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Lenin's Mausoleum (from 1953 to 1961 Lenin's & Stalin's Mausoleum) ( rus, links=no, Мавзолей Ленина, r=Mavzoley Lenina, p=məvzɐˈlʲej ˈlʲenʲɪnə), also known as Lenin's Tomb, situated on
Red Square Red Square ( rus, Красная площадь, Krasnaya ploshchad', ˈkrasnəjə ˈploɕːətʲ) is one of the oldest and largest squares in Moscow, the capital of Russia. Owing to its historical significance and the adjacent historical build ...
in the centre of Moscow, is a mausoleum that serves as the resting place of Soviet leader
Vladimir Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 1 ...
. His preserved body has been on public display there since shortly after his death in 1924, with rare exceptions in wartime.
Alexey Shchusev Alexey Victorovich Shchusev (academic spelling), german: Schtschussew, french: Chtchoussev, pl, Szchusiew. (russian: Алексе́й Ви́кторович Щу́сев; – 24 May 1949) was a Russian and Soviet architect who was successf ...
's granite structure incorporates some elements from ancient mausoleums, such as the
Step Pyramid A step pyramid or stepped pyramid is an architectural structure that uses flat platforms, or steps, receding from the ground up, to achieve a completed shape similar to a geometric pyramid. Step pyramids are structures which characterized several ...
, the
Tomb of Cyrus the Great The Tomb of Cyrus ( – ''Ârâmgâh ye Kuroš Bozorg'') is the final resting place of Cyrus the Great, the founder of the ancient Achaemenid Empire. The mausoleum is located in Pasargadae, an archaeological site in the Fars Province of Iran. ...
and, to some degree, the
Temple of the Inscriptions The Temple of the Inscriptions (Classic Maya: Bʼolon Yej Teʼ Naah () "House of the Nine Sharpened Spears") is the largest Mesoamerican stepped pyramid structure at the pre-Columbian Maya civilization site of Palenque, located in the modern-day ...
.


