St. Basil Cathedral

St. Basil's Cathedral is one of the most prominent monuments of outstanding architecture and Old Russia. In the 16th century the tourists admired the beauty of the cathedral, and for Russia it became a symbol of history and native culture.
Temple consecrated in 1552 in honor of Saint Trinity prepared. This temple to commemorate the victory of Ivan the Terrible over Kazan and Astrakhan empire. In 1554 the Tsar ordered the construction of the Cathedral of the intersection of the Blessed Virgin in the temple site. Chapel of the cathedral to commemorate the victory over the Tatars. Then St. Basil, "Lord stupid" Moscow is buried in one of the chapel, then the name of the cathedral.
According to the chronicles, St. Basil's Cathedral was designed by architect Postnik Russia and Barma. There is a legend says that Ivan the Terrible admire the beauty of the cathedral and ordered the architects blinded so that they could never build such a masterpiece again. Some historians insist that the cathedral was designed by one man - Ivan Barma Postnik this surname while continuing the fast. Legend blindness architect 'be denied by the fact that the name Postnik is the author of many architectural monuments mentioned in the chronicles after the construction of the Cathedral of St. Basil.
St. Basil's Cathedral is the architectural ensemble consisting of eight symmetrical chapels around the temple of the ninth, which is one of the highest. It is topped with a hipped roof. Each chapel bearing the sacred name. The temple is dedicated to meeting the center of the Virgin Mary. The chapel is conjoined by the system parts. The dome above the chapels that are different from each other. Each dome is decorated with windows, niches, and cornices. Cathedral was impressed as a festive and elegant. Until the end of the 17th century when Ivan the Great Bell-Tower was built in the Kremlin, St. Basil's Cathedral is the tallest building in Moscow. The cathedral is 60 meters.
In St. Basil's Cathedral there 9-standing icon contains about 400 icons of the 16th century to the 19th. Icons are great examples of schools of Moscow and Novgorod icon painting. The walls of the cathedral are decorated with oil paintings and frescoes from the 16th century to the 19th. In the cathedral can be seen painting portraits and landscapes of the 19th century, and church plate from the 16th century to the 19th. Among the items most precious is the trophy of the 17th century Tsar Aleksei's used Mikhailovich.
In the midst of an 20-20th-century Cathedral of St Basil got the status of the museum. Since 1934 it is a branch of the State Historical Museum in Moscow.