"... it is like no other Russian building."
-Dmitry Shvidkovsky
The Cathedral of the Protection of Most Holy Theotokos on the Moat, also called the Saint Basil's Cathedral, was built from 1555–61 on orders from Ivan the Terrible and commemorates the capture of Kazan and Astrakhan. From a geometric point of view, the cathedral marks exactly the central point of Moscow. The original building, known as "Trinity Church" and later "Trinity Cathedral", contained eight side churches arranged around the ninth, central Church of Intercession the tenth church was erected in 1588 over the grave of venerated local Saint Basil.
In the 16th and 17th centuries the church, perceived as the earthly symbol of heavenly City as happens to all churches in Byzantine Christianity, was popularly known as the Jerusalem and served as an allegory of the Jerusalem Temple in the annual Palm Sunday parade attended by the Patriarch of Moscow and the Tsar. The building is shaped as a flame of a bonfire rising into the sky, a design that has no analogues in Russian architecture.
Celebrate the beauty of St. Basil's Cathedral in Russia with this impressive limited edition pen. Available in fountain pen and rollerball in either silver vermeil, solid gold, or HRH. Each pen is crafted of colorful celluloid and finely cut three dimensional filigree. The fountain pen features the Visconti dual-reservoir power filler and a 23kt Palladium nib in Medium. The clip is enameled in red and the cap is a screw on type. Each pen comes packaged in a luxurious golden lacquered gift box.