This is actually a collection of “churches” under all those domes and spires. The official name is The Cathedral of the Intercession (of the Virgin). One part is dedicated to St. Basil, but it was kept heated in the winters, when the rest wasn’t, so people went there and began giving its name to the whole.
Each dome is for a different church inside. Each has its own name, its own room and its own icons.
Old and older.
Every flower is different.
An iconostasis, the traditional screen with icons before the chancel.
This is in the church of “The Triumphal Entry Into Jerusalem.”
This church was actually maintained and kept up during communist days, when other churches were destroyed. It has been undergoing various restorations for hundreds of years. While it is mostly a museum (much changed from my last visit, with more color, glass covers, added exhibits, souvenir tables), Services are held here at intervals, so it is still consecrated, though women were not wearing headscarves here, as they do and must in other churches.
Fascinating!!
ReplyDeleteWow!!
ReplyDelete