On the day of the leader’s death - January 21 - the Central Committee of the Party began to receive letters and telegrams in abundance, in which they voiced a request not to betray the body Lenin earth and not bury him.

One week passed from the moment of death and on January 27, 1924, a building was erected near the Senate Tower of the Kremlin on Red Square. Mausoleum, the project of which was developed architect Alexey Shchusev. Shchusev's colleagues claim that the latter was very familiar with the architecture of ancient civilizations. Project development Mausoleum It took him less than a day and the people saw a pyramid of three steps, a copy of those found in the architecture of the ancient civilizations of America and Egypt. This Construction was completed after 3 days.

In the end, to the court senior officials Soviet state Shchusev presented a structure made of wood, which was built in the form of a cube with sides of 3 meters and 2 less cubes on the top of the building.

The secret of embalming the body of a leader

Embalming of the body of Vladimir Ulyanov (Lenin) began 2 months after his death - in March 1924. The decomposition of the body had reached its critical point - especially in the face and hands.

Boris Zbarsky, famous chemist, and Vladimir Vorobyov, an anatomist, took upon themselves the mission of preserving the leader’s body. Vorobyov, by the way, when he first looked at the leader’s body, he immediately abandoned the impossible task, but his comrades convinced him to stay in Moscow and continue this work.

The task before the two specialists was not an easy one - they needed to develop their own method to ensure the safety of Lenin’s body, since freezing in this case was not a reliable method - then even a small case could lead to defrosting of the tissues and their further damage.

Plus, ancient Egyptian mummification could not solve the problem, since with such processing most of the weight of the mummified person is lost, and facial features are seriously distorted.

After holding many meetings and consultations, scientists decided to embalm the body.

When developing their own method, scientists took into account the early research of N. Melnikov-Razvedenkov, who back in 1896 proposed an extraordinary method for producing anatomical preparations that preserved their natural color by impregnating tissues with alcohol, glycerin and potassium acetate.

Scientists worked tirelessly for 4 months. As a result, Zabarsky and Vorobiev managed to solve a truly difficult task - embalming an entire body with complete preservation of volumes, shapes and the entire cellular and tissue structure.

Before opening Mausoleum, July 26, Vorobiev and his team spent the night in the funeral hall. He endlessly scolded Zbarsky for encouraging him to participate in such a dangerous business and doubted the success of the work done.

The fears of the scientists turned out to be unfounded - the government commission that appeared at the Mausoleum the next day recognized the results of the embalming as absolutely successful.

It is noteworthy that the triumph of Zbarsky and Vorobyov also depended on the work of another participant in those events - the architect K. Melnikov, who developed the first sarcophagus for the leader’s body.

Melnikov's initial drawing was considered technically complex. Then the architect came up with 8 more fresh options over the course of a month, 1 of which was confirmed. Melnikov's sarcophagus stood in the mausoleum almost until the end of the Great Patriotic War.

Removal of Lenin's body from the Mausoleum

Construction of the final, stone version Mausoleum started in 1929. His plan almost 100% repeated the plan of the first, wooden mausoleum, which was built according to Shchusev’s design. The monumental structure was made of granite, porphyry and dark labradorite, in red and black tones. Above the entrance there is a sign made of red quartzite: LENIN. On two sides of the building along the Kremlin wall, stands were built for guests for 10 thousand people.

Almost 70 years at the entrance to Mausoleum there was a guard, which was assigned by order of the head of the Moscow garrison.

Remained in the Mausoleum until July 1941. During the Great Patriotic War, the leader’s body had to be evacuated to Tyumen, and upon returning to the capital in 1945, a new sarcophagus was developed for him, which was made according to the design of A. Shchusev and architect B. Yakovlev.

"Attempts" on the Mausoleum

Back in the 30s, there were people in society who did not accept and did not at all approve of the idea of ​​conservation Lenin in the Mausoleum. At the beginning of March 1934, M. Nikitin, a worker at one of the state farms in the Moscow region, wanted to shoot at the embalmed body of the leader. He was prevented by the quickly reacting security service. He himself shot himself on the spot.

When Nikitin's body was examined, a farewell letter was found in his pocket, which was addressed to the party and government. The message contained the following lines: “This spring of 1934, again, a huge number of people will die due to hunger, dirt, and epidemic diseases... Can’t our rulers, who are entrenched in the Kremlin, see that the people do not want such a life, that it is impossible to live like this any longer, not I have enough strength and will..."

After this incident, incidents in Mausoleum repeated. At the beginning of November 1957, A. N. Romanov, a resident of Moscow with no specific occupation, threw into Mausoleum container with ink, although the sarcophagus was not damaged. After 2 years, one of the guests threw a hammer into the sarcophagus and shattered the glass, but Lenin's body was not damaged.

