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Photo by Gilbert H. Grosvenor 



THK GRIiATUST BEIvL IN SERVICE 



This immense bell hangs in the bell tower and can be distinctly seen on page 436. It 

 weighs 64 tons, or more than twice as much as the biggest bell of western Europe (see page 

 439), and was cast after the retreat of Napoleon from Moscow from some of the old bells. 

 It is beautifully decorated with portraits of the Emperor Alexander I and his wife, Elizabeth, 

 and of his mother and brothers. It is rung only a few times a year, at Christmas and 

 Easter and on the Tsar's birthday. The man shown in the picture is standing exactly in the 

 center of the bell, of which this is probably the first photograph made in the belfry. 



438 



