Saint Basil's Cathedral – Russia - Moscow

Saint Basil's Cathedral

Address : Red Square, Moskva, Russia, 109012

Local name : Храм Василия Блаженного

Architects : Postnik Yakovlev, Ivan Barma

To the east of the Savior's tower (Spasskaya Tower - Spasskaya bayashia), on the way down to Moskva (Moscow), on an oval artificial terrace, stands one of the most important masterpieces of the Muscovite Architecture: The Church of the Intercession of the Virgin on the Fosse, better known as Basil the Blessed. It is commonly called St. Basil since it houses the tomb of Basil the Blessed in a side chapel adjoined by Postnik Yakovlev in 1588, but this name is wrong because it does not take into account the difference for the Church between a saint and a blessed.

It was to celebrate the capture of Kazan by Russian troops that Tsar Ivan IV ordered the construction of a building which was originally to be surrounded by seven consecrated chapels, each to the saint whose feast corresponded to the events of the 20th century. most striking of the seat.

After the victory of 1552, a wooden church is raised on the market place near the Kremlin (Kreml) and in 1555-1560 it is replaced by a brick church built by Pskov architect Postnik Yakovlev, nicknamed the "city maker", and Jacques Baram. As the Brief Chronicle says, "contrary to the orders received," they conceived the church according to their own conception of symmetry. The work lasted a hundred and twenty-five years and the building underwent many changes: the stairs were covered, the landing topped with pointed roofs, the bulbs adorned with projecting motifs. A ninth oratory was erected on the tomb of a fool-in-Christ, Blessed Basil, whose name was imposed on the whole church.

In 1680, on the orders of Tsar Fedor III and Patriarch Joachim, all the old dilapidated wooden churches in Red Square were destroyed, but new chapels (up to twenty) were erected around the church. Intercession. It was then painted and covered with iron decorations and tiles as we see them today. With time, a large part of the chapels disappeared and, in 1783, there remained only eleven. In September 1918, the dean of the Church was shot, the property confiscated, all the bells merged and the Church closed. In the 1930s, Lazare Kaganovitch proposed to demolish the church of the Intercession to clear the square to facilitate traffic on the Red Square.

The church of the Intercession is today known as Basil the Blessed (Василий Блаженный). The latter was a Fol-in-Christ born, according to tradition, in 1469. He rallied around the age of sixteen to this form of spirituality very provocative. All his life, he lived naked and alms. After his death in 1552, he was buried next to the church of the Intercession and in 1588 he built a chapel on his tomb, where all those who sought the protection of the deceased came to pray.

In time, his glory and holiness eclipsed the memory of the capture of Kazan, and the church of the Intercession was, therefore, more and more often referred to as Basil the Blessed. Tsar Fedor I (Фёдор I Иоаннович) placed, above the relics of the body of the saint, a shrine of pure silver, covered with gilding and silks, on which was represented St. Basil, in an embroidery of precious stones and pearls. The Poles plundered the hunt in the early 17th century.

In 1929, the church was closed, its bells confiscated, and it became a museum. Religious services only restarted in 1991.

Today, the church is still a museum, but a religious service is celebrated there every year, October 14, according to the old calendar, October 1 in the new calendar, in memory of the taking of Kazan by Ivan the Terrible.

#History

The assumptions of the construction

The construction of the cathedral extended between 1555 and 1561, under the reign of Ivan IV, said Ivan the terrible in memory of taking Kazan and the victory over the Tatars of the Khanate of Kazan. Several hypotheses exist as to who was the architect. The most current version attributes the work to the architect Postnik Yakovlev of Pskov, nicknamed Barma. Another widely held assumption is that Postnik and Barma are two separate architects but have worked together. But according to the Review of Soviet Architecture, this hypothesis is currently outdated. Finally, it is possible that the architect of the cathedral is a Westerner whose name is lost (perhaps an Italian, since Italians built a large number of buildings of the Kremlin), which would explain the unique style combining the traditions architectural Russian and European Renaissance. But this version is not confirmed by any precise documentary source.

According to legend, in the face of such beauty, the Tsar ordered the eyes of architects Barma and Postnik to be removed so that they could not reproduce such a building. However, if Postnik was one of the authors of the cathedral, he was probably not blinded since he took part in the work of the Kazan Kremlin a few years later.

Renovations

As in many cities at that time, the structures of the Moscow buildings were made of wood. As a result, fires were frequent and harmed the cathedral. That is why at the end of the 16th century renovation work was undertaken. Over the span of more than four centuries of the monument's history, many similar works have been made, and have inevitably changed its appearance, each time adapting to the aesthetic ideals of the moment. For example, it was in 1583, following a fire, that the domes were replaced by the bulbs we know today. However, they were painted in many colors only in 1670.

In 1737, the name of the architect Ivan Michurin is mentioned for the first time in the documents of the cathedral. This one directed the work of the renovation of the architecture and the interiors of the cathedral after the fire "of Trinity" (Troitski) which occurred in 1737.

The following important repairs were carried out in the cathedral between 1784 and 1786 under the direction of the architect Ivan Iakovlev and ordered by Catherine II.

