Published on: 2026-09-03
Source: Moscow Government – Правительства Москвы –
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On the day marking the end of World War II, September 3, the Main Archive of Moscow shared unique archival materials from the Mosgorispolkom fund related to the history of the creation of one of the largest unrealized projects of the Soviet era — the Pantheon of Glory.
In the section “Unique documents” You can find architectural drawings and accompanying materials entered in the State Register of unique documents of the Moscow archival fund. Among them are the project and 23 options for the placement of the future memorial complex, as well as explanatory notes from 1953.
“These documents represent a unique milestone in the history of Soviet architecture and allow us to see how, in the post-war years, the concept of a memorial space of national scale was formed, and how architects and urban planners tried to incorporate into the face of Moscow a symbol of remembrance of the war and of [deleted] the country’s outstanding figures. It is important for us that residents and researchers can become familiar in an online format with materials that were previously available only in the reading room, and independently evaluate the scale of the plan and the level of detail work. The publication of these materials in open access is part of our work to preserve historical memory and promote archival heritage, so that everyone can touch the authentic pages of history,” noted Yaroslav Onopenko, head of the Moscow Main Archive.
History of the memorial project creation
In April 1944, an initiative group of scientists and artists — biochemist Alexey Bakh, sculptor Vera Mukhina, painter Konstantin Yuon, composer Dmitri Shostakovich, writers Lidiya Seifullina, Nikolai Lyashko, Boris Cherny, and others — addressed Joseph Stalin with a letter. In it, they proposed creating a monument that would be strict in form and monumental in size — a People’s Pantheon of Glory.
“Now, as the Patriotic War approaches its triumph — Victory, the passionate desire to erect a monument to the Patriotic War is increasingly embracing the patriots of the USSR. The monumental monument to the Patriotic War — the Pantheon of Glory — must immortalize the genius of the leader, the valor of the heroes, and the immortal deeds of the Red Army, the exploits of the warriors of arms and labor. Within its walls will live forever the great era of the liberating struggle of the peoples of the USSR for the honor and independence of their Motherland. We envision the Pantheon of Glory as a majestic building towering in the capital of our Motherland. The combination of marble and paints, bronze and word should become the expression of heroic images and deeds,” the letter stated.
According to the authors’ plan, the future memorial was supposed to display works of painting and sculpture, weapons, banners, trophies, books, documentary and feature films capturing the events of the Great Patriotic War, as well as records and tapes with images and voices of heroes from the front and the home front.
After the death of Joseph Stalin, on March 7, 1953, a decree was issued by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and the Council of Ministers of the USSR to erect a monument in Moscow. It was intended to commemorate the leaders of the first proletarian state and other outstanding figures buried on Red Square by the Kremlin Wall. Currently, there are about 500 burials here.
A special meeting was held at the USSR Academy of Architecture with the participation of leading architects of the country: Lev Rudnev, Nikolai Kolli, Vladimir Gelfreikh, Karo Alabyan, Boris Iofan, Dmitry Chechulin, Pavel Abrosimov, Alexei Dushkin, and others. The participants noted that the construction of the pantheon would have the utmost socio-political and urban planning significance, and discussed the choice of location for the future structure and its compositional solution.
In addition, meetings were held with the heads of the main workshops of the Mosproject Institute. They also discussed the possible location of the monument, its spatial and architectural solutions. Soon, a commission for organizing the design was formed, chaired by the vice president of the Academy of Architecture, Semyon Chernyshev.
Famous Soviet architects, including Alexander Vlasov, Ivan Zholtovsky, Mikhail Posokhin, Lev Rudnev, Dmitry Chechulin, and others, developed 10 preliminary design proposals.
In early July 1954, by order of the Council of Ministers of the USSR, the State Committee of the Council of Ministers of the USSR for Construction Affairs and the Executive Committee of the Moscow City Council announced an open competition for the best design of the Pantheon of Glory. The Moscow General Plan Institute proposed about 30 sites in the capital for its placement. The territory of the Lenin Hills, located 3.5 kilometers south of the M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University building, was recognized as the most suitable.
Project competition and fight against excesses
The competition jury, consisting of 22 people, was formed by a decision of the executive committee of the Mossovet on January 6, 1955. In addition to the architects already mentioned, it included the president of the USSR Academy of Arts Alexander Gerasimov, sculptor Alexander Kibalnikov, writer Boris Lavrenev, and poet Alexei Surkov. According to the competition conditions, the monument had to be simple, monumental, and majestic, and not exceed a volume of 80,000 cubic meters.
In April 1955, 180 of the most interesting competition projects, selected from approximately 900 submissions, were discussed at the Central House of the Architect. Sketches, drawings, and full-scale models were also displayed in the main pavilion of the All-Union Agricultural Exhibition and in the Mossovet building.
In November 1955, the resolution of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and the Council of Ministers of the USSR “On the elimination of excesses in design and construction” was issued, which ended the era of Soviet monumental classicism in architecture and construction.
In August 1956, the State Committee of the Council of Ministers of the USSR for Construction Affairs and the Moscow City Executive Committee summarized the results of the competition. The jury believed that none of the submitted projects fully revealed the ideological and artistic image of the future building. The work was suspended, and the idea of creating a pantheon was never revisited.
On August 30, 1960, the Council of Ministers of the RSFSR published decree No. 1327 “On further improvement of the protection of cultural monuments in the RSFSR.” In it, the Vladimir Lenin Mausoleum and the necropolis by the Kremlin wall were classified as cultural monuments of Russia and taken under state protection. After that, the decree of March 6, 1953, on the creation of the Pantheon of Glory was formally repealed.
Today, the pantheon is of interest not only as evidence of the history of Soviet architecture. It also allows us to comprehend society’s attitude towards memory, memorial spaces, and ways of commemorating historical events and names.
The Main Archive of Moscow and “My Documents” presented an exhibition about the Siege of LeningradThe virtual museum of the Moscow Main Archive has updated the section with materials from the Great Patriotic War
On the mos.ru portal appeared large-scale special project, dedicated to the development of key areas of Moscow. These include transport, industry, healthcare, education, sports, and construction. The special project helps to learn how the capital has changed over recent years, what initiatives aimed at making the lives of city residents even more comfortable are currently being implemented, and what awaits Moscow and its inhabitants in the near future.
On the project page “Culture, Heritage, and Leisure Industry” you can learn about how architectural monuments are preserved in the capital. Moscow is the center of the country’s cultural life and ranks among the leading megacities in terms of the number of museums and exhibition halls. A film cluster has been created in the city, combining the Mosfilm cinema factory on Ryazansky Prospekt, the Gorky Film Studio, and the Mosfilm Film Park.
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