Saint Basil's Cathedral
 |
St. Basil's Cathedral |
The
Cathedral of Intercession of the Virgin on the Mound ( or simply
Pokrovskiy Cathedral, better known as the
Cathedral of St. Basil the Blessed or
St. Basil's Cathedral) is a multi-
tented church on the
Red Square in
Moscow traditionally perceived as symbolic of the unique position of
Russia between
Europe and
Asia.
The cathedral was commissioned by
Ivan the Terrible and built between
1555 and
1561 in
Moscow to commemorate the capture of
Khanate of Kazan. In
1588 Tsar Fedor Ivanovich had a chapel added on the eastern side above the grave of
Basil Fool for Christ (
yurodivy Vassily Blazhenny), a
Russian Orthodox saint after whom the cathedral was popularly named.
Saint Basil's is located at the southeast end of
Red Square, just across from the
Spasskaya Tower of
the Kremlin. Not particularly large, it consists of nine chapels built on a single foundation. The cathedral's design follows that of contemporary
tented churches, notably those of Ascension in
Kolomenskoye (1530) and of St John the Baptist's Decapitation in Dyakovo (1547).
 |
Closeup of St. Basil's Cathedral |
In a garden at the front of the cathedral
stands a bronze statue commemorating
Dmitry Pozharsky and
Kuzma Minin, who rallied Russia's volunteer army against the Polish invaders during the
Time of Troubles in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. The statue was originally constructed in the center of Red Square, but the Soviet government felt it obstructed parades and moved the statue in front of the cathedral in 1936.
The initial concept was to build a cluster of chapels, one dedicated to each of the saints on whose feast day the
tsar had won a battle, but the construction of a single central tower unifies these spaces into a single cathedral. Legend says that Ivan had the
architect,
Postnik Yakovlev,
blinded to prevent him from building a more magnificent building for anyone else.
It has been recently speculated that certain elements of Timurid monuments in
Samarkand or of
Kazan Qolsharif mosque were pictured in this cathedral, because this mosque was the main symbol of
Khanate of Kazan. The original look of the mosque is unknown, however.
Saint Basil's Cathedral should never be confused with the
Moscow Kremlin, which is situated right next to it on Red Square. It is not at all a part of the Moscow Kremlin. However, many mediums do make the mistake in calling this structure the Kremlin. Such mediums that make the mistake include
Rise of Nations and
Civilization IV.
*
Cathedral at night*
View of Cathedral from the Hotel Rossiya*
Satellite photo of St Basil's Cathedral*
St. Basil's Cathedral
