Go Red with Team Red! Trivia Quiz

Answer: Ivan the Terrible

Ivan commissioned the construction (1555-1561) to commemorate the defeat of Kazan in 1552. At that time, dedication of a church to a military campaign was a new and very different concept.

Answer: Cathedral of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos on the Moat

The chapels (also referred to as sanctuaries) are a cluster of buildings with a central church surrounded by auxiliary chapels. Ivan's victory over Kazan took place on the religious holiday of the Intercession of the Holy Virgin. "Theotokos" is a term used in Russian and Eastern Orthodox Liturgy meaning "Mother of God" or "God Bearer".

Answer: Stalin

In the 1920s the Soviet authorities were unhappy with having a house of worship in the centre of their city and wanted to pull it down. But a petition led by Pyotr Baranovsky saved the cathedral. It didn't save Barabovsky though; he suffered reprisals for 'anti-Soviet activity'.

(Question and II by Leith90)

Answer: Compass rose

The four larger sanctuaries being the cardinal directions and the smaller are the ordinal points. They're built around the central chapel and are varying in height.

Answer: Bonfire

Born in Moscow Dmitry Shvidkovsky is a highly respected educator and historian. He was also a long-time professor at the Moscow Architectural Institute. In his book 2007 book "Russian Architecture and the West" he described the cathedral as "the flame of a bonfire rising into the sky" and stated further "it is like no other Russian building. Nothing similar can be found in the entire millennium of Byzantine tradition from the fifth to the fifteenth century ... a strangeness that astonishes by its unexpectedness, complexity and dazzling interleaving of the manifold details of its design."

(question and II by pollucci19)

Answer: true

The cathedral's original color is believed to have been white (similar to the white stones of the Kremlin) and the domes were gold. In the 17th century the outside and domes were painted. According to some accounts, the colors are thought to have been chosen from the description of the Kingdom in Heaven mentioned in the Book of Revelation.

Answer: False

After working as an apprentice shoemaker, he left home at 16 and became a "fool for Christ". In an excerpt from his book Giles Fletcher, a 16th century English ambassador to Russia, wrote about "certain eremites (whom they call holy men)... . These they take as prophets, and men of great holiness, giving them a liberty to speak what they list without any controlment... So that if he reprove any openly in what sort soever, they answer nothing but that it is for their sins..."

Even with his outspokenness and eccentricities, Basil was respected by Ivan.

Answer: Polish-Muscovite War

Pozharsky formed the Second Volunteer Army, during the Polish occupation of Russia (1611-1612), resulting in the withdrawal of Polish troops after the Russian victory at the Battle of Moscow in 1612. Kusma Minin, a prosperous butcher, was instrumental in the raising and handling of money for equipment.

Their military skill earned them recognition as heroes and it is the only sculptured monument in Red Square.

Answer: True

When the French occupied Moscow in 1812 they stole anything of value from the cathedral and used it as stables. Napoleon wanted the cathedral taken back to France but that wasn't possible at the time, so he ordered it to be blown up. Divine intervention had the rains pour down and extinguish the fuses.

(Question and II by Leith90)

Answer: Each of these commemorates an important event during the Kazan Siege

The building consists of nine chapels built on a single foundation, symbolizing victories in Kazan, and a chapel was added in 1588 to honor St. Basil. It's very fitting that St. Basil was buried under a colorful dome as he himself was a rather colorful character who would shoplift to give to the needy. Basil won Ivan's respect when he correctly predicted a fire in Moscow in 1547 and Ivan was even a pallbearer at his funeral.

Additional II provided by pollucci19