Google doodle for St Basil's Cathedral anniversary

The search engine has created a special doodle to mark the occasion.

Google has marked the 450th anniversary of the Saint Basil's Cathedral
in Moscow  with a commemorative doodle.

The Cathedral was built by Tsar Ivan IV (the Terrible) to celebrate
his victory over Kazan and Astrakhan.

Said to be designed either by two Russian architects, Posnik and Barma
or an Italian architect who was blinded so he could never build
anything so majestic again, Saint Basil's Cathedral has survived the
Bolshevik takeover of the Kremlin in 1917 during which it was shelled
heavily.

It has also survived being dynamited by Napoleon Bonaparte as the
rains put out the burning fuses as also early Communist leaders who
wanted to bring it down to make way for military parades.

St Basil's Cathedral owes its name to the eccentric devout who refused
to wear any clothes whatsoever even in the thick of Moscow winter.

Said to be feared by Ivan The Terrible, who was lambasted for his
tyranny, St Basil was personally carried to his grave by the Tsar
outside the Kremlin.

The cathedral was built on the burial site.

Google has often swapped its standard logo for an artistic doodle.
Apart from static images, the search engine uses interactive audio
elements and even videos as part of its logo on special occasions.

Photograph: Dror Feitelson / Wikimedia Commons and google