The 800th anniversary of Moscow fell on a difficult post-war period. 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.
Foundation laying
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 some other cities of the Soviet Union and socialist countries.
big 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 three. The figure of Lenin should have reached 100 meters. And the total height of the Palace of Soviets, together with the monument, was planned to be 420 meters. At that time, taller buildings in the world did not exist.
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 disassemble the metal structures and direct them to the construction of objects more necessary for the defense of the capital: bridges and barrier structures.
It was not possible to complete the monumental object. 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 the Stalinist skyscrapers in Moscow were nevertheless erected.
The highest skyscraper
The tallest 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. Khryakov.
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 a star mounted on a high-rise spire is about 12 tons.
The height of the main building of Moscow State University reaches 236 meters, the building has 36 floors. For him, 68 elevators and high-speed booths were made.
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, Stalin's skyscrapers in Moscow are overgrown with implausible stories, like mushrooms: 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 place the capital's missile defense center in its basement building.
"House of Aviators"
Stalin's skyscrapers in Moscow were built in different parts of the capital. So, a high-rise residential building grew up on Vosstaniya Square. Once in its place was the village of Kudrino. Now the square has returned the old name - Kudrinskaya.
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: 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, so it was nicknamed "Aviator's House". However, both party workers and actors lived here.
The house also housed a shop, a cinema, underground garages and much more.
Skyscraper without a star
The building of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was built according to the project of 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 and 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. Some difficulties were associated with this, primarily due to the additional workload. 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 built on the building at a height of 114 meters.
By the way, today not only the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but also the ministries of foreign economic relations and trade of the Russian Federation are located in the Stalinist skyscraper.
Second highest - "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 built according to the project of 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 executed very skillfully and represents the historical center of Moscow almost completely.
The hotel underwent a major overhaul from 2005 to 2010, it was made by new owners. After that, the hotel became known as the Radisson Royal Hotel.
House of creative intelligentsia
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 is 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 "convicts".
Perhaps, as conceived by the government, the building should have had a different purpose right away. 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 built according to the project of 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 a skyscraper on 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. But they did everything right, applying brilliant ideas: freezing the pit, and erecting the building at an angle (when the pit thawed, the building leveled out).
The administrative building 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" - the hotel "Leningradskaya"
All the Stalinist skyscrapers in Moscow deserve the most interesting stories. Their photo can also decorate any album.
The Leningradskaya Hotel is inferior to other skyscrapers in height (136 meters), 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, which is now called "HiltonMoscowLeningradskaya".
The hotel is located next to Komsomolskaya Square, it is also called the "Square of Three Stations" (Kazansky, Yaroslavsky and Leningradsky).
The 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 eighth high-rise?
On the anniversary day of Moscow, 8 buildings were laid. 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.
Huge pompous buildings, legendary houses, made in a complex combination of Russian Baroque and Gothic styles, the so-called Stalinist Empire style, built from 1947 to 1953, are known as the "seven sisters". Even today they proudly flaunt in the capital, reminiscent of a bygone era. And each of these buildings has its own fascinating history. The post-war period demanded changes in everything. It was necessary to show the West that the country that defeated fascism has strength and resources. In honor of the victory and in commemoration of the 800th anniversary of Moscow, it was decided to build 8 high-rise buildings in Moscow. Interestingly, all the Stalinist skyscrapers were laid on the same day - September 7, 1947. On this day, the 800th anniversary of Moscow was celebrated. The best architects of that USSR worked on creating the appearance of these high-rise buildings. They were tasked with creating skyscrapers that are different from Western skyscrapers. And the architects still managed to create an original architectural style, later called the Stalinist Empire style or Soviet monumental classicism. 
"Seven Sisters" - seven high-rise buildings built in Moscow in the late 1940s - early 1950s.
This is how the Palace of Soviets was supposed to look like. It was laid in 1931, blowing up the Cathedral of Christ the Savior for this purpose, but due to the outbreak of war, construction was stopped, the frame was dismantled. After the war, they did not finish building the grandiose building, they built a pool on this site, and today the newly rebuilt Temple flaunts here again. 
