Cathedral of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos on the Moat (St. Basil's Cathedral). Intercession Cathedral (St. Basil's Cathedral)

One of the most striking, majestic and mysterious architectural monuments of the capital is Vasily the Blessed. Back in the 16th century, wanderers and visiting people visiting this cathedral were forever fascinated by its stateliness and beauty. But there are still several legends in the world about who built the St. Basil's Cathedral.

History of St. Basil's Cathedral

The construction of the cathedral, and this is what the people call it, began in 1555. And in just 6 years, the builders erected a palace of unprecedented beauty from stone. The order on the foundation of the temple came from the Tsar of All Russia Ivan the Terrible in honor of the victory won by the Russian troops over the Kazan Khan. This event happened on one of the Orthodox holidays - the Protection of the Most Holy Theotokos, therefore this cathedral is often called the Temple of the Intercession of the Mother of God.

The history of St. Basil's Cathedral is still mysterious and unclear.

Legend one

The temple was built by an architect, whose real name is Postnik Yakovlev. He received such a nickname for the fact that he fasted carefully and for a long time. He was one of the most skilled craftsmen in Pskov. Later he was sent to Kazan to lead the construction of the stone city. An interesting parable tells about the collection of money for the construction of a parish. Vasily the Blessed lived and begged in Moscow. He threw the collected coins over his right shoulder in one place, and no one dared to take at least one. Over time, when there was enough money, Vasily gave it to Ivan the Terrible.

But the facts show that this is just a beautiful fairy tale, since the holy fool died even before it was decided to build the cathedral. Nevertheless, it was at the site of the building that Vasily the Blessed was buried.

The second legend

Two masters conjured over the construction of the cathedral - Postnik and Barma. Legend has it that as soon as Ivan the Terrible saw the constructed building, he was amazed at its uniqueness and ensemble. To prevent the architects from repeating such beauty, the tsar ordered the architects to gouge out their eyes. But this version does not find confirmation, since the name of Postnik is found in later chronicles. It turns out that the master could be engaged in the construction of other buildings.

The third legend

The most realistic version is the following: the temple was erected under the guidance of an architect who came from Western Europe. An unusual style in which patterns of Russian and Western European architecture are intertwined is considered to be proof of this fact. But this version has not been officially confirmed anywhere.

Throughout its long history, the temple could be destroyed or ruined. But always some miracle saved this pride of Russia.

In the 18th century, during a fire in Moscow, the building was engulfed in flames, but courageous Muscovites saved the temple as best they could. As a result, the structure was damaged, but survived. Later, it was recreated in almost the same form as before the conflagration.

In the 19th century, when Napoleon entered the Russian capital, horse sheds were built in the cathedral. Later, when leaving Moscow, the emperor, in a rage, ordered not to leave even a stone in this cathedral. The remarkable structure was to be blown up. And again the heroic Muscovites and the Lord God helped to defend the temple. When French soldiers started lighting the fuses that went to the barrels of gunpowder, people began to put out the fire at the cost of their lives. And then the rain came to their aid. The rain poured in with such overwhelming force that it extinguished all sparks.

Already in the 20th century, Kaganovich, showing the layout of the renovation and reconstruction of Red Square to Joseph Stalin, removed the figurine of the temple, deciding to demolish it forever. But the supreme commander-in-chief said menacingly: "Lazarus, put it in place!"

In 1936, during the construction of highways, it was decided to destroy the temple, as it obstructed traffic. But the Moscow restorer Baranovsky came to his defense. The Kremlin received a telegram from him: "If you decide to blow up the temple, blow it up with me!"

In appearance, this picturesque building is an ensemble of churches. In the very center stands the Intercession Church, the tallest among all. There are 8 more side-chapels around it. Each temple is crowned with a dome. If you look at the cathedral from a bird's eye view, this building is a five-pointed star. It is a symbol of heavenly Jerusalem.

Each church is inherently unique and inimitable. They received their names from the names of the holidays, which were the decisive battles for Kazan.

