Russian bells, a photo from Karelia, North

Photographer's Note

I wonder if anyone of you has heard Russian bells. For me, they are fantastic and different from the bells in other parts of the world.
Russian Orthodox bell ringing has a history starting from the baptism of Rus in 988 and plays an important role in the traditions of the Russian Orthodox Church.The use of bells is not only practical, but is also considered to be spiritual. Bells are sometimes referred to as "singing icons", because they establish the acoustic space of an Orthodox temple just as painted icons and hymnography define its visual and noetic space, respectively. Icons are considered "scripture in image" as bells are "scripture in sound". Technically, bells rung in the Russian tradition are sounded exclusively by chiming (i.e., moving only the clapper so that it strikes the side of a stationary bell) and never by swinging the bell. For the Russian tradition a special complex system of ropes is used, designed individually for each belltower. All the ropes are gathered at approximately one point, where the bell-ringer (zvonar) stands. Some ropes (the smaller ones) are played by hand. The bigger ropes are played by foot.No melody is employed, as in the Western carillon, but rather a complicated polyrhythmical sequence of sounds is produced. Generally, a good Russian bell is tuned to produce a whole scale of sounds (up to several dozen of them). This effect is accomplished both by the composition of the alloy from which the bell is cast and the sculpting of the sides of the bell in the mold. (after Wikipedia)

In Kizhi pogost there is a bell tower that is possible to climb. Of course, I went there. But strange enough, I was the only one from the group up there. The view was very beautiful. Here I want just to show the set of the bells of different sizes, with the ropes. The wooden domes are of the winter church.

Better see this larger picture

Bell operated by foot

pajaran, COSTANTINO, ikeharel, papagolf21, ktanska, holmertz, jhm, Ilonka1974, alvaraalto, PiotrF, PaulVDV, adramad, pierrefonds has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

Nicou (193806) 2019-07-24 21:21

Hello

Merveilleuse image et vue de ces cloches avec les attache qui servent а les faire bouger et sonnet et en fond ce bleu et quelle йglise avec toutes ces croix qui ressortent superbe
Bravo et amitiй
Nciou

Tue (82326) 2019-07-24 21:57

Hello Malgo,
The bells are nicely placed in the foreground and the view of the many towers and domes and the green forests and blue lake makes a wonderful backdrop. You handled the light very well too.
Lars

COSTANTINO (104253) 2019-07-24 22:50

Hello dear Malgorzata and have a nice time
and a happy new day
thanks for sharing with us interesting
information about the bells in Russian
churches so different from the bells
in other parts of the world
regards
Costantino

jemaflor (135502) 2019-07-24 23:09

Hi Malgo,
Nice composition with these bells in the Fg of your view, interesting BG with lac landscape and the domes of the church, contrast of light is well managed, tfs.

papagolf21 (152601) 2019-07-24 23:20

Bonjour, chиre Malgo,
Jamais dйзu а travers vos reportages, vos photographies. Chaque fois, j'apprends et dйcouvre quelque chose de nouveau qui йlargit mes connaissances...
Cet ensemble de bulbes est remarquable.
Quant а la cloche manњuvrйe par un systиme а pied, ne manque pas d'intйrкt non plus.
Amitiйs.
Philippe

kasianowak (15848) 2019-07-25 2:16

Czesc Malgosiu
Fajne zdjecie, nie tylko pokazujace dzwony, o ktorych wspominasz w notce, ale tez cerkiew i jezioro w ramce okna.
Ciekawe, co piszesz, ze dzwiek rosyjskich dzwonow jest unikalny. Ciagle nie moge sie wybrac do Rosji, a bardzo bym chciala. Nie moge zdjecydowac, ktora czesc odwiedzic, bo to ogromny kraj, material na kilka podrozy, tak jak ty to zaplanowalas.
Pozdrawiam serdecznie
Kasia

ktanska (40133) 2019-07-25 2:23

Hi Malgo,
It is a rare opportunity to get a chance to visit such a bell tower. Great to see those onion domes in the background and lake view is fascinating too. You got the exposure right even though contrasts were quite extreme.
Kari

