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The Cathedral of Christ the Savior is
an architectural monument with a unique fate. It was built in 1883 in a
so called Russian-Byzantine style from the design by architect
Konstantin Ton. It was built with people's donations. In 1931 the
Cathedral was exploded by Stalin's personal order to make way for a
huge Palace of Soviets in its place; however its unfinished foundation
pit was turned into an open swimming pool «Moscow» in 1958. In 1994 it
was decided to reconstruct the Cathedral. The building recreation was
based on old photos, drawings and sketches, but using modern
technologies. At the end of the XX century it took only six years to
reconstruct the Cathedral while its original construction lasted 45
years. On August 19, 2000 the Cathedral was sanctified.
Novodevichy (New Maiden) Convent was founded in 1524 by prince |
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Vasily
III in commemoration of capturing Smolensk. In the XVI-XVIIcenturieswomen of the tsar family and noble boyars’ widows used to become nuns
here. The main cathedral of the Convent is the Smolensky built with the
Kremlin Assumption cathedral as a model. In the cemetery of the Convent
many famous people of Russia are buried, such as writers Gogol,
Checkhov, Bulgakov and Alexey Tolstoy, singer Feodor Shalyapin,
composer Shostakhovich, pianist Richter, dancer Galina Ulanova. Here
Nadezhda Alliluyeva, Joseph Stalin's young wife, and the wife of the
only President of the USSR Michail Gorbachev, Raisa, are buried, too.
Nikita Khrushev is also buried there. |
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The Tretyakov Art Gallery is a Russian
fine arts museum of the X-XX centuries. It was named after its founder,
merchant and patron of arts Pavel Tretyakov who in 1892 granted his
collection to Moscow. At that time the main part of the collection were
pictures by «Peredvizhniki» ( "The Society for circulating art
exhibitions - Traveling artists") - painters of democratic trend in
art. In the museum one can see such masterpieces as the Icon «Troitsa»
(«Trinity») by Andrey Rublev (XV century), the great canvas
«Christophany» by Alexander Ivanov, llya Repin's «Ivan the Terrible and
his Son lvan» depicting the horror of the father who has killed his
son, historical canvases by Vasily Surikhov, works of art by Russian
avant-gardists Malevich, Kandinsky, Rodchenko, Larionov, Goncharova etc. |
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High-Rises in Moscow are houses of
26-32 floors built at the end of the 40s - beginning of the 50s of the
last century according to an indivisible town-planning idea and in a
single architectural style. They are buildings of Moscow University,
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, hotels «Leningradskaya» and «Ukraine»,
administrative and dwelling buildings in two central squares of Moscow.
The most well-known of them is the main building of Moscow University
at the Vorobyovy Gory (Sparrow Hills) which is 238 m tall and is one of
the symbols of Moscow.
«The Worker and the Kolkhoznitsa
(woman collective farmer)» is a sculptural group created by Vera
Mukhina for the Soviet pavilion at the International exhibition in
Paris in 1937. It has been placed before the Northern entrance of the
All-Russia Exhibitional Center. It is cast of stainless steel; its
height is about 25 m. It is a typical work of socialist realism
symbolizing the unity of the working class and the peasants: the worker
and the «kolkhoznitsa» are holding a sickle and a hammer above their
heads; those are symbols of the Soviet state. |
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Ostankino TV tower is the second
tallest building in the world (539 m, the first one is the TV tower in
Toronto - 555 m). It was built in Moscow in 1967, by constructor
Nilcolay Nikitin. Beside technical services, there is a sightseeing
platform and a three-level restaurant «The Seventh Sky» there; the
latter is a ring structure slowly rotating around its axis and from it
the visitors can see the Northeastern part of Moscow. In 2000 there was
a great fire in the building. It is believed that after the
reconstruction the tower will become the tallest in the world - 562 m
tall.
Moscow metro is by right considered an
architectural memorial. It was opened on May 15, 1935. Best architects
of Moscow built up the underground. Such stations as «Dvoretz Sovietov»
(The «Palace of Soviets»), «Krasnie Vorota» («Red Gates»), «Sokolniki»
and «Mayakovskaya» were awarded the Grand-prix at international |
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exhibitions in Brussels and Paris. Facing the first stations took more
marble than all the tsar palaces in pre-revolution Russia. During the
Great Patriotic war the metro was used as a bomb-shelter. Today Moscow
metro has over 160 stations on 11 lines. Beside commonly known lines,
there is a mysterious «Metro-2» which links governmental buildings in
the center of the city with a mythical underground town at the suburbs
of the capital.
«Luzhniki» is the biggest sports
complex of Moscow built in the 'mid-50s of last century. It has become
the center of Olympic games XXII in the summer of 1980. From there rose
up to the sky an 8-meter «Misha» - a little bear, mascot of the Olympic
games. There are over 140 sportive facilities in «Luzhniki»: the Sports
Palace, The Big and the Small arenas, 11 football grounds, 26 sport
halls, 3 artificial skating-rinks and many open sport grounds. Arbat is one the oldest streets in
Moscow. Its name comes from the Arabic «rabad» which means «the
suburbs». The street came into being in the XIV - XV centuries. For
most Muscovites «Arbat» has a broader meaning, it also embodies the
neighboring side streets and court-yards which have kept a special
«Moscow» spirit. In house number 53 there is «Pushkin' s apartment in
Arbat» museum, where the great poet lived with his young wife three
happy honeymoons. In the mid 80s of last century Arbat became the first
pedestrian street in Moscow. There appeared a stone pavement, loans and
decorative streetlamps. Nowadays Arbat is as popular with the guests of
the capital as Red square. There souvenirs and hand-made articles are
sold, street singers and musicians sing and play, artists draw
portraits.
Kuskovo is a museum estate of the
Sheremetyevs counts. The palace and park of the estate were created in
the 40s of the XVIII century by serf architects Argunov, Mironov and
Dikushin with architect Blank's participation. The pavilion «Grotto»,
«Italian» and «Dutch» houses, «Greenhouse» and «Hermitage» have
survived. In the old park with a system of ponds and canals one can
come across 200-year-old trees.
Kolomenskoe is an estate of great
princes and tsars of the XVI-XVII centuries (now inside Moscow), which
is picture¬squely situated on a high bank of the Moskva-river. It was
first mentioned in the first half of the XIV century. The main sight of
Kolomenskoe is the Church of Ascension (1532), one of the first stone
hip temples. The Church of the beheading of St. John the Baptist, The
Belfry of George the Victorious (XVI century), the Kazan Cathedral
(XVII century) are parts of the Kolomenskoe complex. Since 1971
Kolomenskoe has been a reserve that features memorials of Russian
wooden architecture. |
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