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The War with Napoleon
On top of the gilded head of the Ivan the Great there is an eight-final cross, made of iron and covered with the gilded sheets of copper. On the upper crossbeam the words “Tsar of Glory” are carved. That cross was established after 1812, since the previous one had been removed by Napoleon’s order.
G.Istomin. Ivan the Great Bell Tower (Kolokolnya Ivana Velikogo), 1893
One of Moscow legends tells that Napoleon heard a rumor of a golden cross on the Ivan the Great Bell Tower. With the removal of the cross the freedom and glory of Russia would inevitably fall, they said. Napoleon ordered to take the cross down, but none of the Frenchmen dared to do it. Then a Russian volunteered to bring the cross down. Napoleon witnessed how adroitly and quickly the guy climbed up to the cross. He easily unclenched the cross and put it down. But when Napoleon saw that the cross was just gilded,- either out of disappointment or just following the old rule “to use the treachery, but to despise the traitor ” - he immediately ordered to shoot the betrayer.
Moscow. Historical Guide-Book (Istorichesky putevoditel), 1827
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Ivanov I. «Proscription of enemy from Moscow...». Lubok. 1812
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«Proscription of the enemy from Moscow by the light horse detachment of Major-General Ilovaisky IV, the vanguard of the corps, headed by Lieutenant–General Wintzengerode on 10 October 1812”- the example of an agitation lubok, made during the Napoleonic war. All you could see in the picture is fiction from the first to the last word. On the 10 October Napoleonic army was still playing the master in the Kremlin, but soon afterwards they left Moscow without any action.
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Reverse of the heaps after the explosion in Firalet Belfry. Drawing, 1812
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During the Napoleonic invasion, the Bell Tower suffered a lot. Leaving Moscow, the French soldiers planted mines in different places of the Kremlin. At the night of 11 October 1812 the Arsenal, the Nikolskaya Tower and the Ivan the Great Bell tower were exploded. The main column of the bell tower stood fast, but the Filaret Belfry was completely destroyed. The rest of the mines failed to function, as the fire did not reach the gunpowder. Sixty powder kegs were taken out from the failed mines.
The project of the reconstruction was designed by I.Egotov, L.Rusca, D.Giglardi and O.Bove.
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