St. Basil Cathedral

St. Basil's Cathedral was built between 1555-1561 to mark the victorious campaign of Ivan the Terrible against the Tatars from the Khanate of Kazan and consists of nine chapels built on a single foundation.
Initially, the Czar and the architect had in mind the building of a group of chapels dedicated to every saint from the day in which the Tsar won a victorious assault, but the construction later in 1588 of a central tower of 60 meters above the tomb of St. Basil unified these spaces.
The image of red brick turrets ended with onion-shaped domes in various places and coloured in spiral creates a delightful picture that gave birth to the legend, although unconfirmed historically that the Tsar had ordered that the architects should be blinded in order to stop them create a similar work.
Besides the aesthetic appeal, the plan of the church has a deep religious symbolism. Four chapels are arranged in cardinal points, the other four in the northeast, southeast, northwest and southeast, and the ninth is located right in the center. This forms an eight-cornered star, number eight remembering the Resurrection day - the eighth day after the Jewish calendar - and the symbol from Virgin Mary's shoulders and forehead as well.
The extravagant exterior disguises the modest and less spectacular interior. The vague lights that penetrate the windows break through the labyrinth of the corridors that connect the chapels. You can find in here nine iconostasis, containing over 400 icons and numerous frescoes belonging to the painting schools from Moscow and Novgorod, all dating from the sixteenth and nineteenth century.
Less