The Red Square.

The Red Square And.

Church Of St. Basil.

In the crypt of this church are kept the heavy chain and crosses which St. Basil wore for penance, and the iron weights worn by the other idiot; but Basil's cap was carried away by the French in 1812, and the inestimable treasure has never been recovered.

The architecture of this marvelous structure is incoherent and amazing, yet, in a certain sense, beautiful. One would, however, never suspect St. Basil's to be a Christian Church, if it were not for the gilded crosses that adorn its towers. The especial glory of the building is its coloring, the effect of which can hardly be exaggerated; for it is painted in all the colors of the rainbow. Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, violet, gold, and silver are blended in one amazing mass, like a fantastic castle made of prisms. From the roof rise eleven towers, apparently bound together like an immense bouquet of architectural flowers. Each cupola is different. One represents an artichoke, another a pineapple, a third a melon, while others suggest the turbans of Oriental giants. Under each of these is a tiny chapel, from which we looked up at the roof, as from the bottom of a well, only to find in the ceiling a huge mosaic eye, startling us by the vivid scrutiny with which it seemed to regard us.

The Church Of St. Basil.

I admit that this church is strange, fantastic, and to many even displeasing from its very oddity; but to me it seemed precisely suited to the half-barbaric Muscovite capital, and I surveyed it with a singular feeling of satisfaction. If St.Basil's is attractive in summer, how beautiful must it look like in the winter time.

The Redeemer Gate.

It is known as the " Redeemer Gate," because above its entrance is a picture of Christ which is deemed so sacred that no one is allowed to pass beneath it without removing his hat.

The Redeemer Gate And Convent.

When we passed through this portal, our guide would always give us the solemn warning, " Hats off, gentlemen! " Formerly, an omission to uncover the head here was severely punished; and even now it would not be advisable to refuse to comply with the custom. The wise traveler, however, is always cosmopolitan enough to obligingly remove his shoes at the door of a Turkish Mosque, or his hat at a " Redeemer Gate."

Near this portal is the Arsenal of the Kremlin, and most of the eight hundred and fifty cannon which it contains were captured from the French, in 1812, and are preserved as souvenirs of their disastrous campaign. At one corner of the building is an enormous cannon. A man can easily stand beneath it, and the monster's throat is three feet in diameter. This huge gun has, however, never been discharged, and it seems to have been intended for ornament, not for use.

The most prominent of the Kremlin structures is the Ivan Tower. This is an imposing and beautiful monument, for its octagonal walls are of snowy whiteness, and at a height of three hundred and twenty-five feet it wears a crown of gold.

For three centuries this has been the Campanile of the Kremlin. It contains, in fact, no less than thirty-six bells, two of which are of silver, while the largest weighs one hundred and thirty thousand pounds. The mellow, sweet vibrations of a musical bell are among the most agreeable sounds whose waves can fall upon the human ear. There are those who prefer them to all other kinds of music.

The Great Gun.

The Ivan Tower.

Such persons should come to Russia to be satisfied, for here bells are regarded as sacred instruments of worship ; and so much silver and gold are cast into their molten mass that, when finished, they send forth liquid tones from their lofty cages, which roll in unison over the city in majestic harmony like the waves of the sea, or ring out singly in soft, silvery resonance like the song of a bird.