Лекция: The Cathedral of Vasily the Blessed (or Pokrovsky Cathedral)

It was erected on the order of Ivan IV (the Terrible) to commemorate the victory over the Kazan Khanate (a feudal state in the Central Volga Region). It was designed by the Russian masters Postnik and Barma. The cathedral is built of brick in traditional Russian style. It has seven domes, each of a different colour. The inner gallery also contains amazing wall and ceiling paintings (stylized flower patterns of unique shapes and bright colours). This Cathedral is a masterpiece of Russian Architecture. There is a legend that says that Ivan the Terrible asked the builders if they could build anything finer than they had already done. When they answered that they could, he ordered that they be blinded so that there would never hi anything more beautiful in the world than the Cathedral of Vasily the Blessed.