Tuesday: Lenin's Mausoleum, Christ the Savior Church, Metro Museum

While we were walking we saw military jets overhead practicing for the Victory celebration on May 9.

We left early and took the metro to Red Square where we queued up to walk past Lenin's Mausoleum. The security was very tight. First we had to check all electronic devices such as iPods, cell phones, and cameras. Then we walked through a metal detector and had someone search our purses (no bags allowed). The mausoleum is only open 3 days a week for 3 hours each day. One entire corner of Red Square is cordoned off during visiting hours. We queued up outside Red Square and were escorted down a narrow passageway cordoned off by movable gates. A soldier stood at each intersection pointing the way. Once we reached the mausoleum, a soldier stood with another metal detector. Inside was extremely dark especially compared to the bright sunlight we had just left. We had to walk down some stairs with another grim soldier pointing the next direction at each corner. Lenin's body was lying in the middle, and we walked up a ramp and around it. I had read that some people think it looks waxlike, but it looked pretty lifelike but not terribly inspiring. When I stopped to look for more than a second, a guard yelled at me even though only 2 other viewers were in the room. Apparently Stalin's body was placed next to Lenin's until the early 60's in the 'de-Stalinization' period. Now it is buried just behind the mausoleum with the other important leaders of the USSR.

The workers were getting ready for the May 1^st holiday celebrating International Worker’s Day. They were putting banners and large red stars up in front of the major buildings in Red Square. In addition other workers were fixing the paving stones while yet others were setting up bleachers. This is the area where the Soviets used to bring tanks through and even a truck with nuclear weapons, but now that the church (Iveron Chapel, right in front of Resurrection Gate) which was torn down to make an entrance on one side has been rebuilt, this is no longer possible.

Next we spent a little time attending mass at St. Basil’s Church and looking at the icons. After that we walked past the Old English Court (another link) which was closed. This building was given by Ivan the Terrible when trade with England opened up. Ivan had decided that he wanted to marry Queen Elizabeth I, and when she refused, Ivan had the English ambassador imprisoned in this house for 4 months. The museum of the Boyars (Russian aristocrats) was also closed. This whole area which used to be covered with small street stalls was being cleaned up and renovated.

Our next stop was Christ the Savior Cathedral, (another interesting website and the official website--**find on different computer). Christ the Savior has a fascinating history. Alexander I commissioned the idea in 1812 as a thanksgiving to God for rescuing the Russians from Napoleon. The first attempt, a neoclassical design far from the center of Moscow, was interrupted by the sudden dea th **of Alexander I. The new tzar, Nicolas I, had concerns about both the ideology of the project and the actual construction. He wanted to focus on Russia rather than use architecture and symbols which were more global. He was also concerned about the site chosen, the immensity of the project, and corruption occurring. Konstantin Thon, the new architect, wanted to move the site to the center of the city signifying the link with the state and with the historical past. He proposed moving the oldest monastery in the city, the Convent of St. Alexiius the Man of God, built in 1360. Legend has it that the senior nun when forced to move pronounced a curse that nothing would stay firmly at this location. Construction on the new cathedral began in 1838 and wasn't completed until 1882 and consecrated in 1883, 45 years later. The new cathedral, much larger than other cathedrals and buildings around it, d0minated** the landscape and served as a monument to the autocracy of Nicolas I. The sculpture of the main Western facade depicted Russian troops under the protection of national forces. The Southern facade, facing the places where decisive battles had been fought, showed events of direct relevance to that war. The Eastern facade which faced the Kremlin depicted Russian national saints who were protecting the country. Finally the Northern facade had statues of saints who spread Christianity. This mix of secular and sacred shows how closely the church and state were tied together.

In 1931, for reasons very similar to the reason the monastery from the 1300s was removed, the cathedral was pulled down to make way for a new cathedral, a monument to the triumph of the Soviets. Construction on the Palace of the Soviets was begun in 1937. It was to be the tallest building in the world with a 6 ton 100 meter tall statue on Lenin on top. When the Na zis **invaded Russia in 1941, construction stopped, and the steel was donated to the war effort. After the war it became clear that communism was not spreading the way they had expected, and the project was abandoned. In 1960 the pit was turned into an enormous swimming pool which operated for about 30 years. We met a person who remembers swimming there. When the communist government fell in 1991, rebuilding the cathedral became one of the first projects. While the original cathedral took 45 years to complete, the replacement supposedly only took 2 years. The official story is that it was completed with private funds, but I came across other sites which suggested that the state contributed large amounts in secrecy. Either way, the new cathedral is very impressive. Except for its electronic message system in the iconostasis and the elevator to the tower rather than stairs, it looked like the other updated churches we had seen seen. The basement contained a museum commemorating the victory over Napoleon and also showing the history of the church: the original building, the demolition, the proposed Palace of the Soviets, the swimming pool, and the rebuilding. On the tower we had a great view of the city and could see the various places we had visited: the Kremlin with towers from Red Square (especially St. Basil's) poking up behind, the House on the Embankment just across the river, and various buildings we had just walked past.

Walking back to the metro, we took the red line to the Sportivnaya station to see the metro museum. Someone had told us that it was in the metro behind the green door, but it wasn't obvious. Since we had our passports with all the required paperwork and the guard didn't look too unfriendly, we asked him where it was. It turns out that the museum was in the back behind the guard's office and the detention center (where we saw some kids being questioned and another being held) and then up a couple of flights of stairs. Although it was entirely in Russian, we were able to figure out the different exhibits on how the stations were made, the different types of trains used over the years, controls for the trains, and then an interesting exhibit of different areas. Since we were almost home, we took the metro the rest of the way back.