St. Basil's Cathedral
Riot of painted onion domes built to mark a tsar's military conquest, named for a barefoot holy fool.
Location
About this audio guide
This guide to St. Basil's Cathedral in Moscow starts with the legend everyone repeats about the tsar who commissioned it, then tests whether it holds up. It traces how Ivan the Terrible ordered the church built in the 1550s to mark his conquest of Kazan and Astrakhan, and follows the architect known as Postnik and Barma through the years of work he did afterward. Look up at the nine differently painted domes ringing the central tower as you listen.
This audio guide was created using AI.
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