zvon Václav Church bell

The bell Václav belongs to the Cathedral of Saint Vitus, Wenceslas and Vojtěch at Prague Castle. It was cast in the year fifteen forty-two by bell founders Ondřej Pražský and Matyáš Pražský. It was created as a replacement for a bell that was destroyed by the Prague Castle fire in fifteen forty-one. During its manufacture, fragments of the bell Patron were used.

It is a mighty instrument. Its lower diameter measures one hundred and seventy-six centimetres. It is one hundred and thirty centimetres high, and when you include the crown, that is the upper part with the ears for hanging, then one hundred and forty-two centimetres. It weighs eighty centners, which is approximately four thousand five hundred kilograms.

The bell is richly decorated. The crown consists of four ears with acanthus braiding. On the cap, in the upper part of the bell's body, there is a three-line Latin inscription and between its lines are acanthus leaves with stems. Below the inscription runs an ornamental band of tendrils and acanthus leaves, eleven centimetres wide, with a motif that repeats every fifteen centimetres. On the bell's neck is a relief of Saint Wenceslas, on either side of him a small bell and a jug. On the opposite side is a relief of Saint Vitus, beside him a ewer and another relief that could not be identified. Below it is the coat of arms of the Saint Vitus chapter. On the rim, at the lower edge, there is on each side a medallion of an evangelist with a diameter of seven centimetres. Below the medallions winds an ornamental wave, a stem with tendrils of vine leaves and grapes.

Václav hangs on a wooden head in a steel construction, which it shares with the bells Josef and Jan Křtitel. It is in good condition. It has two bell ropes with cords, but one strong and trained bell ringer is enough for rocking it and for a fifteen-minute ringing.

The heart of the bell was welded in the past. In the year two thousand it cracked, and therefore a new one was obtained. It was made in the workshop of Petr Manouška on Zbraslav.

The sound of Václav is harmonious, but very loud. In nineteen sixty-nine it was measured by volunteer bell ringers of Saint Vitus, friends of Cardinal František Tomáško. At a distance of one metre from the strike and at the greatest swing, they measured one hundred and ten decibels. The bell Zikmund reached one hundred and twenty decibels under the same conditions.