The Hilton Moscow Leningradskaya (russian: Гостиница Ленинградская) is one of

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

's Seven Sisters,

skyscraper A skyscraper is a tall continuously habitable building having multiple floors. Modern sources currently define skyscrapers as being at least or in height, though there is no universally accepted definition. Skyscrapers are very tall high-ri ...

s built in the early 1950s in the Stalinist neoclassical style. Stalinist neoclassical architecture mixes the Russian neoclassical style with the style of American skyscrapers of the 1930s. A main element of Stalinist neoclassicism is its use of

socialist realism Socialist realism is a style of idealized realistic art that was developed in the Soviet Union and was the official style in that country between 1932 and 1988, as well as in other socialist countries after World War II. Socialist realism is ch ...

art. The

hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a ref ...

, completed in 1954, was designed to be the finest

luxury hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a ref ...

in Moscow. The staircase features one of the longest

lighting Lighting or illumination is the deliberate use of light to achieve practical or aesthetic effects. Lighting includes the use of both artificial light sources like lamps and light fixtures, as well as natural illumination by capturing dayli ...

fixtures in the world—it was once in '' The Guinness Book of Records''. The halls and corridors of the hotel's upper floors are panelled in dark cherry wood. The hotel includes a restaurant,

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (un ...

, lounge,

spa A spa is a location where mineral-rich spring water (and sometimes seawater) is used to give medicinal baths. Spa towns or spa resorts (including hot springs resorts) typically offer various health treatments, which are also known as balneothe ...

and

beauty salon A beauty salon or beauty parlor is an establishment dealing with cosmetic treatments for people. Other variations of this type of business include hair salons, spas, day spas, and medical spas. Beauty treatments Massage for the body is ...

, fitness centre with

swimming pool A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, paddling pool, or simply pool, is a structure designed to hold water to enable Human swimming, swimming or other leisure activities. Pools can be built into the ground (in-ground pools) or built ...

, bureau de change, gift shop, meeting rooms, grand ballroom, and

business center ''Business Center'' is business network CNBC's flagship primetime show that aired in 5 to 7 pm ET timeslot, hosted by Ron Insana and Sue Herera, and it was replaced by ''Bullseye'' on December 5, 2003. History *''Business Center'' was onl ...

.Hilton Moscow Leningradskaya Hotel factsheet
Hilton Hotels, retrieved 12 February 2012 The tower of the Hilton Moscow Leningradskaya Hotel dominates

Komsomolskaya Square Komsomolskaya Square (russian: Комсомо́льская пло́щадь), known as Kalanchyovskaya (russian: Каланчёвская площадь) before 1932, is a square in Moscow, with a blend of revivalist Tsarist and Stalinist ...

, with its three ornate

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in Track (rail transport), tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the ...

s (the Leningradsky, Yaroslavsky and Kazansky) located nearby, along with a main

ring road A ring road (also known as circular road, beltline, beltway, circumferential (high)way, loop, bypass or orbital) is a road or a series of connected roads encircling a town, city, or country. The most common purpose of a ring road is to assist i ...

of downtown Moscow. The hotel joined the

Hilton Hotels Hilton Hotels & Resorts (formerly known as Hilton Hotels) is a global brand of full-service hotels and resorts and the flagship brand of American multinational hospitality company Hilton. The original company was founded by Conrad Hilton. As ...

chain in 2008 after completing a multimillion-dollar restoration and renovation.

Architectural and design features

In the 1930s, a new architectural style began to take shape in 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, ...

, later called the "

Stalinist Stalinism is the means of governing and Marxist-Leninist policies implemented in the Soviet Union from 1927 to 1953 by Joseph Stalin. It included the creation of a one-party totalitarian police state, rapid industrialization, the theory ...

". One of the characteristic features directly dictated by the Soviet government were borrowings from the culture of previous epochs. This position of the authorities was not a recommendation, but a must: "serious shortcomings in the mastering

y architects Y, or y, is the twenty-fifth and penultimate letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. According to some authorities, it is the sixth (or seven ...

of the cultural heritage of the past show little attention to the national heritage, to the Russian architectural classics, to national and folk art". This attitude led to the appearance of the Leningradskaya Hotel project, which was implemented. The influence of medieval Russian architecture was more evident in the exterior design of the building than in other Stalinist skyscrapers. Contemporaries noted that the white-red-gold colouring of the walls "recalls the favourite colours of ancient Russian architecture", the central section is stylistically close to the Kremlin towers. The main entrance is designed in the form of a terem porch. It is decorated with multi-cornered

cornice In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, around the top edge of a ...

s, fanciful

pediment Pediments are gables, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the lintel, or entablature, if supported by columns. Pediments can contain an overdoor and are usually topped by hood moulds. A pedim ...

s, hanging weights and

pinnacle A pinnacle is an architectural element originally forming the cap or crown of a buttress or small turret, but afterwards used on parapets at the corners of towers and in many other situations. The pinnacle looks like a small spire. It was mainl ...

s. The ribs and emblem of the

octagon In geometry, an octagon (from the Greek ὀκτάγωνον ''oktágōnon'', "eight angles") is an eight-sided polygon or 8-gon. A ''regular octagon'' has Schläfli symbol and can also be constructed as a quasiregular truncated square, t, wh ...

spire A spire is a tall, slender, pointed structure on top of a roof of a building or tower, especially at the summit of church steeples. A spire may have a square, circular, or polygonal plan, with a roughly conical or pyramidal shape. Spires are ...

, the rosettes between the pylons and the orbs on the

obelisk An obelisk (; from grc, ὀβελίσκος ; diminutive of ''obelos'', " spit, nail, pointed pillar") is a tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape or pyramidion at the top. Originally constructed by An ...

s are covered in gold. The stylistic borrowings in the interiors of the hotel are even more significant. Elements of decoration were copied from samples of pre-Petrine palaces and churches. The lift hall, decorated with golden smalt and Shoksha porphyry, is made in the form of an altar niche. The

chandelier A chandelier (; also known as girandole, candelabra lamp, or least commonly suspended lights) is a branched ornamental light fixture designed to be mounted on ceilings or walls. Chandeliers are often ornate, and normally use incandescent ...

s in the halls and on the staircases are stylised as paniculars. Motifs from Russian history were used in the decoration of the interiors: on the ground floor, two round medallions are placed above the stairwells. One of them symbolises the Russian victory at the Kulikovo Field, the other the victory at the Battle of the Ice.

References

External links

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All Hotels citation
{{Authority control Hotels built in the Soviet Union Hotels in Moscow

Hotel buildings completed in 1954 Hotels established in 1954 Stalinist architecture Seven Sisters (Moscow) Cultural heritage monuments of regional significance in Moscow