Moscow
Church of Christ the Savior
Cathedral of Christ the Savior.
A cathedral was built in this location in the 19th century (I think). The
location is within view of the Kremlin. Although there are other
cathedrals inside the Kremlin, the Communists could tolerate them but
were bothered by this visible sign of Christianity. Stalin decided to
destroy the church, which he did. His objective was to build the tallest
building in the world on the site. He managed to get the foundation dug
into bedrock, but the Communists ran out of money. So they
eventually turned the hole into a swimming pool. That wasn't a great
plan, since the season when Moscow residents could swim is the
season they all want to get out of town. After the fall of the Soviet
Union and decline of Communism, the Cathedral was rebuilt
according to the original design and was dedicated in the early
1990s. We had a chance to view the city from the upper level, and
we were able to enjoy part of a Russian Orthodox church service,
with beautiful traditional Russian vocal music.