April 23, 2005

MUST READ: VICTOR DAVIS HANSON VS JARED DIAMOND

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April 08, 2005

STALIN'S VISION OF MOSCOW

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the never-built palace of soviets, for which stalin razed the church of christ the savior

From a fascinating photogallery of Stalin's vision for Moscow:

"The Palace of Soviets was planned to be the largest building in the world. Its height was to reach 415 meters - higher than the Eiffel Tower & the Empire State Building. The building was to be topped by a 100 meter statue of Lenin. The chosen location was the site of the demolished Church of Christ the Savior. By 1939 the foundations of the upper part were completed. Construction was suspended in 1941 because of the war & never resumed."

In his book Imperium, Ryszard Kapuscinski calls the Church of Christ the Savior one of the wonders of the world, raised by Alexander I in honor of Russia's deliverance from Napoleon:

  • Took 45 years to build
  • 30 stories tall
  • Walls 3.2 meter thick, built from 40 million bricks & covered inside & out with slabs of marble & granite
  • Crowned by cupola covered in 176 tons of bronze & a cross 3 stories high. Cupola was surrounded by 4 belfries with 14 bells weighing 65 tons. 12 bronze gates led into interior, which was lit by 3000 candles. Since each worshipper that entered also lit a candle (could hold 10,000 people), the windows glowed for a great distance.
  • Iconostasis contained 422 kg of gold; walls covered in 177 marble plaques listing Russian battles, names of dead & wounded; unknown tons of silver, brass, enamel, & gemstones.

In 1931, Stalin decided to raze it. Kapuscinski:

"It is 1931. Let us imagine that Mussolini orders the Basilica of St. Peter in Rome to be razed. Let us imagine that Paul Doumer, president of France, orders the Cathedral of Notre Dame to be razed. Let is imagine that Poland's Marshall Pilsudski orders the Jasnogorski Monastery in Czestochowa to be razed. Can we imagine such a thing? No."

The Church was rebuilt after the fall of Communism.

Stalin's Moscow Photogallery; Church of Christ the Savior

Posted by Jeff at 12:42 PM | Comments (7)

 
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