Editing Saint Basil's Cathedral (section)

== Structure ==
[[File:St Basils Cathedral closeup.jpg|thumb|The small dome on the left marks the sanctuary of Basil the Blessed (1588)]]

The foundations, as was traditional in medieval Moscow, were built of white stone, while the churches themselves were built of red brick ({{convert|28|by|14|by|8|cm|abbr=on}}), then a relatively new material<ref name=K399/> (the first attested brick building in Moscow, the new [[Kremlin Wall]], was started in 1485).<ref>Komech, Pluzhnikov p. 267</ref> Surveys of the structure show that the basement level is perfectly aligned, indicating use of professional drawing and measurement, but each subsequent level becomes less and less regular.<ref>Brunov, p. 45</ref> Restorers who replaced parts of the brickwork in 1954–1955 discovered that the massive brick walls conceal an internal wooden frame running the entire height of the church.<ref name=K402/><ref name=B47/> This frame, made of elaborately tied thin studs, was erected as a life-size spatial model of the future cathedral and was then gradually enclosed in solid masonry.<ref name=K402>Komech, Pluzhnikov p. 402</ref><ref name=B47>Brunov, p. 47</ref>

The builders, fascinated by the flexibility of the new technology,<ref name=K49>Komech, Pluzhnikov p. 49</ref> used red bricks as a decorative medium both inside and out, leaving as much brickwork open as possible; when location required the use of stone walls, it was decorated with a brickwork pattern painted over [[stucco]].<ref name=K49/> A major novelty introduced by the church was the use of strictly "architectural" means of exterior decoration.<ref name=S129>Shvidkovsky 2007, p. 129</ref> Sculpture and sacred symbols employed by earlier [[Russian architecture]] are completely missing; floral ornaments are a later addition.<ref name=S129/> Instead, the church boasts a diversity of three-dimensional architectural elements executed in brick.