Description of the attraction
The world's largest twenty-inch cast iron cannon is located in the city of Perm on the territory of the open-air museum of the Motovilikhinsky plant. Unlike the famous Moscow Tsar Cannon, the Permian invention is dozens of times larger and is a proven combat weapon. Manufactured in 1868 by order of the naval department at the Motovilikha iron foundry (the enterprise still exists), the gun was intended to strengthen the coastal defense. The manufacturing process of the high-strength die-cast gun and the transportation of the 44-ton giant took a long time and, with the advent of lighter steel guns, the Navy changed its plans and abandoned the outdated 20-inch model. The Russian Emperor Alexander II decided to keep the powerful military weapon, which was not adopted by the Russian army, as a historical relic. In 1989, one of the wonders of the century before last was moved to the territory of the plant museum as one of the best exhibits of the Motovilikha plant.
The open-air museum of the history of the Motovilikha plant was founded in 1976 on the initiative of Mikhail Volfovich Rotfeld. Large-sized tools made by the iron foundry in different years were exhibited in the open area of the museum. The museum displays samples of oil equipment, launchers, ballistic missiles, anti-aircraft guns and numerous artillery.
The Perm Tsar Cannon and the Museum of History in the open air of the Motovilikha Plant are Perm's contribution to the history of Russian defense technology and a monument to science and technology, the analogues of which are found only in Moscow and St. Petersburg.
