Editing Saint Basil's Cathedral (section)

=== Construction under Ivan IV ===
[[File: Red Square, Blaeu Atlas 1613.jpg|thumb|400px|Red Square, early 17th-century. Fragment from [[Atlas Maior|Blaeu Atlas]]. The structure with three roof tents in the foreground left is the originally detached belfry of the Trinity Church, not drawn to scale. Trinity Church stands behind it, slightly closer to the road starting at St. Frol's (later Saviour's ) Gate of the Kremlin. The horseshoe-shaped object near the road in the foreground is [[Lobnoye Mesto]].]]
The site of the church had been, historically, a busy marketplace between the [[Spasski clock|St. Frol's (later Saviour's) Gate]] of the [[Moscow Kremlin]] and the outlying [[posad]]. The centre of the marketplace was marked by the Trinity Church, built of the same white stone as the Kremlin of [[Dmitry Donskoy]] (1366–68) and its cathedrals. Tsar [[Ivan IV]] marked every victory of the [[Russo-Kazan Wars#Wars of Ivan IV|Russo-Kazan War]] by erecting a wooden memorial church next to the walls of Trinity Church; by the end of his [[Astrakhan Khanate|Astrakhan campaign]], it was shrouded within a cluster of seven wooden churches. According to the report in [[Nikon Chronicle|Nikon's Chronicle]], in the autumn of 1554 Ivan ordered the construction of the wooden Church of Intercession on the same site, "on the moat".<ref name=K72/> One year later, Ivan ordered the construction of a new stone cathedral on the site of Trinity Church to commemorate his campaigns. Dedication of a church to a military victory was "a major innovation"<ref name=S126/> for Muscovy. The placement of the church outside the Kremlin walls was a political statement in favour of [[posad]] commoners and against hereditary [[boyars]].<ref>Brunov, p. 41</ref>

Contemporary commentators clearly identified the new building as Trinity Church, after its easternmost [[sanctuary]];<ref name=K72>Kudryavtsev, p. 72</ref> the status of "[[katholikon]]" ({{lang|ru|собор}}, ''{{Transliteration|ru|sobor}}'', large assembly church) had not been bestowed on it yet:

{{blockquote| On the Trinity on the Moat in Moscow.<br />In the same year, through the will of czar and lord and grand prince Ivan began making the pledged church, as he promised for the [[Siege of Kazan (1552)|capture of Kazan]]: Trinity and Intercession and seven sanctuaries, also called "on the moat". And the builder was Barma with company.
|sign= Piskaryov Chronicle, 1560 (7068 per [[Byzantine calendar]])<ref>{{lang|ru|О Троице на Рву в Москве. Того же году повелением царя и государя и великого князя Ивана зачата делати церковь обетная, еже обещался во взятие Казанскоe: Троицу и Покров и семь приделов, еже именуются на Рву. А мастер был Барма со товарищи.}} – Full annotated text in {{cite web | url=http://www.krotov.info/acts/17/azaryin/b61c.htm | title=Piskaryov Chronicle, part 3 | year=1978 | publisher=[[Full Collection of Russian Chronicles]] | language=ru}}, also cited by Kudryavtsev, p. 72.</ref>
}}

The identity of the architect is unknown.<ref name=S139>Shvidkovsky 2007, p. 139</ref> Tradition held that the church was built by two architects, Barma and Postnik:<ref name=S139/><ref name=K399/> the official [[Russian cultural heritage register]] lists "Barma and [[Postnik Yakovlev]]".<ref name=MC>{{cite web | url=http://rosohrancult.ru/upload/rosohrancult/rosdocs2009/09_01_2009_1.doc | title=List of federally protected landmarks | date=1 June 2009 | publisher=Ministry of Culture | access-date=28 September 2009 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110727040736/http://rosohrancult.ru/upload/rosohrancult/rosdocs2009/09_01_2009_1.doc | archive-date=27 July 2011 | url-status=dead | df=dmy-all }}</ref> Researchers proposed that both names refer to the same person, [[Postnik Yakovlev]]<ref name=K399/> or, alternatively, Ivan Yakovlevich Barma (Varfolomey).<ref name=S139/> Legend held that Ivan blinded the architect so that he could not re-create the masterpiece elsewhere.<ref>Perrie, pp. 96–97</ref><ref>Watkin, p. 103</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Sacred Places Europe: 108 Destinations|publisher = CCC publishing|first=Brad|last=Olsen|page=155}}</ref> Many historians are convinced that it is a myth, as the architect later participated in the construction of the [[Cathedral of the Annunciation, Moscow|Cathedral of the Annunciation]] in Moscow as well as in building the walls and towers of the [[Kazan Kremlin]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.rbth.com/arts/2016/07/12/8-facts-about-russias-best-known-church-st-basils-cathedral_611023|title=8 facts about Russia's best-known church – St. Basil's Cathedral|last=RBTH|first=special to|date=2016-07-12|access-date=2018-10-19|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.moscovery.com/saint-basils-cathedral/|title=Saint Basil's Cathedral, Moscow 2018 ✮ Church on Red Square|date=2016-07-06|work=MOSCOVERY.COM|access-date=2018-10-19|language=en-GB}}</ref> Postnik Yakovlev remained active at least throughout the 1560s.<ref name=MC2>List of federally protected buildings, cited above, names Postnik Yakovlev and Ivan Shiryay the builders of the new [[Kazan Kremlin]], 1555–1568.</ref> This myth likely originated with [[Jerome Horsey]]'s account of [[Ivan III of Moscow]] having blinded the architect of the fortress of [[Ivangorod]].<ref>The Gentleman's Magazine Volume 265</ref>

There is evidence that construction involved [[stonemason]]s from [[Pskov]]<ref>Brumfield, p. 94</ref> and German lands.<ref name="BD89" />