The State Kremlin Palace (russian: Государственный Кремлёвский Дворец), formerly and unofficially still better known as the Kremlin Palace of Congresses (Кремлёвский Дворец съездов), is a large modern building inside the

Moscow Kremlin The Kremlin ( rus, Московский Кремль, r=Moskovskiy Kreml', p=ˈmɐˈskofskʲɪj krʲemlʲ, t=Moscow Kremlin) is a fortified complex in the center of Moscow founded by the Rurik dynasty. It is the best known of the kremlins (R ...

History

The building was built at the initiative of

Nikita Khrushchev Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (– 11 September 1971) was the First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964 and chairman of the country's Council of Ministers from 1958 to 1964. During his rule, Khrushchev s ...

as a modern arena for Communist Party meetings. The building replaced several heritage buildings including the old neo-classical building of the State Armoury and some of the back corpuses of the

Great Kremlin Palace The Grand Kremlin Palace (russian: Большой Кремлёвский дворец - ) was built from 1837 to 1849 in Moscow, Russia, on the site of the estate of the Grand Princes, which had been established in the 14th century on Borovits ...

. This, and that the architecture of the projected building contrasted with the historic milieu resulted in quite an uproar, particularly after other historic buildings of the Kremlin, such as the

Chudov Chudov (russian: Чудов, link=no, from ''чудо'' meaning ''miracle'') or Chudova may refer to *Chudov Monastery The Chudov Monastery (russian: Чу́дов монасты́рь; more formally known as Alexius’ Archangel Michael Monastery) ...

and Ascension cloisters, had already been replaced and laws by the mid-1950s ought to prevent demolishion of historic structures, making the construction in some ways illegal. The construction work started in 1959 and the building was opened along with the 22nd Congress of the

Communist Party of the Soviet Union " Hymn of the Bolshevik Party" , headquarters = 4 Staraya Square, Moscow , general_secretary = Vladimir Lenin (first) Mikhail Gorbachev (last) , founded = , banned = , founder = Vladimir Lenin , newspape ...

on October 17, 1961. Over the years this was the main place for mass state events (particularly party congresses). Presently it is used for official and popular concerts.

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

singers

Mariah Carey Mariah Carey (; born March 27, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and record producer. Referred to as the " Songbird Supreme", she is noted for her five-octave vocal range, melismatic singing style and signature use of the w ...

Tina Turner Tina Turner (born Anna Mae Bullock; November 26, 1939) is an American-born Swiss retired singer and actress. Widely referred to as the " Queen of Rock 'n' Roll", she rose to prominence as the lead singer of the Ike & Tina Turner Revue before ...

and

Cher Cher (; born Cherilyn Sarkisian; May 20, 1946) is an American singer, actress and television personality. Often referred to by the media as the Honorific nicknames in popular music, "Goddess of Pop", she has been described as embodying female ...

have played in the palace, as did Norwegian band

A-HA A-ha (usually stylised as ''a-''h''a''; ) is a Norwegian synth-pop band formed in Oslo in 1982. Founded by Paul Waaktaar-Savoy (guitars and vocals), Magne Furuholmen (keyboards, guitars and vocals), and Morten Harket (lead vocals), the band ro ...

and Canadian poet and singer-songwriter

Leonard Cohen Leonard Norman Cohen (September 21, 1934November 7, 2016) was a Canadian singer-songwriter, poet and novelist. His work explored religion, politics, isolation, depression, sexuality, loss, death, and romantic relationships. He was inducted in ...

Architecture

The building is a modern glass and concrete design, with nearly half of it (17 metres) submerged underground. Externally the palace is faced with white marble and the windows are tinted and reflective, which makes the classic architecture in the Kremlin appear particularly picturesque. The palace was subsequently integrated into the larger complex of the

Architecture and interiors

The State Kremlin Palace was designed in the style of Soviet modernism, which marked a departure from Stalinist architecture. The building is characterised by stylistic integrity and monumentality. As the researchers note, its "three-dimensional composition, the architectural solution of the facades and the state interiors are closely linked". The palace has a rectangular shape and a volume of about 40,000 m³. It has over 800 rooms. The central part of the building is occupied by an auditorium (in Soviet times, a conference hall) for 6,000 seats. Architectural historian Andrey Ikonnikov notes the openness of the internal layout of the palace and its interiors. In his view, the gradual transitions between the foyer and the lobbies employed the principle of "shimmering construction of space", which symbolised continuity with the architectural experiments of the Soviet avant-garde of the 1920s. The building's exterior combines vertical protrusions with mirrored openings between them. The façades are clad in white Ural marble and anodised aluminium. Red Karbakhta granite, Koelga marble and patterned Baku tuff, and various types of wood were used inside. A gilded coat-of-arms of the USSR, made by sculptor Alexei Zelenski, was located above the main entrance. The symbol was later replaced by the coat of arms of the Russian Federation. The interior decoration of the palace was done by the artist Alexander Deineka, who made mosaic emblems in the banquet hall and the frieze in the foyer.

Party congresses in the Kremlin Palace

File:RIAN archive 851899 Pioneers and schoolchildren greet delegates and guests of XVII convention of trade unions of the USSR.jpg, XVII Congress of the Trade unions in the Soviet Union,
19 March 1982. File:RIAN archive 850805 20th Komsomol Congress.jpg, 20 Congress the

Komsomol The All-Union Leninist Young Communist League (russian: link=no, Всесоюзный ленинский коммунистический союз молодёжи (ВЛКСМ), ), usually known as Komsomol (; russian: Комсомол, links=n ...

,
1 February 1987. Image:III Congress of the party "A Just Russia" (3).JPG, Sergey Mironov
on 3 Congress of the party A Just Russia.
25 April 2008.

In popular culture

Tom Clancy Thomas Leo Clancy Jr. (April 12, 1947 – October 1, 2013) was an American novelist. He is best known for his technically detailed espionage and military-science storylines set during and after the Cold War. Seventeen of his novels have b ...

's 1986 novel '' Red Storm Rising'', the building is bombed in a false-flag operation by the KGB to justify an invasion of

Western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's countries and territories vary depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the ancient Mediterranean ...

, with

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 ...

being framed for the attack. The building is depicted as being the meeting place for the

Council of Ministers A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/ shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or ...

. Ordinarily, the Council convened in the Kremlin Senate, which is explained in the novel as being closed for repairs.

External links

Official site

Description on the Official page of the Kremlin museum

Description on the Official page of the Presidency

Satellite shot centred on the building

References

{{coord, 55, 45, 5, N, 37, 36, 56, E, region:RU-MOW_type:landmark, display=title Legislative buildings in Europe Palaces in Moscow Government buildings in Russia Government buildings completed in 1961 Moscow Kremlin Theatres in Moscow Music venues in Russia Headquarters of political parties Cultural heritage monuments in Moscow