­One of Moscow’s landmark architectural marvels Saint Basil the Blessed Cathedral, also known as Pokrovsky Cathedral, on Moscow’s Red Square, is celebrating its 450th anniversary on July 12.

It was on this day in 1561 that the construction of the church was finally completed. The beautiful building was constructed between 1554 and 1561 by Tsar Ivan IV the Terrible to embody the military victories over the khanates of Kazan and Astrakhan in stone. Historical documents and archives give different accounts of what was there in the southern part of today’s Red Square before St. Basil’s. Some documents say there was a church made of wood while some recall a church of stone.

The church was dedicated to the protection and intercession of the Virgin. However, its present name stuck due to the Russian holy fool Vasily Blazhenny (Basil the Blessed) who was buried in the church vaults during the reign of Tsar Fyodor I. This Russian saint, canonized around 1580, used to commit small thefts for the sake of the poor. He rigidly criticized Tsar Ivan IV for his violence against the innocent. When Blazhenny died in 1552 or 1557, despite the criticism, Ivan the Terrible himself carried his coffin to the cemetery.

Saint Basil the Blessed Cathedral, Moscow (RIA Novosti / STF)

­
The church was designed by two architects, Posnik and Barma. However, historians united in the opinion that these two may in fact have been one person. Popular legend says that Ivan the Terrible ordered the creators of Moscow’s marvel to be blinded so that they (or he) could never create anything similar or equal elsewhere. This legend was subsequently proved false.

Starting from 1929, during the Soviet period in Russian history, St. Basil’s was no longer operating as a church, but was made a museum as a part of Moscow’s Historical Museum. After the revolution of 1917 the cathedral was among the first architectural monuments to be taken under state security. Divine services were reintroduced within the cathedral’s premises after its complete reconstruction and restoration of its frescos, interior and exterior decoration and ornaments. In 1990, Saint Basil’s Cathedral was included on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

To mark the cathedral’s anniversary, GUM shopping mall on Red Square is opening a photo-display. Some 40 works of the Historical Museum’s photographer Georgy Sapozhnikov that entered this project aim to reveal the sophisticated architectural details of the cathedral that cannot be seen at first sight.

The Interior of Saint Basil the Blessed Cathedral in Moscow (RIA Novosti / STF)

­
The bell ringing that was meant to crown the festivities of Saint Basil’s 450th anniversary was cancelled in accordance with the mourning for the victims of the “Bulgaria” cruise ship accident on the Volga River that is believed to have claimed some 130 lives.

Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia has held a divine service at Saint Basil the Blessed Cathedral on Tuesday having underlined the church is not just an outstanding monument of medieval architecture and culture, but also a living testimony of the everlasting Russian spirit and Russian Orthodox Church.