Posts Tagged ‘USSR’

Saint Basil’s or the Cathedral of Intercession of Theotokos on the Moat is probably the most known piece of architecture in Moscow. This magnificently coloured cathedral with its onion like domes is one of the world’s great religious buildings. The church celebrates Russian Orthodox and its beginnings date back to 1555 although the vivid colours and architecture were not a feature until the 1680’s and happened in stages over nearly 200 years. The building is meant to be inspired by a bonfire and its architecture is so unique there were no known similarities to it anywhere. It is rumoured that the architect Postnik Yakovlev was blinded by Ivan the Terrible so he would not design anything as magnificent ever again. The building today is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site which includes the two other major Moscow landmarks Red Square and the Kremlin. The cathedral has been pretty lucky to survive until today. Napoleon was so taken with the St Basil’s that he wanted to dismantle it and move it to Paris but legend tells he didn’t have the technology or manpower to do it. Unhappy with Russia having it and not Paris he then decided no one should have it and ordered it to be blown up. The story goes a sudden shower extinguished the gun powder fuses and the cathedral was saved. St Basil’s was nearly lost in the 1930’s too. Stalin’s Red Square development team planned to knock the structure down to make way for a new grand square luckily the plan didn’t come to fruition. Read the rest of this entry »

After the fall of the Berlin Wall and the fall of the Soviet control of much of Eastern Europe many of the huge monuments to the rule were removed and in many cases destroyed. But many in Lithuania were later retrieved and restored and are now on display at Grtas park, near Druskininkai in Southern Lithuania which opened in 2001. The park has become a family amusement park, and has a very odd list of attractions, there are over 80 of huge statues of just about every leader to rule the East, including Lenin and Stalin. There’s a few wooden huts with over a million pieces of memorabilia from this period and even a zoo, well a pretty crappy one in more ways than one. Don’t expect any exotic animals unless you are counting the chickens, pigs and the odd ostrich or pheasant- if you like the look of them, head down to the restaurant, they have a few of their zoo exhibits on the menu.. tasty. There’s plenty of market stalls where you can buy your very own Soviet era treasure or even some dodgy beer brewed on the premises. It may not be Disneyland but you will certainly be amazed, although in different ways. if you know what we mean.

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