Source: http://jaxware.info/post40
Timestamp: 2019-04-25 22:31:14+00:00

Document:
The project of the temple of Christ the Savior foresaw the construction on Sparrow hills the monumental ensemble designed in a strict, somewhat heavy forms of Empire. The ensemble, besides the Church, consisted of a giant colonnade, slopes to the Moscow river, stone embankment.
But the implementation of the Grand plan was impossible – the soil on the slopes of the Sparrow hills “floated”, threatening landslides due to the proximity of groundwater. In addition, Vitberg was too bad a project Manager, construction is unreasonably delayed, and soon the special Commission was forced to admit numerous abuses in the construction of the temple. Vitberg was actually accused of embezzlement, his property was confiscated and he was exiled to Vyatka.
The construction of the temple for many years was broken. By the time the architecture is already moviemania. The era of classicism left. In 1934, the chief architect of Moscow M. D. Bykovsky was read at the solemn act in Architecture school “Speech about poznavatelnoe of the opinion that the Architecture of Greek or Greco-Roman may be universal, and that the beauty of the architecture is based on five main kinopolotnah” – essentially. it was a Manifesto against absolutism classicism. The emergence of the romantic movement in Russian architecture at the turn of the eighteenth to nineteenth centuries was due in the beginning a simple imitation of the tastes of Western Europe. Russian architects are increasingly began to build “in the Gothic taste” (to this direction, for example, include the construction of the Ivanovo monastery in Moscow), but then this hobby turned into an attempt to create a “Russian style”. The first steps in this direction was made by M. F. Kazakov, who, according to S. V. Khachaturov, turned to ancient heritage is still pure “pastiches”. “But his disciples (I. Egotov, A. Bakarev, I. MHP) in their projects post-fire restoration of the Kremlin consciously tried to use ancient forms to create emotionally holistic environment of the medieval city, its genius loci. So the ideas of “Russian style” openly declared itself in the age of historicism” (S. V. Khachaturov. “Gothic taste” in Russian artistic culture of the eighteenth century. M. 1999).
The idea of the “Russian style” was picked up and tried to bring to life the architect K. A. Ton. Many of his buildings, including the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, are “facetiously” attempt “to dress” of the form of classicism in the old Russian style. This trend was in architecture the name “eclecticism” (a truly Russian style appeared only at the turn of the nineteenth to twentieth centuries, and at its source stood the architect A. M. Gornostaev, many built on Valaam). It is unclear why, but the word “eclectic” has long been “bad”, abusive, although it only means freedom of choice of artistic means.
Emperor Nicholas I made it a condition that the temple of Christ the Savior was created certainly in “old Russian” manner. April 10, 1832 he approved a new project presented by K. A. Ton. In 1839 the Church was founded at the new location, on the banks of the Moscow river. Aleksovski here stood the ancient monastery, which was transferred to Sokolniki, and its buildings demolished under the platform of the temple of Christ the Savior. According to the legend, offended by such a cavalier abbess cursed the place and predicted that nothing won’t last long.
On a place of a bookmark of the temple as a sign of continuity was based on the stone of the first temple, which began to build Vitberg on the Sparrow hills, and Nicholas I personally put the mortgage Board.
The Cathedral of Christ the Savior was built almost 40 years. In 1846 was erected the arch of the main dome. Three years later completed work on the lining and started to install the metal roof and head. In 1860 the scaffolding were finally dismantled and the temple appeared before Muscovites in all its grandeur.
Another twenty years were spent on the painting and the finishing of the temple. for the construction of the temple was used a dense white limestone, quarried in the vicinity of Kolomna. From it were carved reliefs that adorn the walls of the temple. For lining the inside and were used dark green labradorite, pink Shoksha quartzite, marbles of various colors.
The temple was painted by prominent artists of that time – G. I. Semiradsky, V. I. Surikov, V. P. Vereshchagin, V. E. Makovskiy, I. M. Pryanishnikov, Pyotr Sorokin, A. I. Korzukhin, M. D. Bykovsky and others. The famous reliefs of the temple were filled with sculptures by P. K. Klodt, A. V. Loganovsky, N. A. Ramazanov.
In terms of the Christ the Savior Cathedral is a Greek cross. It was the height of 103.5 meters, the area – 6805 sq. m and the diameter of the main dome is 25.5 meters. During worship in it at the same time there could be 10,000 people. The right side-chapel was dedicated to Nicholas the Wonderworker, and the left – to Alexander Nevsky. Four towers set at the corners of the temple, there were 14 bells, the largest of which weighed 1654 pounds.
May 26, 1883, he was finally consecrated.
The Cathedral of Christ the Savior was blown up by Communists on 5 December 1931. In its place was planned to build something that was supposed to symbolize the apotheosis of Communist ideology. But the apotheosis did not work, and then, clearing the ground from building stuff, has built an open swimming pool “Moscow” in which some thirty years in winter and in summer lapped serenely Muscovites. What this place once was a huge temple-a monument, which was ignored, and many people first learned about its existence only in our time.
A broad social movement for the restoration of the temple began in the late 1980-ies. In February 1990 the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church blessed the restoration of the temple of Christ the Savior and asked to allow his recovery. and may 5, 1995 the decree of the President of Russia “About the reconstruction of the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow”. A major role in the reconstruction of the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour was played by the Moscow government.

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