Stalin’s Seven Sisters are one of the most famous buildings in Moscow. Initially, there were supposed to be eight of those, and at the end Stalin planned to build the so-called “Palace of the Soviets“, a huge building that would become the masterpiece of the Soviet architecture and the embodiment of the old Stalin’s dream.
The place chosen for the palace was also very symbolic – The Cathedral of Christ the Savior. To put it simply, they wanted to replace Christian temple with the Soviet one. I’m pretty sure that Stalin planned to immortalize himself that way despite the fact that according to the project, there was supposed to be a huge statue of Lenin on top of the building.
The house on Kotelnicheskaya Embankment.
The Palace of the Soviets was supposed to be the tallest building in the world – its height would be 420 meters (1,300 ft). I must point out that according to modern architects, the building would collapse under its own weight, but who cared about such small things back then?
In 1931, the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow was demolished, and the construction works have begun. Before the beginning of Great Patriotic War, the builders managed to create a huge foundation despite the fact that by the end of the 1930s the works seriously slowed down.
After the war the construction came to a halt, partly because the Russian economy was ruined but mostly because rebuilding Moscow was more important back then. A lot of tall buildings had to be constructed in our city, and so by the end of 1950s the idea of the palace was abandoned.
Nearby “Dvorets Sovetov” Moscow metro station was renamed to “Kropotkinskaya”, and instead of the Palace of the Soviets, the State Kremlin Palace was constructed. The unused foundation served the creation of a well-known “Moskva” swimming pool. Later on, in the 90s the pool was demolished and Cathedral of Christ the Savior was rebuilt in its historic place.
Hotel Leningradskaya.
The planned “Eight Sisters” were supposed to encircle and complete the Palace of the Soviets, but apart from the palace they also didn’t finish the construction of the 8th skyscraper in Zaryadye Moscow district.
Again, only the foundation was constructed, and since the building was supposed to house the People’s Commissariat of Heavy Machinery there was a two-story bunker below the planned building. However, after Stalin’s death the works were stopped, and later on in the 60s Rossiya Hotel was erected there (now demolished as well).
Moscow State University on Sparrow Hills.
So, there are only Seven Sisters these days in Moscow, and despite I’m not a fan of all Soviet I have to admit they look stunning. The main one is the building of Moscow State University on Moscow Sparrow Hills. By the way, that place was also proposed for the construction of the Palace.
Just like in several other such buildings, there was that idea of having everything in one place. Basically, the people were supposed to live, work and study without having to leave building. Plus, there was a post office, restaurants and even a cinema.
Somehow, the idea of locking people up in the buildings appealed to the Soviet architects. No wonder – the Soviet government always tried to restrict people’s movement with either a stick or a carrot.
There are four jasper columns in Moscow State University campus, and those were brought from the demolished Christ the Savior Cathedral. During its restoration, the government decided to leave the columns in MSU. Also, there is a legend that the University is connected to mysterious Metro-2.
Another one of the Seven Sisters is the house on Kotelnicheskaya Embankment. It had 700 apartments, several shops, a cinema and a post office as well, plus living there was very prestigious since only the people close to the government could get an apartment there.
There’s a beautiful view on Moskva River, plus you can see the entire center of Moscow from there. A pity that many of that house’s residents were taken by NKVD secret police right from their homes, never to be seen again…
Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
One more such building is owned by Ministry of Foreign Affairs that’s distinguished by a huge coat of arms right on its facade. The building is located close to Arbat street.
Former Hotel Ukraina was occupying another one of the Seven Sisters. These days Ukraina has been renovated and is now called Radisson Royal, although everyone still calls it with its old name.
You can see Hotel Ukraina in the middle of the picture.
There’s another hotel among the Seven Sisters – Leningradskaya.It’s located on the famous Three Stations Square (Komsomolskaya Ploschad), and has also recently changed its name to Hilton Moscow Leningradskaya. However, Muscovites don’t like all the “Hilton Moscow” stuff and continue to call it “Leningradskaya” as before.
There are two more houses I should mention – one is the huge building on Kudrinskaya, and it’s purely residential. The other one is both residential and office building near Krasnye Vorota metro station. Apart of the offices, the building has a restaurant and even a kindergarten. Plus, in one of its wings there is an entrance to the metro.
The building on Kudrinskaya square (near Moscow Zoo).
Some of the people erroneously refer Pekin Hotel and even the newly built Triumf-Palas to the Seven Sisters. However, although Triumf-Palas is very new, it is very similar to the sisters, both with its exterior and the internal structure. It also has offices, living quarters and restaurants, plus there’s even an hotel somewhere on the top floors.
While I think the Seven Sisters are definitely beautiful, I’m glad they were never finished. There’s something repelling in the idea of people living and working in some sort of giant anthills, never living their apartment. Although I’m not a big fan of Moscow driving, I still prefer to live, work and entertain in different places.
…although Uncle Jo would surely be proud of Triumf-Palas!
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