Novgorod porcelain factories produced souvenirs, which were smaller copies of the city sights — cathedrals, churches, and monuments. Those items were popular among tourists — people often took them home to have a memory of their trip. Because of this, the items produced at those local porcelain and faience factories can be found all over the country.
A figurine of one of the symbols of Veliky Novgorod — the bell which played a big part in the history of the city — belongs to the museum’s collection. The chronicles of 1066 mentioned a sudden raid on Novgorod led by Vseslav, the Prince of Polotsk, who removed the bells from the Sophia belltower. When that happened, the locals chased the raiders and took back what had been stolen.
There was also a legend that said, when Ivan the Terrible was in Novgorod, he was riding on a horse along the Great Bridge. Right at that moment, the bell ringer of the Bell Tower of St. Sophia Cathedral started ringing the biggest bell, and the sound was so loud that it scared the horse, and it threw Ivan the Terrible off its back. Because of this, the tsar ordered to cut the yokes (ears) of the bell off, all but the middle one, so that the ringing sound would not be so loud. Since then, people started calling the bell “earless”.
The bells of Novgorod were rung on different occasions: they were used to gather people for church events, notify of the arrival of high-ranking officials, and warn of fires, wars, and attacks. There were more than one hundred bells in the city. During the period of the Novgorod Republic, the main bell was the “vechevoy” bell (veche was the highest legislative and judicial authority in Veliky Novgorod until 1478). In 1478, after Novgorod lost its independence and became part of the Moscow Principality, the bell was taken to Moscow. What happened to it in the capital remains unknown. According to one version, it was hung on the Assumption Cathedral’s Bell Tower. However, according to another version, it was thrown into the Tvertsa River.
Bell founders from Novgorod were considered the best in Russia (or “Rus” at that time). In the 19th century, there were several special factories in the city. In one of them, a giant two-thousand-pound (32 tons) bell was cast for the Trinity Cathedral in St. Petersburg.
In 1930, at the height of anti-religious propaganda, bell founding became an unprofitable enterprise: all the factories were shut down, the bell founders and the owners of the factories were sent into exile, and the bells were removed from the cathedrals and remelted. After these events, the art of bell founding in Novgorod was lost.
A figurine of one of the symbols of Veliky Novgorod — the bell which played a big part in the history of the city — belongs to the museum’s collection. The chronicles of 1066 mentioned a sudden raid on Novgorod led by Vseslav, the Prince of Polotsk, who removed the bells from the Sophia belltower. When that happened, the locals chased the raiders and took back what had been stolen.
There was also a legend that said, when Ivan the Terrible was in Novgorod, he was riding on a horse along the Great Bridge. Right at that moment, the bell ringer of the Bell Tower of St. Sophia Cathedral started ringing the biggest bell, and the sound was so loud that it scared the horse, and it threw Ivan the Terrible off its back. Because of this, the tsar ordered to cut the yokes (ears) of the bell off, all but the middle one, so that the ringing sound would not be so loud. Since then, people started calling the bell “earless”.
The bells of Novgorod were rung on different occasions: they were used to gather people for church events, notify of the arrival of high-ranking officials, and warn of fires, wars, and attacks. There were more than one hundred bells in the city. During the period of the Novgorod Republic, the main bell was the “vechevoy” bell (veche was the highest legislative and judicial authority in Veliky Novgorod until 1478). In 1478, after Novgorod lost its independence and became part of the Moscow Principality, the bell was taken to Moscow. What happened to it in the capital remains unknown. According to one version, it was hung on the Assumption Cathedral’s Bell Tower. However, according to another version, it was thrown into the Tvertsa River.
Bell founders from Novgorod were considered the best in Russia (or “Rus” at that time). In the 19th century, there were several special factories in the city. In one of them, a giant two-thousand-pound (32 tons) bell was cast for the Trinity Cathedral in St. Petersburg.
In 1930, at the height of anti-religious propaganda, bell founding became an unprofitable enterprise: all the factories were shut down, the bell founders and the owners of the factories were sent into exile, and the bells were removed from the cathedrals and remelted. After these events, the art of bell founding in Novgorod was lost.