• In honor of the feast of the Trinity.
• Nicholas the Wonderworker (in honor of the Velikoretsky image).
• Palm Sunday, or the Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem.
• Martyrs Cyprian and Ustina. Later Adrian and Natalia.
• Saints Paul, Alexander and John of Constantinople - until the 18th century, then John the Merciful.
• Alexander Svirsky.
• Varlaam Khutynsky;
• Gregory of Armenian.

Later, another side-chapel was added in honor of the holy fool Basil the Blessed.

Each dome has its own various decorations - kokoshniks, cornices, windows and niches. All churches are connected by ceilings and vaults.

A special place is given to paintings that depict portraits of eminent persons and colorful landscape sketches. Anyone can feel the atmosphere of the times of Ivan the Terrible, if they carefully study the church utensils of that time.

At the very bottom is the basement, which forms the base of the cathedral. It consists of separate rooms in which the treasury used to be hidden, and the rich townspeople brought their acquired goods here.

It is impossible to tell about the beauty of this temple. In order to fall in love with this place forever, you must definitely visit it. Then pride will appear in the heart of any person that this unique and mysterious cathedral is located in Russia. It doesn't matter who built the St. Basil's Cathedral, this is a fantastic and stunningly beautiful symbol of our Motherland.

First, in 1554, a wooden Church of the Intercession with seven chapels was built next to the walls, and in 1555 a stone cathedral of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos was laid - 9 churches on a single basement. Five of them were consecrated in the name of saints and Orthodox holidays, during which the most important events of the Kazan campaign took place.

The chronicles call the builders of this architectural miracle the Russian architects Postnik and Barma. There is even a version that this is one person. But historians believe that the construction of the Pokrovsky Cathedral was not without the participation of Western European masters.

30 years later, another small temple was added to the ensemble in honor of the Moscow holy fool - St. Basil the Blessed. He gave the popular name to the entire cathedral. But this did not happen immediately, but only at the end of the 17th century.

At first, the new church was not connected to the basement of the cathedral and was the only one of all heated. Therefore, services in it were held all year round, and in the other churches of the cathedral - only in the warm season (from Trinity to Intercession). Over time, the people began to say that they were going to serve in the Church of St. Basil the Blessed, while they were going to St. Basil's Church. So gradually they began to call the entire structure a temple in the name of the glorified saint.

Until the 17th century, the cathedral was also called Trinity, since the first wooden church on this site was dedicated to the Holy Trinity. The Intercession Cathedral was also known as "Jerusalem", which is associated with the rite of "procession on a donkey", which symbolized the entry of Jesus Christ into Jerusalem on a donkey.

This rite was first mentioned in the 16th century. It did not stop even in 1611, when it was occupied by the Polish invaders. The ceremony took place according to a strict ritual. First, the patriarch addressed the tsar with a special invitation speech, and after Matins the tsar went out to. Boyars, okolnichy and other courtiers accompanied him. The procession began with the participation of up to 300 priests and up to 200 deacons. The Tsar and the Patriarch entered the side-chapel of the Entrance to Jerusalem of the Intercession Cathedral and performed prayer there.

The icons of John the Baptist and Nicholas the Wonderworker were also installed with a lectern with the Gospel, and the path from to Execution site was covered with red clothes or cloth. Not far from Execution Ground there was a horse, covered with a white blanket with long ears sewn to it - the symbol of a "donkey" - and an elegant willow. Verba was decorated with raisins, walnuts, dates, apples.

At the end of the prayer, the patriarch climbed up and handed the king a palm branch and pussy willow branches. The archdeacon, facing the west, read the Gospel, and with the words "and two ambassadors from the disciple," the cathedral archpriest and the clerk went after the donkeys. The patriarch, holding the Gospel and the cross, sat on the donkey. The horse was led by the tsar himself, before whom the stewards carried the tsar's rod, the tsar's willow, the tsar's candle and the tsar's towel.

When the procession entered the Spassky Gate, the Kremlin churches rang all the bells. And the ringing continued until the procession entered the Assumption Cathedral. The Gospel was being read in the cathedral. The tsar went to one of the house churches, and the patriarch completed the liturgy. After that, the patriarch blessed the willow, the clergymen cut off the branches for the altar, the royal family and boyars. The remains of pussy willow and decorations were distributed among the people.