History

Lenin died on 21 January 1924. Two days later, architect
Alexey Shchusev Alexey Victorovich Shchusev (academic spelling), german: Schtschussew, french: Chtchoussev, pl, Szchusiew. (russian: Алексе́й Ви́кторович Щу́сев; – 24 May 1949) was a Russian and Soviet architect who was successf ...
was tasked with building a structure suitable for viewing of the body by mourners. A wooden tomb, in Red Square by the
Moscow Kremlin Wall The Moscow Kremlin Wall is a defensive wall that surrounds the Moscow Kremlin, recognisable by the characteristic notches and its Kremlin towers. The original walls were likely a simple wooden fence with guard towers built in 1156. The Kremlin w ...
, was ready on January 27, and later that day Lenin's coffin was placed in it. More than 100,000 people visited the tomb in the next six weeks. By the end of May, Shchusev had replaced the tomb with a larger, more elaborate one, and Lenin's body was transferred to a sarcophagus designed by architect
Konstantin Melnikov Konstantin Stepanovich Melnikov (Russian: Константин Степанович Мельников;  – November 28, 1974) was a Russian architect and painter. His architectural work, compressed into a single decade (1923–33), placed ...
. The new wooden mausoleum was opened to the public on August 1, 1924. Pathologist Alexei Ivanovich Abrikosov had
embalmed Embalming is the art and science of preserving human remains by treating them (in its modern form with chemicals) to forestall decomposition. This is usually done to make the deceased suitable for public or private viewing as part of the funeral ...
Lenin's body shortly after his death and Boris Zbarsky and Vladimir Vorobiev were tasked with the ongoing preservation of the body. After graduating from Moscow University,
Ilya Zbarsky Ilya Borisovich Zbarsky (russian: Илья Борисович Збарский; November 8, 1913 – November 9, 2007) was a Soviet and Russian biochemist who served as the head of Lenin's Mausoleum from 1956 to 1989. He was appointed as Advis ...
became his father's assistant, and likened the work on Lenin's body to that of ancient Egyptian priests. In 1925, Boris Zbarsky and Vorobiev urged the government to replace the wooden structure after mold was found in the walls and even on the body itself. A new mausoleum of marble, porphyry, granite, and
labradorite Labradorite (( Ca, Na)( Al, Si)4 O8) is a calcium-enriched feldspar mineral first identified in Labrador, Canada, which can display an iridescent effect (schiller). Labradorite is an intermediate to calcic member of the plagioclase series. It ...
(by
Alexey Shchusev Alexey Victorovich Shchusev (academic spelling), german: Schtschussew, french: Chtchoussev, pl, Szchusiew. (russian: Алексе́й Ви́кторович Щу́сев; – 24 May 1949) was a Russian and Soviet architect who was successf ...
, I.A. Frantsuz and G.K. Yakovlev) was completed in 1930. The mausoleum also served as a viewing stand for Soviet leaders to review parades on Red Square. In 1973, sculptor
Nikolai Tomsky Nikolai Vasilyevich Tomsky (russian: Никола́й Васи́льевич То́мский b. , Ramushevo, Novgorod Governorate d. 22 November 1984 - Moscow) was a much-decorated Soviet sculptor, designer of many well-known ceremonial monumen ...
designed a new sarcophagus. On 26 January 1924, the Head of the Moscow Garrison issued an order to place the guard of honour at the mausoleum. Russians call it the "Number One Sentry". After the events of the
Russian constitutional crisis of 1993 The 1993 Russian constitutional crisis, also known as the 1993 October Coup, Black October, the Shooting of the White House or Ukaz 1400, was a political stand-off and a constitutional crisis between the Russian president Boris Yeltsin and ...
, the guard of honour was disbanded. In 1997, the "Number One Sentry" was restored at the
Tomb of the Unknown Soldier A Tomb of the Unknown Soldier or Tomb of the Unknown Warrior is a monument dedicated to the services of an unknown soldier and to the common memories of all soldiers killed in war. Such tombs can be found in many nations and are usually high-prof ...
in Alexander Garden. Lenin's body was removed in October 1941 and evacuated to
Tyumen Tyumen ( ; rus, Тюмень, p=tʲʉˈmʲenʲ, a=Ru-Tyumen.ogg) is the administrative center and largest city of Tyumen Oblast, Russia. It is situated just east of the Ural Mountains, along the Tura River. Fueled by the Russian oil and gas in ...
, in Siberia, when it appeared that Moscow might be in danger of capture by German troops. After the war, it was returned and the tomb reopened. More than 10 million people visited Lenin's tomb between 1924 and 1972.
Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secretar ...
's embalmed body shared a spot next to Lenin's, from the time of his death in March 1953 until October 1961, when Stalin was removed as part of de-Stalinization and
Khrushchev's Thaw The Khrushchev Thaw ( rus, хрущёвская о́ттепель, r=khrushchovskaya ottepel, p=xrʊˈɕːɵfskəjə ˈotʲ:ɪpʲɪlʲ or simply ''ottepel'')William Taubman, Khrushchev: The Man and His Era, London: Free Press, 2004 is the period ...
, and buried in the
Kremlin Wall Necropolis The Kremlin Wall Necropolis was the national cemetery for the Soviet Union. Burials in the Kremlin Wall Necropolis in Moscow began in November 1917, when 240 pro-Bolshevik individuals who died during the Moscow Bolshevik Uprising were buried in m ...
outside the walls of the Kremlin. Lenin's body was to have been transferred to the
Pantheon Pantheon may refer to: * Pantheon (religion), a set of gods belonging to a particular religion or tradition, and a temple or sacred building Arts and entertainment Comics *Pantheon (Marvel Comics), a fictional organization * ''Pantheon'' (Lone S ...
upon its completion but the project was cancelled in the aftermath of de-Stalinization.


