Editing Saint Basil's Cathedral (section)

==== 1680–1683 ====
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The second, and most significant, round of refitting and expansion took place in 1680–1683.<ref name=K402/> The nine churches themselves retained their appearance, but additions to the ground-floor arcade and the first-floor platform were so profound that Nikolay Brunov rebuilt a composite church from an "old" building and an independent work that incorporated the "new" Trinity Church.<ref name=BS121>Brunov, supplementary volume, p. 121</ref> What once was a group of nine independent churches on a common platform became a monolithic temple.<ref name=BS121/><ref name=K403>Komech, Pluzhnikov p. 403</ref>

The formerly open ground-floor arcades were filled with brick walls; the new space housed [[altar]]s from thirteen former wooden churches erected on the site of Ivan's executions in Red Square.<ref name=K402/> Wooden shelters above the first-floor platform and stairs (the cause of frequent fires) were rebuilt in brick, creating the present-day wrap-around galleries with tented roofs above the porches and vestibules.<ref name=K402/>

The old detached belfry was demolished; its square basement was reused for a new belltower.<ref name=K402/> The tall single [[tented roof]] of this belltower, built in the vernacular style of the [[Alexis I of Russia|reign of Alexis I]], significantly changed the appearance of the cathedral, adding a strong asymmetrical counterweight to the church itself.<ref name=BS123>Brunov, supplementary volume, p. 123</ref> The effect is most pronounced on the southern and eastern facades (as viewed from [[Zaryadye]]), although the belltower is large enough to be seen from the west.<ref name=BS123/>

The first ornamental murals in the cathedral appeared in the same period, starting with floral ornaments inside the new galleries; the towers retained their original brickwork pattern.<ref name=K402/> Finally, in 1683, the church was adorned with a tiled [[cornice]] in yellow and blue, featuring a written history of the church<ref name=K402/> in [[Old Church Slavonic|Old Slavic]] typeface.