View of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior before destruction. In 1947, in honor of the 800th anniversary of the capital, at the direction of Stalin, eight huge skyscrapers were laid at the same time (but seven of them were built). All projects were personally approved by Stalin. The building of Moscow State University on Vorobyovy Gory
On September 1, 1953, the 36-story skyscraper on Sparrow Hills accepted its first students. Being the tallest (240 meters) and beautiful building among the "sisters", until 1990 it remained the tallest in Europe. The architect of this project was Lev Rudnev. Due to the huge scale of construction, prisoners of the Gulag were attracted as workers, in order to reduce transport costs, some of them lived here for some time. Hotel "Ukraine"
Hotel "Ukraine". Today the Radisson Royal Hotel. The second tallest (206 m) hotel building among the seven “sisters” was built after Stalin's death in 1957, under Khrushchev. The authors of the project are Arkady Mordvinov and Vyacheslav Oltarzhevsky. By order of Khrushchev, the original name "Dorogomilovskaya" was changed and the new hotel "Ukraine" was named. In 2005 - 2010, the skyscraper underwent a major reconstruction, and now one of the largest luxury hotels in Europe, Radisson Royal, with 505 rooms, is located here. Soviet symbols - stars, sickles, hammers and wreaths framing them, which have long lost their former political pathos, have been preserved as a highlight of the decor. Skyscraper without a star
The building of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation was erected in 1953, its height is 172 meters. The architects Gelfreich and Minkus were responsible for the construction of this 27-storey skyscraper. Initially, the building was designed and built without a spire; it was added at the direction of Stalin already at the last stage of construction. To reduce the additional load, a light, decorative spire was erected on the building, on which a coat of arms appeared instead of a heavy star. The most "miniature" skyscraper, the hotel "Hilton Leningradskaya"
The Leningradskaya Hotel, built in 1952 according to the project of L.M. Polyakov and A.B. Boretsky, is the smallest, "miniature" among all the "sisters". Behind its elegant exterior décor lies a splendid luxurious interior, where elements of temple architecture coexist with Moscow Baroque. Subsequently, this architectural luxury of hers was severely criticized by N. Khrushchev, and the architects of the hotel were even deprived of Stalin awards. Since 2008, the 5-star Hilton Hotel has been located here. House on Kotelnicheskaya embankment
A very beautiful place was chosen for this skyscraper - the confluence of the Moscow River and the Yauza. The building, built in 1952 (architects Chechulin and Rostkovsky), is designed in the Neo-Gothic style; obelisks and bas-reliefs were used as decorations for it. Many apartments in it were occupied by representatives of creative professions. Since the new building was attached to the house in which the Chekists lived, they supervised the construction. Prisoners were also involved in the work here. House of Aviators
At the end of 1954, the family of Moscow skyscrapers was replenished with another building on Kudrinskaya Square with a height of 156 meters with a luxurious, sophisticated finish (architects Posokhin and Mndoyants). Its central building consisted of 24 floors, and the adjacent side ones - of 18. The people called it the House of Aviators, since mainly test pilots and other workers associated with aviation, as well as representatives of the nomenklatura, lived here. It was in this house that the scenes in the professor's apartment in the film "Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears" were filmed. House at the Red Gate
The high-rise at the Red Gate, designed by Alexei Dushkin, is the lowest of all the "sisters" (only 133 m). The central building with 24 floors was used as an administrative building, and apartments were located in the side buildings. During the construction of this building, in order not to block the exit from the metro, a unique engineering solution was used. The pit under its foundation was frozen, and the building was erected with some calculated deviation, later, when the house shrank, everything returned to normal. 
The eighth high-rise in Zaryadye When Stalin died, all work on high-rise buildings was stopped, as Khrushchev crushed Stalin's idea of building "wedding cakes", as he called high-rise buildings. Therefore, the project of the last and highest eighth skyscraper (275 m) designed by the architect D. Chechulinane was never implemented. Instead, Moscow began to build up "Khrushchev". One day Stalin was watching The Train Goes East. The film is drawn out: the train is coming, it is stopping… — What station is this? Stalin asked. - Demyanovka. “This is where I will get off,” Stalin said and left the hall.
