Saint Basil’s Cathedral Turns 450 Today With a Google Doodle
Published July 12, 2011
Saint Basil’s Cathedral is 450 years old today, and Russia is celebrating with a gift from Google: a doodle dedicated to the onion-domed structure.
The 16th-century cathedral, standing in Moscow’s Red Square, was originally commissioned by Ivan the Terrible to commemorate his military victories. Saint Basil’s Cathedral, now museum, is a masterpiece of Orthodox art and is one of the world’s most iconic sacred places.
Saint Basil’s, which recently completed a decade-long, multi-million dollar restoration project, marks today’s anniversary with the debut of a new exhibition displaying “relics and icons of St. Basil and other religious eccentrics,” according to the Associated Press.
