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# An Eighteenth-Century Bell Stolen in France
- URL: https://theparnassian.com/en/vo-frantsii-ukrali-kolokol-xviii-veka/
- Published: 2025-10-31T14:34:43.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-01T05:28:13.000Z
- Author: Alexandr Radayev
- Tags: Faith, Observations, Heritage, Humour

An eighteenth-century bell has been stolen in France. Not from a church, not from a museum, but from a storage depot belonging to the municipal services. That is, a depot of sorts, and not quite a depot either. The kind of place where they take whatever is no longer needed by anyone, is a shame to throw away, and can still sprout legs.

The bell had hung quietly since 1763, rung on feast days, survived revolutions, Napoleon and two world wars, and did not survive the scrap-metal intake. The sound of history has been melted down into an ingot.

Among those arrested for the theft was a municipal employee. Where else would he be?

And how familiar it all is. That is precisely why it triggers me. Bells used to vanish in our country too, only nobody was arrested afterwards. Everyone pretended it was all according to plan. France, as chief supplier of historical and cultural shocks, do stop.