Page "Saint Basil's Cathedral" Paragraph 32

The second, and most significant, round of refit and expansion took place in 1680 – 83.

The nine churches themselves retained their appearance, but additions to the ground-floor arcade and the first-floor platform were so profound that Nikolay Brunov considered the rebuilt composite church a " new " building and an independent work that incorporated the " old " Trinity Church.

What once was a group of nine independent churches on a common platform became a monolithic temple.