The "Tsar-Kolokol" (Czar of Bells) wascastin Moscow in 1735. The heaviest bell in the world, it is more than 19 feet high and 19 feet across (5.8 meters) and weighs 220 tons.

Unfortunately, Tsar Kolokol has never been rung, because a piece weighing more than 12 tons wasbroken offduring a fire in the shed where it was stored. According to one story, the fire heated the bell so much that when the firemen threw cold water on it the metal broke. Another story says the bell fell to the ground from its mounting, breaking on impact.

The heaviest bell that can be rung is the Mingun Bell of Sagaing in the southeast Asian country ofMyanmar. The Mingun Bell is 26 feet high (7.9 meters) and weighs 90.5 tons. There is also a story of the 300-ton "Great Bell of Dhammazedi," also from Myanmar, but it supposedly sank into a river and has not been seen since.