St. Basil's Cathedral
One of the cathedrals I especially remember from art history classes is St. Basil's in Moscow. Wikipedia says of it ...
The cathedral was commissioned by Ivan the Terrible and built between 1555 and 1561 in Moscow to commemorate the capture of Khanate of Kazan. In 1588 Tsar Fedor Ivanovich had a chapel added on the eastern side above the grave of Basil Fool for Christ (yurodivy Vassily Blazhenny), a Russian Orthodox saint after whom the cathedral was popularly named .... Saint Basil's is located at the southeast end of Red Square (55°45′08.88″N, 37°37′23.00″E), just across from the Spasskaya Tower of the Kremlin. Not particularly large, it consists of nine chapels built on a single foundation .... The initial concept was to build a cluster of chapels, one dedicated to each of the saints on whose feast day the tsar had won a battle, but the construction of a single central tower unifies these spaces into a single cathedral. Legend says that Ivan had the architect, Postnik Yakovlev, blinded to prevent him from building a more magnificent building for anyone else.
- closeup
- interior shot
- another
Here's a bit more about the saint, Basil, after whom the cathedral is named ...
Saint Basil or Vasily (known also as Vasily Blazhenny, Basil Fool for Christ or Basil the Blessed; Russian: Василий Блаженный) is a Russian Orthodox saint born to serfs in 1469 .... Basil is considered a yurodivy or holy fool. Originally an apprentice shoemaker in Moscow, he adopted an eccentric lifestyle of shoplifting and giving to the poor. He went naked and weighed himself down with chains. He rebuked Ivan the Terrible for not paying attention in church. He is buried in St. Basil's Cathedral.
- Wikipedia
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You can read more about Basil atOrthodox Church in America
And more about Fools-For-Christ here
posted by crystal | 5:42 PM
7 Comments:
I love the Russian Churches. So many colours and extravagant forms and all of them in perfect harmony.:-).
Hi Paula - yes, I love the onion shaped domes too :-)
He rebuked Ivan the Terrible for not paying attention in church. He is buried in St. Basil's Cathedral.
That's really funny.
The Holy Fools are an interesting orthodox phenomenon. I think the closest thing we have in the West is St Francis.
Hi Matthew, put that way, it does seem to be one of those truth and consequences scenarios :-)
Liam, yes, I'd like to,learn more about the holy fools. Someone asked me once if I was willing to be a "fool for Christ" and sadly I realized how much a good reputation meant to me.
yes, St Francis was close of being a fool for Christ.:-).
Beautiful cathedral, Crystal. I was always curious as to what it looked like under those onion domes. Thanks. :-)
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