Travel Notes

It’s Final

Moskva Hotel to come down

(Both of them)

A definitive decision has been taken to tear down the Moskva Hotel, situated right next to the Kremlin in the capital. Moscow authorities have long felt the Moskva was too stodgy for its prestigious location, and that it is in too great a state of disrepair to be saved (see previous issues of Russian Life). It has now been announced that the hotel will be closed by July 30 and that demolition work will start on September 15. A new, five-star hotel, to be built according to the initial 1930s plans of Soviet architects Shchusev, Saveliev and Stapran, will reportedly be completed by 2006. 

Russian media reported this spring that City Hall’s plans to rebuild the Moskva met with resistance at the Culture Ministry, which insists the hotel represents the city’s historical and cultural heritage, that it must not be demolished. Vremya Novostei reported this May that Moscow architectural experts were planning to sue Moscow authorities in court for choosing the gaudiest “empire style” plan from among those drafted in the 1930s.

The Moskva Hotel is perhaps best known for having an asymmetrical façade. The popular legend has it that Stalin was shown two alternative designs for the hotel, but thought they were part of one and signed both. Not daring to point out Stalin’s ignorance, the architects combined both alternatives in the final product. 

The real story is different, but no less absurd. The hotel was originally to be built in accordance with a constructivist plan submitted by the young architects Saveliev and Stapran. However, as construction proceeded, Soviet architectural style took a sharp turn from constructivism to the so-called “Stalinist empire style.” As a result, another architect, Alexei Shchusev, was invited to participate in the project. The conflict between different architectural concepts and between the architects themselves, resulted in an assymmetrical, half-constructivist, half- Stalinesque building. 

Constant 

to the End

A monument was recently unveiled in Tolyatti which honors a local dog named Konstantin. The dog’s master was killed seven years ago in an automobile accident and Konstantin spent the rest of his life waiting at the scene of the accident for his master to return. He was fed and cared for by local 

residents until his recent death, of old age, at the accident site. 

Champs Tverskaya?

The new hotel to be built on Moscow’s Tverskaya street, where the infamous Intourist once stood, may be named “Paris,” according to the Moscow mayor’s office. Apparently, before the 1917 revolution, there was a small hotel called “France” on the spot where the Intourist was built. The new hotel will be no more than 8-10 stories high and have just 30,000 square meters of interior space. The project budget is estimated at $120 million. Construction is scheduled to be completed by December 31, 2004. (Interfax)

Higher than SV

Deluxe wagons have been added to Russian railcars, to offer a higher level of service than the SV, previously the top booking option for Russian rails. The deluxe wagons will have just four compartments (instead of the normal eight), each equipped with a sofa that can be unfolded into a king-sized bed, a television for watching videos and other luxuries. Each compartment will have a bathroom and an air conditioner. So far, six deluxe wagons have been built. If they prove to be in high demand, their number will grow significantly in the near future. (Moskovsky Komsomolets)

Money Museum

Russia’s first Money Museum opened to the general public this May in Peter and Paul Fortress, St. Petersburg. The inaugural display is devoted to the city’s 300th anniversary and shows some 1,000 samples of money produced in Russia in the 18th to 20th centuries. The objects on display were supplied from the previously secret archives of Goznak, which prints Russia’s money and from the St. Petersburg Mint (Monetny Dvor).

Paul’s Bikepath

The management of Pavlovsk Museum-Reserve in the suburbs of St. Petersburg has announced that soon it will be possible to rent a bicycle on the park’s premises, as a way to explore the estate’s vast territory. 

Peter’s 300th

46 world leaders and 60 billion rubles later, St. Petersburg’s 300th birthday celebrations are now over. Several new statues and monuments were unveiled, including a new entrance to the Hermitage (visitors will now enter from the gardens off Victory Square, no longer through a dingy basement entrance along the river). The Amber Room was also opened and was visited by many of the heads of state (including France’s Jacques Chirac, above). 

Security was very tight for the events, which were guarded by over 10,000 Federal Protection Service officers. Cordons of passport checks bothered locals, most of whom are likely glad to have their newly cleaned and improved city largely back to themselves.