Detail of the Czar Cannon (1586) at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia
The Czar Cannon is a large, meters ( ft) long cannon on display on the grounds of the Moscow Kremlin. It was cast in 1586 in Moscow, by the Russian master bronze caster Andrey Chokhov. Mostly of symbolic impact, it was never used in a war. However the cannon bears traces of at least one firing. Per the Guinness Book of Records it is the largest bombard by caliber in the world, and it is a major tourist attraction in the ensemble of the Moscow Kremlin. The Czar Cannon is located just past the Kremlin Armory, facing towards the Kremlin Senate. The very low ratio of the length of its barrel to its caliber makes it technically not a cannon, but a stylized mortar. The Czar Cannon is made of bronze; it weighs tonnes and has a length of m ( ft). Its bronze-cast barrel has an internal diameter of 890 mm ( in), and an external diameter of 1,200 mm ( in). The barrel has eight cast rectangular brackets for use in transporting the gun, which is mounted on a stylized cast iron gun carriage with two wheels. The barrel is decorated with relief images, including an equestrian image of Czar Fyodor Ivanovich. The cannon-style gun carriage, added in 1835, is purely decorative. This weapon was never intended to be transported on or fired from this gun carriage. The spherical cast-iron projectiles located in front of the Czar Cannon - each of which weighs approximately one ton - were produced in 1834 as a decoration. They are too large to have been used in the cannon, which would have fired 800 kg stone grapeshot rather than cannonballs. According to legend, the cannonballs were manufactured in St. Petersburg, and were intended to be a humorous addition and a symbol of the friendly rivalry between Moscow and St. Petersburg.
Size: 5242px × 3493px
Location: Czar Cannon, Kremlin, Moscow, Russia, Eastern Europe
Photo credit: © DE ROCKER / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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