Architectural features


Project selection and construction

In January 1925, the Presidium of the USSR Central Executive Committee announced an international competition to design a stone tomb for Lenin. The commission received 117 suggestions and sketches. Among them, there were offered different variants: the ship with Lenin's figure on board, the round mausoleum in a shape of a globe, the analogue of Egypt pyramid, the mausoleum in a shape of the five-pointed star. But after considering the proposed designs, the commission decided to retain the image of a wooden mausoleum. Architect Shchusev created some new drawings based on old sketches and made a model in granite, and his project was approved. It was decided to clad the new building with red granite, as well as black and grey Labrador. The basement under the sarcophagus weighed 20 tons, it was installed on a thick layer of sand, and around the slab were driven guarding piles - it protected the tomb from vibration even during the passage of heavy tanks over the area. Other monoliths weighed from 1 to 10 tons. Altogether 2900 m2 of polished granite was required for the construction, each square metre of which was processed for three days on average. The upper slab of red Karelian
quartzite Quartzite is a hard, non- foliated metamorphic rock which was originally pure quartz sandstone.Essentials of Geology, 3rd Edition, Stephen Marshak, p 182 Sandstone is converted into quartzite through heating and pressure usually related to tec ...
was placed on columns of granite, whose different species were specially brought to Moscow from all the republics of the USSR. The stone mausoleum was erected in 16 months - by October 1930. Compared to the wooden one, the new building was built three metres higher, the outer volume was increased 4.5 times - 5800 m³, and the inner volume 12 times, up to 2400 m³. Its total weight was about 10,000 tonnes. The mausoleum occupied the highest point on Red Square. During construction, the mausoleum and the necropolis were brought to a unified architectural design: differently characterised tombstones and monuments were removed, individual and collective burials at Nikolskaya and
Spasskaya Tower The Spasskaya Tower ( rus, Спасская башня, Spasskaya Bashnya), translated as 'Saviour Tower', is the main tower on the eastern wall of the Moscow Kremlin which overlooks Red Square. History The Spasskaya Tower was built in 1491 by th ...
s were united, and the fence was redesigned and installed. Guest stands for ten thousand seats were installed on either side of the mausoleum.


Interiors

The mausoleum contains a vestibule, Mourning Hall and two staircases. Opposite the entrance is a huge granite block was carved the coat of arms of the USSR of 1923. Two stairs are leading down from the vestibule. The left staircase is three meters wide and takes visitors down to the Funeral Hall. The walls of the descent are of grey
labradorite Labradorite (( Ca, Na)( Al, Si)4 O8) is a calcium-enriched feldspar mineral first identified in Labrador, Canada, which can display an iridescent effect (schiller). Labradorite is an intermediate to calcic member of the plagioclase series. It ...
with a ledged panel of labradorite and black labradorite. The Funeral Hall is a ten-meter cube with a stepped ceiling. A black labradorite band runs across the entire room, on which pilasters of red porphyry are placed. Next to the pilasters are bands of bright red smalt and to the right of the smalt are bands of black labradorite. This combination creates the effect of flames and banners flying in the wind.  In the centre of the hall is a black pedestal with a sarcophagus. The upper stepped slab of the sarcophagus is supported by four inconspicuous metal columns, which gives the impression that the slab is hanging in the air. The lower slab is covered in reddish jasper. The sarcophagus is made up of two inclined conical glasses, which are held together by a bronze frame. Illuminators and light filters are embedded in the upper part of the frame - they give an animating pink coloring and reduce heating. On either side of the sarcophagus are the battle and labour bronze banners, which appear satiny due to the special illumination. In the headboard is the coat of arms of the USSR framed by oak and laurel branches. At the foot, there are branches twisted with ribbon. Exit from the Funeral Hall to the right-hand staircase leads to the
Red Square Red Square ( rus, Красная площадь, Krasnaya ploshchad', ˈkrasnəjə ˈploɕːətʲ) is one of the oldest and largest squares in Moscow, the capital of Russia. Owing to its historical significance and the adjacent historical build ...
.


