"Moskva" was the largest pool in the Soviet Union and one of the largest pools in the world in the 20th century. There is a lot of controversy around the history of the construction of this complex. Even more controversy is generated by the fact that the pool was closed and demolished in 1994. The history of the unique Soviet recreational complex is exceptionally bright and extremely indicative, perfectly reflecting everything that has happened in Russia over the past century and a half. And like any good story, it started long before the pool itself was built.
After the victory in the Patriotic War of 1812, Emperor of Russia Alexander I decided to the construction of a new temple in honor of the fallen soldiers during the foreign campaigns of 1797-1806, as well as 1813-1814. The architect of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior was Alexander Vitberg. The laying of the building of the future temple took place on October 12, 1817. However, already in 1825, work was suspended. Witberg and his men were convicted of embezzlement of public money allocated for the construction of the church. Konstantin Tor was appointed the new architect, and the construction of the temple turned into the main Moscow long-term construction of the 19th century. It was consecrated only on May 26, 1883. With the exception of months and years of downtime, construction work took almost 40 years.
In 1917, first the bourgeois February revolution and then the socialist October revolution took place in Russia. Immediately after this, a civil war broke out between the monarchists, republicans and communists, in which the Reds won. The new socialist government set a course for building a fundamentally new non-estate atheistic society. At the same time, back in the 1920s, it was decided to destroy all monarchical symbols, with the exception of those cases where they are of historical or cultural value. The degree of value was established by special commissions from experts in the relevant fields.
The new government demolished not only monuments, but also religious buildings - temples. And here it is important to make one remark. There was no forced "atheization" of society in the Soviet Union. Of course, there was appropriate propaganda. However, it would never have been so effective if there had not been fertile ground for it in the country before the Revolution. In order to understand how the Russian peasant treated the priest, one can, among other things, take an interest in the relevant Russian folk sayings on the topic of clergy.
There are very few (not at all) aphorisms in folk art in which the pop would be a positive character. Of course, not all priests were like that. And with the growth of education, and the religious consciousness of a large mass of the population, well-known problems began at all. Therefore, there was nothing blasphemous for the Soviet people in the demolition of churches. Moreover, not all of them were demolished: many temples that were really of value remained standing, buildings of other churches and monasteries were transferred to museums, schools, orphanages, prisons and other state institutions.
Demolition of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow This decision was made by a commission of Soviet architects, who did not see cultural or historical value in the Tor project. For the first time, they started talking about demolition back in 1922, when the idea of building the Palace was announced at the First All-Union Congress of Soviets. Councils - the main administrative building of the USSR, where the Supreme Council (the highest body of state authorities). There were few places for the implementation of such a large-scale project in Moscow, and therefore they decided to demolish something. Choosing between the least valuable buildings from the most suitable places, the choice fell on the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. Which for architects in the 1920s was completely a new building: the temple was opened 40 years ago, in 1883.
In December 1931, the Cathedral of Christ the Savior was blown up. On the second attempt, the building was destroyed. The wreckage of the religious building was cleared for almost 1.5 years. The cladding from the temple was subsequently used to create the decoration of the Moscow metro stations, as well as to decorate the building of the Council of Labor and Defense. In 1935, the digging of a foundation pit began, and in 1939 the foundation was laid for the Palace of Soviets. However, further construction was interrupted by the Second World War. Already after its completion, due to the large-scale destruction of the economy of the USSR, it became clear that it would not be possible to return to the project of the main administrative building of the Union very soon. And in 1958, the idea was completely abandoned. However, the finished foundation was not in vain.
It was decided to build on this site the main Moscow swimming pool for the residents of the capital. Dmitry Chechulin became the chief architect of the project. He worked with architects V. Lukyanov and N. Molokov. As a result of creative work, an open, round, year-round pool with heated water was designed. The construction of a sports and recreation complex began in the same 1958. By the way, the unusual shape of the pool and the size of the object directly stem from the requirement to make the most of the remaining foundation of the failed Palace of Soviets.
The bowl of the pool was surrounded by seven pavilions with showers, dressing rooms, and rest rooms. Buffets and shops were also located there. There was a springboard in the center of the pool, and the water body itself was divided into sectors for people of different ages and degrees of physical fitness. In those years, the air in Moscow was not as polluted as it is today, and therefore it was possible to relax, including in the center of the capital. Especially for these purposes, a beach of fine sea gravel was poured in the Moskva pool, which made it possible to take sunbaths.
But the most important thing was in the heating of the pool. Despite the fact that "Moscow" was located in the open air and did not have a roof, it was possible to swim in the pool, including in winter. The water in the complex was heated to 28 degrees. With a population of the capital of the USSR of 6.9 million people in 1970, at least 3 million people visited the pool every year. In one of the Soviet publications devoted to the object, the sports and recreation complex was dubbed the name "health complex".
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Swimmers from all over the country visited "Moscow". High-ranking guests of the Soviet Union were also brought here. For example, in November 1960, the well-known Cuban revolutionary and member of the government delegation, Ernesto Che Guevara, visited the complex during his visit. However, already in 1988, in the wake of Perestroika, a national-patriotic movement began to operate in Moscow for the restoration of the demolished Cathedral of Christ the Savior. After the collapse of the USSR, the new government found out that it was too expensive to maintain such an entertainment and health complex. Already in 1991, Moskva was closed and abandoned for three years, and in 1994 the dismantling of the complex began. In 1995, a new foundation was laid for the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, which stands to this day. And as one user aptly noted in a discussion of the Soviet complex: “In Moscow, the whole history of Russia. First the temple, then the pool, and now the temple again.”
If you want to know even more interesting things, then you should read about what was the official salary the leaders of the Soviet Union.
A source: https://novate.ru/blogs/100921/60473/
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