The Bell That Never Rang
The largest bell in the world has never rung, because a huge piece broke off before it was ever hung.
What was reported
The Tsar Bell, in the Moscow Kremlin, is the largest bell in the world, about 6 metres tall and weighing around 200 tonnes. It was cast in 1733–35 by Ivan Motorin and his son Mikhail on the orders of Empress Anna.
In 1737, while it was still in its casting pit, a great fire broke out in the Kremlin. Water thrown onto the burning timbers over the pit is thought to have cooled the hot metal unevenly, and a piece weighing about 11 tonnes cracked away.
Explanations offered
With the crack, it could never be rung. It lay in the pit for nearly a century until 1836, when it was lifted onto a stone pedestal, where it stands today with its broken piece beside it.
- When
- Cast in 1735
- Where
- The Kremlin, Moscow, Russia
- Witnesses
- Visitors to the Kremlin
- Status
- Explained
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.