Russia in 1839 -Empire of the Czar: A Journey Through Eternal Russia

CHURCH OF SAINT BASIL.289

air become heated for a moment, the earth remains always discoloured.

I shall never forget the chilly shudder which came over me at the first sight of the cradle of the modern Russian empire: the Kremlin alone is worth the journey to Moscow.

At the gate of this fortress, but beyond its precincts — at least, according to my feldjäger, for I have not yet been able to visit it — rises the church of St. Basil, Vassili Blagennoï; it is also known under the name of the Cathedral of the Protection of the Holy Virgin. In the Greek church they are lavish of the title of cathedral; every ward, every monastery has one of its own ; every city possesses several. That of Vassili is certainly the most singular, if it is not the most beautiful edifice in Russia. I have as yet only seen it at a distance. Thus viewed, it appears as an immense cluster of little turrets forming a bush, or rather giving the idea of some kind of tropical fruit all bristled over with excrescences, or a crystallisation of a thousand rays : the scales of a golden fish, the enamelled skin of a serpent, the changeful hues of the lizard, the glossy rose and azure of the pigeon's neck, would all, аз regards colour, serve as comparisons: above, rise minarets of a brownish red. The effect of the whole dazzles the eye, and fascinates the imagination. Surely, the land in which such a building is called a house of prayer is not Europe; it must be India, Persia, or China! —and the men who go to worship God in this box of confectionary work, can thev be Christians ? Such was the exclamation that escaped me at the first view of the church of Vassili. That

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