One of the most interesting and beautiful sights of the Russian capital is St. Basil's Cathedral (photo below), also known as the Church of the Intercession of the Mother of God, built back in the 16th century by order of Tsar Ivan IV the Terrible. Almost every person in the country knows that it is located on Red Square, but not everyone knows the history of its construction and the legends associated with it. But still, it will not be enough to learn only about the cathedral. The saint, in whose honor the chapel was built, and later the temple itself became known, bore the name of St. Basil the Blessed. The story of his life, deeds and death is no less interesting than the story of the construction of the cathedral.
Versions about the creators
St. Basil's Cathedral (its photo is decorated with many postcards for tourists) was erected in the period from 1555 to 1561 in memory of the capture of the fortress city of Kazan by Tsar Ivan Vasilyevich. There are many versions of who was the true creator of this architectural monument. Consider only three main options. The first one- architect Postnik Yakovlev, who bore the nickname Barma. It was a well-known Pskov master at that time. The second option is Barma and Postnik. These are two architects who participated in the construction of this temple. And the third - the cathedral was erected by some unknown Western European master, presumably from Italy.
In favor of the latest version is the fact that most of the buildings of the Kremlin were built by immigrants from this country. The unique style in which St. Basil's Cathedral was created (the photos perfectly demonstrate it) harmoniously combined the traditions of Russian and European architecture. But it should be noted right away that this version has absolutely no documentary evidence.
There is also a legend according to which all the architects who worked on the project of the temple were blinded by order of Ivan the Terrible - with the aim that they could never build anything like it again. But there is one problem here. If the author of the temple is still Postnik Yakovlev, then he could not be blinded in any way. Just a few years later, he was also working on the creation of the Kremlin in Kazan.
Temple structure
The cathedral has a total of ten domes: nine of them are located above the main building, and one is above the bell tower. It includes eight temples. Their thrones were consecrated only in honor of those holidays during which the decisive battles for Kazan took place. All eight churches are located around the highest ninth, which has a pillar-like structure. It was built in honor of the protection of GodMother and ends with a tent with a small cupola. The rest of St. Basil's domes look traditional at first glance. They have a bulbous shape, but differ from each other in their design. All nine temples stand on a common foundation and are interconnected by vaulted internal passages and a bypass gallery, which was originally open.
In 1558, a chapel was added to the Cathedral of the Intercession of the Mother of God, which was consecrated in honor of St. Basil the Blessed. It was erected on the spot where the relics of this saint had previously been. Also, his name gave the cathedral a second name. Approximately 20 years later, the temple acquired its own hipped bell tower.
First floor - basement
It must be said that St. Basil's Cathedral (the photo, of course, does not show this) does not have a basement. All of its constituent churches stand on the same foundation, called the basement. It is a structure with rather thick (up to 3 m) walls, divided into several rooms, the height of which is more than 6 m.
The northern basement has, one might say, a unique design for the 16th century. Its vault is made in the form of a box without supporting pillars, despite the fact that it has a large length. In the walls of this room there are narrow openings called air vents. Thanks to them, a special microclimate is created here, which remains unchanged throughout the year.
Once all the premises of the basement were inaccessible to parishioners. These deep recesses in the form of niches were used asstorages. Previously, they were closed with doors. But now only loops are left of them. Until 1595, the royal treasury and the most valuable property of we althy citizens were kept in the basement.
To get into these previously secret rooms of St. Basil's Cathedral in Moscow, one had to go through a white-stone interior staircase, which only the initiates knew about. Later, as unnecessary, this move was laid down and forgotten about, but in the 30s of the last century it was accidentally discovered.
chapel organized in honor of St. Basil the Blessed
It is a cubic church. It is covered with a groin vault with a small light drum crowned with a cupola. The roof of this temple itself is made in the same style as the upper churches of the cathedral. There is a stylized inscription on the wall here. She reports that the Church of St. Basil the Blessed was built in 1588 right above the grave of the saint immediately after his canonization by order of Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich.
