From Russia with love, part 3

May God bless Russia
I don’t know when I’ll get to post again, so I will leave you now with a beautiful picture, this night shot of the Cathedral of the Intercession, better known as the Cathedral of St. Basil the Blessed, perhaps the most recognized building in all of Russia - and deeply symbolic of Russia itself. It is located in Red Square, just outside the Kremlin walls. We were there this week, on Tuesday November 14th in the evening. I will let a guide book tells its history: “It was built as a monument to the defeat of the Kazan Khanate at the hands of Ivan IV (1552). After each major victory a small wooden church was erected... in honor of the saint on whose feast day the victory was won. Thus, by the end of the war, there were eight churches on this site. After the final victory, Ivan IV... ordered a large church built in masonry to replace the wooden ones. ... a monument whose composition has no parallel in the entire history of world architecture. They built eight pillar-like churches on a single foundation, placed symmetrically around the ninth, central pillar, the tallest and most architecturally complex and crowned with a spire.” A crazy mix, yet somehow also a thing of great mystery and beauty. Like Russia.






KGB / FSB
This is the KGB. Place of torture and death. Symbol of fear and oppression and all that was wrong with the communist era. It seems strange to me that the new secret service agency (FSB) has chosen to continue on in the same building.





faith, hope and history
This is representative of so many churches/cathedrals we have visited. Icons everywhere. Elaborate and gilded decorations. People - young and old, men and women - bowing and crossing themselves reverently. An elderly nun assisting a group of young soldiers, showing them how to light the prayer candles. Chanting priests and responding congregations - all standing (no pews - comfortable or otherwise - here). The recovery of a past faith to help carry hope with them into the future.






oops!!
The Tsar-bell (also located in the Kremlin) was cast in 1733-1735. It is 6.14 meters high, 6.6 meters across and weighs 200 tons. During the fire in 1737, it was still in the casting pit. Uneven cooling caused it to crack, a chunk of 11.5 tons breaking off. In 1836, the bell was finally set on a pediment for viewing. I wonder how they did it?!?






at last!
After two failed attempts earlier in the month, we finally make it into the Kremlin on November 14th. The Kremlin is a “city within a city” - home of the Tsars and the Soviet leaders and now the residence and offices of the President of Russia. It’s also a great tourist attraction. Inside the massive red walls (complete with 20 towers) of this small city are several cathedrals, churches, palaces, and museums. And this bronze cannon, the Tsar-cannon, commissioned by the son of Ivan the Terrible in 1586. The cannon is 5.34 meters long, and weighs 40 tons. A decorative gun carriage and hollow decorative cannonballs (1 ton each) were made for it in 1835 (the cannon was made to fire grapeshot).