The unconditional symbol of Moscow, the Intercession Cathedral was still a completely uncharacteristic structure for Russian architecture.

The height of St. Basil's Cathedral is 61 meters (this is very high for the 16th century). The churches were built of bricks, a material still unusual for that time, and were even painted “like bricks”, which gives the cathedral such a “gingerbread” character. But, probably, at first the Intercession Cathedral was not the same as it is now, and its palette was limited only to white and brick colors. But still, he was so handsome that even foreigners were impressed.

But over time, the cathedral was dilapidated, and wooden buildings appeared at its walls. And when Alexander I, during a visit to England, was shown an image of the cathedral without extensions, he said that he would like to have the same in Moscow. The Tsar was told that the Cathedral of St. Basil the Blessed has been decorating Red Square for almost 300 years. After that, he ordered to demolish the houses and shops surrounding the cathedral. And in 1817 in their place were built walls, faced with wild stone. So the cathedral appeared to be on a high terrace.

The cathedral has 11 domes, and none of them is repeated.

Nine domes over the churches of the second tier (according to the number of thrones), one over the lower church of St. Basil the Blessed and one over the bell tower:
1. Protection of the Virgin (central),
2. Holy Trinity (eastern),
3. Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem (western),
4. Gregory of Armenian (northwestern),
5. Alexander Svirsky (southeast),
6. Varlaam Khutynsky (southwestern),
7. Three Patriarchs of Constantinople (northeastern),
8. Nicholas the Wonderworker Velikoretsky (southern),
9. Cyprian and Justina (northern).
All 9 churches are united by a common base, a bypass gallery and internal vaulted passages.

It is known that earlier the premises of the basement were inaccessible to parishioners, and deep niches-hiding places in it were used as storage facilities. They were closed with doors, of which only hinges remained. Until 1595, the royal treasury was hidden in the basement of the Intercession Cathedral. Well-to-do townspeople also brought their property here. We got into the basement along a white stone staircase from the central church of the Intercession of the Virgin. And only the initiated knew about her. Later, this narrow passage was laid, but during the restoration of the 1930s it was opened.

Now St. Basil's Cathedral is inside - a system of labyrinths, the walls of which are covered with frescoes. Narrow internal passages and wide areas create the impression of a “city of churches”.

In 1918, the Pokrovsky Cathedral became one of the first cultural monuments taken under state protection. But in the post-revolutionary years, he was in a disastrous situation: the roof was leaking, the windows were broken, and in winter there was snow inside the churches. And on May 21, 1923, a museum was opened in the cathedral.

The acquisition of funds began, and in 5 years the Intercession Cathedral became a branch. In 1929, St. Basil's Cathedral was finally closed for divine services, and the bells were removed for melting. But the museum was closed only once - during the Great Patriotic War. And this is despite the constant restorations that have been going on in churches for almost 100 years.

In 1991, the Intercession Cathedral was given to the joint use of the museum and the Russian Orthodox Church. Divine services were resumed in the church after a long break. Now they are held every Sunday in the Church of St. Basil the Blessed, and on October 14, on the feast of the Intercession of the Virgin, in the central church.

In the main church of the cathedral there is an iconostasis from the Kremlin church of the Chernigov miracle workers, dismantled in 1770, and in the aisle of the Lord's Entry into Jerusalem there is an iconostasis from the Kremlin Cathedral of Alexander Nevsky, dismantled at the same time.

St. Basil's Cathedral is known all over the world, and his photo is even included in the list of system wallpapers on the desktop of the Windows 7 operating system.

And the mystics call the temple of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos "an icon engraved in stone." Its shape - 8 churches united by two squares at the base around the central ninth - is not accidental. The number 8 symbolizes the date of the Resurrection of Christ. The circle is a symbol of infinity and harmony of divine creation. The squares symbolize the 4 cardinal points, the 4 main gates of Jerusalem and the 4 evangelists. In addition, you can see how the squares rotated at an angle of 45 degrees at the base of the cathedral form an eight-pointed star, reminiscent of the Star of Bethlehem on the day of Christ's birth. And the very system of labyrinths inside the cathedral becomes the embodiment of the streets of the Heavenly City, which begins and ends with a chapel-church.

