Moscow's 800th anniversary came at a difficult time after the war. The country was just beginning to recover from the Nazi invasion. However, it was on this day that the construction of Stalin's skyscrapers in Moscow began.
Laying the foundations
The Council of Ministers of the USSR in 1947 adopted a resolution on the construction of eight high-rise buildings in Moscow. Of course, this decree was issued with the approval and perhaps even at the initiative of Stalin.
The laying of the foundations took place simultaneously, on the same day, on the day of the celebration of the anniversary of the capital - September 7th. An hour earlier, a monument to Yuri Dolgoruky, the founder of Moscow, was laid on Sovetskaya Square. There is no doubt that these events were intended to testify that, just as Yuri Dolgoruky once laid the foundation for the Russian capital, so on the day of its 800th anniversary, he blesses it for a new significant, one might say, epoch-making period in its history..
Stalin's skyscrapers in Moscow were planned as the personification of the power of a vast country and the entire Soviet people. By the way, they were also built in someother cities of the Soviet Union and socialist countries.
Great idea
According to some reports, the original idea of building high-rise buildings in Moscow was even more grandiose. Eight high-rise buildings were to become a worthy environment for an even more impressive building - the Palace of Soviets, crowned with a monumental figure of the leader of the proletariat - V. I. Lenin. However, the project was not destined to materialize.
Although it was a start. Moreover, the Cathedral of Christ the Savior was demolished, on the site of which the construction of the Palace of Soviets began.
A team of architects led by B. M. Iofana.
The monumentality of the designed building was at least indicated by the fact that only the internal volume of the palace could accommodate the three pyramids of Cheops. The figure of Lenin was supposed to reach 100 meters. And the total height of the Palace of Soviets, together with the monument, was planned to be 420 meters. At that time, there were no taller buildings in the world.
Construction began in 1937. Before the war, they even managed to build the base of the building from metal structures as high as a ten-story building. However, the war not only interrupted the construction, but also forced to dismantle the metal structures and direct them to the construction of objects more necessary for the defense of the capital: bridges and barriers.
The construction of the monumental object did not work out. A swimming pool functioned in its foundation for a long time, and in the 1990s, the Cathedral of Christ the Savior was restored on this site.
But Stalin'sskyscrapers in Moscow were nevertheless erected.
The highest skyscraper
The highest Stalinist skyscraper was built on Sparrow Hills - the main building of Moscow State University. It was built for four years - from 1949 to 1953. Architects worked on the project: S. E. Chernyshev, L. V. Rudnev, P. V. Abrosimov, V. V. Nasonov and A. F. Boars.
There is evidence that it took 40,000 tons of steel to build the frame of the building, and 175 million bricks for the walls. The weight of the star mounted on the spire of the skyscraper is about 12 tons.
The height of the main building of Moscow State University reaches 236 meters, the building has 36 floors. 68 elevators and high-speed booths were made for him.
Many prisoners worked on the construction of the skyscraper, who were promised early release when the building was completed. Solntsevo settlement was organized near the site for the builders to live. Now it has become one of the districts of the capital.
In the post-Soviet period, implausible stories, like mushrooms, are overgrown with Stalin's skyscrapers in Moscow: mysticism prevails over reality in them. For example, they talk about secret corridors that lead to each living room and were built in order to eavesdrop on people's conversations. And there were legends about the building of Moscow State University that it goes underground as much as it rises above the ground. It was planned to house the capital's missile defense center in its basement.
House of Aviators
Stalin skyscrapers in Moscow were built in different parts of the capital. Yes, higha residential building grew up on Vosstaniya Square. Once in its place was the village of Kudrino. Now the square has returned its old name - Kudrinskaya.
The construction of the skyscraper began in 1948 and ended in 1954. Its height was 156 meters. The building had 24 floors (in the central part), side extensions consisted of 18 floors. The house was designed for 450 apartments.
The building was designed by architects A. A. Mndoyants and M. V. Posokhin.
For the post-war period, this residential building was truly luxurious: marble staircases, high-speed elevators, spacious lobbies, rooms with high ceilings … The apartments in this high-rise building went to workers in the aviation industry, namely, test pilots, astronauts, aircraft designers, therefore it was nicknamed "Aviator's House". However, both party workers and actors lived here.
The house also housed a shop, cinema, underground garages and much more.
High-rise without a star
The building of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was designed by architects M. A. Minkus and V. G. Gelfreich. It opened the seven Stalinist skyscrapers of Moscow, since it was the first to be built. The building towered 172 meters on Smolenskaya-Sennaya Square, consisted of 27 floors, equipped with 28 elevators, most of which were high-speed.