In 1929 the temple was closed for worship. Only at the end of the last century, its decorative decoration was finally restored. The memory of St. Basil the Blessed is venerated on August 15. It was this date in 1997 that was the starting point for the resumption of worship in his church. Today, over the very burial place of the saint, there is a shrine with his relics, decorated with fine carvings. This Moscow shrine is the most revered among the parishioners and guests of the temple.
Church decoration
It must be admitted that it is impossible to reproduce in words all thosebeauty for which St. Basil's Cathedral is famous. Describing them would take more than one week, and possibly months. Let us dwell only on the details of the decoration of the church, consecrated in honor of this particular saint.
Its oil painting was timed to coincide with the 350th anniversary of the beginning of the construction of the cathedral. Basil the Blessed is depicted on the southern and northern walls. Pictures from his life represent episodes about a miracle with a fur coat and rescue at sea. Under them, on the lower tier, there is an ancient Russian ornament made of towels. In addition, on the south side of the church there is a large-sized icon, the drawing of which is made on a metal surface. This masterpiece was painted in 1904.
The western wall is decorated with a temple image of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos. The upper tier contains images of saints who patronize the royal house. These are the martyr Irina, John the Baptist, St. Anastasia and Theodore Stratilat.
The sails of the vault are occupied with the image of the Evangelists, the crosshairs with the Savior Not Made by Hands, John the Baptist and the Mother of God, the drum is decorated with the figures of the forefathers, and the dome with the Almighty Savior.
As for the iconostasis, it was made according to the design of the famous architect A. M. Pavlinov in 1895, and the famous Moscow restorer and icon painter Osip Chirikov supervised the painting of the icons. His original autograph is preserved on one of the icons. In addition, the iconostasis also has more ancient images. The first is the icon "Our Lady of Smolensk", dating back to the 16th century, and the second is the image of St. Basil the Blessed, where he is depicted against the backdrop of Red Square and the Kremlin. The last one dates from the 18thcentury.
Belfry
In the middle of the 17th century, the previously built belfry was in a terrible state. Therefore, it was decided to replace it with a bell tower in the 80s of the same century. By the way, it's still standing. The basis for the bell tower is a high and massive quadrangle. On top of it, a more elegant and delicate octagon was erected, made in the form of an open area, which is fenced with eight pillars, and they, in turn, are connected at the top by arched spans.
The bell tower is crowned with an octagonal rather high tent with ribs, decorated with multi-colored tiles with blue, white, brown and yellow glaze. Its edges are covered with green figured tiles and small windows, which, when the bells ring, can significantly amplify their sound. At the very top of the tent there is a small onion dome with a gilded cross. Inside the site, as well as in arched openings, bells are suspended, which were cast back in the 17th-19th centuries by famous Russian craftsmen.
Museum
The Intercession Cathedral in 1918 was recognized by the Soviet authorities as a historical architectural monument of not only national but also international significance and taken under state protection. It was then that it began to be considered a museum. Its first caretaker was John Kuznetsov (archpriest). I must say that after the revolution, the temple was, without exaggeration, in a very distressed situation: almost all the windows were broken, the roof was full of holes in many places, and in winter snowdrifts lay right inside the premises.
Throughfive years on the basis of the cathedral, it was decided to create a historical and architectural complex. E. I. Silin, a researcher at the Moscow Historical Museum, became its first head. Already on May 21, the temple was visited by the first visitors. From that time, work began on the completion of the fund.
Museum called "Pokrovsky Cathedral" in 1928 turned into a branch of the Historical Museum. A year later, the temple was officially closed for worship and all the bells were removed. In the 30s of the last century, rumors spread that they were planning to demolish it. But he was still lucky to avoid such a fate. Despite the fact that restoration work has been carried out here for almost a century, the temple is always open to Muscovites and guests of the capital. For all the time the museum was closed only once, when the Great Patriotic War was going on.
After the end of the war, all measures were immediately taken to restore the cathedral, so by the day of the celebration of the 800th anniversary of the capital, the museum started working again. He gained wide popularity in the days of the Soviet Union. It should be noted that the museum was well known not only in the USSR, but also in many other countries. Since 1991, the temple has been in use by both the Orthodox Church and the State Historical Museum. After a long break, services have finally resumed here.