Contrary to popular belief, the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood in St. Petersburg, although visually similar to the Intercession Cathedral, is not a copy of it. St. Petersburg Cathedral is one temple with several domes and a bell tower. And the Cathedral of St. Basil the Blessed - several independent churches on a single basis. There are no such cathedrals anywhere in the world.

They say that... ... during the construction of the Intercession Cathedral, Barma and Postnik did not use drawings, but relied on a diagram drawn right on the construction site. But the architects used a life-size wooden model of the temple, therefore, during the restoration, wooden structures were found in the brickwork. This is the full-scale model of the cathedral.
... the holy fool Vasily lived in Moscow in the 16th century. He possessed the gift of a clairvoyant, and even Ivan IV himself revered Basil. The king allowed him unheard-of insolence. For example, once Ivan IV invited the holy fool to the palace, wishing to hear some prediction, and ordered to serve him a glass of wine. Several times Vasily threw a filled glass through the window, and when the king angrily asked what he was doing, the holy fool replied that he was extinguishing a fire in Novgorod. And soon news of the fire really arrived in Moscow. Perhaps that is why, after the death of Basil the Blessed, Ivan IV himself volunteered to carry his body to the cemetery.
... once some rich man gave Basil the Blessed a fur coat. A gang of thieves noticed her and sent a rascal to him, who said to the holy fool in a mournful voice:
- My comrade is dead. And we were so poor with him that we have nothing to cover him with. Give the fur coat to God's cause, holy man.
- Take it, - said Vasily, - and let everything be as you told me.
When the swindler came up with a fur coat to the one who, pretending to be dead, was lying on the ground, he saw that he had in fact given God his soul.
... Ivan IV ordered to blind the architects of St. Basil's Cathedral so that they would never create anything like this again. But it is known that the allegedly blinded Postnik later participated in the construction of the Kazan Kremlin. Therefore, in fact, this is just a legend, supplementing the image of the formidable tsar and sung by the Soviet poet D. Kedrin in the poem "Architects".
... Napoleon, leaving Moscow, wanted to take this miracle with him, but could not. Then he ordered to blow up the Cathedral of the Intercession so that no one would get it. According to one legend, a sudden onset of rain extinguished the fuses. According to another, an explosion broke out, and the temple remained unshakable.
... in the 1930s L.M. Kaganovich proposed to demolish the temple in order to clear a place for demonstrations and car traffic. He even made a model and brought it to Stalin, where, with the words: "And if it were - p-times! ..." He removed the temple in one jerk.
Stalin replied: "Lazar, put it back! .."
They also say that Pyotr Baranovsky at a meeting of the Central Committee knelt down, begging to preserve the religious building. And that saved the temple.
... there is another urban legend about the construction of the cathedral and Blessed Vasily of Moscow, recorded in 1924 by the folklorist Yevgeny Baranov.
“This church was built, it is true, Ivan the Terrible, but it was not he who started it. And then there was one such fool in Moscow - Vasily the Blessed. It was from him that this cathedral began, and Ivan the Terrible came to the ready. Well, really, he did not spare his money.
And this foolish little one wore the same shirt and barefoot all winter and summer ... And he collected money. And he collected it like this: he will come to the market, raise the floor and stand, but he is silent ... Well, people know: they will start putting in the hem - who is a nickel, who is a penny, who can how much. And as soon as he gets a full floor, he now runs to Red Square, where Vasily the Blessed is now standing. He will come running and start throwing money over his right shoulder. And they fall - a penny to a penny, a penny to a penny, three kopecks to three kopecks. They themselves fell in order. And there were many such heaps of money. And no one touched them, and the thieves did not touch them. Everyone looked, but he was afraid to take.
And that is why they were afraid to take this money: since such a man was found - give, he says, I will take some money. Came at night, stuffed his pockets. And here there were both silver and gold money. Well, he put it in his pocket, he wants to go, but his legs don't go. He and so, he and that - do not go, even though you want to do. Exactly who would have nailed them to the ground with nails. Thief and scared. Thinks: "I'll throw away the money." And money doesn't come out of your pocket. He was tormented, tormented, his business is not going well. Yes, he stood all night. And then morning. Well, the people see: a man is worth the Vasilyevs' money.
- What are you doing here?
“But, he says, God punished me for stealing. - And he told what misfortune befell him.
And Vasily the Holy Fool is not here, he has already run to the bazaar as soon as possible. Well, people look at that thief and are surprised ... They waited, waited for Vasily. Well, come running, let's throw the money over your shoulder. And here - the king. But Vasily did not understand this: the tsar and the tsar, and only he does his job. So he left all the money, looked at this thief, shook his finger at him. And then the thief was released. He quickly threw the money out of his pockets, wanted to leave. Only the king says:
- Put this scoundrel on a stake so that he does not steal holy money!
Well, they put him in jail. Shouted, shouted and died ...
And what Vasily collected money for - no one knew. And for a long time he collected them. And he himself has become old. Once the people see it: Vasily is digging a hole in the very place where he threw money. And what is this pit for him, nobody knows. The people gathered, looked, and he was digging everything. Here he dug a hole, lay down beside it and folded his arms over his chest.
- What is it? - the people think.
Yes, here one person explained:
- Why, he says, Vasily was going to die.
Now they ran and said to the king:
- Basil the Blessed is dying.
Here the tsar quickly got ready, comes. Vasily points out the money to the tsar and points to his pocket. Say, take this money. And he died here. So the king ordered all this money to be put into bags, put on a cart and taken to the palace.
And he buried Vasily in that place. And after that he ordered to build the Church of St. Basil the Blessed in the same place. Well, he did not spare his money either.

