The others, which are slenderer and shorter, affect the form of the
minaret, and their fantastically ornamented towers end in cupolas
that swell strangely into the form of onions. Some are tortured
into facets, others ribbed, some cut into diamond-shaped points
like pineapples, some striped with fillets in spirals, others again
decorated with lozenge-shaped and overlapping scales, or honeycombed
like a bee-hive, and all adorned at their summit with the golden
ball surmounted by the cross.

[Illustration: VASSILI-BLAGENNOI (ST. BASIL THE BLESSED), MOSCOW.]

What adds still more to the fantastic effect of Vassili-Blagennoi,
is that it is coloured with the most incongruous tones which
nevertheless produce a harmonious effect that charms the eye. Red,
blue, apple-green and yellow meet here in all portions of the building.
Columns, capitals, arches and ornaments are painted with startling
shades which give a strong relief. On the plain spaces of rare
occurrence, they have simulated divisions or panels framing pots
of flowers, rose-windows, wreathing vines, and chimaeras. The domes
of the bell-towers are decorated with coloured designs that recall
the patterns of India shawls; and, displayed thus on the roofs
of the church, they recall the kiosks of the Sultans.

The same fantastic genius presided over the plan and ornamentation
of the interior. The first chapel, which is very low and in which
a few lamps glimmer, resembles a golden cavern; unexpected stars
throw their rays across the dusky shadows and make the stiff images
of the Greek saints stand out like phantoms. The mosaics of St.
Mark's in Venice alone can give an approximate idea of the effect
of this astonishing richness. At the back, the iconostas looms up
in the twilight shot through with rays like a golden and jewelled
wall between the faithful and the priests of the sanctuary.

Vassili-Blagennoi does not present, like other churches, a simple
interior composed of several naves communicating and cut at certain
points of intersection after the laws of the rites followed in
the temple. It is formed of a collection of churches, or chapels,
in juxtaposition and independent of each other. Each bell-tower
contains a chapel, which arranges itself as it pleases in this
mass. The dome is the terminal of the spire or the bulb of the
cupola. You might believe yourself under the enormous casque of
some Circassian or Tartar giant. These calottes are, moreover,
marvellousl