St. Basils Cathedral free essay sample

Basil’s Cathedral As legend has it, the builders of St. Basil’s Cathedral were blinded by the command of Ivan the Terrible, so they could never create a building greater. There is still the question if St. Basil’s is actually the most beautiful cathedral made in its time. Comparing it to the beautiful Pisa Cathedral and Assumption Cathedral, which were made around the same time, one could find it hard to decide which is the most artistic. Looking at the materials, art, and icons of cathedrals are ways to gauge how beautiful the building is. St. The cathedral originally had nineteen arches extended from from four stories of arcades, but due to decomposition there are only eight left. The cathedral includes the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the walled cemetery, or Camposanto, on the north side and the baptistery on the west. The cathedral boundaries is named the Campo dei miracoli or the Court of Miracles. We will write a custom essay sample on St. Basils Cathedral or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page It is made out of white stone on the outside and on the inside it is covered with many mosaics and frescoes. On the outside of the cathedral there is a Gothic-style tabernacle. Many of the mosaics on the inner walls of the cathedral depict the stories of the genesis. The door in the east portal of the Leaning Tower of Pisa, which is the cathedral’s bell tower, is carved with scenes from the New Testament and Prophets. The Knudsen 3 door of the cathedrals west portal depict scenes from the lives of the Virgin Mary and Christ. In 1326, Ivan I was persuaded by Metropolitan Peter, who was a bishop with authority over bishops of provinces, to make a cathedral dedicated to the Holy Virgin in Moscow. Construction began on the cathedral called Assumption Cathedral on August 4, 1326, and in the following year Moscow became the capital of Russia. In 1472 it started to decay and was rebuilt by two Pskov architects, Kryvtsov and Myshkin. After two years of construction and nearing its completion, it suddenly collapsed because of an earthquake, an extremely rare event in Moscow. A new Italian architect and engineer, named Aristotle Fioravanti, was entrusted with the task of building the cathedral from scratch. In 1472 the foundation for the new cathedral was laid, and in 1479, 153 years after it was begun, the cathedral was declared sacred. Assumption Cathedral is still standing today and is a six-pillared building with five apses and five domes. The outside is made of white stone blocks. Inside the cathedral the masonry is filled with pieces of rough stone used in the walls to fill the cavities. The pillars, drums, and the alter wall are made out of brick. There are large paintings on the pillars stretching from the ground to the bottom of the domes. Assumption Cathedral is famous for its murals. The walls are painted in extremely fine detail, and on the top of the walls there are images of God. On the middle of the Knudsen 4 walls, there are paintings of the Life of the Virgin. On the bottom of the walls there are images of the seven ecumenical councils. The song â€Å"The Last Judgement† is painted on the west wall. Numerous figures of martyrs are painted on the pillars, and there are also many icons. There used to be an icon of â€Å"Our Lady of Vladimir,† but later on the icon was moved to St. Basil’s Cathedral so it wouldn’t be stolen because it was so expensive. There are icons of the Virgin Hodegetria, Saint George, Trinity. There is a large iconostasis, which is a screen bearing icon that separates the sanctuary from the nave, that occupies the whole wide wall of the cathedral. One of Russia’s most famous monuments is St. Basil’s Cathedral located in Red Square. It is said that the cathedral is located where another church with a cemetery stood. That cemetery is said to be the cemetery in which the religious St. Basil was buried. â€Å"Basil died in the odor of sanctity after having predicted the crime which would taint the Tsar, Ivan IV, the Terrible, when he killed his own firstborn son in a fit of rage Ivan had the cathedral built between 1555 and 1561, following his victory over the Tartars after a lengthy period of conflict. The Tsar wished to celebrate the invasion of the city of Kazan by recting a spectacular building that would immortalize his memory; similarly, in Dyakovo, he commissioned the church of the Decapitation of Knudsen 5 St. John the Baptist to celebrate the birth of Ivan, his firstborn son who he would later murder† (Ciaga 148). The architecture of St. Basil’s is amazing! St. Basil’s is 63,507. 07 sq. ft. â€Å"The plan of the cathedral is formed by th e intersection of two squares, one of which is rotated by 45 degrees: this creates a symmetrical structure made up of eight chapels, situated in each of the eight tips formed by the intersection and an octagonal central space. The idea was that within one complex structure there would be nine smaller churches† (Ciaga 150). The exterior is made out of white and crimson bricks and have seven onion topped domes painted various colors. The various heights of the towers were studied extremely carefully following a proportional system rotating the lesser and greater heights around the tallest tower, which is in the center. The cathedral is painted with many colors. The domes are painted with green, yellow, red, blue, black, white, and gold colors. The domes are called onion topped domes because of their shape. They are textured with zig-zags, arches, slanted lines, and some of the domes somewhat resemble houses. The inside has frescos that decorate the ceiling and are painted with green, orange, blue, yellow, red, purple, gold, and black colors. Pisa Cathedral is extremely simple and that is what makes it beautiful. Assumption Cathedral more beautiful than Pisa Cathedral because of its famous for detailed murals Knudsen 6 and its simplicity. St. Basil’s Cathedral is more beautiful than Assumption Cathedral and Pisa Cathedral because of all of its colors, domes, and its history. St. Basil’s Cathedral has multiple little churches in it and it is extremely colorful and spacious. Pisa Cathedral is beautiful because of it is simple but beautiful. Assumption Cathedral is an amazing example of medieval architecture. After looking over all of the details, St. Basil’s is the most beautiful because of all the colors and its history.