The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1889-08-22
A STRANGE ep,F,oE.



The history Of this church 10 az
strange as It, aspect; IL was built by
order Of Ivan the Terrible. at the ex-
pense Of the principally Of Kazan, -
an expression Of gratitude to God for
the Tsar's conquest Of that country.
The name Of the architect, an Italian,
is unknown, but tradition relates that
his eyes were burned out by order Of
Ivan to prevent his designing In future
any more wonderful monument. 1T
is my wish," said the terrible autocrat,
"that this sanctuary remain the unique
and glorious monument Of the genius
OF this man." In the basement Of the
e6ifice are two chapels, and on the
upper story nine chapels. surmounted
by nine cupolas, each different In
shape. dimensions, color, details, style
and structural disposition. The spire,
too. is placed at the east and not at
the west, as orthodoxy demands. The
facades, again, are all different.
and without discernible plan, and
the whole structure. with Its sug-
gestions OF Hindoo. Byzantine, Gothic
and nondescript architecture, and Its
profusion Of painted ornaments and
masses Of crude yellow, blue, red and
green, forms an admirable and mys-
terious harmony, the secret Of which
none can explain, and the charm Of
which no words can describe. The
whole exterior, with its superimposed
arches, Its profusion Of color and gild-
ing. its painting Of roses and other
flowers in panels all over the walls, is
strangely original. On the pedestal
formed by the nine chapels and their
basement are placed beliries and Gu
polas starting upward from masses Of
masonry resembling the tmbricated
foliage Of the artichoke. the scales OF
the pine cone, or the opening buds Of
the cactus flower. In the chief belfry
the italian element is clearly percepti-
BILE in the first three stories, above
which is q story resembling an In
dian pagoda. which in its turn is sur
mounted by q hexagonal crockett
ed spire, on the summit Of
which is a lantern and an
onion-shaped gilt cap. Another belfry
supports cupola in the shape Of q
pineapple all covered with pointed
facets; on another the pineapple cupola
Is laced over with symmetrical net
work through whose meshes the points
alone are visible. Another cupola
initiates the ribbed form OF a melon;
another, the twisted folds OF a monu-
mental turban; another, the close
scales of the serpent. Let it be re-
membered, too, that each Of these
cupolas is Of a different color-one
orange, another sky blue, another ap-
pie green, another deep red; and that,
besides paint in profusion, the mold
ings. cornices, consoles, panels, pin
nacles, imbrications and tiers OF arches
are lavishly decorated with brightly
colored glazed faience. OF this fan
tastic architectural dream, suggestive
OF uncanny sea-monsters, half fish and
half flower. of gigantic fruits, or Of
vegetables and Oriental turbans of
such capricious and impossible pro-
portions Us one might conceive in
nightmare, Theophile Gautier has
given us poets description, which
we can not do better than cite:
"The Church of Vasili Blagennoi."
he says, sis without doubt the most
original monument in the world; it re-
calls nothing that one has ever seen,
and belongs to no known style. One
might imagine 1t to be q gigantic
madrepore, crystalized colossus, q
stalactite grotto turned upside down
thing which has neither prototype
nor similitude. 1t might be taken for
Hindoo, Chinese or Thibetan pagoda.
In looking at this impossible church
one is tempted to ask II 1t is not o
whimsical will-o'-the-wisp, an edifice
formed OF clouds Enthusiastically colored
by the sun, which the movement Of
the air will presently cause to change
in form or vanish into nothingness." ~
Theodore Child, in Harper's Maga-
zine.