St. Basil's Cathedral

So the full title of this 16th century cathedral is: Cathedral of the Protection of Most Holy Theotokos on the Moat. That's quite the mouthful. Known commonly as St.Basil's Cathedral, this building stands at the foot of Red Square on the banks of the Moscva River and is one of the most enduring images of the city, and it's most visited tourist destination. It's beautiful to behold from any direction, and each of the domes has a distinct character and color that catch the light quite magnificently. It's an anomaly in terms of Russian architecture, not common for the period, and is the subject of countless urban legends and myths. The building was ordered by the Tzar Ivan the Terrible in 1552 and took 8 years to complete. Here's a link to a nice post on the architecture of it from moscow.info:

"Architectural specialists are to this day unable to agree about the governing idea behind the structure. Either the creators were paying homage to the churches of Jerusalem, or, by building eight churches around a central ninth, they were representing the medieval symbol of the eight-pointed star. The original concept of the Cathedral of the Intercession has been hidden from us beneath layers of stylistic additions and new churches added to the main building. In fact, when built, the Cathedral was all white to match the white-stone Kremlin, and the onion domes were gold rather than multi-colored and patterned as they are today.

In the 17^th century a hip-roofed bell tower was added, the gallery and staircases were covered with vaulted roofing, and the helmeted domes were replaced with decorated ones. In 1860 during rebuilding, the Cathedral was painted with a more complex and integrated design, and has remained unchanged since."

This is not my picture, but it's a nice one with the facade and outer form clearly visible: