Architecture. Зайцева И.В. - 54 стр.

century life. On the west side of the Cathedral Square, next to Terem Palace with its
golden domes, there is the Faceted Palace, designed for the imperial throne room.
        In the center of the Kremlin rises Ivan the Great Bell Tower, one of the most
remarkable structures of the sixteenth century. It unites all the Kremlin Cathedrals into a
majestic ensemble.
        Other notable buildings in the Kremlin include the Armoury Chamber, containing
a magnificent collection of treasures, and the Palace of Congresses, the only modern
structure, built in the early sixties.
        Just outside the Kremlin walls, on the edge of Red Square, stands the Church of
the Intercession of the Virgin (Sobor Pokrova na Rvu), better known as St Basil’s
Cathedral, one of the world’s most astonishing buildings. It was built by two Russian
architects between 1555 and 1560 for Ivan the Terrible to celebrate his victory over the
Tatar Khanate of Kazan.
        It is basically cross-shaped, the arms of the cross extending from a square center.
The main church over which rises the central tower is covered with a tent-shaped roof
and crowned with a gilt cupola. At each arm of the cross, along the principal axis is an
octagonal church. Four other secondary churches (two square and two of irregular
shape) are along the diagonal axis. All these elements are placed over a tall, vaulted
substructure – the typical lower story of the Russian wooden churches. The pyramidal
belfry at the south-east corner is separate form the church. The plan and the general
massing of the elements are unusual, not only in the accepted concept of church design
but in the distribution of the main masses.
        The main church is of stone and brisk and covered with stucco. In the seventeenth
century, the entrance structure, originally white, was painted in variegated colours, the
stairways were roofed over, the sheet iron covering of the cupolas was replaced with
tile, and the old belfry was replaced with the present tentroofed bell tower.
        St Basil’s Cathedral embodies the characteristic architectural features of the
wooden churches of North-East Russia, «translated» into masonry. The eight cupolas
dominated by the central pyramid are all of the same general silhouette, but are different
in design and colours.

Notes to the text:

       Trinity                                                                троица
Saviour                                                                    спаситель
Cathedral of the Assumption                                         Успенский собор
Cathedral of the Annunciation                                  Благовещенский собор
Faceted Palace                                                     Грановитая палата
Virgin                                                                    дева Мария
gilt                                                                        позолота
barbican                                                    барбакан, навесная башня
belfry                                                            колокольня, башня


      5.4.1 Write out English equivalents for the Kremlin attractions from the text

      5.4.2 Write out key words describing St Basil’s Cathedral