The main symbol of Russia is Saint Basil's Cathedral. What you need to know about St. Basil's Cathedral

Today, July 12, the Intercession Cathedral, better known as St. Basil's Cathedral, celebrates its 450th anniversary. This date is not accidental: on July 2 (June 29, according to the old style), 1561, the central Intercession Church of the cathedral was consecrated.

The Cathedral of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos on the Moat, better known as St. Basil's Cathedral, is located in the southern part of Red Square in Moscow, near the Spassky Gates of the Kremlin, above the descent to the Moscow River. It was built in the middle of the 16th century by order of Tsar Ivan IV the Terrible to commemorate the conquest of the Kazan Khanate - part of the former Golden Horde - as a token of gratitude for the victory.

What used to stand on the site of the Pokrovsky Cathedral is not exactly known. Russian chronicles contain fragmentary and conflicting reports about wooden and stone churches. This gave rise to many conjectures, versions and legends.

According to one version, shortly after the return of Ivan IV the Terrible from the Kazan campaign of 1552, on the site of the future Church of the Intercession on the Moat on the edge of the Moskva River, a wooden church in the name of the Life-Giving Trinity with seven aisles was laid on a hill.

Saint Macarius Metropolitan of Moscow advised Ivan the Terrible to create a stone church here. Metropolitan Macarius also owned the main compositional idea of ​​the future church.

The first reliable mention of the construction of the Church of the Intercession of the Mother of God dates back to the autumn of 1554. It is believed that it was a wooden cathedral. It stood for a little over half a year and was dismantled before the construction of the stone cathedral began in the spring of 1555.

Intercession Cathedral was erected by Russian architects Barma and Postnik (there is a version that Postnik and Barma are the names of one person). According to legend, so that the architects could not create a new better creation, Tsar Ivan IV, upon completion of the construction of an outstanding masterpiece of architecture, ordered them to be blinded. Subsequently, the inconsistency of this fiction was proved.

The construction of the temple was carried out only 6 years and only in the warm season. The chronicle contains a description of the "miraculous" finding by the masters of the ninth, southern throne, after the entire construction was almost completed. However, the clear symmetry inherent in the cathedral convinces us that the architects initially had an idea about the compositional structure of the future temple: it was supposed to put eight aisles around the central ninth church. The temple was built of brick, and the foundation, plinth and some decorative elements were made of white stone.

By the autumn of 1559 the cathedral was basically completed. On the feast of the Intercession of the Mother of God, all the churches were consecrated, with the exception of the central one, since "the large church of the middle Intercession of that year was not completed."

The consecration of the Intercession Church and, accordingly, the entire cathedral took place on July 12 (June 29, according to the old style), 1561. The church was consecrated by Metropolitan Macarius.

Each cathedral church received its own dedication. The Eastern Church was consecrated in the name of the Holy Life-Giving Trinity. Researchers are still looking for an answer to why this church got its name. There are several hypotheses. It is known that in honor of the "Holy Life-Giving Trinity" in 1553 a monastery was founded in conquered Kazan. It is also believed that the wooden Trinity Church originally stood on the site of the Intercession Cathedral, which gave the name to one of the aisles of the future temple.

Four side aisles were consecrated in honor of the saints, on whose days of memory the most important events of the Kazan campaign took place: Cyprian and Justina (October 2 (15) - on this day the assault on Kazan ended), Gregory, the Enlightener of Great Armenia (on the day of his memory September 30 (13 October) there was an explosion of the Arskaya tower in Kazan), Alexander Svirsky (on the day of his memory on August 30 (September 12), a victory was won over the army of Tsarevich Yepanchi, who was hurrying from the Crimea to help the Tatars), the Three Patriarchs of Constantinople Alexander, John and Paul the New ( also commemorated on August 30).

Three more chapels are dedicated to Nikolai Velikoretsky, Varlaam Khutynsky and the feast of the Lord's Entry into Jerusalem. The central throne is named in honor of the Intercession of the Virgin, since on October 1 (14) on the day of this holiday, which symbolized the intercession of the Mother of God for the Christian race, the main assault on Kazan began. By the name of the central church, the whole cathedral was named.

