USA/ RUSSIA: Harvard university considering whether to return ancient bells to russian monastery

Record ID: 187291

  • Title: USA/ RUSSIA: Harvard university considering whether to return ancient bells to russian monastery
  • Date: 14th January 2004
  • Summary: (U3) CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS, UNITED STATES (RECENT - JANUARY 11, 2004) (REUTERS) WIDE OF HARVARD CAMPUS SLV LOWELL HOUSE BELL TOWER WITH BELLS CHIMING SLV STUDENTS LOOKING AT BELL TOWER AS BELLS RING CLOSE OF BELL WIDE OF BELL TOWER / SQUIRREL IN TREE IN FOREGROUND SLV STUDENTS WALKING THROUGH CAMPUS WIDE OF BELFRY SCU (SOUNDBITE) (English) STUDENT, JODY KELMAN SAYING "I and I think the rest of Harvard would really like to see the bells go back to the monks which is where they really belong." SCU (SOUNDBITE) (English) STUDENT ANDREW BITTO SAYING: "I think we have a claim to it, I guess the Russian do too, historically but as far as actual ownership goes they are Harvard's." SCU (SOUNDBITE) (English) STUDENT, SKYLER MANN, SAYING: "I think it sounds like a little kid just banging on pots and pans, kind of." SCU (SOUNDBITE) (English) STUDENT ROB WHEELER SAYING: "They ring at one o'clock on Sundays and wake me up every weekend so, the monks can have them." CLOSE OF SQUIRRELS ON TREES ON FRONT OF BELL TOWER/ PAN TO BELLS SLV RUSSIAN FAMILY WALKING IN HARVARD GROUNDS SCU (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) ANNA BASISTY SAYING: "I think it's better to return them (the bells) because the people who try to ring the bells here told me that they don't know how to do it; also because the history and culture of bell ringing is in Russia" SCU (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) ALEX BASISTY SAYING: "I think they (the bells) now belong to Harvard; the Communist sold it and legally now it belongs to Harvard. If Harvard decides to sell them, then maybe it's good but if they don't sell them than that's within their rights" WIDE/ PAN OF LOWELL HOUSE GROUNDS AND BELL TOWER NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (JANUARY 12, 2004) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF WRITTEN STATEMENT RELEASED BY HARVARD UNIVERSITY ON THE QUESTION OF RETURNING THE BELLS TO RUSSIA MOSCOW, RUSSIA (JANUARY 14, 2004) (REUTERS) WIDE VIEW OF DANILOV MONASTERY/ MONASTERY BUILDINGS WIDE OF BELL TOWER AT MONASTERY WIDE OF EXTERIOR OF CHURCH AT DANILOV MONASTERY SMV FATHER ALEXEI, CHIEF ORTHODOX CLERGYMAN AT DANILOV MONASTERY, AT HIS OFFICE/ MONK BRINGING HIM DOCUMENTS WIDE OF ORTHODOX ICON ON WALL SCU (SOUNDBITE) (Russia) FATHER ALEXEI SAYING: "We here say that for us they (the bells) are very important and significant objects, because it is a saintly relic and it's an attribute of our church and these bells used to call to prayer our ancestors" CLOSE OF RNAMENT ON DESK SCU (SOUNDBITE) (Russia) FATHER ALEXEI SAYING: "We propose to make other bells here (in Russia) and exchange them with those ones (in Harvard); and the expenses on removing the bells and bringing them back should be paid by the Russian authorities" VARIOUS OF MONKS IN BELL TOWWER AT DANILOV MONASTERY RINGING BELLS ( 3 SHOTS) VARIOUS OF MONK USEING FOOT-DRIVEN LEVER TO RING BIG BELL CLOSE-UP OF BIG BELL IN TOWER WIDE OF WORSHIPPERS KISSING ICONS ON WALL OF CHURCH AS THEY LEAVE MONASTERY WIDE OF EXTERIOR OF MONASTERY BUILDING
  • Embargoed: 29th January 2004 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: CAMBRIDGE,MASSACHUSSETTS/NEW YORK, UNITED STATES/MOSCOW RUSSIA
  • City:
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: International Relations,Arts / Culture / Entertainment / Showbiz
  • Reuters ID: LVACY5N9A2JTWGPM6R04Y0JX5QYO
  • Story Text: Harvard University debates return of ancient bells to a Russian monastery.
