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In 1839, Nicholas I laid the cornerstone of
the new Cathedral of Christ the Savior. He chose the location himself, about a
quarter of a mile up the river Moskva from the Kremlin, where the Alexeyevskii
Convent stood until then. The Cathedral was built in the form of a Greek cross,
was about 330 feet high, and covered an area of over 73,000 square feet. The
five traditional cupolas decorated the top; the central one was 98 feet in
diameter. A large staircase of granite descended towards the Moskva river,
where a special pool was built for celebrating the Epiphany. Inside, four
gigantic columns supported the roof structure and the cupolas. Nicholas and Ton
mobilized the best Russian artists to decorate the Cathedral, but the subjects
were chosen by the Moscow Metropolitan Filaret, the famous preacher and
authority in religious matters, also remembered as a reactionary. It was
Filaret whom Alexander II picked to draw up the final text of the manifesto of
1861 that emancipated the serfs. Part of the outside walls were decorated with
48 high-reliefs, sculptured by Ramazonov, Loghinovskii and Klodtpjugensburg,
while Count Fedor Petrovich Tolstoy made the twelve impressive bronze doors,
each with a bas-relief of a saint. The inside walls were covered with
labradorite, porphyry and marble brought from Italy. Most of the known Russian
contemporary painters, such as Markov, Vereshchaghin, Makovskii, Sedov,
Shamshin, Semiradskii, Kosheliev, Bruni, Sorokin, Neff, Prianishnikov and
others took part in the decoration of the alter, iconostasis, cupolas, columns,
chapels and the galleries. All this was quite impressive, particularly the size
of the Cathedral, but as a whole it is not of much artistic or aesthetic
quality. It was for this reason that defenders of the Cathedral often measure
its value in terms of the money spent for its construction. Obviously Ton's
conception of architecture was superficial. He was unable to escape western
influence and he failed to create an architectural monument that should bring
back traditional Russian forms. He lacked a feeling for proportion and the
picturesque, so often found in ancient Russian architecture, and his imitations
were not neat.
The construction of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior dragged on a long time.
It was dedicated in 1883 in the presence only of Alexander III and of very few
veterans who, seventy years before, took part in the war against Napoleon. The
Cathedral survived for less time than it had taken to build it. After the
revolution its site was chosen by the Bolshevik rulers for their Palace of the
Soviets, and the Cathedral was demolished. In quest of grandeur, top Soviet
architects were mobilized to build the highest and the biggest edifice in the
world, to make any member of any communist party proud. The palace was supposed
to be over 1,200 feet high, and strong enough to support, on its roof a 300
foot tall standing figure of Lenin that should be visible miles from Moscow.
Ground work was begun in the thirties, but after thousands of tons of concrete
and steel had been poured for the foundation, the whole structure started to
slide towards the river Moskva. Hundreds of enormous pillars were driven into
the ground and many more thousands of tons of construction material used to
prevent the sliding. British and German specialists were invited for
consultation, but there was mo way to stop the sliding and the entire project
had to be abandoned. Believers saw in this God's punishment for destroying his
house and intending to replace it with an atheistic palace. They were even more
convinced in their beliefs when the sliding completely stopped the moment the
construction was discontinued. To recoup some of their lossess, the Soviet
government decided to use the foundation of the unsuccessful palace for
building a swimming pool, the Moscow Lido, said tho be the biggest in Europe.
Today the largest heated outdoor pool in he world is an attraction for many
domestic and foreign tourists visiting Moscow.
The Cathedral has been rebuilt by Moscow city. Here is one
view. There are more at our web
site on Moscow.
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