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St. Basil's Cathedral, Moscow

Regarded as one of the most beautifu I monuments to the
Russian Orthodox Church, St. Basil's has come to represent
Moscow and Russia to the outside world. Commissioned
Bell tower
by Ivan the Terrible to celebrate the capture of the Mongol
stronghold of Kazan in 1552, the cathedral was completed
in 1561. It is reputed to have been designed by the architect
Postnik Yakovlev. According to legend, Ivan was so amazed
at the beauty of Yakovlev's work that he had him blinded so
Chapel
that he could never design anything as exquisite again. The of the
Trinity
A Detail, Chapel of the Entry of church was officially called the Cathedral of the Intercession,
Christ into Jerusalem because the final siege of Kazan began on the Feast of the
-< Chapel of St. Cyprian Intercession of the Virgin. However, it is more usually known
This is one of eight main
chapels commemorating the as St. Basil's after the "holy fool," Basil the Blessed, whose
campaigns of Ivan the Terrible remains are interred in the cathedral's ninth chapel.
against the town of Kazan,
to the east of Moscow. It
is dedicated to St. Cyprian, ~ Domes
whose feast is on October 2, Following a fire in 158 3, the
the day after the I ast attack. RED SQUARE
original helmet-shaped cupolas
St Basil's Cathedral is located were replaced by ribbed or
in Red Square in the heart of faceted onion domes. It is only
Moscow. The name of the square since 1670 that the domes have
been painted in many colors; at
is derived from the Russian word one time St. Basil's was white,
kfasnw, which originally meant with golden domes.
"beautiful" but later came to
denote "red."
~ Chapel of
-< Chapel of the Entry of St. Cyprian
Christ into Jerusalem

v Colorful, onion-shaped Chapel of St. Basil
dome, part of the fa~ade of The ninth chapel to b:;e:-------J~
St. Basil's added to the cathedral
was built in 1588 to house
the remains of the "holy
fool," Basil the Blessed.

Entrance
An exhibition on the
cathedral's his tory, and armor
and weapons dating from the
time of Ivan the Terrible, can
be seen here.

KEY DATES
1555 1583 1812 1918 1929 1990s
Building v.ork Onbn-shaped Napoleon's cavalry The Communist St. Basil's is turned St. Basil's is declared
commences, and St. domes are built to stable their hotses in authorities cbse the into a museum a UNESCO World
Basil's is completed repla:e the original St. Basil's during h i5 cathedral and melt dedicated to the Her~age Site in
six years later. cupolas destroyed invasbn of Russia. down its bells. Russian conquest 1990, and returned
A Central Chapel of the Intercession
by fire. of Kazan. to the Orthodox
Light floods in through the windows of the tent-roofed central Church in 1991.
church, which soars to a height of 200ft (61 m)