Amazing Domes of St. Basil’s Under the Darkening Sky

The view from Basil’s Slope (Vasilievsky Spusk) on the most famous Moscow and Russia attraction, St. basil’s Cathedral on the Red Square. The beautiful church was built in the middle of 16th century (1555-1561) to commemorate Ivan the Terrible's successful military campaign against the Tartar Mongols in 1552 in the besieged city of Kazan. The victory came on the feast day of the Intercession of the Virgin, so the Tsar chose to name his new church the Cathedral of the Intercession of the Virgin on the Moat, after the moat that ran beside the Kremlin. The church was given the nickname "St. Basil's" after the "holy fool" Basil the Blessed (1468-1552), who was hugely popular at that time with the Muscovites masses and even with Ivan the Terrible himself.

Photo #402 taken on August 13, 2016 during Moscow by Night tour with my dear client from New Zealand, Raewyn Durant.