The prefix "on the Moat", found in chronicles about the cathedral, is due to the fact that a deep and wide defensive moat ran through the entire area, later called Red, along the Kremlin wall from the 14th century, which was filled up in 1813.

The cathedral had an unusual architectural composition - 9 independent temples were built on a single foundation - the basement - and interconnected by internal vaulted passages surrounding the central temple. Outside, all the churches were surrounded by the originally open gallery-ambulance. The central church ended with a high tent, the aisles were covered with vaults and crowned with domes.

The ensemble of the cathedral was complemented by a three-hipped open belfry, in the arched spans of which massive bells hung.

Initially, the Intercession Cathedral was crowned with 8 large domes and a small dome above the central church. To emphasize the significance of the building material, as well as to protect the cathedral from atmospheric influences, all its walls were painted in red and white colors from the outside. The painting imitated brickwork. The material of the original covering of the domes remains unknown, as they were lost during the devastating fire of 1595.

In its original form, the cathedral existed until 1588. Then, from the northeast side, a tenth church was added to it over the grave of the holy fool Basil the Blessed, who spent a lot of time at the cathedral under construction and bequeathed to bury himself next to it. The famous Moscow miracle worker died in 1557, and after his canonization, the son of Tsar Ivan IV the Terrible, Fyodor Ioannovich, ordered the construction of a church. In architectural terms, it was an independent pillarless temple with a separate entrance.

The place of finding the relics of St. Basil the Blessed was marked with a silver shrine, which was subsequently lost during the Time of Troubles, at the beginning of the 17th century. Divine services in the church of the saint soon became daily, and starting from the 17th century, the name of the chapel was gradually transferred to the entire cathedral, becoming its "folk" name: St. Basil's Cathedral.

At the end of the 16th century, figured domes of the cathedral appeared - instead of the original burnt cover.

In 1672, an eleventh church was added to the cathedral from the southeast side: a small church over the grave of St. John the Blessed, a revered Moscow holy fool who was buried near the cathedral in 1589.

In the second half of the 17th century, significant changes took place in the external appearance of the cathedral. The wooden sheds over the grove, which burned down every now and then in fires, were replaced with a roof on arched brick pillars. Above the porch of the church of St. Basil the Blessed, the church of St. Theodosius the Virgin was added. Above the previously open white stone stairs leading to the upper tier of the cathedral, vaulted hipped porches appeared, arranged on the so-called "creeping" arches.

In the same period, polychrome ornamental painting appears. It covers the newly built porches, supporting pillars, the outer walls of the galleries and the parapets of the promenades. The facades of churches retain at this time a painting that imitates brickwork.

In 1683, the entire cathedral along the upper cornice was surrounded by a tiled inscription. Large yellow letters on a dark blue background of glazed tiles told about the history of the creation of the temple and its renovation in the second half of the 17th century. The inscription was destroyed a century later during the next repair.

In the 1680s the belfry was rebuilt. On the site of an open structure, a two-tiered bell tower was erected with an open upper platform for ringing.

In 1737, during a grandiose fire, St. Basil's Cathedral was badly damaged, especially its southern church.

Cardinal changes in its program of murals occurred during repairs in the 1770s-1780s. The altars of wooden churches demolished to prevent fires from Red Square were transferred to the territory of the cathedral and under its vaults. At the same time, the throne of the Three Patriarchs of Constantinople was renamed in the name of John the Merciful, and the church of Cyprian and Justina began to bear the name of Saints Adrian and Natalia (the original dedications to the churches were returned in the 1920s).

The inside of the church was painted with oil painting depicting saints and hagiographic scenes. Oil painting was updated in 1845-1848. and at the end of the 19th century. Outside, the walls were covered with paintings that imitated masonry from large boulders - "wild stone". The arches of the basement (lower non-residential tier) were laid, in the western part of which housing was placed for the clergy (temple servants). The bell tower was combined with an extension to the cathedral building. The upper part of the chapel of St. Basil the Blessed (the Church of Theodosius the Virgin) was rebuilt into a sacristy - a repository of church valuables and shrines.

