*Location:

   Loreto Cloister Museum Tower
   Loretánské námestí
   Hradcany
   Praha (Prague), Czech Republic
   (formerly part of Czechoslovakia)
   LL: N 50.08925, E 14.39157

Site locator map
City locator maps and gazetteer page

*Carillonist:

   (unknown)

*Contact:

   Loreto Prague
   Loretánské nám.7
   118 00 Praha 1 - Hradcany
   T/F: 220-516-740
   E: loreta/@/loreta DOTcz

*Schedule:

   (unknown)

*Remarks:

   Bells by Claude Fremy, cast 1683-91;
   oldest extant Dutch carillon outside
   the Netherlands.  Installation was
   completed by local clockmaker Peter
   Neumann in 1695; unknown whether that
   included the keyboard.
   One bass bell recast by Lisiak in 1747,
   then replaced along with another
   (#2 & 4) by Peter Manousek in 1994.
   Three small bells, badly out of pitch,
   not connected to drum or keyboard.

*Technical data:

   Traditional carillon of 30 bells
   Pitch of heaviest bell is C# in the treble octave
   Transposition is up 13 semitone(s)
   Keyboard range:     C E 27/    C C   
   There are two missing bass semitones
   2 bells were recast or replaced in 1994
     by the maker cited in Remarks above
   Prior history:
     In 1747, some bells were recast or replaced
       with bells made by the maker cited in Remarks above
       (0 bells remain from that work.)
     In 1690, the complete instrument of 30 bells was installed
       with bells made by the maker cited in Remarks above
       (28 bells remain from that work.)
   Auxiliary mechanisms: M27   
   Tower details not available
   Year of latest technical information source is 2010

Additional information on the technical history of this instrument can be found in a database printout.

The Loreta Website (in Czech) has a page about the bells, with a large photo of the tower plus photos of the bells and the clockworks.
There is also a page about the Christmas concert schedule, with a large photo of the tower plus other photos.

News article (8 Dec 2021) about a forthcoming change in the automated music has two photos of the bell tower.

This carillon is mentioned in the English version of a lecture (PDF) given to the WCF Congress in Antwerp 2014 by Laura Meilink, covering the history of Hemony & Fremy among the bellfounders of Amsterdam.

Stock photo of the belfry and clock; scroll down for more photos of the building.

Where the initial phase of this work lies in the sequence of output of miscellaneous bellfoundries, in this region and in the world.
Where the second phase of this work lies in the sequence of output of miscellaneous bellfoundries, in this region and in the world.
Where the final phase of this work lies in the sequence of output of miscellaneous bellfoundries, in this region and in the world.

Ranking among all European traditional carillons by pitch (weight).
Ranking among all European traditional carillons by size (number of bells).
Ranking among all European traditional carillons by year of completion.

Index to all tower bell instruments in Czech Republic.

   This page was built from the database on  3-Mar-22
   based on textual data last updated on 2022/02/11
   and on technical data last updated on 2020/04/10