In the autumn of 1927 Stalin met with a delegation of North American workers. The recording of the conversation was published in Soviet periodicals.
Questions to the leader were asked frank, different, including "difficult". For example, one of the members of the delegation believed that "American communists receive orders from Moscow and therefore cannot be good trade unionists, since their loyalty to a foreign organization exceeds loyalty to their own union." He asked, "How can this difficulty be removed?"
Stalin replied:
“There are people who think that the members of the Communist International in Moscow do nothing but sit and write directives for all countries. Since there are more than 60 countries that make up the Comintern, you can imagine the position of the members of the Comintern who do not sleep, do not eat, and do nothing but sit and write directives for these countries day and night.
It was not the head of the Union of Writers of the USSR Fadeev who came to Stalin on his call, but his deputy Tikhonov.
- And where is Fadeev? Stalin asked.
- Comrade Fadeev went hunting and has not yet returned.
- Our comrade Nikolai Shvernik also likes to hunt. But he leaves on Saturday, gets drunk on Sunday, and goes to work on Monday.
After a case of a secondary similar "hunt" of Fadeev, Stalin directly asked him where he was disappearing.
“I was drunk,” he answered with Bolshevik directness.
How many days does it usually last for you?
- Ten days, Comrade Stalin.
- Can't you, as a communist, hold this event for three or four days?
Stalin's response to reports of his own death in the Western press: “As far as I know from the reports of the foreign press, I have long since left this sinful world and moved to the other world. Since it is impossible not to trust the reports of the foreign press, if you do not want to be deleted from the list of civilized people, then I ask you to believe these reports and not disturb my peace in the silence of the other world.
The People's Commissar for Agriculture of Ukraine was summoned to the Politburo, He asked:
- How should I report: briefly or in detail?
“As you wish, you can be brief, you can be detailed, but the time limit is three minutes,” Stalin replied.
When developing the Pobeda car, it was assumed that it would be called Rodina. Upon learning of this, Stalin asked: “Well, how much will our Motherland be?” After that, the name of the car was changed.
When they were deciding what to do with the German navy, Stalin offered to divide it up, and Churchill made a counterproposal: "Sink". Stalin replies: "Here you are drowning your half."
The esoteric and sacred map of the capital was formed not only in antiquity and the Middle Ages. This continued under the Soviet regime. Stalin, as you know, was not a stranger occult knowledge. It is said that he planned to rebuild Moscow as a planetary system.
For this, a circular metro line was designed with 12 stations and 9 skyscrapers as planets. VDNKh and the Ostankino tower were supposed to be an asteroid belt. By the way, the skyscrapers and the circular metro line were built at the same time.
Decree No. 53 of the Council of Ministers of the USSR "On the construction of multi-storey buildings in Moscow" was signed by I.V. Stalin on January 13, 1947, the year of the celebration of the 800th anniversary of the capital.
In the fall of September 7, 1947 at 13.00 in different places in Moscow, they began laying the "first stone" in the foundations of eight Soviet skyscrapers. The date was not chosen by chance. According to astrological forecasts, it was this date and time that promised the buildings a special energy.
Stalin's skyscrapers were originally supposed to be not seven, but nine. The eighth skyscraper was planned to be built in Zaryadye. The People's Commissariat of Heavy Industry was supposed to be located there. But later, instead of Narkomtyazhprom, the Rossiya Hotel was erected.
The central place among the high-rise buildings was to be occupied by the Palace of Soviets, which was built on the site ... of the blown up Cathedral of Christ the Savior, which, in turn, was built on the site of the former Alekseevsky Monastery. There is an interesting legend connected with this. Here is what I.M. Lyubimov in the book "Unknown Moscow":
“... The monks of the Alekseevsky monastery finished the last divine service. The monastic utensils were loaded onto carts, but the abbess of the monastery, the abbess, still did not appear. And suddenly, unexpectedly leaving the cell, she ordered to be chained to an oak tree. Prepared in advance, faithful to her, the nuns immediately fulfilled the desire of the abbess.