Childhood of a Saint
The future Moscow miracle worker Blessed Vasily was born at the very end of 1468. According to legend, this happened right on the porch of the Yelokhov Church, erected in honor of the Vladimir Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos. His parents were ordinary people. When he grew up, he was sent to studyshoemaking. Over time, his mentor began to notice that Vasily was not like all the other children.
An example of his eccentricity is the following case: once a merchant brought bread to Moscow and, seeing the workshop, went to order boots for himself. At the same time, he asked that he could not wear shoes for a year. Hearing these words, Blessed Basil wept and promised that the merchant would not even have time to wear down those boots. When the master, who did not understand anything, asked the boy why he thought so, the child explained to his teacher that the customer would not be able to put on the boots, as he would soon die. This prophecy came true just a few days later.
Recognition of holiness
When Vasily was 16 years old, he moved to Moscow. It was here that his thorny path as a holy fool began. According to eyewitnesses, Blessed Basil walked the streets of the capital barefoot and naked almost all year round, regardless of whether it was a bitter frost or a scorching summer heat.
It was not only his appearance that was considered strange, but also his actions. For example, passing by market stalls, he could spill a vessel filled with kvass, or overturn a counter with rolls. For this, Basil the Blessed was often beaten by angry merchants. Strange as it may sound, he always accepted beatings with joy and even thanked God for them. But as it turned out later, the spilled kvass was unusable, and the kalachi were badly baked. Over time, he was recognized not only as a denouncer of untruth, but as a man of God and a holy fool.
Here is another incident from the life of a saint. Once a merchant decided to build a stone church in Moscow, on Pokrovka. But for some reason, its arches collapsed three times. He came to St. Basil the Blessed to ask for advice on this matter. But he sent him to Kyiv, to poor John. Upon arrival in the city, the merchant found the person he needed in a poor hut. John sat and rocked the cradle, in which there was no one. The merchant asked him who he was pumping after all. To this, the wretched man answered him that he was lulling his mother to sleep for his birth and upbringing. Only then did the merchant remember his mother, whom he once kicked out of the house. It immediately became clear to him why he was unable to complete the church. Returning to Moscow, the merchant found his mother, asked her forgiveness and took her home. After that, he easily managed to complete the church.
Acts of a miracle worker
Blessed Basil always preached mercy to his neighbors and helped those who were ashamed to ask for alms, while needing help more than others. On this occasion, there is a description of one case when he gave all the royal things donated to him to a visiting foreign merchant, who, by chance, lost absolutely everything. The merchant had not eaten for several days, but could not ask for help, as he was wearing expensive clothes.
Basil the Blessed has always severely condemned those who gave alms out of selfish motives, and not out of compassion for poverty and misfortune. For the sake of saving his neighbors, he even went into taverns, where he consoled and tried to encourage the most degraded people, seeing in them grains of kindness. This fool is socleansed his soul with prayers and great deeds, that the gift of foresight was revealed to him. In 1547, the Blessed managed to predict a great fire that happened in Moscow, and with his prayer he put out the flames in Novgorod. Also, his contemporaries claimed that once Vasily reproached Tsar Ivan IV the Terrible himself, since during the service he was thinking about building his palace on Sparrow Hills.
The saint died on August 2, 1557. The then Moscow Metropolitan Macarius and his clergy performed the burial of Vasily. He was buried at the Trinity Church, where in 1555 they began to build the Intercession Church in memory of the conquest of the Kazan Khanate. 31 years later, on August 2, this saint was glorified by the Council, headed by Patriarch Job.
Contemporaries described him in much the same way, and they necessarily mentioned three features: he was extremely thin, wore a minimum of clothes and always had a staff in his hand. This is how St. Basil the Blessed appears before us. Photos of icons and paintings with his image are presented in this article.
The veneration of this holy wonderworker among the people was so great that the Intercession Cathedral began to be called his name. By the way, his chains are still preserved in the Theological Academy of the capital. Anyone who wants to admire a beautiful monument of medieval architecture can find it at: Moscow, Red Square, St. Basil's Cathedral.