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 in the 16th century by order of Tsar Ivan IV the Terrible. Almost every person in the country knows that it is 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 began to be called, bore the name Basil the Blessed. The story of his life, deeds and death is no less interesting than the story of the construction of the cathedral.

Creator Versions

(a photo of it 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 real creator of this architectural monument. Let's consider only three main options. The first of them is the 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.

The latest version is supported by the fact that most of the Kremlin buildings were built by immigrants from this particular country. The unique style in which the Cathedral of St. Basil the Blessed was created (photos show it perfectly), 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 deprived of their sight on the orders of Ivan the Terrible - with the aim that they could never build anything similar again. But there is one problem. If the author of the temple is still Postnik Yakovlev, then they could not blind him in any way. Just a few years later, he also worked on the creation of the Kremlin in Kazan.

Temple structure

The cathedral has only 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 structure. It was built in honor of the Protection of the Mother of God and ends with a tent with a small dome. The rest of the domes of St. Basil the Blessed 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 connected by vaulted internal passages and a bypass gallery, which was originally open.

In 1558, a side-altar 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 in the place where the relics of this saint were previously located. Also, his name gave the cathedral a second name. Approximately 20 years later, the temple acquired its own hipped bell tower.

Ground floor - basement

I must say 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 one 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 construction 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. There are narrow openings in the walls of this room, called vents. Thanks to them, a special microclimate is created here, which remains unchanged throughout the year.

Once upon a time, all the premises of the basement were inaccessible to parishioners. These deep niche caches were used as storage facilities. Previously, they were closed by doors. But now only loops remain of them. Until 1595, the royal treasury and the most valuable property of wealthy citizens were kept in the basement.

To get into these previously secret rooms of St. Basil's Cathedral in Moscow, one had to walk up a white-stone staircase inside the wall, which only the initiates knew about. Later, as unnecessary, this move was laid 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 cresting vault with a small light drum topped with a dome. The very covering of this temple 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 added in 1588 right above the burial 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 was its decoration finally restored. The memory of St. Basil the Blessed is honored on August 15. It was this date in 1997 that was the starting date for the resumption of services in his church. Nowadays, over the very burial 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.

Decoration of the church

It must be admitted that it is impossible in one article to reproduce in words all the beauties 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.

Her oil painting was timed to coincide with the 350th anniversary of the beginning of the construction of the cathedral. Vasily the Blessed is depicted on the southern and northern walls. Pictures from his life represent episodes about the miracle with a fur coat and salvation 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 painted on a metal surface. This masterpiece was painted in 1904.

