Belfry of Saint Sophia Cathedral, Bell tower at Novgorod Kremlin, Russia

The Belfry of Saint Sophia Cathedral is a five-story white stone tower standing next to the cathedral inside the Kremlin walls in Veliky Novgorod. It holds several bells at different levels, and the top floor opens onto an observation platform overlooking the fortress grounds.

The tower was first recorded in 1437, when Archbishop Euphemius II ordered its construction inside the Kremlin walls. It was altered and expanded several times over the following centuries, with bells added from different cities and periods.

The bells near the belfry include a 100-pood bell cast in 1589 and given by Boris Godunov to the Dukhov Monastery, and a 1,614-pood bell cast in 1659 by Yermolai Vasilyev in the Novgorod Kremlin. The largest is called the "Festive" bell, a 19th-century one the "Sunday" bell, and the rest "everyday" bells. Inside, the exhibition "Ancient Bells of Veliky Novgorod" displays 14 bells weighing from 1.5 to 20 poods.

The belfry stands against the inner side of the eastern Kremlin wall, a few metres north of the 19th-century arch built where the Prechistenskaya Tower collapsed in 1745. The structure is 22.5 m long and 3.4 m wide. An observation platform and the exhibition "Ancient Bells of Veliky Novgorod" occupy its upper part.

The belfry's bells were evacuated in August 1941 as German troops approached Novgorod; a direct hit broke the barge carrying the three largest, which sank to the bottom of the Volkhov, while the two biggest were buried in the ground near the Kremlin. The building itself was restored in 1948. Since 2009 a viewing platform and the exhibition "Ancient Bells of Veliky Novgorod" have occupied its upper part.