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"Under the Sign of Scorpion" by Juri - Gnostic Liberation Front

"Under the Sign of Scorpion" by Juri - Gnostic Liberation Front

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carried out <strong>the</strong> demolition. It only took a few months to plunder, tear apart<br />

and finally level <strong>the</strong> ca<strong>the</strong>dral with <strong>the</strong> ground.<br />

Kaganovich and Stalin had <strong>the</strong> Jewish architect Boris Y<strong>of</strong>an design <strong>the</strong><br />

Palace <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Soviets (or <strong>the</strong> Kahal Castle), which was to be built where<br />

<strong>the</strong> ca<strong>the</strong>dral had stood. This building was planned to be 415 metres tall<br />

and would have amazed <strong>the</strong> world. (The Empire State Building, which was<br />

finished in 1931, was just 381 metres tall.) A 70 metre tall statue <strong>of</strong> Lenin<br />

was to top it.<br />

The plans were never realised, however. The problem with this idea<br />

was that <strong>the</strong> ground in this area, just a stone's throw from <strong>the</strong> Kremlin,<br />

was un-suitable for such a large and heavy building. Nikita Khrushchev<br />

instead had a swimming pool built <strong>the</strong>re at <strong>the</strong> end <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> 1950s. In 1993,<br />

<strong>the</strong> leaders <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Russian church decided to rebuild <strong>the</strong> ca<strong>the</strong>dral.<br />

294

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