    A storm is brewing at Harvard University over the rightful ownership of a set of 17th century bells, which once sounded at the top of the gate tower of the Danilov Monastery in Russia.
    For the past 73 years 18 cast metal bells have been housed at the ivy-league U.S university in Cambridge Massachusetts. 17 sit inside a specially built bell-tower on top of the Lowell House residence and one resides at the Harvard Business School.
    They were torn down from the Danilov Monastery, about 100 miles outside Moscow, by Stalin, who also killed the monks who played them.
    The Danilov bells were saved from being melted down, the fate of thousands of other historic and religious bells, by an American diplomat and businessman, Charles Crane, who bought them from the Russian government and bequeathed them to Harvard.
    Seven decades later, the resurgent Russian Orthodox Monastery want the bells back.
    While the monks do not dispute Harvard's legal claim to the bells, they are trying to persuade the university to hand the bells back to their historic owners, having served as caretaker rather than official owner these past seventy years.
    The views of students living in Lowell House fall on both sides of the argument. Jody Kellman said she would "really like to see the bells go back to the monks which is where they really belong."
    For student Andrew Bitto, the moral or historical obligation of Harvard's is irrelevant. Bitto said it's a simple case of legal ownership, "I think we have a claim to it (the bells), I guess the Russian do too, historically, but as far as actual ownership goes they are Harvards."
    The bells sound for 15 minutes every Sunday, and it is an unusual sound -- a far cry from the melodic peeling of Western church bells. In fact for some students who are partial to a Sunday sleep-in, the toneless tolling of the Danilov bells is too much to bear, and they plead for Harvard to send the disrupters of sleep back to the monks.
    "I think it sounds like a little kid just banging on pots and pans" said Skyler Mann. His friend Rob Wheeler added that the bells, "Wake me up every weekend so, the monks can have them."
    In December a group of monks from the Danilov Monastery visited Harvard for four days of talks. The Russians expressed gratitude to Harvard for preserving the bells so well, and the university acknowledged the spiritual significance of the bells for the monks.
    Harvard has agreed to pay for a feasibility study into moving the bells, but it is not over yet. Harvard declined an interview on the touchy subject, but in a statement said "Upon completion of this analysis and a favourable assessment of the possibility of going forward with the project, the two parties will resume discussion. Further costs such as construction, transportation and bell-replacement would be borne by the Russian side."
    The statement added "We look forward to continued cooperation and fruitful discussion."
    Transferring the bells back to Russia is much easier talked about than done. Lowell House was specifically built to house the bells in 1930. The tower itself built around the 17 instruments, the heaviest of which is nine feet wide and weighs nearly 13 tonnes.
    The image of the tower is much a part of Harvard's identity, featuring in many films and photographs of the famous university - Harvard says it can not let the bells go without an adequate replacement.
    For Russians living in Cambridge, the debate tugs two ways - whether to side with their new chosen home, or to support the cause back in the homeland.
    Alex Basisty, a business man from Moscow, and his wife Anna have lived in Cambridge for the past three years and have become accustomed to hearing the bells every week, a slice of life from home.
    Anna believes the bells should go back to Russia, but her husband Alex said Harvard legally owns the bells, and should not be forced to hand them over.
    "I think they (the bells) now belong to Harvard; the Communist sold it and legally now it belongs to Harvard. If Harvard decides to sell them, then maybe it's good, but if they don't sell them than that's within their rights," said Alex Basisty.
    Back at the Danilov Monastery in Moscow, senior religious figures have proposed to swap the bells at Harvard with a replacement set that would be made in Russia.
    Father Alexei believes that this could be a neat way to resolve the issue.
    "We here say that for us they (the bells) are very important and significant objects, because it is a saintly relic and it's an attribute of our church and these bells used to call to prayer our ancestors," said Father Alexei on Wednesday (January 14).
    "We propose to make other bells here (in Russia) and exchange them with those ones (in Harvard); and the expenses on removing the bells and bringing them back should be paid by the Russian authorities," he added.
    The Danilov Monastery is far from silent today, but the monks believe that without their orginal bells, the restoration of the monastery would not be complete.
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