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The Plague Riot () was a riot in Moscow in 1771 between 15 and 17 September, caused by an outbreak of bubonic plague.
The first outbursts of mass protest against the measures undertaken by the authorities took place on 29 August and 1 September in a neighborhood of Lefortovo. By early September, the rumors of an imminent uprising had already been circulating. An attempt by the Archbishop Ambrose of Moscow to prevent the citizens from gathering at the Icon of the Virgin Mary of Bogolyubovo (Икона Боголюбской Богоматери) in Kitay-gorod as a quarantine measure served as an immediate cause for the Plague Riot. On 15 September, huge crowds of Muscovites began to flow towards Red Square at the sound of the alarm bell. Pushing aside a military unit, they burst into the Moscow Kremlin and destroyed the Chudov Monastery (archbishop's residence) and its . Archbishop Ambrosius managed to escape to the Donskoy Monastery.
On 16 September the riot gained in strength. Angry citizens captured the Donskoy Monastery, killed Archbishop Ambrose, and destroyed two quarantine zones (Danilov Monastery and the one beyond the Serpukhov). In the afternoon, most of the rebels approached the Kremlin and were met by a number of the Imperial Russian Army units. The crowd demanded the surrender of Lieutenant General Pyotr Yeropkin, who had been overseeing the affairs of Moscow after Pyotr Saltykov's departure. As soon as the Muscovites tried to attack the Kremlin's Spasskaya Tower, the army opened fire with Shotgun shell, dispersing the crowd and capturing some of the rebels. On the morning of 17 September, around 1000 people gathered at the Spasskiye gates again, demanding the release of captured rebels and elimination of quarantines. The army managed to disperse the crowd yet again and finally suppressed the riot. Some 300 people were brought to trial. A government commission headed by Grigory Orlov was sent to Moscow on 26 September to restore order. It took some measures against the plague and provided citizens with work and food, which would finally pacify the people of Moscow. The commission improved services in quarantines, put an end to the burning of property, reopened public baths, permitted trade, increased food deliveries, and organized public works. At the same time, the commission was engaged in prosecuting those who had taken part in the Plague Riot. Four of them were executed; 165 adults and twelve teenagers were subjected to punishment. With the onset of cold weather, the outbreak began to subside. Around 200,000 people died in Moscow and its outskirts during the plague.
There was another unlikely convict: the church bell that was used to start the alarm. By the order of Catherine the Great, an executor cut the tongue from the bell. For more than thirty years, the silent bell hung on the bell tower. Eventually, in 1803, it was removed and sent to the Arsenal and, in 1821, to the Kremlin Armoury.
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