*Location:

   Cathedral of the Nativity of Christ
   Brivibas bulvaris nr Kalpaka bulvaris
   Riga, Latvia
   LL: N 56.95370, E 24.11592

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*Player:

   (unknown)

*Contact:

   (unknown)

*Schedule:

   (unknown)

*Remarks:

   Original bells cast in Moscow; bass is
   the largest bell in Latvia.
   All survived WW I & II, but all except
   the largest two were seized by USSR
   in 1963.  New bells (number unknown)
   cast by ZIL, Russia.

*Technical data:

   Zvon of an unknown number of bells
   Pitch of heaviest bell is unknown
   Transposition is not applicable
   Keyboard range:     ZVON  /    ----  
   The arrangement of tones and semitones is unknown.
   The instrument was enlarged in 2006
     with bells made by an unknown maker      
   Prior history:
     In 1880, the instrument was begun with 12 bells
       by an unknown maker
       (2 bells remain from that work.)
   No auxiliary mechanisms known
   Tower details not available
   Year of latest technical information source is 2023

The Latvian Wikipedia article about the cathedral says:

	During the construction of the building in 1880, the original project was
	changed: the building was supplemented with a bell tower, the reason for
	which was the gift of Emperor Alexander II to the cathedral - twelve bells
	cast in Moscow. The largest of them, weighing 13 tons, had to be lifted into
	the tower by a force of 800 soldiers.
	
	In 1963, the USSR authorities closed the cathedral, ordered the crosses to
	be cut down and the bells to be removed, except for the two largest ones,
	which were bricked up. According to Jur Skalberg's project, it was rebuilt
	into a "Knowledge House", mezzanine covers were created and a planetarium
	was installed in the dome.
	
	Restored 1991, Orthodox liturgy held Jan.1992.
	
	In 2002, new bells were brought, cast in the Russian factory ZIL.

The Wikimedia Commons category for the building has many photos that include the bell tower.

A YouTube video (0:49) is probably not worth watching, but its opening photo is a quasi-aerial view that shows the relationship between the bell tower and the main building.

A longer YouTube video (3:34) is not worth listening, but it is composed of drone views that give a good perspective of the church and city.

A YouTube video (4:08) with Russian narration (followed by English) is a walkaround of the outside of the building.

A short video (0:50) is visually poor but does record the sound of the bells.

A YouTube video (1:30) of a liturgical procession also has the sound of the small and middle bells.

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

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

Where the bass bell of this zvon ranks among other great bells in Europe

Index to all tower bell instruments in Latvia.

   This page was built from the database on  9-Feb-24
   based on textual data last updated on 2024/02/09
   and on technical data last updated on 2024/02/09