An independent, secular reference on the history of bells. This is not the website of the Danilov Monastery, the Russian Orthodox Church or Harvard University; we do not provide religious guidance.
Historical context
The history of bells in Russia is a history of craft, of towns and monasteries, and of the sweeping changes of the 20th century. To understand the fate of a particular bell, it helps to know in which era it was cast and what was happening to bells at the time. Below are five broad periods with short explanations. This is not a complete history but a guide: where dates are reliable we give them, and where little is known we speak in general terms.
A bell outlives the people who cast it. That is why its history is almost always wider than the history of a single place.
How this section works: an era is singled out if it brought notable changes in bell founding, in the ringing tradition or in the fate of the bells themselves. We give only verified dates and offer no political judgments.
Five periods that help place a bell in time.
Bells have been known in Rus' since early times; the first bells were usually small. Gradually a distinctive ringing tradition took shape in which the clapper is swung rather than the bell itself. In the late 13th century the Danilov Monastery was founded in Moscow.
The Danilov Monastery and its bells: a short history (in Russian)
Moscow became one of the major centres of bell founding. Master founders passed the craft down through generations, and bells grew ever larger and more elaborate in their decoration and inscriptions.
Russia's most famous bell was cast in 1735 by the master founders Ivan and Mikhail Motorin. In 1737, during a fire, a large piece broke off, and the bell has never been rung.
In these years many church bells in the USSR were taken down and melted down. In 1930 the Danilov Monastery was closed; its bells were sold and, thanks to Charles R. Crane, went to Harvard and escaped the furnace.
Charles R. Crane and the Danilov Monastery bells (in Russian)
In the late 20th and early 21st centuries monasteries were returned and bell towers restored. The Danilov Monastery was returned to the Church in 1983, and in 2008 its bells came back from Harvard.
The bells' journey: Moscow to Cambridge and back (in Russian)
Key dates, from the founding of the Danilov Monastery to the return of its bells in 2008.
Historical figures: Daniel of Moscow, Charles R. Crane, Thomas Whittemore, Konstantin Saradzhev and the Motorins.
A short note on the history of the Danilov Monastery and the fate of its bells.
This reference relies on encyclopedic works and on publications of Harvard University. The weights, numbers and dates of individual bells can differ from one source to another, so we give only verified information and say clearly where exact data are lacking.