches, a lot of round stone cores with a diameter of 15 to 30, and in some cases up to 60–70 cm were collected. The colossal size of the cores…” , With. 5–6.

On fig. 7.11 we present an old miniature from a Russian chronicle of the supposedly 16th century, which depicts the defense of Moscow, allegedly in 1451. A large cannon-mortar is clearly visible on the city wall, comparable in size to the gigantic Tsar Cannon of the 16th century known to us today. On fig. 7.12 shows an old miniature depicting a huge cannon cast in Moscow by Pavlin Fryazin in 1488, p. 64. So, as we can see, even according to the Scaligerian-Millerian history, the Russian artillery of the 15th century was very impressive. On fig. 7.13 shows "a medium-sized artillery gun of the 16th century", book. 2, p. 158. In fig. 7.14 shows an image of medium-sized Russian guns of the 17th century.

Rice. 7.11. Huge Russian-Horde cannons of the 15th century. A miniature of an annals of the alleged 16th century, depicting the defense of Moscow, allegedly in 1451. Taken from, p. 73.

Rice. 7.12. “A cannon cast in Moscow by Pavlin Fryazin. 1488. Miniature of the annalistic code of the 16th century. , With. 64.

Rice. 7.13. Ancient engraving. Cannon of the 16th century. Considered medium in size. Taken from, book. 2, p. 158.

Rice. 7.14. Engraving "Russian artillery before the parade in the 17th century". These tools are relatively small. Taken from, book. 2. with. 585.

On fig. 7.15 shows images of ancient field cannons and mortars that were in service with the Zaporizhzhya Cossacks. A large mortar is shown at the top right. So such large guns for firing buckshot were installed not only on the walls of cities, but also used on the battlefields.

On fig. 7.16 shows the plan of the Kremlin Cannon Yard. The plan was drawn up at the end of the 17th century, p. 144.

Rice. 7.15. "Zaporizhzhya guns and mortars", insert between p. 240–241. On the right is a large field mortar for firing buckshot.

Rice. 7.16. Plan of the Cannon Yard in the Kremlin. End of the 17th century. Taken from, p. 144.

It turns out that the huge Tsar Cannon mortar standing today in the Kremlin is noticeably inferior in size to other combat mortars that were in service with the Russian army of the 16th century. Historians report: “In the report of Juan of Persia to King Philip III about his stay in Russia in 1599-1600, it is said that the“ large square ”(Red Square)“ is lined with cannons so huge that two people could enter each of them to clean it “. Two years later, the secretary of the Austrian embassy Georg Tektander von der Jabel wrote about these same guns in his report: “On the square, at the gates of the castle (Kremlin - O.I.), there are two huge cannons IN WHICH YOU CAN EASILY FIT A MAN. A Pole, Samuil Maskevich, who was in Moscow in 1610, says that in Kitai-Gorod he “saw a gun that was loaded with a hundred bullets and fired the same number of shots. It is so high, - Maskevich continues, - that it will be up to my shoulder, and its bullets are the size of a goose egg. This gun stands against the gate leading to the Living Bridge (this bridge led from Zamoskvorechye to the Frolovsky Gates of the Kremlin. - O.I.)“... Maskevich says that “in the middle of the market” (Red Square) he saw such a large mortar that THREE PEOPLE CLIMBED INTO IT and played cards there ... It is known that since 1555 there were two huge guns on Red Square: in 1554 by the master Kashpir Ganusov, Chokhov's teacher (weight 19300 kg, length - 4.48 m, weight of the core - 320 kg), and "Peacock", cast in 1555 by Stepan Petrov (weight - 16320 kg). These cannons were also sent to the area of ​​the Living Bridge leading to Zamoskvorechye ... In 1627, three giant guns were placed on special wooden "stumps" or "roskats" covered with earth ", p. 114–116. It is understandable why these giant cannon-mortars were installed opposite the bridges leading to the Kremlin. In the event of an attack, guns fired in advance could sweep away enemies trying to break through bridges with buckshot. The large volume of buckshot ejected when fired from guns of this size made it possible to hit not only bridges, but also cover vast areas around the Kremlin.

Today it is still difficult to restore the true history of cannon making in Russia before the 17th century. It must be assumed that after the Romanovs came to power and, as a result, the very fact of the existence of the Great = “Mongolian” Empire was forgotten, most of the Russian-Horde cannons were poured, melted down. The same was done with the huge Horde bells, see below. Something similar - a deliberate sinking into oblivion - happened with the history of the Russian-Horde fleet. After all, they convince us today that before Peter I, Russia "practically did not have a fleet." But, apparently, THERE WAS SO MANY GUNS IN RUSSIA-HORDE that, despite all the Romanov meltdowns, something remained. And today we can still at least partially imagine - what was the Russian-Horde and Ottoman = Ataman army of the era of the XV-XVI centuries. The remnants of its monstrous military cannon park, standing today in the Moscow Kremlin, clearly show that this army was strong.

On fig. 7.17 shows a miniature from an old French book "Les Quinze Joies de mariage" allegedly from 1485, ill. 207.

The miniature is not described in words in the book itself. A modern historian reports that “the military scene ... is not accompanied here by any specific textual commentary, it conveys only the atmosphere ...”, p. 170. The figure shows a large army on a campaign, with heavy cannons. All warriors are clad in iron from head to toe. Coats of arms are clearly visible on military equipment and on the banner - black double-headed imperial eagles on a red field. As we now begin to understand, these are, most likely, the troops of Russia-Horde and Osmania = Atamania, who entered Europe during the conquest of the "Promised Land".

On fig. 7.18 and fig. 7.19 we present photographs of a medieval cannon exhibited today in the German National Museum in Nuremberg (Germanisches Nationalmuseum). This is the largest of several antique cannons on display in this museum. Its inner thin metal trunk is enclosed inside a thick log, which, in turn, is covered for strength from the outside with iron hoops. Perhaps the Ottoman and Horde craftsmen specifically used this technology TO LIGHTEN field guns, to make them more convenient for quick transportation on a campaign and for maneuvering. Similar light guns were used earlier in the Russian army. They were called peepers.

Rice. 7.18. Medieval cannon on display at the German National Museum in Nuremberg. Photo taken by A.T. Fomenko in June 2000.

Rice. 7.19. Front view of a German gun National Museum(Nuremberg). The wooden trunk surrounding the inner one is metal, bound on the outside with hoops for strength. Probably, field guns were lightened in this way. Photo from 2000.