In 1812, an order was given to the French gunners to blow up the cathedral. However, it was only plundered by Napoleon's troops, but immediately after the war it was repaired and consecrated. The area around the cathedral was landscaped and surrounded by an openwork cast-iron grate, designed by the famous architect O. Beauvais.

At the end of the 19th century, for the first time, the task arose of returning the cathedral to its original appearance. The specially created Commission for the restoration of the monument included well-known architects, scientists and painters, who determined the main directions for the study and restoration of the Intercession Cathedral. However, the lack of funds, the October Revolution and the subsequent period of devastation in the history of Russia did not allow the implementation of the planned program.

In 1918, the Intercession Cathedral was one of the first to be taken under protection by the state as a monument of national and world significance. Since May 21, 1923, it has been open to visitors as a historical and architectural museum. At the same time, until 1929, divine services were held in the church of St. Basil the Blessed.

In 1928, the Pokrovsky Cathedral became a branch of the State Historical Museum and remains so to this day.

In the 1920s extensive scientific and restoration work was launched on the monument, thanks to which it became possible to restore the original appearance of the cathedral and recreate the interiors of the 16th-17th centuries in individual churches.

From that moment to the present, four global restorations have been carried out, including architectural and painting works. The original "brick-like" painting of the 16th century was restored on the outside, in the Church of the Intercession of the Mother of God and in the Church of Alexander Svirsky.

In the 1950s-1960s. unique restoration work was carried out: in the interior of the central church, a "church chronicle" was opened, in which ancient architects indicated the exact date of completion of the construction of the cathedral - July 12, 1561 (the day of Equal-to-the-Apostles Peter and Paul); for the first time, the iron coverings of the domes were replaced with copper ones. The successful choice of material contributed to the fact that until now the coatings of the domes remain unscathed.

In the interiors of four churches, iconostases have been reconstructed, almost entirely consisting of icons of the 16th-17th centuries, among which there are genuine masterpieces of the ancient Russian school of icon painting ("Trinity" of the 16th century). The pride of the collection are the icons of the XVI-XVII centuries. "The Vision of Sexton Tarasius", "Nikola Velikoretsky in Life", "Alexander Nevsky in Life", as well as icons from the original iconostasis of the Church of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos "Basil the Great" and "John Chrysostom". In other churches, iconostases of the 18th and 19th centuries have been preserved. Among them, two iconostasis were moved in the 1770s. from the cathedrals of the Moscow Kremlin (altar barriers in the Church of the Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem and in the central church).

In the 1970s a fresco of the 17th century was discovered on the outer bypass gallery under late records. The found painting served as the basis for the reconstruction of the original ornamental painting on the facades of the cathedral.

The year 1990 was an important milestone in the history of the museum: the Pokrovsky Cathedral was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List in Russia. After a long break in the Church of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos, divine services were resumed. The following year, the cathedral was approved for joint use by the State Historical Museum and the Russian Orthodox Church.

In 1997, the restoration of the interior, monumental and easel painting was completed in St. Basil's Church, closed since the late 1920s. The church was included in the exposition of the Pokrovsky Cathedral, and divine services were resumed in it.

In the Pokrovsky Cathedral, the Russian Orthodox Church holds divine services: on the days of the main thrones (Intercession and St. Basil the Blessed), patriarchal or sovereign services are held. At the shrine of St. Basil the Blessed, an akathist is read every Sunday.

In 2001-2011 seven churches of the cathedral were completely restored, facade paintings were renewed, and partly tempera painting of the inner gallery. In 2007, the Pokrovsky Cathedral became a nominee for the Seven Wonders of Russia competition.

The material was prepared on the basis of information from open sources

Not far from the Spasskaya Tower of the Kremlin, in the very heart, the world-famous St. Basil's Cathedral is located. It has several other names: the Cathedral of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos on the Moat, as well as the Intercession Cathedral. Until the beginning of the 17th century, this monument of Russian architecture had the name Trinity, since the old wooden church was built in honor of the Holy Trinity. Let's take a short excursion into history and find out who built St. Basil's Cathedral and where, in fact, this cathedral is located.

