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St. Basil’s Cathedral

As legend has it, the builders of St. Basil’s Cathedral were blinded by the command of Ivan the Terrible, so they could never create a building greater. There is still the question if St. Basil’s is actually the most beautiful cathedral made in its time. Comparing it to the beautiful Pisa Cathedral and Assumption Cathedral, which were made around the same time, one could find it hard to decide which is the most artistic. Looking at the materials, art, and icons of cathedrals are ways to gauge how beautiful the building is. St. Basil’s Cathedral was the most beautiful cathedral made in its time.

Some words that would be helpful to know as these churches are being described, which will be quoted …show more content…
The Tsar wished to celebrate the invasion of the city of Kazan by erecting a spectacular building that would immortalize his memory; similarly, in Dyakovo, he commissioned the church of the Decapitation of

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St. John the Baptist to celebrate the birth of Ivan, his firstborn son who he would later murder” (Ciaga 148).

The architecture of St. Basil’s is amazing! St. Basil’s is 63,507.07 sq. ft. “The plan of the cathedral is formed by the intersection of two squares, one of which is rotated by 45 degrees: this creates a symmetrical structure made up of eight chapels, situated in each of the eight tips formed by the intersection and an octagonal central space. The idea was that within one complex structure there would be nine smaller churches” (Ciaga 150). The exterior is made out of white and crimson bricks and have seven onion topped domes painted various colors. The various heights of the towers were studied extremely carefully following a proportional system rotating the lesser and greater heights around the tallest tower, which is in the center.

The cathedral is painted with many colors. The domes are painted with green, yellow, red, blue, black, white, and gold colors. The domes are called onion topped domes because