The refusal of the abbess to leave the monastery was regarded by the authorities as a rebellion, as disobedience to the decree of Nicholas I. Therefore, the abbess was released from her bonds and forcibly expelled out of the gate. Turning around, she said: “Nothing will stand here” ... "
The Palace of Soviets was never completed... Later, for more than 30 years, the Moskva pool was located here, and now the temple is again standing.
The foundations of all nine skyscrapers were laid on the same day. Almost all of them were built along the Garden Ring, as if framing the historical center of the capital. In 1950, Stalin gave the order - each of the towers should be crowned with a spire with a star. Then the names “seven pyramids” and “Moscow crown” appeared among the people.
Apartments in residential skyscrapers were received only by the most "deserved" - mostly large military and party workers. Moreover, the higher the rank of the tenant, the higher was the floor on which his apartment was located.
There were many rumors and legends about the "Moscow pyramids". They began to appear at the design stage, starting with the very idea of their construction and ending with the image of ancient symbols on the facades: Masonic, pagan and Christian.
The architectural forms of the buildings hide pyramids under them, the proportions of which are similar to the Egyptian pyramids. The pyramid, as you know, symbolizes superiority, power, knowledge, energy and strength.
Stalinist skyscrapers in Moscow are distinguished by a particularly strong metal frame. And most esotericists agree that the presence of metal fittings and spiers suggests the use of buildings as grand transmitters of energy.
In the declassified archives of the KGB, there are practically no photographs of the construction of skyscrapers, since they were built by prisoners, and this fact should not be publicly advertised. The residents of these houses were well aware of who and with what difficulty erected these walls, but preferred not to discuss this topic.
Project of the Palace of Soviets
There are many legends and rumors about ground freezing technologies, which by that time were really actively used, but only for the construction of the metro.
Most of these legends are similar to chapters from novels of the future: about the use of liquid nitrogen to freeze the soil, which, by the way, turns metal and concrete into dust, about the 3rd basement of Moscow State University, where there are huge refrigeration units that keep the soil under the building in a solid state, and if they are turned off, then Moscow State University will slide into the Moscow River in one week. And also the stories that all structures have direct access to the metro tunnels.
It was said about the building of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that its upper tier is not stone, but plywood. And that every year on December 31, workers go up there and tint the wall. And the thing is that the construction costs were incorrectly calculated and there was not enough money for the last tier. So they built it from plywood ... According to another version, Stalin saw the building without a top and ordered it to be “finished” urgently so that it would not look like the skyscrapers of New York, which were disliked by his heart.
Cellars and bunkers under the Stalin skyscrapers still excite the imagination of both professional historians and fans of extreme travel. No one knows for sure where the tunnels lead behind the rusty metal doors in the basements, the locks of which are not always possible to open even with special equipment.
All Stalin skyscrapers in Moscow were built according to a single concept: a wide base, a stepped pyramid, pointed spiers and motifs of the Kremlin towers. Plots for the construction of Soviet skyscrapers were huge, which significantly distinguished them from American ones, where the rent for a plot for construction was not just large, but a very large and pyramidal building, in market conditions, was considered an unaffordable luxury.
We can only guess what Moscow could have been like if Stalin had been able to realize his grandiose plan to build all the skyscrapers and other structures. But we can say with confidence that the face of Moscow would be forever changed.
Stalin ordered the architects to build the pyramids and hide them under an architectural "husk". All master plans and coordinates of the Stalin skyscrapers were strictly classified. In fact, these were the same pyramids as in ancient Egypt, which were supposed to become a kind of energy storage.
They say that these pyramids (Stalinka) could concentrate a huge amount of energy, which in the end could open the way to immortality. Maybe it's a rumor, maybe not. Eight pyramids (skyscrapers) were supposed to close on the ninth, central (the highest among them) pyramid, which would allow generating enormous vital energy.