The history of the creation of St. Basil's Cathedral

In 1552, on the day of the Intercession of the Mother of God, Russian soldiers launched an assault on Kazan, which, as you know, ended in victory over the Golden Horde. In honor of her, Tsar Ivan the Terrible ordered the construction of a cathedral that would immortalize such a joyful event.

The construction of the stone St. Basil's Cathedral on Red Square began two years later on the site where the Trinity Church made of wood used to be, and where, according to legend, the holy fool, after whom the cathedral was named, was buried. There is a legend that Basil the Blessed personally collected money for this Temple, but no one knows whether it was true or not. After all, the exact date of the death of the holy fool has not been established. Nevertheless, Fyodor, the son of Ivan the Terrible, ordered the creation of a chapel of St. Basil the Blessed in the Intercession Church, where his relics were placed.

The Pokrovsky Cathedral was under construction for six years. The author of the main idea of ​​the temple is Metropolitan Macarius, and it was implemented by two architects, Barma and Postnik. Another version of this says that the Pskov artisan, nicknamed Barma, built the Pokrovsky Cathedral. Another legend says that Ivan the Terrible was delighted with the beautiful temple and did not want the same beautiful cathedral to be built anywhere else. Therefore, he asked the architect if he could build an equally beautiful building. The master boldly replied that he could do it, and then the king became angry and ordered the architect to be blinded.

St. Basil's Cathedral style

The building of the Intercession Cathedral is a structure consisting of a central tent and eight main towers located around it. In plan, this is a figure consisting of two combined squares, which together form an eight-pointed star, a symbol of the Most Holy Theotokos. Also, the number eight symbolizes the day when Jesus Christ resurrected and is a reminder of the Star of Bethlehem, which showed the way to the newborn Christ. The combination of two squares is a symbol of the fact that the Gospel is spread to all parts of the world.

The building of the temple was erected from a new material at that time - brick. Decor elements, foundation and plinth were lined with white brick. The tent of the central temple is decorated with polychrome tiles and decorated with kokoshniks. The architectural design of the facade and interior in the cathedral has similar motifs.

Metropolitan Macarius, still unfinished in 1557, consecrated the church in the presence of Tsar Ivan the Terrible. For a long time, the Intercession Cathedral, located on Red Square, was.

During a terrible fire that happened in 1737, the Intercession Cathedral was seriously damaged, but then it was restored, and in the 17th century it was rebuilt again. At this time, the hipped bell tower was combined with the temple itself. At that time, the cathedral was so colorfully decorated, as we can see it today. In its design, a beautiful ornamental fresco painting appeared on the vaults and pillars of the galleries.

At the end of the last century, after a long break, an all-night vigil was held in St. Basil's Cathedral, and then a liturgy. Every year, on the Feast of the Intercession, a divine service is held here.

St. Basil's Cathedral, or the Cathedral of the Intercession of the Mother of God on the Moat - this is how its canonical full name sounds - was built on Red Square in 1555-1561. This cathedral is rightfully considered one of the main symbols not only of Moscow, but of the whole of Russia.

In the place where the cathedral now flaunts, in the 16th century there was a stone Trinity Church, “which is on the Moat”. There really was a defensive moat here, stretching along the entire wall of the Kremlin along Red Square. This ditch was filled up only in 1813. Now in its place is a Soviet necropolis and a mausoleum.

Ivan the Terrible, who personally led the army in the campaign to conquer the Kazan and Astrakhan kingdoms in 1552, made a vow in case of victory to build a grandiose temple in Moscow on Red Square in memory of this. While the war was going on, in honor of each major victory, a small wooden church was erected next to the Trinity Church in honor of the saint on whose day the victory was won. When the Russian army returned in triumph to Moscow, Ivan the Terrible decided to put one large, stone church on the site of the eight wooden churches that had been built - for centuries.

Is this St. Basil's Cathedral? Not true. Was it the main temple of Moscow? Not true. Ivan the Terrible blinded the creators of the temple? Not true. Was there only a museum here in Soviet times? Not true. This article is about the myths and fiction surrounding the construction of the Pokrovsky Cathedral on Moscow's Red Square, better known as St. Basil's Cathedral.

