The cathedral, symbolic of traditional Russian architecture, bears the name of St Basil, a "fool" buried here, who had predicted that Ivan the Terrible would assassinate one of his sons. It was this same tsar who had the building erected between 1551 and 1562 to celebrate his victory over the Tatars at Kazan. The cathedral, also designated 'of the Intercession of the Virgin', flaunts its towers of finely wrought brick and the colourful domes of its nine churches. The icons in its religious art museum are worth a special visit.