Preserving the body

One of the main problems the embalmers faced was the appearance of dark spots on the skin, especially on the face and hands. They managed to solve the problem by the use of a variety of different reagents. While working on ways to preserve Lenin's body, Boris Zbarsky invented a new way to purify medical chloroform used for preservation. For example, if a patch of wrinkling or discoloration occurred it was treated with a solution of acetic acid and
ethyl alcohol Ethanol (abbr. EtOH; also called ethyl alcohol, grain alcohol, drinking alcohol, or simply alcohol) is an organic compound. It is an alcohol with the chemical formula . Its formula can be also written as or (an ethyl group linked to a hyd ...
diluted with water.
Hydrogen peroxide Hydrogen peroxide is a chemical compound with the formula . In its pure form, it is a very pale blue liquid that is slightly more viscous than water. It is used as an oxidizer, bleaching agent, and antiseptic, usually as a dilute solution (3% ...
could be used to restore the tissues' original coloring. Damp spots were removed by means of disinfectants such as
quinine Quinine is a medication used to treat malaria and babesiosis. This includes the treatment of malaria due to '' Plasmodium falciparum'' that is resistant to chloroquine when artesunate is not available. While sometimes used for nocturnal le ...
or
phenol Phenol (also called carbolic acid) is an aromatic organic compound with the molecular formula . It is a white crystalline solid that is volatile. The molecule consists of a phenyl group () bonded to a hydroxy group (). Mildly acidic, it ...
. Lenin's remains are soaked in a solution of glycerol and potassium acetate on a yearly basis. Synthetic eyeballs were placed in Lenin's orbital cavities to prevent his eye sockets from collapsing. Until the
fall of the Soviet Union The dissolution of the Soviet Union, also negatively connoted as rus, Разва́л Сове́тского Сою́за, r=Razvál Sovétskogo Soyúza, ''Ruining of the Soviet Union''. was the process of internal disintegration within the Sov ...
in 1991, the continued preservation work was funded by the
Soviet government The Government of the Soviet Union ( rus, Прави́тельство СССР, p=prɐˈvʲitʲɪlʲstvə ɛs ɛs ɛs ˈɛr, r=Pravítelstvo SSSR, lang=no), formally the All-Union Government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, commonly ab ...
. At that point the government discontinued financial support and private donations then supported the preservation staff. In 2016 the Russian government reversed its earlier decision and said it planned to spend 13 million rubles to preserve the body.


