St Basils Cathedral Holidays

At the end of the square closest to the river and just across from the Spasskaya Tower of the Kremlin, is St Basil’s Cathedral. Commissioned by Ivan the Terrible in 1552, the cathedral was reputedly designed by architect Postnik Yakovlev and then completed in 1561. According
to legend, Ivan was so ‘blown away’ at the beauty and intricacy of Postnik’s work; he had him blinded so that he would never be able to design anything as fantastical again!

The cathedral is easily recognisable. Look out for the riotously colourful tent roofs and twisting onion shaped domes. It consists of nine chapels built on a single foundation. The design follows that of contemporary tented churches, notably those of Ascension in Kolomenskoye and of St John the Baptist's Decapitation in Dyakovo.

The interior of the cathedral is a collection of separate chapels, each filled with icons, medieval painted walls, and varying artwork on the top inside of the domes. The feeling is intimate and varied, in contrast to Western cathedrals which usually consist of a massive nave with one artistic style.

In a garden at the front of the cathedral stands a bronze statue commemorating Dmitry Pozharsky and Kuzma Minin, who rallied Russia's volunteer army against the Polish invaders during the Time of Troubles.