Carol of the Zagreb Bells

There is a small installation of interactive bells, and everyone who passes by, young or old, can hardly resist the urge to ring them. Such a simple and engaging way to add a soundscape to the merry atmosphere!

The tunnel Grič under the old Upper Town is usually full of extensive decorations for Advent Zagreb. This year, the decorations are not heading for a photo opportunity. Quite the contrary, they play with the sound of the bells! Bells on the ceiling ring automatically when someone passes underneath. If you pass by, they will award you with a single note. If you stick under one, it keeps playing an entire tune. In this time when we’re all searching for photo opportunities, I enjoyed these bell installations on the streets of Zagreb that force you to think outside of the box... that is, outside of the phone screen. And enjoy the moment.

Photo description: Bells installation in the tunnel Grič

Those two examples from the streets of Zagreb got me thinking - of bells. In the local dialect, there is a charming word for a bell - cinkuš. Cinkuš usually refers to a small bell on a bell-tower, the one used for announcements. In smaller parishes, it announces events such as the birth of a new member, weddings, and deaths. In a way, it follows people through life. I thought about the bells' belonging to end-of-year memories, their meaning and contribution to the rhythm of life, and, finally, the local bellfounding history. Let me share the latter with you.

There is a street called Zvonarnička in Zagreb. In Croatian, zvono means bell. It’s not a hard guess that a historical bell foundry used to be right on this street. Master Ilija (Elijah) worked there in the times when the workshop was first mentioned - back in 1457! That was just the first mention - the foundry must have existed even before that time.

Zagreb exported some bell founders before that time for sure. A certain Giovanni di Zagabria (John of Zagreb) worked in Italy in the 1430s. More often, it worked the other way round - the workshop in Zvonarička Street usually imported crafty masters from across Europe, including France, Italy, Austria, Germany, and Slovenia, and so the bells were opening the gates to Zagreb throughout history!

The first known bell founder who moved to Zagreb settled near St. Mark’s Church. Did that church need a skillful bellmaker! Believe it or not, it endured two fires so great that they melted its bells. It was good to be a bell founder after great fires, as many bells were damaged and remelted into new ones.

Photo description: The bells of St Mark’s were replaced many times. Photo by T. Šklopan / Zagreb Tourist Board

One of the bells of the Zagreb Cathedral, crafted back in 1707, weighed more than 5 tons! Lifting such heavy weights and playing with fire! Sounds like a man’s job. Well, say that to Anna Maria Foresti, who crafted 80 bells herself. She took over her deceased husband’s business in 1735 - and delivered! She wasn’t the only woman bell maker in Zagreb. In fact, it became quite customary for women to take over their husbands’ workshops.

Just next to the Zvonarnička Street, you will find the Henrik Degen Street. When I tell you that he was a bell founder, too, you will know what kind of a master we’re dealing with if he has a street named after him! The artisans always had a particular way of embellishing the bells, but Degen was a true artist in that sense. He didn’t spare the effort - he used to decorate the entire bells with delicate ornaments. Two of his bells for the Zagreb Cathedral are actual masterpieces. Next time you hear the church bells ringing, think about that. Is there any of that beauty and artistic intentions transferred to the sound? You can see some of his work at the Zagreb City Museum. And you can still hear one of his bells on special occasions. Remember the 5-ton bell? Well, that one cracked in the 1840s. That’s when Degen made a new one from its remains - a bigger one! So big that he needed to build a special car, and it took eight oxen to get the bell to the cathedral. It was a huge event - the white oxen wore flower wreaths, and crowds were waiting to hear it for the first time. When the close-to-6.5 tons bell rang for the first time, the entire crowd underneath went completely silent. And kneeled.

It was so big that it was too much trouble for it to face the destiny of many historical bells: most of them were taken down, and their material repurposed in the times of WW1. The Zagreb Cathedral was left with its giant. Quite emotionally, the small cinkuš was saved, too. The cathedral cinkuš is such an adventurous character - it survived earthquakes, wars, and it's so daring - for a while, it used to attract lightning actively, as it hung from the highest location.

Photo description: Some people are bell-curious. They find the sight of a bell quite intriguing. Who made it? What does it say? Does it mean anything? Try to answer those questions when your bell-curious self peeks into the courtyard of the Evangelic church in Zagreb and spots a giant bell.

The bell foundry on Zvonarnička Street was just outside of the medieval town of Kaptol, one of Zagreb’s two medieval settlements. It wasn’t the only bell foundry, but it was the most productive one. Wherever you go in Croatia and even in the parts nearby, you might hear the bells from that workshop. It was closed in 1935 and made way for a residential building. Its 500 years is now poured into a single street name.  

Now you know: when a bell rings during a walk through Zagreb, it is singing a never-ending, centuries-old carol of the Zagreb bells.

Photo description: Join in the carol of the Zagreb bells by ringing one on the Zagreb central square

Header image credit: Boška & Krešo

Author: Iva Silla