Russians Visit as Bells Ring for Last Time

Lowell House became a campanological haven this week as Russian bell ringers, bell makers, and a monk arrived in a new stage of the Lowell Russian bells’ long journey home.

The fate of the 17 historic bells, currently on a 77-year hiatus from Moscow’s Danilovsky Monastery, was finally decided in September when a Russian metals mogul offered to pay about $1 million to bring them home and to buy a new set for Lowell. Yesterday, plastic sheeting surrounded the belfry as the Russian experts recorded the bell tones and made moldings of the bells’ intricate iconography.

A Russian foundry that a Harvard delegation visited last summer will duplicate the bells and send them back to Lowell. If all goes according to plan, the exchange will happen in summer 2008, according to Associate Provost of Art and Culture Sean T. Buffington ’91.

The Lowell bells, the oldest of which dates back to the 17th century, were purchased by an American industrialist just as Josef Stalin was seizing church artifacts across the Soviet Union and melting them down to raw material. The industrialist, Charles R. Crane, gave the bells to Harvard in 1930—the same year the monastery was closed.

“These bells serve as a link between the past and present of the Danilovsky Monastery,” Father Roman, the bell ringer at the monastery, said through a translator. “They were witnesses to many historical events.”

Lowell organized multiple events to greet the Russians. Father Roman taught a master class along with two bell ringers for the Kremlin, Igor Konovalov and Konstantin Michourovski, on Tuesday, and another will be offered at 6 p.m. tonight. Konovalov spoke about Russian bell ringing yesterday, and Michourovski will host a class on Friday afternoon.

The Vera Foundry, which is making Lowell’s new bells, showed videos yesterday to a group of Harvard officials showing how a large bell is cast. When asked how often the bells cracked in the process, Vera Director and bellmaster Valery Anisimov replied, “There was an incident last winter.”

He explained that it was hard Russian workers to show up to work around holiday time, but quickly reassured Harvard officials: “It won’t happen to your bells.”

Adam M. Virgadamo ’07 lives two floors under the bells, and noted unusual bell activity this week. He explained that while the bells typically do not disrupt his routine, “I was battling against Mother Earth for a nap on Monday.” “Mother Earth” is the name of the largest bell, weighing in at 13 tons, and what Virgamamo doesn’t know, while he tried to sleep, Father Roman, Konovalov, and Michourovski performed an impromptu afternoon concert.