The western wall is decorated with a temple image of the Protection of the Most Holy Theotokos. The upper tier contains images of saints who patronize the royal house. This is the martyr Irina, John the Baptist, and Theodore Stratilat.

The sails of the vault are occupied with the image of the Evangelists, the crosshairs are with the Savior Not Made by Hands, John the Forerunner and the Mother of God, the drum is decorated with the figures of the forefathers, and the dome is decorated with the Almighty Savior.

As for the iconostasis, it was made according to the project of A.M. Pavlinov in 1895, and the painting of the icons was supervised by the famous Moscow restorer and icon painter Osip Chirikov. His original autograph is preserved on one of the icons. In addition, the iconostasis also has more ancient images. The first is the icon "The Mother of God 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 background of Red Square and the Kremlin. The latter dates back to the 18th century.

Bell tower

In the middle of the 17th century, the previously built belfry was in a terrible state. Therefore, it was decided to change it to a bell tower in the 80s of the same century. By the way, it is still standing. The base for the bell tower is a high and massive quadrangle. On top of it, a more graceful and delicate octagon is 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 octahedral rather high tent with ribs, decorated with multicolored tiles with blue, white, brown and yellow glaze. Its edges are covered with green curly tiles and small windows, which, when the bells ring, can significantly enhance 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 the arched openings, bells are suspended, which were cast in the 17th-19th centuries by famous Russian craftsmen.

Museum

The Intercession Cathedral in 1918 was recognized by the Soviet government as a historical architectural monument of not only national but also international significance and was taken under state protection. It was then that they began to consider it a museum. Its first superintendent was Ioann Kuznetsov (archpriest). I must say that after the revolution, the temple was, without exaggeration, in a very disastrous situation: almost all the glass was broken, the roof was full of holes in many places, and in winter there were snowdrifts right inside the premises.

Five years later, it was decided to create a historical and architectural complex on the basis of the cathedral. Its first head was EI Silin, a researcher at the Moscow Historical Museum. Already on May 21, the first visitors examined the temple. Since that time, work began on staffing the fund.

In 1928, the museum called "Pokrovsky Cathedral" became 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 enough to avoid such a fate. Despite the fact that for almost a century, the temple is always open for Muscovites and guests of the capital. For the entire 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 back 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.

Saint's childhood

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 Yelokhovsky 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 study shoemaking. Over time, his mentor began to notice that Vasily was not like all the other children.

An example of his originality is the following case: once a merchant brought bread to Moscow and, seeing a workshop, went to order his boots. At the same time, he asked that he could not wear shoes for a year. Hearing these words, Blessed Basil burst into tears and promised that the merchant would not even have time to wear off these 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 in just a few days.

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 there was a fierce bitter frost or a scorching summer heat.

It was considered strange not only his but also his actions. For example, walking past 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. As strange as it sounds, he always gladly accepted the beatings and even thanked God for them. But as it turned out later, the spilled kvass was unusable, and the rolls were poorly baked. Over time, he was recognized not only as an accuser of unrighteousness, but also as a man of God and a 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 vaults collapsed three times. He came to St. Basil the Blessed to seek advice on this matter. But he sent him to Kiev, to the poor John. Upon arrival in the city, the merchant found the man he needed in a poor house. John sat and rocked the cradle, in which there was no one. The merchant asked him whom he still pumps. He told him that he was lulling his mother to sleep for his birth and upbringing. Only then did the merchant remember his mother, whom he had once driven out of the house. It immediately became clear to him why he was unable to finish building the church. Returning to Moscow, the merchant found his mother, asked her forgiveness and took her home. After that, he easily managed to finish building the church.

The works of the miracle worker

Blessed Basil always preached mercy to 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 presented to him to a visiting foreign merchant, who, by chance, lost absolutely everything. The merchant had not eaten anything for several days, but could not ask for help, since he was wearing expensive clothes.

Basil the Blessed 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 to taverns, where he consoled and tried to cheer up the most desolate people, seeing in them the seeds of kindness. he purified his soul so much with prayers and great deeds that the gift of foresight was revealed to him. In 1547, the Blessed One was able to predict the great fire that happened in Moscow, and with his prayer he extinguished the flame in Novgorod. Also, his contemporaries argued that once Vasily reproached Tsar Ivan IV the Terrible himself, since during the divine service he was thinking about building his palace on Vorobyovy Hills.

