stalinian sky-scrapers
Charles Martin-Freville
I have been told there were 13. Is it true ?
Alex
but
> I have been told there were 13. Is it true ?
No, there are 7 of them:
1. Moscow State University
2. Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Overseas Trade
3. Hotel "Ukraine"
4. Hotel "Leningradskaya"
5. Living apartment building at Kudrinskaya square
6. Living apartment building at Kotelnicheskaya naberezhnaya (embankment)
7. Administrative/Living apartment building at Lermontovskaya square
There were two more skyscrapers planned, but not built (fortunately):
1. The House of Soviets at Volkhonka street. This one was planned to be
built in place of the demolished Cathedral of Christ the Savior, but the
ground was found too loose and the Moskva Pool was built there instead.
Fortunately, after the fall of the Soviet Union, Yuri Luzhkov, the mayor of
Moscow, decided to close the Pool and rebuild the Cathedral. Now the
Cathedral of Christ the Savior stands at its old place at Volkhonka.
2. Administrative building in Zaryadye. The building must have been built
where the Hotel "Russia" stands now, beside the Krasnaya (*) square. The
building was ceased due to insufficient funds. The money was spent on the
Luzhniki stadium. If the skyscraper was built it would definitely take the
shine out of the Kremlin.
-----------
(*) Despite the fact that it is commonly reffered to as "Red Square", I
insist that the square be called "Krasnaya". The reason is that in old
Russian the word "Krasnaya" meant "Beautiful", not only "Red". I believe the
meaning "beautiful" is the original meaning of the name of the square and
the name "Red Square" is a pure bad translation, although old enough.
Victor Bazarov
> > How many colossal stalinian sky-scrapers are there in Moscow. I saw
six
> but
> > I have been told there were 13. Is it true ?
>
> No, there are 7 of them:
> 1. Moscow State University
> 2. Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Overseas Trade
> 3. Hotel "Ukraine"
> 4. Hotel "Leningradskaya"
> 5. Living apartment building at Kudrinskaya square
> 6. Living apartment building at Kotelnicheskaya naberezhnaya
(embankment)
> 7. Administrative/Living apartment building at Lermontovskaya square
Otherwise known as the Ministry of Transport Construction
(MinTransStroy).
And BTW, I didn't know there were living quarters in it. Are you sure?
>
> There were two more skyscrapers planned, but not built (fortunately):
> 1. The House of Soviets at Volkhonka street. This one was planned to
be
> built in place of the demolished Cathedral of Christ the Savior, but
the
> ground was found too loose and the Moskva Pool was built there
instead.
> Fortunately, after the fall of the Soviet Union, Yuri Luzhkov, the
mayor of
> Moscow, decided to close the Pool and rebuild the Cathedral. Now the
> Cathedral of Christ the Savior stands at its old place at Volkhonka.
Yeah, but during the existence of the swimming pool an irreparable
damage
was done to the Pushkin Museum. Constant humidity and chlorine fumes
destroyed not one old book, painting, sculpture... God knows, how much
value has been lost.
>
> 2. Administrative building in Zaryadye. The building must have been
built
> where the Hotel "Russia" stands now, beside the Krasnaya (*) square.
The
> building was ceased due to insufficient funds. The money was spent on
the
> Luzhniki stadium. If the skyscraper was built it would definitely take
the
> shine out of the Kremlin.
Talking of taking the shine out of Kremlin, take a look at the Palace of
Congresses. What a devastating blow! The Bolsheviks couldn't do any
more
damage to Russian culture even if they tried... I say, demolish it and
build a nice lawn where Russians can gather and have fun.
>
> -----------
> (*) Despite the fact that it is commonly reffered to as "Red Square",
I
> insist that the square be called "Krasnaya". The reason is that in old
> Russian the word "Krasnaya" meant "Beautiful", not only "Red". I
believe the
> meaning "beautiful" is the original meaning of the name of the square
and
> the name "Red Square" is a pure bad translation, although old enough.
Well, then the cathedral on it should NOT be actually called St.Basil's.
The Basil (Vasiliy) was not a saint, but rather a "blessed" beggar. He
was preaching on the steps of the cathedral decades the chirch was
already
there. Its official name is Pokrovskiy Sobor.
Victor
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