Moscow – St Basil’s Cathedral

Although it is known by other formal and former names, St Basil’s Cathedral is known as such throughout the world and is the jewel in the crown of Moscow’s Red Square. It was commissioned by the dastardly Ivan the Terrible to commemorate the Russian conquest of Kazan and Astrakhan, and was built between 1555 & 1561. It is not known with 100% certainty who the architects were, but they are commonly considered to have been two in number, named Barma and Postnik. The building is unique in world architecture, with nothing similar in existence.

The story goes that Ivan invited the two architects to a meeting to discuss the next project and they duly arrived. However, upon their arrival, both architects were arrested and their eyes removed, to prevent them ever again designing the same or similar for anybody else. Hence, there are no replicas.

The building was confiscated by the communist rulers in the early part of the last century and it remains in the ownership of the Russian State to this day, acting as a museum which the public can visit.

Needless to say, MB maxed out his camera taking shots of it from various angles in Red Square, and also captured many shots internally during his visit. An amazing building and an extremely memorable experience for MB, to say the least.