July 12, the day of the chief apostles Peter and Paul, marks the 455th anniversary of the famous Intercession Cathedral on Red Square. Better known under the name of St. Basil's Cathedral, with its multicolored domes and tents, it has long become one of the national symbols of Russia. Religion, culture and history of our country are intertwined in this cathedral into a single whole. It is no coincidence that there are many stories and legends about him. Often, "traditional" opinions about the famous temple turn out to be fiction. Indeed, for many, the cathedral is a festive picture, a visiting card of Moscow or a tourist label for foreigners. Meanwhile, the true history of this temple is richer and more interesting than any common misconceptions about it.

What is the name of the cathedral?

Take the name of the cathedral. The people call it the temple or St. Basil's Cathedral. There is no error in this. But few people know that its first and main name is the Cathedral of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos "on the Moat". St. Basil's Cathedral is the "folk" name attached to it.

The Intercession Cathedral was erected according to the vow of Ivan the Terrible, which he gave before the campaign against Kazan in 1552, with the blessing of Metropolitan Macarius. The conquest of the Kazan Khanate was the most important event in the history of Russia, and this significance was emphasized by the erection of a grandiose cathedral.

Another misconception is that the cathedral is only one temple. They call it St. Basil's Cathedral, period. In fact, in 1555-1561, nine churches were erected on a single foundation (basement), five of which were then consecrated in memory of the Kazan campaign. According to historical documents, the main part of the cathedral was built by the autumn of 1559. At the same time, the consecration of all its churches, except for the central one, took place. And only a year and a half later, on June 29 according to the old calendar, the entire cathedral was consecrated. This day is considered the date of completion of the construction of the temple.

In the center of the cathedral is the main temple - the actual Church of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos, crowned with a small onion dome. On October 1, 1552, the assault on Kazan began - at the same time, according to the church calendar, the feast of the Intercession of the Virgin was celebrated. Therefore, the central temple was named in honor of this holiday, and then the whole cathedral was named after it. Intercession Cathedral was at that time the tallest building in Moscow. Before the reconstruction of the Ivan the Great Bell Tower in the Kremlin at the end of the 16th - beginning of the 17th century, it was the high-rise dominant of the then Moscow. Its height is 65 meters.

In total, the cathedral has eleven domes. Ten are the domes of churches according to the number of thrones, and one more dome over the bell tower. The complex architectural composition and construction program of the cathedral, most likely, belonged to Metropolitan Macarius, who wanted to embody the image of the Heavenly City of Jerusalem on earth in a multi-chapel church, as well as glorify the role of Moscow and Ivan the Terrible.

Eight churches are located symmetrically around the main temple in the form of an eight-pointed star. Four large churches look strictly to the cardinal points.

1. Church of Cyprian and Justina - The memory of the saints falls on the second of October (October 15, N.S.), and it was on this day that Kazan was taken.
2. Church of Gregory of Armenia - Gregory of Armenia - the Enlightener of Great Armenia. His memory is celebrated on September 30 (October 13, N.S.). In 1552, on this day, an important event of the campaign of Tsar Ivan the Terrible took place - the explosion of the Arskaya tower of Kazan.
3. Church of the Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem - The church was consecrated in honor of the feast of the Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem. On Palm Sunday, it was to this chapel that the procession from the Assumption Cathedral of the Kremlin was made with the “procession on a donkey” of the Patriarch. Therefore, the chapel was built on the side closest to the Kremlin.
4. Church of Varlaam Khutynsky - Consecrated in the name of the Monk Varlaam Khutynsky, Novgorod saint, founder and abbot of the Spaso-Preobrazhensky Khutynsky monastery.
5. Church of St. Nicholas of Velikoretsky - This church was consecrated in the name of the Velikoretsky image of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. The icon of the saint was found in the city of Khlynov on the Velikaya River, which is why it later received the name “Nikola Velikoretsky”. In 1555, on the orders of Ivan the Terrible, this icon was brought by procession along the rivers from Vyatka to Moscow.
6. Church of Alexander Svirsky - Consecrated in the name of this saint, because his memory is celebrated on the same day that the Yepanchi cavalry was defeated on the Arsk field.
7. Bell tower
8. Church of the Three Patriarchs (John, Alexander and New Paul) - It was named so because in 1552, on the day of memory of the patriarchs, August 30 (September 12, old style), a victory was won over Prince Yepancha, who from Crimea went to the aid of the Kazan Tatars.
9. Church of the Holy Trinity - It is generally accepted that the Intercession Cathedral was built on the site of the ancient Trinity Church, by the name of which the entire temple was often called until the 17th century.
10. St. Basil's Church - The only temple where regular services are held today.
11. Church of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos - It was on October 1, 1552, on the feast of the Intercession of the Virgin, that the assault on Kazan began.

