Author: Mary Hakobyan (Armenia)
Photographer: Arsen Sargsyan (Armenia)
Photographer: Arsen Sargsyan (Armenia)
How did an 11th grade student make an antique clock work?
Mary Akopyan, a correspondent for the Armenian publication «NEWS.am», interviewed the only person in the city capable of winding the mechanism of the ancient central clock, Ivan Pershin. What is he like — the keeper of the tower and its vital component?
The ancient clock tower is visible from every corner of the town of Vyborg in the Leningrad Region. This tower, built of white and pink brick with a stone foundation, is named «the Clock Tower».
Author: Arsen Sargsyan (Armenia)
The clock mechanism was last replaced in 1848. Over the past two centuries, the clocks have stopped several times: during the Great Patriotic War, in the 1990s, and in 2014 when the tower was left without a keeper. In 2017, an 11th-grade student named Ivan Pershin, who was passionate about clocks, climbed the tower with a friend and started the mechanism. Since then, he has been the tower's keeper, maintaining its mechanism and working as a guide, telling tourists about its history.
“
My friends and I went up the tower; the clocks weren't working, but the mechanism was in working order. I adjusted them a bit, and the clocks started working. Later, the museum management found out about me and hired me.
The master noted that the work, while not complicated, is responsible. Ivan is the only person in the city who can wind the clock mechanism, so he cannot be absent from Vyborg.
The clock mechanism could fail at any moment; in such cases, they call Ivan and inform him that the clocks have stopped. For example, wind or winter cold can damage the hands, and tourists might interfere with the mechanism during a tower tour and damage it. In any case, it is important to always be ready to fix a malfunction.
Everyone in Vyborg knows Ivan and understands that the Clock Tower, a testament to the city's history, is in safe hands. And for him, it's a simple matter: «There's nothing complicated about working with the clocks: you come, clean them, check the mechanism, and that's it».