Cathedral 2.0

When I ventured onto the Metro for the first time yeseterday, my initial plan had been to go tour Red Square. Finding my way to Ploshad Revolyutsii was not at all difficult, but on exiting the station, I found that Red Square had been cordoned off in preparation for the Victory Day celebrations. A major parade takes place in Moscow on Victory Day, but only a select, invited few get to view the parade in Red Square. I will be going to Tverskaya Ulitsa later today to try to view today's military men and graying veterans on parade.

Nonetheless, I spent a few minutes walking around in the vicinity of Red Square. I walked into TsUM, the less famous cousin of well-known department store GUM, but quickly walked out again. The signs for Dior and Chanel told me there was nothing there to see that I could not see at any upscale department store in the States. I walked past the Bolshoi Theatre (currently undergoing renovations) and eventually wound my way back to the Metro.

Disappointed at not getting to see the Kremlin, I looked at my Metro map to try to decide where to go next. I decided in favor of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, of which I had read quite a bit before my arrival.

The backstory on this cathedral is quite interesting. Stalin had the original cathedral demolished in 1933 as part of a grand plan for remaking central Moscow in a Soviet image. In its place was to be built a monstrosity known as the Palace of the Soviets, which was to house a library, a hall for meetings of the Party Congress, and other "people's" attractions.

A competition was held to design the Palace. A winner was chosen, but Stalin repeatedly insisted on ever-more elaborate visions of the Palace. The final design called for a 100-foot statue of Lenin to stand above a hollow hall that was to be used for meetings of the Party Congress. Given the construction techniques of the day, it could not have been built, and I have read that, even with advances in construction that have taken place since then, it could barely be built now.

Work on the project began just before the outbreak of World War II or, as it known in Russia, the Great Patriotic War. A foundation was laid, but the steel in it was quickly taken out to be used as scrap for armament. Nevertheless, fake footage of the completed Palace was shown in many Soviet wartime propaganda films. Stalin always did have a fast and loose relationship with the truth!

After the war, work on the Palace of the Soviets did not resume, for reasons that are not entirely clear to me. The Metro station built near the construction site, which had originally been named Palace of the Soviets, was renamed Kropotkinskaya, the name it retains to this day. The foundation was turned into a giant open-air swimming pool. Periodically, people were murdered in the pool because mists made it easy for assailants to attack without being seen. The devout said the murders were divine retribution for the Cathedral's destruction.

The fall of communism has brought with it a revival of the Orthodox Church in Moscow. This revival leds to demands that the Cathedral of Christ the Savior be rebuilt, which it was over a period of five years, from 1995 to 2000. So what visitors to Moscow see is version 2.0 of the cathedral.

Looking at the Cathedral's exterior, one would not guess that it is a reconstruction. About the only clue that the building is of recent vintage is its general cleanliness. Its gold-coated onion domes shine with full luster. Its white marble walls are free of smoke.

Because I reached the Cathedral relatively late in the day, I did not venture inside. My guidebook indicates that there is a museum below the building dedicated to its history, as well as to the story of the Palace of the Soviets. Perhaps this will be a good excursion for after the parade today.