Where did the name "St. Basil's Cathedral" come from?

Why did they begin to call the Intercession Cathedral the Cathedral of St. Basil the Blessed and associate it not with Ivan the Terrible and the Kazan campaign, but with the name of the holy fool? The fact is that in 1588 a chapel was added to the cathedral from the northeast side, consecrated in honor of St. Basil the Blessed. It was built at the behest of the son of Ivan the Terrible, Fyodor Ioannovich, over the burial place of St. Basil the Blessed, who died in 1557 and was buried near the walls of the cathedral under construction. The famous holy fool himself became famous in Moscow at the end of the 15th century. All his clothes in winter and summer consisted only of iron chains. Muscovites were very fond of Vasily for his gentle disposition, including the young tsar, although the holy fool was not afraid to argue with him and reproach him. Under Fyodor Ivanovich, St. Basil the Blessed was canonized in 1586.

With the addition of the Church of St. Basil the Blessed, divine services in the cathedral became daily. Since then, the Pokrovsky Cathedral is known more as St. Basil's Cathedral. Previously, services in it were held only in the warm season. The cathedral was not heated, but St. Basil's Cathedral was warm. In addition, since the cathedral was built as a memorial, it was very difficult to hold services in its churches due to their small size. Only the royal family could fit. Soon the popular name of the cathedral appeared - St. Basil's Cathedral.

Were Barma and Postnik blinded?

The most common myth about the cathedral is the chilling story that Tsar Ivan IV allegedly ordered its builders Postnik and Barma to be blinded so that they would never be able to build anything else that could surpass and outshine only the erected architectural masterpiece. Meanwhile, the story about the blinding of the builders of the cathedral on the orders of Ivan the Terrible is not supported by real historical evidence. The builders of the temple were really called Postnik and Barma. In 1896, Archpriest John Kuznetsov, who served in the temple, discovered a chronicle that said that “The pious Tsar John came from the victory of Kazan to the reigning city of Moscow ... And God granted him two Russian masters named Postnik and Barma and bysha be wise and convenient to such a wonderful deed ... ". So for the first time the names of the builders of the cathedral became known. But there is not a word about blinding in the annals.

It used to be believed that St. Basil's Cathedral was built by a foreign master from Italy, judging by the "Italianized" elements in its architecture. And since in Western Europe there were widespread legends about the blinding of talented architects so that they could not create further, foreign travelers who came to Moscow "mechanically" transferred them to the master who erected the Pokrovsky Cathedral. The same was said about Postnik and Barma. The story of blinding became especially widespread thanks to Dmitry Kedrin's poem "Architects" (1938), it even entered school history textbooks:
And the benefactor asked:

“Can you make it pretty,
Better than this temple
Another, I say?
And shaking your hair
The architects replied:
"Can!
Command, my lord!”
And they fell at the feet of the king.
And then the emperor
He ordered these architects to be blinded,
So that in his land
Church
There was one like this...
falcon eyes
Prick them with an iron awl,
To white light
They couldn't see...
And their church stood
Such
What seemed like a dream.
And she called
As if they were buried sobbing,
And a forbidden song
About the terrible royal mercy
Sang in secret places
Across the wide Russia
Guslars.

Has the cathedral always been so colorful?

