Thursday, December 27, 2007

The Domes of St Basil's, Moscow

On a frosty morning, St Basil's Cathedral reigns from across Moscow's Red Square. The cathedral almost has been destroyed several times during its 450-year history: Napoleon wanted to dismantle and rebuild it in France. Stalin’s advisors wanted to demolish it to enlarge Red Square for parades. Those two characters are long gone but St Basil’s continues to enthrall.


The cathedral was built to celebrate the military victory of Ivan the Terrible over invading Tartar Monguls. This architectural confection with its cupolas and color is meant to depict the New Jerusalem, described in the Bible. (Perhaps you had suspected? ;) )


Ice sculptors carved a replica of St Basil’s, their work displayed near the Kremlin, Moscow.(Photo credit: EnglishRussia.)


Say, should you be inspired to design something magnificent, consider investing in these wooden building blocks. They're not cheap. But then again, hasn't creativity always come with a pricetag? (Photo credit: Haba Corp.)

How about you? Ever been to Red Square and seen St Basil's? When and with whom?

2 comments:

Rose said...

Beautiful, great lighting and composition.
TR

Eileen said...

Neat, huh? Such a photogenic country, I must say. You sound like a real photographer yourself, Rose! Are you? =) Say, lots more photos of St Basils, Red Square and such at my webshots.com albums. Here's that address:

Photos of Russia and Lots More