Stalin personally determined the location of each structure, but it is strange that all Stalin's skyscrapers in Moscow stand on geological faults.
skyscrapers
The main building of Moscow State University on Sparrow Hills
Residential building on Kotelnicheskaya embankment
Hotel "Ukraine"
Building of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Residential building on Kudrinskaya Square
Administrative and residential building near the "Red Gate"
Hotel LeningradskayaUnbuilt skyscrapers
Palace of Soviets
High-rise project in Zaryadye
Based on the materials of the Internet, as well as the book "Secret codes and messages of masterpieces of world art" (author Irina Shlionskaya)
You can read other news on this topic:
The era of post-war restoration of Moscow is characterized by incredible architectural solutions and grandiose construction projects. Stalin's skyscrapers in Moscow have become a symbol of this construction. Stalin's idea of the superiority of the Soviet Union over all capitalist countries was imprinted in the architectural style of that time. All Stalin skyscrapers in Moscow were built in ten years (1947-1957). In total, seven Stalin skyscrapers were built in Moscow:
| Stalin skyscrapers | Address | Construction period | Architects | Height |
| Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Smolenskaya Square | Smolenskaya-Sennaya Square, 32/34, Smolenskaya metro station | 1948-1953 | V.G. Gelfreikh, M.A. Minkus | 27 floors, 172 m |
| Hotel Leningradskaya | Kalanchevskaya street, 21/40, m. Komsomolskaya | 1949-1954 | L.M. Polyakov, A.B. Boretsky | 17 floors, 136 m |
| House on Barrikadnaya | Kudrinskaya square, 1, metro station Barrikadnaya | 1948-1954 | M.V. Posokhin, A.A. Mndoyants | 24 floors, 156 m |
| Hotel "Ukraine" - "Radisson Royal Hotel" | Kutuzovsky prospect, 2/1 building 1, Kyiv metro station | 1953-1957 | A.G. Mordvinov, V.K. Oltarzhevsky | 34 floors, 206 m |
| Administrative building near the "Red Gate" | Sadovaya-Spasskaya street, 21, metro station Red Gate | 1947-1952 | A.N. Dushkin, B.S. Mezentsev | 24 floors, 138 m |
| Kotelnicheskaya embankment, 1/15, Taganskaya metro station | 1948-1952 | D.N. Chechulin, A.K. Rostkovsky | 26 floors, 176 m | |
| The main building of Moscow State University. Lomonosov | Sparrow Hills, d. 1, m. Universitet | 1949-1953 | B.M. Iofan, L.V. Rudnev, S.E. Chernyshev, others | 32 floors, 240 m |
At the beginning of the 20th century, American skyscrapers were a symbol of freedom and an era of emerging market relations. Manhattan, the Empire State Building, streets and avenues that intersect strictly at right angles are still a symbol of capitalism. Moscow in the 1920s, with its stone aristocratic mansions, wooden merchant houses, barracks and the Khitrovsky market, did not at all fit the role of the capital of the young Soviet state.
By the beginning of the 1930s, the authorities clearly understood that the new state needed a new progressive city, reflecting both the political structure of the country and meeting all the needs of the builders of communism. All this led to the start of large-scale construction of high-rise buildings in Moscow, which were called "Stalin's skyscrapers".
How many Stalin skyscrapers in Moscow should have been
It is difficult to unequivocally answer the question of how many Stalin skyscrapers were planned to be built. Historically established, Joseph Stalin wanted eight grandiose high-rise buildings to be built in Moscow, symbolizing the 800th anniversary of the hero's city. In the autumn of September 7, 1947 at 13.00 in different places in Moscow, they began laying the “first stone” in the foundations of eight Soviet skyscrapers.
The date was not chosen by chance. According to astrological forecasts, it was this date and time that promised the buildings a special energy. However, only seven were built. It was decided to stop work on the eighth Stalin skyscraper immediately after the death of the leader, and on the already erected foundation in the Zaryadye region, the Rossiya Hotel later appeared, dismantled in 2007.
Urban legends say that Moscow skyscrapers are only part of Stalin's dream of a city of the future, with majestic administrative and residential complexes and perfectly flat granite embankments. These legends are confirmed by competitive projects of various architects. Looking at these models, one can hardly imagine what exactly Moscow could look like.