One might get the impression that the cathedral has always been so colorful. And that would be a misconception. The current appearance of the Intercession Cathedral is very different from the original appearance. Then we would have seen not today's motley coloring, but strict brick walls. During the construction of the cathedral, two materials were used - white stone and brick. All polychrome and floral painting of the cathedral appeared only in the 1670s. By this time, the cathedral had undergone significant restructuring: two large porches were added - on the north and south sides. The outer gallery was covered with vaults. Today, in the decoration of the Intercession Cathedral, you can see frescoes of the 16th century, tempera painting of the 17th century, monumental oil painting of the 18th-19th centuries, and rare monuments of Russian icon painting. Since the 20s of the 20th century, restoration work has been going on in the cathedral with some interruptions.

Church of Cyprian and Justina. Depositary for the king?

Previously, the temple was used as a storehouse for valuables, or a depository. There are no basements in the Pokrovsky Cathedral, churches with galleries stand on a single foundation - the basement. The basement has very strong brick walls (up to 3 m thick). The height of some rooms is about 6.5 m. They were inaccessible to ordinary parishioners. Deep niches in the basement were used as storage for the property of wealthy citizens. There is a legend that until 1595 the royal treasury was hidden here. They got into the basement from the upper central church of the Intercession of the Mother of God along a secret intra-wall staircase, which only the initiates knew about.

Who wanted to demolish the cathedral?

The cathedral has experienced many tragic moments in its history. He underwent frequent fires for wooden Moscow. During the Time of Troubles, the Poles plundered it, ruining the shrine of St. Basil the Blessed. Napoleon placed stables in the Intercession Cathedral. He gave the order to blow up the cathedral, which, fortunately, was not carried out.

They also planned to demolish the temple during the years of Soviet power - the cathedral interfered with parades on Red Square, but they did not dare. There is a legend about how, at a meeting of the Politburo dedicated to the restructuring of Moscow, Kaganovich defiantly removed St. Basil's Cathedral from the layout map of Red Square, and Stalin said: “Lazar, put it in its place!” Whether this was actually the case is unknown. There are master plans for the reconstruction of Moscow in the 1930s, in which there is no cathedral on Red Square.

Only a museum?
Another mistake would be to assume that today's cathedral is only a museum. The Historical and Architectural Museum in the cathedral was founded in 1923. However, even then services in the cathedral continued. They went until 1929, and resumed in 1991.

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Intercession Cathedral (Temple..

Cathedral of the Intercession of the Holy Virgin that on the Moat on Red Square, Pokrovsky Cathedral or St. Basil's Cathedral- one of the most famous Russian sights.

Intercession Cathedral was built in 1555-60 by order of Ivan the Terrible in memory of the capture of Kazan and the victory over the Kazan Khanate.

Visiting the main square of Moscow, Red Square, guests and residents of the capital freeze with admiration, looking at St. Basil's Cathedral, whose unsurpassed beauty excites human hearts for five centuries. The temple is located next to the Kremlin and is a monument of Russian culture and history. Attracting the eye with its multi-colored domes, it has become a symbol of the capital, an integral part of Russia. But this is not the official name of the temple. Its real name is the Cathedral of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos on the Moat. Initially, a wooden temple dedicated to the Holy Trinity was built, so it was called Trinity up to the beginning of the 17th century. Today, the cathedral is a heritage of world culture and is under the patronage of unesco.

The history of the construction of St. Basil's Cathedral

To commemorate the victory over the Kazan Khanate, Ivan the Terrible issued an order to perpetuate this event by building the Intercession Cathedral. The assault on the impregnable Kazan stronghold took place on the feast of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos, in whose honor the temple was named. For six years, its construction was carried out, starting in 1555.

Information about the architects who took part in the construction of the temple has not been preserved. Therefore, most experts believe that the work belongs to the hand of the Pskov architect Postnik Yakovlev, nicknamed Barma. And only by 1588 the temple acquired the name of St. Basil's Church after some structural changes, when extensions were added to the temple. This architectural ensemble, as conceived by the author, symbolizes Heavenly Jerusalem. The shape with curly domes that we see now appeared at the end of the 16th century after a big fire that destroyed the entire structure.

The eighties of the 17th century were marked by the fact that porches decorated with tents were erected over the stairs. The open-type gallery surrounding the cathedral was decorated with vaults. When painting the gallery from the inside, the craftsmen preferred to use grass motifs. The temple was surrounded by a cast-iron fence at the beginning of the 19th century, during its regular restoration.