Between 1900 and 1912, the restoration of the building was carried out by the architect Sergei Soloviov.

In the 1920s, restoration and renovation works were directed by architects Nicolaï Koudrioukov and A. Jeliaboujski.

Architecture

The highest point of the building is 65 m. The cathedral is adorned with nine main domes (in keeping with the number of chapels) and another on the campanile, each distinguished by a form, ornaments and clean and vivid colors. The building itself is mostly built in red brick, often apparent. Originally the church was entirely white and its cupolas gilded, but the reconstruction work in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries completely changed and embellished its appearance.

The cathedral is oriented at right angles to the axis of the Red Square, which gives it an asymmetrical, even chaotic appearance in the photos. View from the west, however, we notice the symmetry of the construction, which is also found inside. The main, square-shaped church is surmounted by an octagon narrowing upwards and crowned by a golden dome. Four octagonal-shaped middle towers surround the main church in the direction of the four cardinal points. The four small towers are square and interspersed between the middle towers, giving the building an eight-pointed star shape.

The cathedral is actually made up of eight separate churches, each with a tower. The eight annex chapels symbolize eight battles during the capture of the Khanate of Kazan. Each of the chapels honors the holy day or the Russian saint representing the day of these victories:

Pentecost

In honor of Saint Nicolas of Myre

Palm Sunday

In honor of St. Natalya (in Russian: Святая Наталия)

Saint John the Chaplain

Alexander Svirski (in Russian: Александр Свирский)

Saint Varlaam of Khoutyne

Saint Gregory the Illuminator

Each of these eight chapels (four axial and four smaller between each axis) is crowned with a bulbous bell tower, surrounding a ninth, larger, which overhangs them. The latter adorns the central church, erected in praise of the Intercession of the Mother of God. All nine churches are united by the foundations, the side gallery (formerly not covered) and the vaulted interior passageways.

In 1588, to the north-east of the cathedral, was built a tenth chapel dedicated in honor of Basil the Blessed (1469-1552), who gave the second name of the cathedral. In this chapel is joined another honoring the Nativity of Mary, in which was buried, in 1589, Saint John of Moscow (in Russian: Иоанн Московский), a Fol-in-Christ (at the beginning, the chapel was consecrated in l honor of the Russian celebration of the deposition of his robe to the Blachernae, but it was reconsecrated in 1680). It is in the years 1670 that one built the campanile surmounted by a roof of pyramidal form.

The cathedral has been restored many times. In the seventeenth century was realized a monumental work on the decoration of the cathedral. While the church was entirely white and its cupolas gilded, begins the ingenious development of the multicolored decoration of the bulbs as well as the interior and exterior ornamental painting. In addition, the asymmetrical annexes and tents on the roof of the side steps were added.

The archpriest Ivan Vostorgov, last dean of the cathedral (before the October 1917 Revolution), was shot on August 23, 1919. The church was then made available to the renovationist communities.

Basements

The churches and galleries merge into a common infrastructure, the basement, which forms several rooms. The solid brick walls of the basement (up to 3 m thick) are covered by imposing vaults. The ceiling height is almost 6.5 m.

The northern structure of the basement is unique for a construction of the sixteenth century. Indeed, its vault basket handle, extended over a large length, is supported by any column. The walls are pierced with narrow openings serving as vents. The so-called "breathable" building material, which is brick, provides a privileged microclimate to the room at any season of the year.

In the past, basements were not accessible to parishioners, and deep niches were used as depots. They were closed by doors of which only the hinges remain today.

Until 1595, the basements of the cathedral protected the treasury of the Tsar and the wealthy Muscovites also brought their goods.

It was reached by a small white stone staircase in the central church of Notre-Dame. Only churchmen knew about it. This close access was later condemned. This secret staircase was rediscovered only during a restoration in 1930.

In the basement are exposed icons of the cathedral. The oldest of them is the icon "Saint-Basile-the-Blessed" dating from the late sixteenth century and made especially for this church. Two icons dating from the seventeenth century are also exhibited, "Intercession of the Mother of God" and "Our Lady of the Sign". The latter is a replica of the icon on the west facade of the cathedral.

The campanile

The current campanile was built in place of an old bell tower. Towards the second half of the 17th century, the old bell tower was disintegrated and was then out of order. It was in 1680 that it was replaced by the campanile which is still there today.

The campanile is composed of a massive cubic building, serving as a foundation for the building, on which stands an octagonal structure, hollowed out of a semicircular arch opening on each of its faces. Finally, the upper part of the campanile is an arrow with eight slopes. Each corner of the roof is decorated with multicolored white, yellow, blue and brown tiles. The slopes are covered with green cut tiles. On each of these slopes are three openings for, it is said, the amplification of the sound of the bells. At the top of the spire, on a small octagonal pedestal, is a bulb surmounted by an eight-pointed cross.

Inside the arches and the opening of the belfry is the belfry to which are suspended the bells cast by eminent Russian masters between the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries.

In 1990, after a long period of silence, the bells rang again.

More beautiful photos :

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