Contemporary

The Mausoleum is open to the public on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays from 10:00–13:00. Visitors still queue to see Lenin's body although queues are not as long as they once were. Entrance is free of charge. Before visitors are allowed to enter the mausoleum, armed police or military guards search them. Visitors are required to show respect whilst inside the tomb: photography and filming inside the mausoleum are forbidden, as is talking, smoking, keeping hands in pockets, or wearing hats (unless female). Since 1991, there has been some discussion about removing Lenin's body to the
Kremlin Wall Necropolis The Kremlin Wall Necropolis was the national cemetery for the Soviet Union. Burials in the Kremlin Wall Necropolis in Moscow began in November 1917, when 240 pro-Bolshevik individuals who died during the Moscow Bolshevik Uprising were buried in m ...
and burying it there. President
Boris Yeltsin Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin ( rus, Борис Николаевич Ельцин, p=bɐˈrʲis nʲɪkɐˈla(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ ˈjelʲtsɨn, a=Ru-Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin.ogg; 1 February 1931 – 23 April 2007) was a Soviet and Russian politician wh ...
, with the support of the
Russian Orthodox Church , native_name_lang = ru , image = Moscow July 2011-7a.jpg , imagewidth = , alt = , caption = Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, Russia , abbreviation = ROC , type ...
, intended to close the tomb and bury Lenin next to his mother,
Maria Alexandrovna Ulyanova Maria Alexandrovna Ulyanova (russian: Мария Александровна Ульянова; née Blank; – ) was the mother of Vladimir Lenin, the Bolshevik revolutionary leader and founder of the Soviet Union. She was born in Saint Petersb ...
, at the Volkov Cemetery in
St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
. His successor,
Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...
, opposed this, stating that a reburial of Lenin would imply that generations of citizens had observed false values during seventy years of Soviet rule. The mausoleum has undergone several changes in appearance since the collapse of the Soviet Union. One of the first noticeable changes was the placement of gates at the staircases leading to the central tribune. After the removal of the guard, this was necessary to prevent unauthorised usage of the tribune. Beginning in 2012, the mausoleum underwent foundation reconstruction caused by the construction of a building attached to the mausoleum in 1983. The building houses an escalator once used by members of the Politburo to ascend the tribune. In 1995–96, when Boris Yeltsin used the tribune, he used stairs and not the escalator. Now the tribune is no longer used, therefore it became acceptable to remove the escalator. The building was closed in 2013 for renovations. It was finally opened on April 30, 2013, in time for the May 1 celebration of "The Day of Spring and Labour". In 2018, RIA Novosti reported that Vladimir Petrov, a member of the legislative assembly of the Leningrad Oblast, proposed creating a special commission in order to examine the question of the removal of Lenin's body from the Mausoleum. Petrov seemed to be willing to replace the corpse with a copy made of synthetic resin. The deputy
Dmitry Novikov Dmitry Novikov is a deputy for the Communist Party in the 7th State Duma of the Russian Federation. He is first deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs. He was elected effective September 18, 2016. He was educated at t ...
, a member of the
Communist Party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. ...
, has strongly opposed Petrov's proposition.


Honours

* The
Hungarian People's Republic The Hungarian People's Republic ( hu, Magyar Népköztársaság) was a one-party socialist state from 20 August 1949 to 23 October 1989. It was governed by the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party, which was under the influence of the Soviet U ...
issued a postage stamp depicting it on 20 February 1952. * The
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
issued postage stamps depicting it in 1925, 1934, 1944, 1946, 1947, 1948, and 1949.