The saint died on August 2, 1557. The then Moscow Metropolitan Macarius and his clergy performed the burial of Basil. 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 2 August, this saint was glorified by a Council headed by Patriarch Job.

Contemporaries described him in about 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 exactly how Vasily the Blessed appears before us. Photos of icons and paintings with his image are presented in this article.

The veneration of this holy miracle worker among the people was so great that the Cathedral of the Intercession began to be called his name. By the way, his chains are still being preserved at the Theological Academy of the capital. Anyone who wants to admire a beautiful monument of medieval architecture can find it at the address: St. Basil's Cathedral.

Cathedral of the Intercession of the Virgin, which is on the moat - this is the name of this temple on Red Square. But among the people it is more often called St. Basil's Cathedral. There are also those who remember the name Trinity Cathedral, which existed in the 16th century. This temple, 65 meters high, closes the perspective of Bolshaya Dmitrovka. And before the construction of high buildings in Moscow at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, the cathedral was seen in the perspective of large sections of Pokrovka, Tverskaya, Myasnitskaya, Petrovka. It was rightfully called the main temple of the Moscow posad.

The cathedral was built in 1555-1561 next to the Kremlin moat. One can say, on the edge of the ditch, hence its name - that on the ditch. The customer for the construction of the cathedral was Tsar Ivan the Terrible. The cathedral was built as a memory of the capture of the capital of the Kazan Khanate, the city of Kazan. The siege of Kazan began on August 15, 1552 and ended with an assault on the Feast of the Intercession. It was decided to build a cathedral with 9 thrones, or 9 churches, in honor of those holidays, which were important moments of the siege and storming of the city.

The central, hipped-roofed temple is the Protection of the Virgin. Around him are churches: from the east - the Trinity, the western temple - the Entrance to Jerusalem, Nikola Velikoretsky, Cyprian and Justina (later rededicated in the name of Adrian and Natalia), Paul, Alexander and John of Constantinople (later - John the Merciful), Alexander Svirsky, Barlaam Khutynsky, Gregory of Armenian. Services in each of the churches were performed only on their patronal feasts. All churches, except for the central one, Pokrovskaya, are finished with colored patterned onion domes. They appeared at the end of the 16th century instead of the old helmet-shaped domes. All churches stand on a high basement that unites them, like on a pedestal. All churches have circular aisles. In the 16th century, the outer gallery around the temples was open, and the treatment of walls at the gallery level for all churches looked like a wide strip of arches and cornices, visually uniting the entire building. Today, this wall treatment can be seen in the interior of the gallery, at the southeast corner of the cathedral. Due to the Moscow climatic conditions, in the middle of the 17th century, the gallery was covered with vaults, and stone tents were erected over the porches. At the same time, for the first time, bright decorative paintings appeared on the facades of the cathedral. A little earlier, in the 1670s, a hipped-roof bell tower was built instead of the belfry.

In 1588, a low one-domed church was added to the north-western part of the gallery over the grave of St. Basil the Blessed (1469 - 1552). During his lifetime, Vasily was famous as a holy fool and a seer. During the funeral, the coffin of Vasily was carried by Ivan the Terrible himself with the boyars, and the funeral service was performed by Metropolitan Macarius. Over time, Vasily became one of the Moscow saints beloved by the people. The service in the Vasilievskaya church was performed daily, and therefore the entire cathedral was called St. Basil's Cathedral.

At the beginning of the 18th century, there were already 18 thrones in the Intercession Cathedral. New thrones were consecrated in the premises of the basement.

By the beginning of the 19th century, there were long trade rows of small shops, taverns and taverns around the cathedral, separating it from Red Square. During the restoration of the city after a fire in 1812, it was decided to clear the territory, and in 1817 the architect Osip Bove built a retaining wall from the west, south and east. The cathedral received a wrought-iron fence that has survived to this day.

