Postnik Yakovlev (Постник Яковлев) is most famous as one of the architects and builders of
Saint Basil's Cathedral
The Cathedral of Vasily the Blessed ( rus, Собо́р Васи́лия Блаже́нного, Sobór Vasíliya Blazhénnogo), commonly known as Saint Basil's Cathedral, is an Orthodox church in Red Square of Moscow, and is one of the most p ...
on
Red Square
Red Square ( rus, Красная площадь, Krasnaya ploshchad', ˈkrasnəjə ˈploɕːətʲ) is one of the oldest and largest squares in Moscow, the capital of Russia. Owing to its historical significance and the adjacent historical bui ...
in
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
(built between 1555 and 1560, the other architect is
Barma). Originally from
Pskov, it is thought that he was nicknamed "Barma" (Барма) ("the mumbler"), although it might be that his full name was, in fact, Ivan Yakovlevich Barma; (Postnik means "Faster", a term used for several religious figures, including Patriarch John IV of Constantinople); Barma might also be Yakovlev's assistant.
According to legend,
Ivan the Terrible
Ivan IV Vasilyevich (russian: Ива́н Васи́льевич; 25 August 1530 – ), commonly known in English as Ivan the Terrible, was the grand prince of Moscow from 1533 to 1547 and the first Tsar of all Russia from 1547 to 1584.
Iv ...
blinded Yakovlev so that he could never build anything so beautiful again. However, this is probably a myth, as Yakovlev, in cooperation with another master, Ivan ShirIai, designed the walls of the
Kazan Kremlin
The Kazan Kremlin (russian: Казанский кремль, Kazanskiy kreml; tt-Cyrl, Казан кирмәне) is the chief historic citadel of Russia, situated in the city of Kazan. It was built at the behest of Ivan the Terrible on the ruin ...
and the in
Kazan
Kazan ( ; rus, Казань, p=kɐˈzanʲ; tt-Cyrl, Казан, ''Qazan'', IPA: ɑzan is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Tatarstan in Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Volga and the Kazanka rivers, covering ...
in 1561 and 1562, just after the completion of St. Basil's. He also designed the northeast chapel of St. Basil's (where Basil himself, the popular
Basil Fool for Christ
Basil the Blessed (known also as Basil, fool for Christ; Basil, Wonderworker of Moscow; or Blessed Basil of Moscow, fool for Christ russian: Василий Блаженный, Vasily Blazhenny) is a Russian Orthodox saint of the type known as '' ...
– Yurodivy Vassily Blazhenny – is buried), in 1588, four years after Ivan's death.
According to several historians, Yakovlev also designed churches in
Staritsa Staritsa (russian: Старица) is the name of several types of inhabited localities in Russia, inhabited localities in Russia.
Modern localities
;Urban localities
*Staritsa (town), Tver Oblast, a town in Staritsky District of Tver Oblast
;Rura ...
,
Murom
Murom ( rus, Муром, p=ˈmurəm; Old Norse: ''Moramar'') is a historical city in Vladimir Oblast, Russia, which sprawls along the left bank of the Oka River. Population:
History
In the 9th century AD, the city marked the easternmost settle ...
, Sviazhsk, and perhaps
Vladimir, although others contend that this was another architect with a similar name.
[N. F. Kalinin, "Postnik Barma - Stroitel' Sobora Vasiliia Blazhennogo v Moskve i Kazanskogo kremlia," ''Sovietskaia Arkheologia'' (1957) No. 3, pp. 261-263.]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yakovlev, Postnik
Russian architects
16th-century architects
16th-century Russian people