Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Happy Birthday St. Basil's

RantWoman thanks Google for calling to her attention the 450th anniversary of St. Basil's Cathedral, Red Square, Moscow.

St. Basil's is probably the most famous cathedral in Russia if only because of the numerous cupolas, some with knobbly textured roofs, some with roofs that swirl like a soft ice cream cone, some of one color, come of two or more.

RantWoman imagines that she is supposed to feel blessed that she has time to dabble in historical excursions; RantWoman does not feel blessed not to have more time to pen something thoughtful on her own and will have to content herself with a few excursions brought to her by the search engine of her choice.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Basil's_Cathedral


http://www.moscow.info/red-square/st-basils-cathedral.aspx


Further full disclosure: RantWoman once visited St. Basil's, on April Fool's day, in the middle of a snow and slush festival, after visiting "The Stiff," Lenin's tomb. RantWoman notes the long historical practice of burying kings in cathedrals. Given a sepulchral choice between a pedestrian path through the boxy interior of Lenin's tomb and the light and dark and spatial complexity of St. Basil's, RantWoman would probably go for St. Basil's but RantWoman is mostly glad modern burial customs are more outdoor oriented.

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