A date in Moscow's history: exactly 70 years ago, the so-called Stalin skyscrapers were started. On the 800th anniversary of the capital, the government decided to demonstrate to the world the greatness of the Soviet Union. Monuments of the era were created by prisoners. The history of the skyscrapers is full of legends. Maxim Oparin reporting.

Today, it's impossible to imagine the capital without them, so much have the skyscrapers became part of the familiar picture of modern Moscow. But back then, exactly 70 years ago, the decision to erect these buildings seemed not only an unheard-of project for Soviet construction, but also very ambitious for a country that has not yet recovered from the war.

Politically, these buildings had to be completely different from American skyscrapers in appearance. It was thought for a long time what to base them on, the Kremlin towers were chosen. If you look carefully, they somehow resemble the towers of the Kremlin. And, of course, this was an indicator that we not just ended the war, we are not just the victors, but we are going into the bright future at an unprecedented pace.





Moscow State University main building is the highest among all sisters: 240 meters with the spire. At first it was planned to be a residential building with a hotel. The construction of only this building cost the USSR budget 2.5 billion rubles. In terms of current money, this is 18 billion. Instead of the spire, it was planned to install the statue of the MSU founder, Lomonosov, but he was set down on the ground later. In this building there are more than 60 elevators, they go to different levels, to different faculties, to the dormitory, to the laboratory, some elevators even go deep underground. Today it's a modern building, striking in its scale. Thousands of laboratories and almost as many classrooms, 500 rooms, where students can live by themselves. And the view, from the 32nd floor balcony, speaks for itself.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs building was originally designed and built without a spire it was personally ordered by Stalin. So the Foreign Ministry spire was made from tin, not stone, and was recently updated. The building on Kotelnicheskaya Embankment is perhaps the most famous Moscow skyscraper. Dozens of literary and film heroes lived here.

There are only seven skyscrapers, but there should have been one more, in place of demolished Zaryadye district the Ministry of Heavy Industry building was planned. But the construction was not completed due to the struggle with architectural excesses, which Nikita Khrushchev had started. Ten years later, using the same architect Chechulin's design, the hotel "Russia" was built there, but it's no longer there either. The landscape park "Zaryadye" will soon open at this location.