See also

*
Kumsusan Palace of the Sun The Kumsusan Palace of the Sun (), formerly the Kumsusan Memorial Palace (), is a building near the northeast corner of the city of Pyongyang that serves as the mausoleum for Kim Il-sung, the founder of North Korea, and for his son Kim Jong-il, bo ...
*
Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum The President Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum ( vi, Lăng Chủ tịch Hồ Chí Minh) is a mausoleum which serves as the resting place of Vietnamese revolutionary leader and President Ho Chi Minh in Hanoi, Vietnam. It is a large building located in the cen ...
*
Kremlin Wall Necropolis The Kremlin Wall Necropolis was the national cemetery for the Soviet Union. Burials in the Kremlin Wall Necropolis in Moscow began in November 1917, when 240 pro-Bolshevik individuals who died during the Moscow Bolshevik Uprising were buried in m ...
*
Tampere Lenin Museum The Tampere Lenin Museum ( fi, Lenin-museo) is a museum devoted to Vladimir Lenin in Tampere, Finland. It was established in 1946 by the Finland–Soviet Union Society, and today it is run by The Finnish Labour Museum Werstas. It was the first ...
*
Chairman Mao Memorial Hall The Chairman Mao Memorial Hall (), also known as the Mausoleum of Mao Zedong, is the final resting place of Mao Zedong, Chairman of the Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party from 1943 and the Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party from 194 ...
*
Pyramid of Tirana The Pyramid of Tirana () is a structure and former museum located in Tirana, the capital of Albania. It opened as a museum in 1988 and became a conference center in 1991 following the collapse of Communism. During the 1999 Kosovo War, the build ...
* House of Flowers *
Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum Dr. Sun Yat-sen's Mausoleum () is situated at the foot of the second peak of Purple Mountain (Nanjing), Purple Mountain in Nanjing, China. Construction of the tomb started in January 1926, and was finished in spring of 1929. The architect was L ...
*
Che Guevara Mausoleum The Che Guevara Mausoleum (, officially ''Conjunto Escultórico Memorial Comandante Ernesto Che Guevara'') is a memorial in Santa Clara, Cuba, located in "Plaza Che Guevara" (Che Guevara Square). It houses the remains of the revolutionary Ernesto ...
* Santa Ifigenia Cemetery *
Sükhbaatar's Mausoleum Sükhbaatar's Mausoleum () was a mausoleum for Damdin Sükhbaatar, leader of the Mongolian Revolution of 1921, and Khorloogiin Choibalsan, leader of the Mongolian People's Republic from the late 1930s to his death in 1952, in Mongolia's capital Ul ...
*
Georgi Dimitrov Mausoleum The Georgi Dimitrov Mausoleum ( bg, мавзолей на Георги Димитров) was a ceremonial tomb on Prince Alexander of Battenberg Square in Sofia, Bulgaria. It was built in 1949 to house the embalmed body of Georgi Dimitrov, the fir ...
* National Monument in Vitkov * Mustafa Kemal Atatürk's Mausoleum *
Mausoleum of Ruhollah Khomeini The mausoleum of Ruhollah Khomeini ( fa, آرامگاه روح الله خمینی) houses the tombs of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, his wife Khadijeh Saqafi, and his second son Ahmad Khomeini; and some political figures, such as former President ...
*
Raj Ghat Raj Ghat is a memorial dedicated to Mahatma Gandhi in Delhi, India. Originally it was the name of a historic ghat of Old Delhi (Shahjahanabad). Close to it, and east of Daryaganj was ''Raj Ghat Gate'' of the walled city, opening at ''Raj Gha ...
*
Mazar-e-Quaid Mazar-e-Quaid ( ur, , lit=Mausoleum of the Leader) is the resting place of Muhammad Ali Jinnah situated in Karachi, Sindh. The marble monument comprises a surface area of . It is surrounded by formal gardens and designed in an Islamic modernist ...
* Bourguiba mausoleum *
Türkmenbaşy Ruhy Mosque Turkmenbashi Ruhy Mosque or Gypjak Mosque ( tk, Türkmenbaşy Ruhy Metjidi / Tүркменбaшы Рухы Mетҗиди) is a mosque in Gypjak, Turkmenistan and the resting place for Saparmurat Niyazov, the leader of Turkmenistan from 1985 to 2006 ...
*
Artigas Mausoleum The Artigas Mausoleum is a monument to Uruguayan hero José Artigas, located in Plaza Independencia, in the neighbourhood of Ciudad Vieja, Montevideo Montevideo () is the capital and largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2011 census, the ...
*
Martyrs' Mausoleum The Martyrs' Mausoleum ( my, အာဇာနည်ဗိမာန်) is a Mausoleum in Yangon, Myanmar (Burma), located near the northern gate of Shwedagon Pagoda. The mausoleum is dedicated to Aung San and other leaders of the pre-independence ...
, Yangon * Leninism *
Marxism–Leninism Marxism–Leninism is a communist ideology which was the main communist movement throughout the 20th century. Developed by the Bolsheviks, it was the state ideology of the Soviet Union, its satellite states in the Eastern Bloc, and various c ...


References


External links


Virtual Mausoleum
{{Authority control Buildings and structures completed in 1930 Buildings and structures built in the Soviet Union Buildings and structures in Moscow Egyptian Revival architecture Mausoleums in Russia Cultural depictions of Vladimir Lenin Red Square Tourist attractions in Moscow Monuments and memorials to Vladimir Lenin Cultural heritage monuments of federal significance in Moscow