The Cannon King was located on the Church of the Resurrection Square, not far from where Catherine and I were, and after walking for ten minutes, I saw the huge Tsar's cannon on the ground in the distance.

There are twenty or thirty people around the Gun King, either holding mobile phones or holding cameras, all taking pictures of the Gun King. The king of artillery was placed on a stone platform about ten centimeters high from the ground, surrounded by iron chains, and under the barrel in front of the giant cannon, four black cannonballs were placed.

Walk up to the Cannon King to truly appreciate how terrifying this thing known as the Tsar's Cannon, the Kremlin monster, is. The diameter of the barrel is about one meter, probably because of the age, and the color of the barrel looks a bit like a Chinese bronze, which is dark green. And the gun carriage is iron-black, shimmering metallic in the sun, like a sleeping beast.

The exterior of the cannon is decorated with ornaments, which are extremely exquisite, and there is also Tsar Ferdo. Equestrian portrait of Ivanovich. In front of the gun carriage below is a carved lion with an open mouth and a hideous face.

Next to the cannon is a small iron sign with an introduction to the cannon. Based on Catherine's description, I got a rough idea of the origin of this Tsar's cannon.

This giant bronze cannon was built in 1586 under the command of Tsar Ferdo. Ivanovich's order was cast by the Moscow Artillery Factory, originally used to defend the Kremlin in wartime, and when it was completed, it was claimed to be the largest caliber gun in the world. But as a result, due to being too heavy and heavy, among other reasons, this giant cannon, known as the king of cannons, was never fired, and eventually became a historical testimony of Russia's military power and casting technology.

At the beginning of the 19th century, the bronze cannon was equipped with a wooden gun carriage, but it was destroyed in a fire in 1812, so in 1835 the tsarist government cast a delicate bronze gun carriage and four hollow decorative shells, each said to weigh a tonn.

I took a few pictures of the Gun King, and Ekaterina was invited by me to be a model, and the huge cannon behind her and the beautiful Russian girl made the photos look very impactful.

When I took a photo and looked at my watch, I realized that it was almost noon. According to the itinerary, there were still churches and bell towers that did not go, and after discussing with Catherine, it was decided that the church group would speed up the journey, and the five churches would not look at them one by one, and go straight to King Zhong.

The churches are not far from the office area, and the churches are all very familiar with the onion-topped style, but they are not as colorful as the Vasily Ascension Church, and most of them are ordinary white. Shuttling through the church area, I couldn't help but feel a little emotional, it turns out that faith can be so sacred.

Among the five churches is the Cathedral of the Archangel, which is the mausoleum of the Grand Dukes of Moscow and the Tsars of Russia. Forty-eight bronze coffins are placed in the church, in which 52 grand dukes and tsars are rested.

The architecture of the Archangel Cathedral is also interesting, with a series of cornices, arches and pilasters separating the exterior walls, revealing the richest Italian character of the Kremlin's Italian period.

Walk out of the church complex and go straight to King Zhong. The King of Bells is located on the right side of the Ivan the Great's Bell Tower, and is placed on a stone platform that is higher than the ground like the King of Cannons, but the stone platform is higher than that of the King of Cannons, and is surrounded by a circle of iron chains, and the introduction of the King of Bells is engraved in front of the stone platform.

Compared with the cannon king, the king of Zhong is obviously more worthy of the word king, and his body is more than six meters tall, making everyone standing in front of this big bell seem to have become short.

The bell is bronze in color, with a cross at the top, and the outer wall is carved with elaborate patterns and patterns. I took a turn, and Catherine introduced me to the pattern on it. On one side is a relief statue of the Empress Anna Ivanovna of Russia at that time, next to it there are several lines of inscriptions in praise of the Virgin and Her Majesty the Empress, and some are devout believers and beautiful angels surrounding the Tsar; Some of the motifs are the flags that symbolize the majesty and bravery of Russia, and these carvings are still clear and vivid after the vicissitudes of life.

There is a huge gap on the side of the inscription, which Catherine says has to do with the history of the Bell King, which was cast in the first half of the 18th century by a father and son and took two years to complete. At that time, it was planned to be placed on the bell tower of Ivan the Great, so that the bell king would ring the time for the tsar every day.

As a result, when the bell was just cast in the mold, a fire broke out in the clock-making workshop, and the factory was reduced to ashes in the fire, and when people were extinguishing the fire, they poured water on the hot clock, and the result may be that the relationship between heat and cold was uneven, and a large copper sheet weighing 11 tons fell off the body of the clock.

Not only that, but the ill-fated King Zhong was buried in the rubble for 99 years, until 1836, when Tsar Nicholas ordered it to be dug up and transported to the Kremlin. Because there was a crack in the bell, the king was dumb, and people never heard its sound.

The opening of the bell king can accommodate two or three people in and out, and a mischievous little Russian girl climbed up the stone platform, holding the bell king with one hand, and stepping on the outside of the bell and the inside of the bell.

I hurriedly captured this scene, the little girl should have noticed my shot, not only not shy but smiled brightly at me with scissor hands, the girl may be changing her teeth, both front teeth are missing, and the smile reveals two gaps, cute and funny.

I took a picture and put down the SLR and smiled and pointed at her mouth. The little girl immediately realized this, and immediately covered her mouth with both hands, revealing a faint pink on her cheeks.

A woman with blond hair came up to me, said a word to me, I didn't understand, and looked at Catherine.

Ekaterina talked with the woman for a while, smiled at me and said, "She is the mother of the little girl. ”

I thought I was not allowed to photograph her child, so I hurriedly apologized: "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, please tell her, I'll delete the photo immediately." ”

Ekaterina turned to the blonde woman, who laughed and waved her hand, shook her head at me and said another word.

Ekaterina turned her head to look at me, "She said she didn't need to delete it, and that her children were happy to have someone like her." She's here to see the pictures you took. ”

I pulled up the picture and showed it to the woman, who laughed as she looked at it, and asked the little girl to come over and look at the picture together. The girl was obviously a little embarrassed when she saw the photo of herself grinning, and went straight into the woman's arms.

After a few more words, the woman and Ekaterina said a few more words, thanked me in non-standard English, and left with the girl. I'm a little confused, how can I thank you?

Ekaterina smiled and said: "She asked if I could send her the photo, and I agreed." Go back and give me a copy of the picture. ”

It dawned on me.