About the project

The research project «Tower clock of Russia» has the goal of in-depth study of church objects with tower clocks. This includes:

— maintenance of an electronic database for all objects in Russia, as well as the CIS countries that previously had tower clocks. Structuring and elaboration of the base according to various criteria: year of construction, installation, architect, building artel, watch company or watch mechanic, etc.

— study of the history of the bell towers on which the tower clocks were installed, as well as their architectural features, such as the structure of clock rooms / compartments / turrets, weight shafts, rumors. The study of archival bases for the restoration of bell towers with clocks.

— study of the history of tower clocks with a main focus on Russia, in particular, the study of surviving clock mechanisms, their systematization according to the characteristic features of the structures, as well as the analysis of sources on non-preserved clock mechanisms.

The objectives of the research project «Tower Clock of Russia» are: the development methods for the most approximate reconstruction of unpreserved tower clocks and bell towers with clock towers, to carry out projects and activities to preserve the tower clocks as a cultural and technical heritage through the development of interdisciplinary and network partnerships.

The main goal of the project is to create a complete map of all church objects in Russia with tower clocks: to create a virtual database/map of all bell towers with tower clocks, to develop models of all clock mechanisms — preserved and prototypes of those that have not been preserved.