Saints and Sanctuaries

There are eleven sanctuaries in the St. Basil's Cathedral complex. It is important to understand, however, that the term "sanctuary" has a different meaning in the Orthodox Church than it does in the west—not to mention the several other differences that must also be borne in mind. Firstly, the term "church" refers to the entire building; if a church has a detached fellowship hall, that is also considered part of the church even though it's in a different building.

Second, the word "sanctuary" refers to the place where the faithful stand during services, which is separated from the altar area by a painted screen called an iconostasis. Only priests and other clergy members may go behind the icon screen, to the area called the altar. In the western churches, "altar" is used to describe the central table where Holy Communion is prepared. For the Orthodox, however, the altar is not an object, but a place. Most Orthodox churches have only one sanctuary and one altar. (Moffat et al., 2003) St. Basil's, however, has many, and there are several reasons for this.

First, as a cathedral, it is the seat of the Patriarch of Moscow, the primate (chief bishop) of the Russian Orthodox Church. Consequently it is an extremely important place with nearly constant services being chanted in its various sanctuaries. Orthodox Canon Law states that the Eucharist may only be celebrated once per day, per altar. In a regular parish this does not present a problem, but St. Basil's many sanctuaries and altars allow for the Divine Liturgy to be said in several languages throughout the day, an important distinction because there are so many languages spoken in Moscow.

The Church of Intercession commemorates Russia's final assault on the Tartar stronghold of Kazan, which occurred on the Feast of the Intercession of the Theotokos: October 1, 1552. (Cracaft, 2003) This structure is a tented church with a huge, polygonal spire; the tented roofs are extremely common in Russian architecture because it is almost impossible for snow to accumulate on the deeply angled surfaces.

• The westernmost sanctuary is dedicated to the Triumphal Entry of Christ into Jerusalem several days before the crucifixion.
• The northwest sanctuary is dedicated to St. Gregory the Illuminator of Armenia and commemorates the 1552 capture of the Ars Tower of Kazan. (Cracaft, 2003)
• The northernmost sanctuary was built in honor of Saint Martyrs Cyprian and Justinia; since 1786 it has also been dedicated to Saints Adrian and Natalia of Nicomedia.
• The northeast groin vault sanctuary is located in the Chapel of the Three Patriarchs of Alexandria, and since 1680 has also been dedicated to St. John the Merciful.
• The eastern, column-style sanctuary is dedicated to the Holy Trinity, and the south-east is dedicated to Saint Alexander Svirsky.
• The southern sanctuary, also built in column style, is nestled within the Chapel of the Icon of Saint Nicholas of the Veliskaya River.
• The southwestern groin-vault sanctuary is dedicated to Saint Barlaam of Khutyn; church historians are unsure of whom, or what, is commemorated here. (Cracaft, 2003)
• The northeast annex, built in 1588, honors Saint Basil the Blessed, and the southeastern annex is dedicated to the Protection of the Most Holy Theotokos (the Virgin Mary), an event in which the Mother of God protected a large group of Orthodox believers with a miraculous veil that kept their adversaries outside the city walls. Since 1680, this sanctuary is also dedicated to the Nativity of the Theotokos, and in 1916 was also dedicated to Saint John the Blessed. Both the northeast and southeast annexes are constructed over the graves of venerated local saints. (Schvidkovsky, 2007)

St. Basil's did not obtain a climate control system until it was fitted with an extensive forced-air heating system that serviced the north and east sanctuaries in 1908, when the cathedral was over 300 years old. However, the lengthy and somewhat flimsy heating ducts sprang leaks almost immediately, rendering the expensive system almost useless. Five years later, it was repaired and supplemented with a forced-water system that extended throughout the rest of the church, which was much more effective.