St Basil's Cathedral

Where it is & how to get there

• Metro: Kitay-Gorod or Ploshchad Revolyutsii, then walk across Red Square.
• Tickets: Buy at the entrance or on the State Historical Museum website.
• Inside: Narrow stairs and passages link the chapels; allow about an hour.

The story of St Basil's

Ivan the Terrible ordered the cathedral in 1555 to celebrate the capture of Kazan, and it was finished in 1561. Its official name is the Cathedral of the Intercession on the Moat; the popular name comes from Basil the Blessed, a holy man buried in a chapel added later.

Nine chapels rise around a central tower, each crowned by a different dome. The bright colours were added in the 17th century. A popular legend says the tsar blinded the architects so they could never build anything as beautiful again, but historians see it as a myth. Today it is a branch of the State Historical Museum.

Best time to visit

Tips before you go

• Go inside: each dome hides a small painted chapel.
• Look for the painted inner galleries, which feel like walking inside a flower garden.
• The best outside photo is from the slope by the Moskva River bridge.
• Some chapels host short choir performances.

What's around St Basil's

• Red SquareRight in front of the cathedral.
• Zaryadye ParkNext door, with river views.
• GUMAcross the square.
• Varvarka StreetOld churches and merchant houses.

Questions travellers ask