A Google Doodle is marking the 450th anniversary of Russia’s famous St. Basil’s Cathedral today. St. Basil’s Cathedral is a famous Russian landmark that features nine colorful onion-shaped domes. The cathedral is located just outside of Kremlin in Moscow’s Red Square.
The artwork of the cathedral replaces the letter ‘l’ in the Google logo. The image is pretty impressive, but it is hard to see the finer details of the cathedral itself, maybe because of the image’s size requirements. Though the doodle looks good, it would be more fun if it was interactive like the ones we have seen in the past.
The cathedral, which has symbolized Moscow and Russia as a whole, has benefited from a restoration that cost £8 million over the last 10 years. The landmark is now ready for the anniversary of its completion in 1561.
History
The cathedral was build by Czar Ivan the Terrible in 1561 to celebrate the leader’s victory over Mongol rulers, but it is best known as St. Basil’s burial site. St. Basil, a religious eccentric, was one of Czar Ivan’s biggest critics.
“This cathedral is a shrine and a symbol of Russia,” said Deputy Culture Minister Andrey Busygin. “It’s a miracle it survived at all.”
In the 1800s, Napoleon Bonaparte ordered to destroy the building, but heavy rains put out the burning fuses. In 1917, the cathedral took heavy damage when Bolshevik took over the Kremlin.
St. Basil’s Cathedral has been the subject of last Christmas’ Google Doodle. The logo featured 17 doodles, each linking to holiday symbols, food and places.
What do you think of today’s Google Doodle?
via: Google
RIANovosti has a great panoramic virtual tour of St Basil's interior. Don't need to know Russian to do the tour – just click on the icon (?????????? ?????) in bottom left corner of the image of St Basils to open the map and then click on any of the numbered links to tour those areas of the Cathedral. To go there, just go to: http://ria.ru/infografika/20110712/399942099.html