holmertz (92932) 2019-07-25 2:29

Hello Malgo,
You make the sound of the Russian bells sound so fascinating that I would really have loved a sound file today. The photo is good enough as it is, with the nice juxtaposition of the bells and the many wooden domes and the view of the lake. The WS is also interesting and they are both well exposed in probably a difficult light. But how could you be surprised that nobody else went up the tower? ;-)
Best regards,
Gert

jhm (203103) 2019-07-25 5:16

Hello Malgo,

Your climby to the tower was absolutely successful
Lovely details of the bells.
Perspective and depth are perfect.
An excellent composition with nice colours and sharpness.
Very well presentation. TFS.

Best regards,
John.

Ilonka1974 (9401) 2019-07-25 7:21

Czesc Malgorzata,
Nie kazdy moze ogladac dzwony z bliska i podziwiac piekno krajobrazu oraz architektury jednoczesnie.
Ladny kadr, piekne kolory, dobra ostrosc.
Pozdrawiam
Janusz

rychem (72179) 2019-07-25 8:06

Wielka szkoda, ze zdjecia sa bez dzwieku, moze kiedys jeszcze takie z dzwiekiem sie pojawia, bardzo dobre zdjecie dzwonow i klasycznych cebulowatych kopul w tle
pozdrawiam Ryszard

alvaraalto (42346) 2019-07-25 9:13

Hello Malgo
Beautiful photographed with the shapes of the bells that compete so beautifully with the shapes of the towers of the church behind it.
Excellent in one composition.
Have a nice day. Groet Rob
ps My last post is from my last visit to Vancouver and Craig. I have interrupted my Canada-USA travelogue especially at your request. 😊

lousat (130055) 2019-07-25 15:38

Ciao Malgo,this post reminded me of your photo next to the small bells of Ushguli .. ehehe .. obviously here things are different, frankly I have no memories about the type of sound of Russian bells, but I trust what you have written in the notes. The photos are well composed and there are also some beautiful panoramas. Have a nice weekend and thanks,Luciano

PiotrF (52330) 2019-07-25 16:08

Czesc Malgo
Ladny kadr dzwonow z kopulami sasiedniej cerkwi w tle.
Zastanawia mnie ten nozny "naped" dzwona, ale widocznie tak wygodnie?
Ciekawa prezentacja z Kizhi
pozdrawiam
Piotr

PaulVDV (54925) 2019-07-25 23:48

Hello Malgo,
First time I hear that a bell has to be operated by foot.
Wonderful view of the domes with their crosses, the lake and the forests with the nearby bells.
For sure an amazing island.
Best regards, Paul

Miguel82 (47108) 2019-07-26 3:16

Malgorzata, educational photo note about the Russian bells. These impressive objects belong to the Orthodox christian cultural patrimony. A splendid church is visible in the bg as well as a lake. Its bulbous domes remind onions. Interesting document.

ikeharel (105973) 2019-07-26 22:20

Good morning Malgo,
Nice idea to show the onion-shaped domes through the bells-tower balcony.
also included nice part of the river behind, which added beautiful blue color to the picture.
Wish you a nice weekend,
Ike

adramad (67048) 2019-07-27 9:46

Hi Malgo
Interesting note about the Russian bells, apart from that the image is splendid, capturing the interior of the bell tower, while we see the beautiful grouping of dome, which seem very old.
Very well done. I like it.
Enjoy the weekend.
My best wishes for you.
Luis

photographer_sg (6059) 2019-07-27 23:15

Hello Malgo
Excellent framing and composition with the bells and the towers in the backdrop of the lake and the greenery. Your notes are informative and interesting as ever.
Cheers!
Satya

pierrefonds (103643) 2019-07-28 4:39

Hi Malgo,

You had a good idea to use the window to frame the other church. The point of view is showing the details of the bells and of the towers. The colors and the sharpness are very good. Have a nice day.

Pierre

jmdias (103020) 2019-08-07 9:21

malgo

bells in the historic brazilian towns were a kind of mean of communication, taking about death, danger and other events. unfortunately the tradition is finishing.
nice and different this view of the famous church with the bells in evidence in FG. perfect.

take care

jorge