Joseph Stalin dynamited the original Cathedral of Christ the Savior in 1931 in order to build his Palace of the Soviets – an overbearing modernist monument bedazzled with its mammoth statue to Lenin, the Bolsheviks’ socialist god. But with lacking funds, the onset of WWII, and flooding of the Moskva River, Stalin’s utopian vision came to a halt.

There sat the flood waters, until 1958, when Nikita Khrushchev decided turn the site into the world’s largest open-air swimming pool. Commies sure are clever when they wanna be.

Marble from the original church, as well as marble benches, were utilized in building the Moscow Metro. Luckily, many of the original high reliefs were kept at Donskoy Monastery, where they are still on display, like Dmitri Donskoy receiving his blessing from St. Sergius before the Battle of Kulikovo.

After the fall of the Soviet Union, fundraising to rebuild the cathedral began in earnest. By 1994, Moskva Pool was demolished and church construction commenced. The completed Cathedral of Christ the Savior was consecrated on the Transfiguration Day, August 19, 2000.

The original cathedral was a 19th-century structure which took 40 years to build. Tsar Aleksandr I said he wanted to construct a church as a memorial “to signify Our gratitude to Divine Providence for saving Russia from the doom that overshadowed Her.” The doom? The invader and conqueror Napoleon, who was finally forced to retreat from Moscow in 1812.

Tchaikovsky’s “Overture of 1812” premiered here and much of the art inside tells of Russia’s proudest historical moments. Relics include John the Baptist and St. John Chrysostom.

I couldn’t get any photos inside because security was serious business (a common thing since the feminist band Pussy Riot desecrated the Holy space for a music video – thanks leftists!), but we did get some nice shots of the Moscow from the upper outdoor terraces.

Overall, it is an overwhelming structure in size, beauty, history, and present-day significance, as its become a symbol of Russia’s Christian rebirth. The art and architecture was a little too “Western” for my tastes, as I much prefer “Eastern” imagery and Byzantine structures, but still, visiting the cathedral was quite an experience.