http://publicdomainclip-art.blogspot.com/2007/09/st-basils-cathedral-moscow-red-square.html

Moscow, Red Square, Intercession Cathedral (St. Basil\'s) as seen from the West. Author: Alexander Evstyugov-Babaev.
Of course, what would these photos be without some history? Think back a bit (or look back a few entries) to when we took a trip to Kazan. If you remember, in the 1500s Russia was under the control of the Golden Horde, which was part of the massive Mongolian Empire. During this time the city of Moscow rose to a position of power, and soon began to defy the Mongols by not paying further tribute to the Mongolian Khan, or king. Finally, the Russian army left Moscow and, under direction of Czar Ivan the Terrible, conquered Kazan, thereby freeing Russia from their Eastern overlords. On his return from Kazan, Ivan ordered a great cathedral to be built in commemoration of the victory. It was named in honor of Saint Basil, a barefooted monk who told Ivan that he would later murder his own son (which in fact happened). Basil died while Kazan was being conquered, and he was buried next to the cathedral. Though the roofs were originally plain, in the 1600s the now famous colorful patters were added.

The riot of color and shapes that is St. Basil\'s Cathedral is unmatched anywhere else in the world. The French diplomat Marquis de Custine commented that it combined \"the scales of a golden fish, the enamelled skin of a serpent, the changeful hues of the lizard, the glossy rose and azure of the pigeon\'s neck\" and wondered at \"the men who go to worship God in this box of confectionery work .\"

據說，為了讓這座教堂成為世上獨一無二的美麗教堂，教堂落成後，恐怖伊凡立即下令挖去義大利建築師Postnik Yakovlev 雙眼，以防他再建出類似或超越的作品。1612年，這裡成為向群眾說教與宣讀沙皇令的地方，同時也是行極刑的地方，俗稱斷頭台。其同時也是蘇聯情報系統的發揚者。這樣的建築美麗，是建築在戰爭、血腥、以及權力之上，這樣一個神聖、美麗、童話的地方，卻與權力、醜惡、血腥緊緊地結合在一起。（However, Yakovlev designed the chapel added to the edifice in 1588, four years after Ivan\'s death, and had therefore not been blinded.）

這座教堂最初被伊凡雷帝命名為護城河聖母升天教堂Cathedral of the Intercession of the Virgin  by the Moat ，主教座堂(Cathedral) 的拉丁原文(Cathedra)是“寶座”的意思。主教的寶座是他在教區訓導職及牧民權威的象徵，也是信友合一的記號，主教因此被稱為主羊群的牧人。因此，主教或總主教執行主禮，教誨，管理之寶座所在教堂，就成為全教區最重要的教堂。施工中挖開了幾座墓，其中有一具屍體竟然沒有腐爛，被認為是俄羅斯東正教的聖者St. Basil the Blessed (aka St. Basil Fool for Christ; 1468-1552)，曾鼓動人民趕走蒙古侵略者，他死後，伊凡雷帝還曾給他抬棺，見到他屍體不朽，人民便紛紛用他的名字稱呼教堂，教會最後把名字定為「瓦西裡-伯拉仁內」教堂，伯拉仁內就是多福的意思。

http://www.lclark.edu/~russkie/price/moscow1.htm

教堂大門前面的小花園中，有一座銅雕塑兩個穿著古代服飾的 米尼(Minin)和玻札爾斯基(Pozarsky)，兩位也是軍隊的指揮官和劊子手，於1612年將入侵的波斯軍隊加以逐退，1818年由伊凡‧馬托斯(Ivan  Martos)完成此作品，最初被放置在紅場中央，蘇聯政府認為該雕塑阻礙了閱兵儀式上軍隊的行進，於1936年將其移至教堂前。Historically and culturally, Russians are known for being somewhat xenophobic. This is not really surprising when considering there history, which has seen the country invaded and temporarily occupied by outside powers no less than four times in the last 500 years.