In front of the cathedral is the monument to Kuzma Minin and Dmitry Pozarsky. It commemorates the two men who gathered an all-volunteer army to fight against Polish-Lithuanian forces and won. This saved Moscow and brought an end to the "Time of Troubles" in 1612.
The structure originally contained eight churches, surrounding a ninth central church (#1). A tenth church (#10) was built over the grave of the venerated Saint Vasily (Basil) in 1588. Thus each of the domes represents one of those churches.
Overall, it is shaped like the flames of a bonfire rising into the sky. The present-day color scheme was acquired gradually from 1680-1848. During that time icons and murals became more popular due to experimentation with dyes and color combinations.
The architect is unknown for sure, but listed as Barma and Postnik (or these two may really have been one person). Russian legend says the architect(s) were blinded by Ivan the T, so they could not recreate this masterpiece elsewhere. This is probably not true, however, because later works with the architect names have been documented.
During the program of "state atheism" in the 1920s, the church was confiscated from the Russian Orthodox Church community. It has operated under the State Historical Museum since 1928, with occasional religious services (on Easter) being held there. Although we did not get to go in, here is the entrance.
Saint Basil's Cathedral is without a doubt the most colorful house of worship in the world.
Alrighty, you've got the gist of this outstanding landmark, but if you are yearning to learn MUCH more, go to:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Basil%27s_Cathedral
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