Google Doodle celebrates 450th anniversary of St Basil’s Cathedral in Moscow
I haven’t noticed anyone else mentioning this today, so thought I’d pick up the slack.
The Google Doodle of the day is this:
This logo is to celebrate the 450th anniversary of the iconic Russian Orthodox St Basil’s Cathedral in Moscow.
Although it’s known to everyone as St. Basil’s, this legendary building is officially called “The Cathedral of the Intercession of the Virgin by the Moat”. The popular alternative refers to Basil the Blessed, a Muscovite ‘holy fool’ who was buried on the site (in the Trinity Cathedral that once stood here) a few years before the present building was erected.
The Cathedral was ordered by Ivan the Terrible to mark the 1552 capture of Kazan from Mongol forces. It was completed in 1560. That’s pretty much all the genuine history that’s known about this celebrated landmark. There, however, scores of legends. Nothing is known about the builders, Barma and Postnik Yakovlev, except their names and the dubious legend that Ivan had them blinded so that they could not create anything to compare. Historians unanimously state that this is nothing but urban folklore.
It’s nice to see Google celebrating Christianity…..
Tags: Church Life, Internet & Technology