Stalin wanted to make a “pioneer” out of Moscow, and after that all other cities would take on a similar look. Thus, the expression "Stalin skyscrapers" could become popular all over the world and personify all the strength and power of the Soviet Union.
The project for the construction of eight skyscrapers in Moscow was part of a grandiose plan for the construction of monumental structures in all regional centers and capitals of the republics of the USSR. The most significant of the already planned architectural objects was to be the Palace of the Soviets, the so-called ninth skyscraper, the construction of which started back in 1939 instead of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior destroyed to the ground.
The Palace of Soviets was planned as the tallest building of its time (415 m + 100 m height of the statue of Lenin) and was to become the center of the entire Soviet state. Unfortunately or fortunately, but the Stalin skyscrapers appeared in a limited number and then did not receive proper development.
Stalinki in other cities
Erected in the era of the Stalinist Empire style, the Main building of the Chelyabinsk South Ural State University is often referred to as Stalin's skyscrapers. High-rise buildings built by other states that were part of the Soviet Union are also among the monuments of Soviet power throughout Eastern Europe: the Riga Academy of Sciences, the Palace of Culture and Science in Warsaw, the capital of Poland, the Ukraina Hotel and a residential skyscraper on Kyiv’s Khreshchatyk Street, the Crowne Hotel in Prague Plaza, House of the Free Press in Bucharest.
The design of skyscrapers began in the late 1930s. In the most difficult years of the Great Patriotic War, grandiose construction projects were stopped. Stalinist skyscrapers in Moscow continued to be built almost immediately after the end of the war. The leader was still hosting the victory parade on Red Square, and the architects were already working on the preparatory work on the projects of new buildings.
The architectural solutions used were called "Stalin's Empire", sometimes called "Empire during the plague." The task before the architects was both very simple and very difficult: to surpass American skyscrapers - in grandeur and grandiosity. As history shows, they coped with the task!
Architects of the Stalin skyscrapers
Many well-known and honored architects participated in the competition held to select projects. The winners were young, talented architects, the task for which I. Stalin personally set.
As contemporaries later wrote, he needed a team of urban planners who were ready to unquestioningly fulfill his wishes and realize the most ambitious plans. Historians are still arguing about the reasons for such attention on the part of the leader to the projects of Moscow skyscrapers.
The architects of the Stalin skyscrapers were very different people, their fates turned out differently. The strangest was the fate of one of the first architects of the Main Building of Moscow State University on the Sparrow Hills, Boris Iofan (he also authored other equally well-known projects for Moscow buildings).
Boris studied at the Roman Institute of Fine Arts and after graduation he designed quite a few Soviet buildings, but also Italian ones. By the way, it was the Italian architects who designed the Moscow Kremlin.
In the early 1930s, he was the author of the grandiose project of the Palace of Soviets and was considered the "court" architect of Joseph Stalin. However, his design for the Moscow State University building, which was planned to be erected on the Lenin (Sparrow) Hills, caused severe criticism.
According to the official version, I. Stalin was not satisfied with the place chosen by B. Iofan for the future building of Moscow State University due to the location of government communications facilities in this place. According to another version, the place proposed by B. Iofan did not fit into the concept based on magnetic fields, which was supposed to connect all eight structures.
Now it is impossible to establish for certain what was the essence of the conflict between the leader and the architect, but Moscow State University was shifted several hundred meters from the planned one, and B. Iofan was removed from the post of chief architect. The proposed and implemented project of Moscow State University is based on the drawings of B. Iofan, but his name, at the direction of I. Stalin, was deleted from all documents.
Stalin skyscrapers in Moscow, mysticism and legends
Legends around skyscrapers began to appear at the design stage, starting with the very idea of their construction and ending with the image of ancient symbols on the facades: Masonic, pagan and Christian. The laying of the foundation of all Moscow skyscrapers, by order of the leader, took place exactly at 13:00 on September 7, 1947, the date and time were based on astrological forecasts. On this day in Moscow, also on instructions from above, all construction work was prohibited.
