Restoration work at St. Basil’s to be completed in a few years
http://www.interfax-religion.com/?act=news&div=86619 January 2006, 13:40
Restoration work at St. Basil’s to be completed in a few years
Moscow, January 19, Interfax - The restoration work on the faзade of St. Basil’s in Red Square will be completed already this year, while the work on its interior will take a few more years, Lyubov Uspenskaya, guardian of the Intercession Cathedral Museum has stated.
‘One should remember that the monument is 440 years old. It is a living organism requiring continued restoration. What we are doing is not a repair but what is called scientific restoration’, Uspenskaya said in an interview published by the Rossijskaya gazeta daily on Thursday.
Last summer, the most profound archeological excavations ever were carried out in the cathedral. As a result the cultural stratum was lowered by 70 cm to reveal the foundation of the 17th century and layers of the 13th century. A coin minted in 1611 was found.
Divine services are conducted in the cathedral at 10 o’clock every morning, and Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia usually celebrates there on the Day of the Protecting Veil of the Mother of God.
It has been announced recently that St. Basil’s, along with the Moscow Kremlin, has been included in the list of contenders for the title of ‘a wonder of the world’.