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The Royal Sigismund Bell ((ポーランド語:Królewski Dzwon Zygmunt'' or ''Dzwon Zygmunta)) is the largest of the five bells hanging in the Sigismund Tower of the Wawel Cathedral in the Polish city of Kraków. It was cast in 1520 by Hans Behem and named after its patron, Sigismund I, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, who commissioned it. The bell weighs almost 13 tonnes (28 thousand pounds) and requires 12 bell-ringers to swing it. It tolls on special occasions, mostly religious and national holidays, and is regarded as one of Poland's national symbols. == Description == The body of the Sigismund Bell is cast in bronze and weighs 9,650 kg. Its diameter at the lip is 242 cm and its height is 241 cm.〔 The wall of the body is from 7 to 21 cm thick.〔 The crown of the bell is attached to a yoke made of oak wood and measuring 308 cm in length and 219 cm in height. Within the bell, suspended on a leather belt of up to 12 layers, attached to an iron supporting structure, is a Gothic clapper, weighing – together with the belt – 365 kg.〔 The body of the bell is decorated with inscriptions and images. Around the upper part of the waist runs a majuscule Renaissance Latin inscription indicating the bell's patron and dedicating it to God: Deo Opt Max ac Virgini Deiparae sanctisque patronis suis divus Sigismundus Poloniae Rex campanam hanc dignam animi operumque ac gestorum suorum magnitudine fieri fecit anno salutis MDXX The inscription translates as follows: "To the greatest and best God, and to the Virgin Mother of God, the illustrious King Sigismund of Poland had this bell cast to be worthy of the greatness of his mind and deeds in the year of salvation 1520."〔 Below the inscription there are two portal-shaped plaques with images of saints. The one below the date "MDXX" (1520 in Roman numerals) is a likeness of Saint Sigismund,〔 patron saint of the bell and of the king who commissioned it, dressed in royal vestments and insignia as a king of Burgundy. On the opposite side of the bell, there is a corresponding image of Saint Stanislaus wearing episcopal robes and holding a crosier as a bishop of Kraków.〔 Stanislaus is venerated as a patron saint of the Wawel Cathedral and, by extension, of Kraków and all Poland. Both images are placed between heraldic shields bearing the coats of arms of the two nations of Sigismund I's realm – the White Eagle of the Kingdom of Poland on the left, and the Knight of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania on the right.〔 Below each of theses images, there is the name of the bell's caster in German (below Saint Sigismund) or Latin (below Saint Stanislaus), as well as his house mark. Both inscriptions, quoted below, translate as "Hans Beham of Nuremberg".〔 Hans Beham von Nurmberg Ioannes Bohemus de Nurembergensis 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Sigismund Bell」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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