With the establishment of Soviet power, St. Basil's Cathedral did not immediately fall under the protection of the state. A lot of time passed when it was decided to place in the temple historical and architectural museum, for which work was carried out to restore the building and complete the funds. The opening of the museum took place on May 21, 1923. It became a branch of the State Historical Museum in 1928. A year later, the bells were removed from the temple and worship was forbidden. The Great Patriotic War made its own adjustments to the work of the museum, which was closed until its end. And only in the early 90s of the last century, church services in the cathedral were resumed.

The temple functions both as a museum and as an Orthodox church.

Ensemble of churches of St. Basil's Cathedral

The ensemble of St. Basil's Cathedral includes 9 churches that were built on the same common foundation. And, although the height of the temple is only 65 meters, it is famous for its volume and is far from the last in the list of temples in this indicator.

The peculiarity of the temple is that it does not have a clearly defined central entrance, and when you enter the temple for the first time, you can get lost. On one of the walls of the temple, its plan is inscribed from an upper angle, which is simple and understandable. But why does everyone who comes again get confused again and again in search of a way out?

If we describe the design feature of the temple, then its central part is occupied by pillared church. This church is dedicated to Protection of the Holy Mother of God. The main temples surrounding the pillar-shaped church have an exit facing the cardinal points (north, south, west, east). The composition is completed by small churches built between the main ones. If you look at the temple from above, you can see 2 squares that are turned to each other so that they form a geometrically correct eight-pointed star, which symbolizes the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The very sides of the square and the four ends of the life-giving cross serve as the embodiment of the firmness of faith. The symbol of the unity of faith, God's protection, which extends over the whole Mother Russia, is the unification of churches around a pillar-shaped church. Nearby is the Bell Tower, built in 1670.

Secret place in the temple

There are no basements in the temple.

Its uniqueness lies in the fact that it was built on a basement, which is a complex of premises, with a wall height of more than 6 meters and a thickness of more than 3. The constant microclimate of the premises, which does not depend on the season, is created with the help of special openings that were provided during the construction of the temple. In earlier times, the basement served as a secret repository of both the royal treasury and church valuables.

A secret staircase located in the wall led from the second floor of the pillar-shaped church to this hiding place. Currently, icons belonging to the Church of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos on the Moat are stored here. The oldest icon, which is the face of St. Basil the Blessed, dates from the end of the 16th century.

As mentioned earlier, the entire church ensemble is surrounded by a covered bypass gallery, which has long become one with the temple. Its walls and vaulted ceilings are decorated with floral patterns, the floors (brick) are laid out in a special way, which is called "herringbone", and in some areas "rosette" masonry is used. The abrasion of bricks, the production of which dates back to the 16th century, is much less than those that were used in the course of numerous restoration works.

Interior decoration of St. Basil's Cathedral

The manner of execution and color scheme of all 9 churches that make up the complex are different. Somewhere you can see frescoes in the decoration of the walls dating back to the 16th century, somewhere oil painting. But the main treasure of the cathedral is the unique iconostases, which include more than 400 priceless icons, the creation of which dates back to the period of the 16th-19th centuries. They belong to the brushes of the masters of Moscow and Novgorod lands.

St. Basil's Cathedral in our time

In the early 90s of the last century, the temple was returned to the bosom of the church. This event took place on the bright feast of the Intercession.

Since that moment, the museum resumed collecting bells. Nineteen masterpieces of foundry art can be seen among the exhibits of the museum. 5 years before the capture of Kazan, the oldest bell was cast, while the youngest bell turned only 20 in 2016. An extensive collection of armor and weapons that have been preserved since the capture of the Kazan Kremlin is presented in the museum for viewing.

Canvases by Russian artists of the 19th century are also widely represented at the museum's exposition areas. Here you can see not only portraits and landscapes, but also a collection of old handwritten and early printed books, which are the pride of the museum exposition. Group tours are organized in the museum, and individual visits are not limited. Video and photography is possible upon payment of a small fee through the museum's cash desk. Shops located between the basement and the second floor of the temple will offer you memorable souvenirs.