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The famous St. Basil's Cathedral was commissioned by Ivan the Terrible and built on the edge of Red Square between 1555 and 1561. Legend has it that on completion of the church the Tsar ordered the architect, Postnik Yakovlev, to be blinded to prevent him from ever creating anything to rival its beauty again.
The extravagant and brightly colored domes of the cathedral's exterior mask a much more modestly decorated and somewhat less spectacular interior. Small dimly lit chapels and maze-like corridors, fill the inside of the church.
There is so little room inside the church to accommodate worshippers. On special feast days services were held outside on Red Square where the clergy communicated their using St. Basil's as an outdoor altar.
I must admit, I was a little surprised on entering St. Basil's. It's not that it is not beautiful, it just does not have that majestic feel that the exterior of the cathedral has. However, it still is beautiful in a quaint sort of way.