St.Basil’s Cathedral
St. Basil’s cathedral is a true symbol of Moscow. It is included in the UNESCO World Heritage list .
For centuries it was a spiritual spot for big public religious celebrations . The Icons were taken out , and people walked around the church. It was a part of Russian Orthodox church tradition of celebrating important church festivals . Just to mention , that Red Square was always public market square .
It was there merchants brought their goods , it was there state important news were proclaimed from “lobnoe mesto” ( round platform on Red Square ) and it was the main place of all public Orthodox church celebrations.
It rises like a fairy-tail in stone on Red Square. It has very oriented look . Supposedly the shape of it was influenced by wooden Russian church architecture . But it was built from brick ( very expensive at that time material) on orders and money of Ivan the Terrible .
It was created between 1599 and 1561 by two masters Barma and Postnik, to celebrate the Ivan the Terrible’s capture of Kazan on 1 October 1552. the festival of the Intersession of the Mother of God . Hence, its official name is Intersession cathedral .
The Cathedral’s usual name comes from a side chapel where the highly respected God’s fool Vasiliy the Blessed was buried. He died while Kazan was under siege and was buried beside the Church which St. Basil’s soon replaced . He was shortly canonized. St. Basil’s cathedral is absolutely unique because on one base there are 10 separate churches . It h
as nine main chapels :the tall one , tent roofed one got the name of the Intersession because the main victory took place on that day , and two smaller ones . In one of it the relics of St. Basil’s were placed which you can visit .
It was patterned only in 1670s and got it’s present colourful amazing look .
Nowadays , it is open for visiting . You need a ticket to go inside .
109012 Moscow, Red Square
‘Okhotny Ryad’, ‘Teatralnaya’, ‘Ploschad Revolyutsii’, ‘Kitay-Gorod’ metro stations
June – August: 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. + Territory of St. Basil’s Cathedral open daily 9 a.m. – 7 p.m. during summer months
Because of church services in a feast day of St Basil the Blessed:
14th of August museum is opened from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm, last admission — 3:15 pm;
15th of August museum is opened from 1:00 pm to 6:00 pm, last admission — 5:15 pm.
November – April: 11 a.m. – 5 p.m.
May, September, October: 11 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Last admission: 45 minutes before closing
The first Wednesday of the month – day off
At temperatures below -15°С, the museum shortens opening hours.
During the school holidays (autumn, winter and spring), the museum’s opening hours are extended by 1 hour.
Entry ticket: 700 roubles
Entrance ticket with audioguide (English, French, Chinese, Spanish): 1200 RUB