In the original plan, the first building did not have a spire. However, Stalin did not like it in this form. And, as the legend says, he instructed to urgently complete it. There were some difficulties associated with this, primarily due toadditional load. Therefore, the spire was installed to a greater extent decorative, made of steel sheets. Naturally, there could be no question of any star (the spire would no longer stand). Therefore, the coat of arms of the USSR was erected on the building at a height of 114 meters.
By the way, today not only the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but also the Ministry of Foreign Economic Relations and Trade of the Russian Federation is located in the Stalinist skyscraper.
The second tallest is "Ukraine"
The construction of the building began in 1953, was completed in 1957, already under Khrushchev. However, the hotel was originally conceived there. But Khrushchev chose a different name for it. After all, Ukraine is his homeland.
The building was designed by architects A. G. Mordvinov and V. K. Oltarzhevsky on Kutuzovsky Prospekt. The height without the spire reaches 198 meters, the spire adds another 8 meters. In a high-rise - 34 floors.
A tour of the Stalinist skyscrapers of Moscow, of course, will not bypass "Ukraine". If only because it contains a diorama, or a model of Moscow in 1977. It was made for the National Exhibition in America, and commissioned by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The diorama is very skillfully made and represents the historical center of Moscow almost completely.
The hotel underwent a serious overhaul from 2005 to 2010, it was made by new owners. After that, the hotel became known as "RadissonRoyalHotel".
House of creative intelligentsia
The construction of the house began before the war (1938-1940) and ended in 1952. Architects - A. K. Rostkovsky and D. N. Chechulin.
The building had 32 floors, and its height reached 176 meters. It was decorated with turrets and sculptural groups. It was located in a very beautiful place - at the confluence of the Moscow River and the Yauza.
It's not news that Stalin's skyscrapers in Moscow were partly built by prisoners. There has already been talk about the building of Moscow State University. The house on Kotelnicheskaya embankment was also built by the "convicts".
Perhaps, according to the government's idea, the building should have had a different purpose. There are also various legends about this. However, after the construction, the house was given to the creative intelligentsia. At different times, Evgeny Yevtushenko, Galina Ulanova, Andrei Voznesensky, Faina Ranevskaya, Lyudmila Zykina, Nona Mordyukova and many other famous personalities lived there. So the house was elite.
On the first floor there was a post office, a bakery, a cinema.
At the very height of the Garden Ring
Since this Stalinist skyscraper was built on the highest point of the Garden Ring, despite its smaller size compared to other buildings, it looks very impressive and visually is not inferior to others.
The building was designed by architects B. S. Mezentsev and A. N. Dushkin. It was an administrative and residential building 138 meters high. It was crowned with a tiered tent.
The construction of the skyscraper on the Red Gate Square was fraught with some difficulties. The deepest metro station was also being built there, and one wing of the building was to be located above the station. It was not easy for the architects. Butthey did everything right, using brilliant ideas: both freezing the pit and erecting the building at an angle (when the pit thawed, the building leveled out).
The administrative building in Soviet times was occupied by the Ministry of Transport Engineering. Now there are offices of the corporation "Transstroy". Mikhail Lermontov was born in a residential building, which was located on the site of a Stalinist skyscraper.
The most "miniature" hotel "Leningradskaya"
All Stalin's skyscrapers in Moscow deserve the most interesting stories. Their photo can also decorate any album.
The Leningradskaya Hotel is inferior in height (136 meters) to other skyscrapers, but surpasses all others in interior decoration. It combines elements of ancient Russian architecture and temple architecture. For the interior, rare rocks, huge crystal chandeliers, a relief depicting St. George the Victorious, forged doors, sculptures were used … The architects of the building are L. M. Polyakov and A. B. Boretsky.
Special excursions are organized to the hotel, now called the Hilton MoscowLeningradskaya.
The hotel is located next to Komsomolskaya Square, it is also called the "Square of Three Stations" (Kazansky, Yaroslavsky and Leningradsky).
Addresses of Stalin's skyscrapers in Moscow do not need to be known exactly. Landmarks can be: Sparrow Hills, Kudrinskaya Square, Kotelnicheskaya Embankment, Kutuzovsky Prospect, Red Gate Square, Kalanchevskaya Street and Arbat.
Was there an eighthskyscraper?
8 buildings were laid on the anniversary day of Moscow. The administrative building, which was planned to be built in Zaryadye (architect Dmitry Chechurin), was not completed in time. By 1953, only the stylobate was ready.
After Stalin's death, the construction site was mothballed. Later, in the 60s, the Rossiya Hotel was built in its place, which was then demolished.
So how many Stalinist skyscrapers are there in Moscow? Seven. And each of them deserves special attention. After all, this is the history of the capital.
