Did you know that until 1848 the New Year came in the houses of Kyiv inhabitants with the clock chimes on the Great Lavra Bell Tower? In that year, by order of the Governor-General of Kyiv Dmitry Bibikov, the time standard was considered to be the clock installed in the workshop of the clockmaker of St. Volodymyr University.

The Lavra clock of the time, made by the clockmaker Ivan Kobylin and installed in 1788, was in use until the beginning of the 20th century.

A modern clock, made by the Moscow firm of Andriy Yenodin, was installed on the Bell Tower in 1903. It cost Lavra 4,000 rubles.

Today, among tower clocks in Kyiv, the Lavra clock is the second oldest one after the French clock of 1858 on the bell tower of St. Jonas Trinity Monastery.

Although Andriy Yenodin’s company gave a fifteen years’ guarantee to its product, on 31 December 2021, when you hear the chimes of the Lavra Bell Tower clock ring out midnight, raise a glass of champagne!

Happy New Year 2022!

Natalia Lytvyn

Captions to illustrations:
Fig. 1. Bells of the clock of the Great Lavra Bell Tower to chime quarter hours.