Saint Basil’s Cathedral of Moscow, Russia

Although the structure isn’t actually located in the Kremlin, it serves as an icon of Russia going all the way back from the Tsar-dom to the Soviet Union to the modern Federation. Its patron was Tsar Ivan IV, more commonly known as Ivan the Terrible, who dedicated it to his capture of Kazan in the Russo-Kazan War.

Trinity Church originally occupied the site, a busy marketplace even then. To commemorate each victory in the Russo-Kazan War, Tsar Ivan IV ordered the construction of a new memorial next to the white walls of Trinity, eventually shrouding the original church and becoming the modern structure known as St. Basil’s Cathedral.

A photo posted by Moscow (@topmoscowphoto) on Nov 11, 2016 at 8:32am PST

The architect behind St. Basil’s is a mystery. Historians found two names listed on the official Russian cultural heritage register: Barma and Postnik Yakovlev, though many believe these are both referencing the same person. Yakovlev is said to have built churches all around Russia following the completion of his masterpiece, but legend has it Ivan removed the man’s eyes so he would not be able to recreate it anywhere else.

St. Basil’s vivid colors and graceful dome structures give the church a distinct look that seems to have no direct counterparts, making it hard to determine the influences, most likely a complex interaction between the many cultures that worked in Russia at the time.