The architectural forms of the buildings hide pyramids under them, the proportions of which are similar to the Egyptian pyramids. The pyramid, as you know, symbolizes superiority, power, knowledge, energy and strength.
Stalinist skyscrapers in Moscow are distinguished by a particularly strong metal frame. And most esotericists agree that the presence of metal fittings and spiers suggests the use of buildings as grand transmitters of energy.
In the declassified archives of the KGB, there are practically no photographs of the construction of skyscrapers, since they were built by prisoners, and this fact should not be publicly advertised. The residents of these houses were well aware of who and with what difficulty erected these walls, but preferred not to discuss this topic.
There are many legends and rumors about ground freezing technologies, which by that time were really actively used, but only for the construction of the metro. Most of these legends are similar to chapters from novels of the future: about the use of liquid nitrogen to freeze the soil, which, by the way, turns metal and concrete into dust, about the 3rd basement of Moscow State University, where there are huge refrigeration units that keep the soil under the building in a solid state, and if they are turned off, then Moscow State University will slide into the Moscow River in one week. And also the stories that all structures have direct access to the metro tunnels.
Apartments in the Stalin skyscrapers of Moscow and their tenants
Buildings were often occupied by a whim of fate. Apartments were received by well-known political figures, as well as movie stars, artists, writers and doctors of science. One of the signs of the times was that those who received an apartment in a high-rise building often exchanged this luxurious housing for a cell in the dungeons of the KGB or a bed in a camp barracks in the north.
Residents of the luxurious apartments of Stalin's skyscrapers in Moscow were forbidden to change or move furniture without special permission from the proper authority, as the equipment installed for listening and recording conversations could be damaged.
Cellars and bunkers under the Stalin skyscrapers still excite the imagination of both professional historians and fans of extreme travel. No one knows for sure where the tunnels lead behind the rusty metal doors in the basements, the locks of which are not always possible to open even with special equipment.
How many Stalin skyscrapers in Moscow
The plans of the Soviet government included the construction of one house with a height of 32 floors, two houses with a height of 26 floors and five houses with a height of 16 floors. The tallest building, according to the original project, was to be a hotel for workers on Sparrow Hills. The main building of Moscow State University, with a height of 36 floors, it became later. No parks, fountains and an observation deck were also planned; they were also added to the architectural ensemble later.
All Stalin skyscrapers in Moscow were built according to a single concept: a wide base, a stepped pyramid, pointed spiers and motifs of the Kremlin towers. Plots for the construction of Soviet skyscrapers were huge, which significantly distinguished them from American ones, where the rent for a plot for construction was not just large, but a very large and pyramidal building, in market conditions, was considered an unaffordable luxury.
Some of the architectural solutions were dictated not only by aesthetics, but also by the peculiarities of the Moscow soil. If Manhattan stands on rocky and hard terrain, then Moscow stands on hills and swamps. The consequence of this was the amazing technology used in the construction of Stalin's skyscrapers.
Another problem for the architects was the categorical position of the leader on the choice of sites for construction. In his office, all the skyscrapers under construction were marked on the map, and the proposals of the architects to move the buildings to another more favorable place for construction were rejected.
Stalin skyscraper on Smolenskaya Square
The first skyscraper was erected on Smolenskaya Square for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The architecture of the building of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is distinguished by restraint and is the only Stalinist skyscraper on which there is no five-pointed star, since the fragile spire of the building could not withstand its weight and wind loads at a height of 172 meters.
Stalin skyscraper on Komsomolskaya
The smallest Stalinist skyscraper appeared next - the Leningradskaya Hotel, which complements the concept of Komsomolskaya Square. Its interior decoration was executed in the Moscow baroque style. The architectural luxury of "Leningradskaya" in subsequent years was very criticized by N. Khrushchev. The architects of the hotel were deprived of Stalin awards.
