St. Basil's Cathedral, Moscow, Russia - Cathedrals on Waymarking.com

St. Basil’s Cathedral is probably the ultimate symbol of Russia. Prominently located near the southern end of Red square, its improbably colorful array of domes and towers can be viewed from many angles. There is a plan in this dizzy compilation of shapes. A central tower is surrounded by four large domes with four smaller domes in between, each topping a separate chapel. Each dome is uniquely shaped and colored. Together they form an eight pointed star, a church symbol. A bell tower is located at the southeast corner.

Ivan the Terrible commissioned the Cathedral in 1555 to commemorate victory over the Mongols at the city of Kazan. The victory came on the feast day of the Intercession of the Virgin and the new cathedral was located near a moat that surrounded the Kremlin so the original, and still official, name of the church is the Cathedral of the Intercession of the Virgin on the Moat. In 1588 a ninth chapel was added over the grave of Saint Basil the Blessed, a “holy fool”, and the whole complex became popularly known as St. Basil’s Cathedral.

Unlike the spacious interiors of the nearby Kremlin cathedrals, St. Basil’s is a maze of decorated corridors connecting the small chapels. A narrow twisting stone and wooden staircase leads up to the central Chapel of the Intercession where a 19th century baroque style iconostasis (icon wall) is flooded with light from the windows in the 200 ft high central spire. Most of the small chapels are empty and many of the interior frescoes are faded but restoration work is on going. Currently souvenir vendors occupy many of the nooks and spaces along the passageways.

The cathedral has narrowly escaped destruction at several times in the past. Napoleon wanted to dismantle it and move it to France. When this proved impossible he ordered it destroyed as he retreated from the city but the attempt to blast the church failed. In the 1930s, when a number of Moscow churches were destroyed, St. Basil’s was on the short list but Stalin reconsidered and St Basil’s survived to dominate the view of Red Square.

The Cathedral is now part of the State Museum and the interior of is open Wed.-Mon. Admission is 100 Rubles, about $4 USA. There are no restrictions on photography.

Address: Red Square, Moscow, Russia Religious affiliation: Russian Orthodox Date founded or constructed: 1555/01/01 Web site: [Web Link]

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