St. Basil Cathedral - ages of history

A little history first.

The full name of St. Basil Cathedral is "the Cathedral of Saint Basil the Blessed". It was built around 1560. Ivan the Terrible has ordered the construction to commemorate the capture of Kazan. That city was ruled by the Mongolian Khanate, and was very important for Russia.

St. Basil Cathedral is located on the Red Square, near the Kremlin. It consists of eight separate chapels, each one symbolizes an important day of fighting for Kazan.

All of these smaller chapels are grouped around the central, biggest one. It is called "The Cathedral of Intercession of the Virgin on the Moat".

In 1588 an aisle containing the relics of St. Basil the Blessed was added to the church. The name of the aisle gave the Cathedral its present title.

St Basil Cathedral. Courtesy of komoda from Flickr.com

St. Basil's Cathedral

But who was St. Basil? Why would the cathedral be named after him?

I asked myself the same question once.

He was considered to be a holy man. An apprentice of a shoemaker until he was 16, he became a god's fool. The story goes that he refused the normal life on purpose, but he probably was just insane.

This may seem strange, but in Russia people have always respected the mentally ill. I mean, used to. It was believed they "have seen the God". Whatever they said or did was considered a God's will.

The legends attribute a lot of miracles to St. Basil the Blessed. He supposedly foresaw the great Moscow fire of 1547, he broke the fake icon of Holy Mother of God with a stone. The legend says he even managed to extinguish the fire in Novgorod with three glasses of wine!

Now, what that's supposed to mean??

The story goes that even Ivan the Terrible feared and respected St. Basil because he always exposed lies and hypocrisy. He also criticized the Tsar for being cruel to his people. When St. Basil died, Ivan the Terrible carried his coffin.

St. Basil was buried on the cemetery of Pokrovskiy Cathedral,which later became known as St. Basil Cathedral.

You can actually enter the Cathedral (unless it's being repaired). Inside, there is a museum containing the artifacts of St. Basil's time.

This museum is special. You don't see these big, spacious rooms. On the contrary, the cells are small, the ceilings are low, and the stairs are narrow.

It may seem inconvenient to you, but trust me - it's a small price to pay for the terrific atmosphere.

When you walk the cells the clerics used to live in, and you see a gold-covered bible of 16th century - you can almost see how it was. It's just like in Sci-Fi movies.

I only had such feeling thrice in my life. It happened in St. Basil's Cathedral, Jerusalem and the Coliseum. No other place has ever given me that sense of presence.

Phew, that sure was a lot of information! I hope it was not too much.

Want to expand your knowledge? I invite you to visit other pages of this Insider's Guide. You are mostly welcome!




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