It is believed that the cathedral was built by the masters Barma and Postnik. Some researchers believe that it was one person, Postnik Yakovlev, nicknamed Barma. Other buildings of Postnik Yakovlev are also known, created by him after the construction of the cathedral. But none of them bears resemblance to the Intercession Cathedral either in details or in technology. In the architecture of the cathedral there are many architectural forms that only a person who worked and studied in Western Europe could create. But such a person is not yet known to us.

In 1923, it was decided to create a museum in the cathedral. Services in the Church of St. Basil the Blessed continued until 1929. The last rector of the cathedral, Fr. John Vostorgov, was shot by a court sentence in 1918, and in 2000 he was canonized. Since 1991, the cathedral has been in the joint use of the museum and the Orthodox Church.

Since 1931, a monument to Minin and Pozharsky (1818, sculptor Ivan Martos) has been standing in the fence of the cathedral. The monument was moved to the cathedral from the middle of Red Square, where it began to interfere with parades and mass demonstrations that were held twice a year, on May 1 and November 7.

Not far from the Kremlin's Spasskaya Tower, in the very heart, is the world-famous St. Basil's Cathedral. It has several more names: the Cathedral of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos on the Moat, as well as the Intercession Cathedral. Until the beginning of the 17th century, this monument of Russian architecture had the name Troitsky, since an old wooden church was built in honor of the Holy Trinity. Let's take a short excursion into history and find out who built the St. Basil's Cathedral and where, in fact, this cathedral is located.

History of the creation of St. Basil's Cathedral

In 1552, on the Day of the Protection of the Mother of God, Russian soldiers began the assault on Kazan, which, as you know, ended in victory over the Golden Horde. In honor of her, Tsar Ivan the Terrible ordered to build a cathedral that would immortalize such a joyful event.

The construction of the stone church of St. Basil the Blessed on Red Square began two years later on the site where the Trinity Church of wood used to be, and where, according to legend, the holy fool was buried, after whom the cathedral was named. Legend has it that Basil the Blessed personally collected money for this Temple, but no one knows whether it was so or not. After all, the exact date of the death of the holy fool has not been established. And nevertheless, Fyodor, the son of Ivan the Terrible, ordered the creation of the chapel of St. Basil the Blessed in the Intercession Church, where his relics were placed.

The Cathedral of the Intercession was under construction for six years. The author of the main idea of \u200b\u200bthe temple is Metropolitan Macarius, and two architects, Barma and Postnik, implemented it. Another version of this says that the Pskov artisan, nicknamed Barma, built the Intercession Cathedral. Another legend says that Ivan the Terrible was delighted with the beautiful church and did not want to see such a beautiful cathedral built somewhere else. Therefore, he asked the architect if he could erect an equally beautiful building. The master boldly replied that he could do it, and then the king became angry and ordered to blind the architect.

St.Basil's Cathedral style

The building of the Intercession Cathedral is a structure consisting of a central tent and eight main towers located around it. In the plan, it is a figure consisting of two superposed squares, which together form an eight-pointed star, the symbol of the Most Holy Theotokos. Also, the number eight symbolizes the day when Jesus Christ was resurrected and is a reminder of the Star of Bethlehem, which showed the way to the newborn Christ. The combination of two squares is a symbol of the fact that the Gospel is extended to all cardinal points.

The building of the temple was erected from a new material at that time - brick. The decor elements, foundation and plinth were lined with white bricks. The tent of the central church is decorated with polychrome tiles and decorated with kokoshniks. The architectural design of the facade and interior in the cathedral has similar motives.

The temple, still unfinished in 1557, was consecrated by Metropolitan Macarius in the presence of Tsar Ivan the Terrible. For a long time, the Intercession Cathedral, located on Red Square, was.

During a terrible fire that happened in 1737, the Intercession Cathedral was seriously damaged, but then it was restored, and in the 17th century it was rebuilt again. At this time, the tent-roofed bell tower was merged with the temple itself. At this time, the cathedral was so colorful decorated, as we can observe it today. In its design, a beautiful ornamental fresco painting appeared on the arches and pillars of the galleries.

At the end of the last century in the Cathedral of St. Basil the Blessed, after a long break, an all-night vigil was held, and then a liturgy. Every year on the feast of the Intercession, a divine service is held here.