St Peter and Paul carillon in city of St Petersburg complete again /22 Jun 2001/

Peter the Great, the famous tzar of Russia, in 1720 purchased a set of bells made by the Dutch masters during his visit to Holland where he was studying crafts and for the first time heard the carillion melody. These bells were installed in the bell-tower of the Peter-and-Paul cathedral in the Fortress he founded on a small island in the then almost deserted Neva delta.

Now the Fortress is a well-known tourist attraction and the 122 meter tower with the golden angel at the top became the landmark of St Petersburg, five million populated, second largest city in Russia. Every quarter of an hour the clock on the bell-tower chimes and every hour bells tol, St Petersburg inhabitants check their watches at noon. At 12.00 am sharp a cannon fires a blank shot from the Fortress wall, a long living St Petersburg tradition. Unfortunately not all of the original bells which were purchased by Peter the Great survived the turbulent XX century Russian Revolution and especially the second World War when the city was bombed and population decimated; answer for the loss of some Peter's bells.

In 1992 a group of enthusiasts - among them Mr Jo Haazen, Director of the "Koninklijke Beiaardschool Jef Denyn" in Mechelen - started thinking about the restoration of the carillon. The monumental present from Flanders to Russia (51 bronze bells in all) had taken almost 10 years of Jo Haazen's life and a total cost of more than 300,000 USD, sponsored by some 350 private persons and companies, among which also Ahlers. The largest bell of 3 tons is a gift of King Albert and Queen Paola of Belgium, who as well as Mr Putin, President of Russia, paid a lot of attention to the project. Bell nr 35 with the Ahlers name on it will hopefully always toll in tune with the whole carillion.

The sponsorship was most welcome: seafreight for the bells from Antwerp to St Petersburg had to be arranged, formalities in the port and customs done, the containers with the bells had to be tenderly delivered to the Fortress. Astros Antwerp and Astros St Petersburg certainly did a more then great job in this respect. Astros St Petersburg took care of all formalities within 3 days and bells were discharged at the entrance of the bell-tower on Monday June 18th. It was a warm and sunny day when the doors of the containers were opened, people gathered at the cathedral applauded and gasped at the sheer beauty of the bells. Mr Haazen couldn't believe his eyes, he had waited for this moment for so long ...

At this moment the bells are under installation in the carillion, necessary time will have to be spent on tuning and probing and on September 15th 2001 the carillion will be officially christened. The renewed carillion is composed of some 130 bells (Peter the Great's and new ones), which seems to be the largest carillion in the world.

Astros is happy and proud to have contributed to this historical and monumental project.

For more info, please feel free to contact:

Lena Abramova, Astros St Petersburg, Import Dept.
Tel: +7 812 11833656, or mail: lab(at)astros.spb.ru