THE THIRD TIER OF THE BELL TOWER

The third tier of the 'Ivan the Great' Bell-Tower places only three bells, while in 1749 there were ten of them. Unfortunately, in 1929 the Soviet government decided that ten bells should be melted. Three extant bells of this tier are distinguished for their small size. The bell cast in 1621 weights 480 kilos. The date of creation, as well as its form and decoration with trefoil, tell that it was cast by Andrey Chokhov and Ignaty Maksimov, son of Shpilin. Another bell of 1647 is almost the same weight; it is decorated with exquisite grassy ornament, an elaborated relief image of the Calvary cross and the inscription made in the ligatured script. The third bell of this tier is made by Philipp Andreev in 1687 for Belogostitsky Monastery.