Saint Basil´s Cathedral

Since 1990, along with the Kremlin and Red Square , the Saint Basil´s Cathedral has been the UNESCO Heritage Site. .

History

Saint Basil´s Cathedral was erected between 1555 and 1561 on the order by Tsar Ivan the Terrible (Ivan IV of Russia) . The cathedral replaced the previous old wooden church (known as "Trinity Church") , which was included in the new construction. Saint Basil´s Cathedral was designed to celebrate Ivan the Terrible´s crucial defeat of the Khan of Kazan on 1st October 1552. Venerated local saint Vasily , later known as St Basil was buried in the walls of the cathedral, and the construction was named after him.

Legend of St. Basil

According to the legend, the holy man would collect money needed for the construction of the cathedral. He would throw coins over his right shoulder , and the coins were left on the ground until he donated them to the tsar.

Breathtaking Architecture

Saint Basil´s Cathedral comprises nine separate buildings which are connected through passages. The ground plan looks like an eight-corner star, which is a symbol of the eight day of Christ´s resurrection. According to Jewish traditions, the resurrection is connected with the eight day. The eight-corner star evokes the star of Bethelem which shows the way to the Christ. The central spiral, 65 meters tall, had been modelled so that it resembles a pyramid, and it is richly decorated. The main spiral is surrounded with eight onion-shaped domes which are decorated with niches, imitation windows, ledges and crests. None of them is similar to the other, they each and all are unique, there are no identical elements. The characteristic look of the construction and its spectacular colours come from the 19th century.

Perhaps a true story

Maybe it seems surprising that the cathedral has survived the stalinist era. There is a story that Lazar Kaganovich, one of the main associates of Stalin, demolished a model cathedral placed on the table, in order to demonstrate how large would Red Square be without the cathedral. He wanted to accentuate how much space would be created for military parades...Surprisingly, Stalin ordered him to put the church back so it was clear that the cathedral cannot be pulled down.

Museum

The cathedral complex includes a museum where you can explore the history of the construction and weapons - which reflects the fact that Russia was nearly permanently at war. In addition, there is an exposition with most valuable Russian icons from the 15th through 17th century.

GPS: 55.7525740000, 37.6229380000  Edit

Altitude: 149 m  Edit

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	Red Square Architecture, 0.2 km	Add to the plan
	Lenin Mausoleum 0.2 km	Add to the plan
	Moscow GUM 0.2 km	Add to the plan
	The Kremlin Architecture, 0.4 km	Add to the plan
	Iberian Gate 0.5 km	Add to the plan
	Spasskaya Tower 0.6 km	Add to the plan
	Bolshoi Theatre 0.9 km	Add to the plan
	Lubjanka 0.9 km	Add to the plan
	Pushkin Museum Museums, 1.3 km	Add to the plan
	Tretyakov Gallery Gallery, 1.2 km	Add to the plan
	Arbat 1.6 km	Add to the plan
	Tverskaya Street 1.6 km	Add to the plan

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