"Many would think that St. Basil's Cathedral alone would justify a visit to Moscow.  This extraordinary building - the supreme achievement of 16th century architecture in Moscow - is now a branch of the State Historical Museum.   With its ground-plan in the form of an eight-pointed star, its nine churches and its bizarre domes, its vivid colours and its heterogeneous assortment of architectural elements, the church was originally built by Ivan the Terrible in 1555-61. It was called the Cathedral of the Intercession of the Virgin (Pokrovsky Sobor) to commemorate the capture of Kazan, capital of the khanate of Kazan, on the festival of the Intercession of the Virgin in 1552.  According to the chronicler, the architects of the cathedral, Postnik and Barma, were sent by God  to Ivan the Terrible. There is a story that Ivan had them blinded after the building was completed; however, this is no more than a legend, for in 1588 - four years after Ivan's death - Postnik and Barma added the chapel at the northeast corner of the cathedral housing the tomb of the holy fool Basil (Vasily) by whose name the cathedral is now known."   (http://gorussia.miningco.com/)