[random] FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE

*This article is a mere rumbling 
and only slightly related to books!

If you've read even one book of Leigh Bardugo's Grisha Trilogy you know that is strongly influenced by Russian culture.
Me, personally, i love Russia. Such a strange county. Its history is gruesome as much as magical and they have the most un-ordinary church on the most violent place.

So here that fallows are two things that my mind always flashes upon whenever Russia is mentioned.

First thing:
As a child i fall asleep on the Russian interpretation on the Grimm brothers tales. I remember them as the most extraordinary and wondrous. The drownings were unconventional and colorful and the stories were hardcore and not mellowed down like the Disney ones.


Second thing:
Its a story I picked up from college and while the other dry facts I learned about architecture faded away from my mind this one stayed with me, read it and you'll see why!

****
One upon a time there was a Czar named Ivan Grozny.

He got his name (Ivan the Terrible) from his ruthless way or ruling the Rusiyan kingdom.

One day He decided that he would build the greatest temple ever build in the history of building.

The pleasure for designing the grand temple was put upon two young brothers named Barma and Postnik Yakovlev.

They took it as a great honor and went to their tusk with every bit of the imagination they possessed, They slaved day and night, they sweated and worked and build walls and raised domes and it took them mounts ans it took them years but they build a beautiful building. Swatted in colors and bejeweled with precious stones with different dome for every corner and different height for every dome.

There was the grand opening and everyone was invited. Come the prices and come the poppers, and come country folk and come foreigners and also come the Czar.

He went inside he went outside and he pronounced that this is non the less the greatest building ever build. And they rejoiced.

That night the Czar seat on the balcony of his castle and he marveled the beautiful building when a nagging thought entered his mind. It truly was a magnificent temple in the whole kingdom, but no one can predict the future, what about tomorrow, what about the years to come. He wanted the building remembered for ALL TIMES.

So he lost his sleep that night and he lost his sleep the night after that and on the third night he had a solution.

He seek out his most trusted and most feared Guards and he give them this order:

“GO and search and find ALL the workers that help build the temple. Ones you find every single one of the workers - slice their throats”

“And the architects that designed it, just because of the magnificent building they build i'll spare their lives. But so they can not repeat their work ever again , dig out their eyes!”

The gourds might have not liked the order but they did as their Czar said and they obeyed his order word to word. So as the sun rose the next morning there were a lot less workers in the kingdom and what remained from the team that build the temple were two young man never to see again.
****

And that's how Vasily Blazheniy (St. Basil's) was build.

 

Yeah...
So i paraphrased a little, this is just one of the stories surrounding the building of this church. Some record say the brothers build it, other say there was one person named Ivan Yakovlevich Barma (Varfolomey) so this can be a legend but it can also be true and its chilling ether way.

So that's Russia for you people, horrifying and magnificent.

What do you think? Would you like to visit?
Or just be satisfied with reading "The Grisha" trilogy?