Stalin skyscraper on Kotelnicheskaya embankment
Then the architectural appearance of Moscow was supplemented by the Stalin skyscraper on Kotelnicheskaya embankment. The building harmoniously blended into the landscape on the arrow of the Moscow River and the Yauza. Due to the adjoining to the building of a previously erected residential building, the total number of apartments reached 700. The skyscraper on Kotelnicheskaya housed a cinema, a post office, a hairdresser, many cafes and shops.
Stalin skyscraper on Barrikadnaya
Stalinka on Kudrinskaya Square in Moscow was nicknamed "Gastronom". Here, as well as in the building on Kotelnicheskaya, there are shops, a cinema, garages. The facade of the building is decorated with many sculptures and bas-reliefs.
Skyscraper at the Red Gate
The exit from the Krasnye Vorota metro station is located in another skyscraper erected on the Garden Ring. In Soviet times, this building was occupied by the Ministry of Transport Construction. In the Stalin skyscraper there were both working offices of ministry employees and residential apartments. The three buildings of the house are not connected either by ground passages or attics; only the basement is common to them.
Stalin skyscraper on Kutuzovsky
The Moscow high-rise hotel "Ukraine" is located at the beginning of Kutuzovsky Prospekt. The place for the construction of the skyscraper was chosen very well: the beginning of Kutuzovsky Prospekt, laid just in the post-war years, and the embankment of the Moskva River with a pier. The strategic location of the hotel made it extremely attractive for guests of the capital, and the interior was striking in its magnificence.
Stalin's skyscraper on Sparrow Hills
The tallest among the Stalin skyscrapers is the main building of Moscow State University on Sparrow Hills. The silhouette of Moscow State University is visible at a great distance and has become one of the symbols of Moscow. Parks, fountains and an observation deck attract both citizens and tourists to Sparrow Hills. A tour of the skyscrapers in Moscow invariably attracts a lot of listeners. Much of the history of the design and construction of Moscow skyscrapers of the post-war era remains a mystery even now.
Secrets of Moscow skyscrapers
We can only guess what Moscow could have been like if Stalin had been able to realize his grandiose plan to build all the skyscrapers and other structures. But we can say with confidence that the face of Moscow would be forever changed.
Stalin ordered the architects to build the pyramids and hide them under an architectural "husk". All master plans and coordinates of the Stalin skyscrapers were strictly classified. In fact, these were the same pyramids as in ancient Egypt, which were supposed to become a kind of energy storage.
They say that these pyramids (Stalinka) could concentrate a huge amount of energy, which in the end could open the way to immortality. Maybe it's a rumor, maybe not. Eight pyramids (skyscrapers) were supposed to close on the ninth, central (the highest among them) pyramid, which would allow generating enormous vital energy. Stalin personally determined the location of each structure, but it is strange that all Stalin's skyscrapers in Moscow stand on geological faults.
Why 9 skyscrapers in Moscow
There were supposed to be 9 skyscrapers in total, exactly the same number of planets in the solar system. Each represents a specific planet. For example, a building on Kotelnicheskaya can be correlated with the planet Venus (beauty). Venus means that it can be one of the most beautiful buildings and aesthetically consistent and that artists can live there, as it really does.
The building on Kudrinskaya Square corresponds to the planet Mars (emotions). The building of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs corresponds with Jupiter (motor energy). The building of Moscow State University is related to the planet Mercury (education). Thus, Stalin's skyscrapers are pyramids and each has its own purpose.
Where all the skyscrapers intersect
The buildings have an intersection in one place, exactly where the ninth skyscraper (Palace of Soviets) should have been, now there is the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. The intersection of all the lines creates a sign very similar to the sign in the Nazca Desert in Peru.
The Palace of Soviets began to be built in the late 1930s. A huge concrete foundation was poured, a metal frame was made, several floors were built, a Politburo meeting room was ready below and, of course, a number of tunnels passed to this structure, but the Great Patriotic War began and the construction was frozen, and the frame was dismantled for the production of tanks.
Perhaps the construction of skyscrapers was the only one whose builders were not rushed, and the metro stations, for example, at that time, were required to enter by each red date. There were only two restrictions on construction - it was forbidden to move the construction site even by one centimeter and each skyscraper must have a spire.
