St. Basil’s Cathedral, also known as the Cathedral of the Protection of Most Holy Theotokos on the Moat or Pokrovsky Cathedral, is a Russian Orthodox church in Red Square in Moscow. For nearly 450 years, the Cathedral, in its unique “architectural ensemble of inimitable beauty and grandeur” has stood as the most recognizable landmark of the city of Moscow.
History
St. Basil’s Cathedral was commissioned by the Russian King Ivan IV in fulfilment of a vow taken by him before starting the expedition to capture Kazan from the Mongols. The construction started in 1554 AD, and although the architects of the church are not known, legends refer to two stonemasons named Barma and Postnik Yakovlev, who were allegedly blinded by Ivan so that they could not construct such a building later.
Instead of the traditional Russian layouts of churches in those days, the architects of St. Basil’s Cathedral chose a symmetrical design of having 8 tube like churches around a core. While the central and the four bigger churches on each corner were octagonal, the smaller churches on the sides were made cuboid. The churches were joined together by two galleries, an inner one going around the central church and an outer one wound around the other eight churches. On the south eastern side, a bell tower was added later in the 16th century. The church was richly decorated with fresco and murals, though vividly coloured version came much later in the 19th century.
Information
Photo Courtesy – Wikipedia
Reference: www.saintbasil.ru, Wikipedia
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