At the beginning of July 1960, an even more serious incident occurred: townsman Frunze K.N. Minibaev jumped on top of the barrier and kicked the sarcophagus. The glass broke from the impact and its fragments damaged the skin of the embalmed man. Lenin's body. As the investigation showed, Minibaev had been hatching a plan to damage the sarcophagus since 1949; it was for this purpose that he flew to Moscow in 1960.

Minibaev’s act was the first in a chain of incidents that occurred in Mausoleum in the 60s. The next year after him, L.A. Smirnova, passing by the sarcophagus, spat into the sarcophagus, and after that threw a stone at the glass, breaking the sarcophagus. At the beginning of April 1962, citizen of Pavlovsky Posad, pensioner A. A. Lyutikov, also threw a stone at the sarcophagus.

Mausoleum of V.I. Lenin (in 1953-1961 Mausoleum of V.I. Lenin and I.V. Stalin) - a monument-tomb on Red Square near Kremlin wall in Moscow.

The first wooden Mausoleum (designed by A.V. Shchusev) was erected on the day of the funeral of Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov (Lenin) (January 27, 1924), and had the shape of a cube topped with a three-stage pyramid. It stood only until the spring of 1924.

In the second temporary wooden Mausoleum, installed in the spring of 1924 (designed by A.V. Shchusev), stands were attached to the stepped volume on both sides. The initial design of the sarcophagus was considered technically difficult, and the architect K. S. Melnikov developed and presented eight new options within a month. One of them was approved and then implemented in as soon as possible under the supervision of the author himself. This sarcophagus stood in the mausoleum until the end of the Great Patriotic War.

The laconic forms of the second Mausoleum were used in the design of the third, now existing version made of reinforced concrete, with brick walls and granite cladding, finished with marble, labradorite and crimson quartzite (porphyry) (1929-1930, according to the design of A.V. Shchusev with a team of authors) . Inside the building there is a lobby and a funeral hall, decorated by I. I. Nivinsky, with an area of ​​100 m². In 1930, new guest stands were erected on the sides of the Mausoleum (architect I. A. French), and graves near the Kremlin wall were decorated.

During the Great Patriotic War, in July 1941, the body of V.I. Lenin was evacuated to Tyumen. It was kept in the current building of the main building of the Tyumen State Agricultural Academy (Respubliki St., 7), on the second floor in room 15. In April 1945, the leader’s body was returned to Moscow.

In 1945, the central stand of the Mausoleum was built. In the same year, with the new design of the interior of the Mausoleum, the sarcophagus designed by K. S. Melnikov was replaced by a sarcophagus designed by A. V. Shchusev and sculptor B. I. Yakovlev. In 1953-1961, the mausoleum also housed the body of I.V. Stalin, and the mausoleum was called “Mausoleum of V.I. Lenin and I.V. Stalin.”

Until a granite slab of suitable (uniquely large - 60-ton labradorite monolith from the Golovinsky quarry in the Zhitomir region) size was found, on the already installed granite slab in 1953 the inscriptions “Lenin” and "Stalin". According to eyewitnesses, in severe frosts the old inscription “appeared” like frost through the inscriptions written on top of it. In 1958, the slab was replaced by a slab with the inscriptions “LENIN” and “STALIN” located one above the other. In 1961, the granite slab with Lenin's name was returned to its original place. Simultaneously with the funeral of J.V. Stalin, an unrealized resolution was adopted on the future transfer of the sarcophagi of both leaders to the Pantheon.

In 1973, a bulletproof sarcophagus was installed ( chief designer N. A. Myzin, sculptor N. V. Tomsky).

Until October 1993, there was an honor guard post No. 1 at the Mausoleum, changing every hour according to a signal Kremlin chimes. In October 1993, during the constitutional crisis, post No. 1 was abolished. On December 12, 1997, the post was restored, but already at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

The embalming was carried out by biochemist B.I. Zbarsky, who developed a recipe for “balsamic liquid” in which Lenin’s remains are immersed every 18 months. Zbarsky cared for the remains until his own death in 1954. At the end of 1939, a research laboratory was created at the Mausoleum as part of the USSR Ministry of Health to solve scientific and practical problems and a set of problems related to the preservation of Lenin’s body.

Issues of temperature and humidity of the atmosphere of the sarcophagus and body, the composition of impregnating solutions, the content of preventive measures, the color of the skin, photographic recording of the relief volumes of the face and hands, the study of tissue destruction processes - these are not full list problems studied by this laboratory. According to the conclusion of a government commission created in 1990 by the Council of Ministers of the USSR to study the activities of the Research Laboratory, V.I. Lenin’s body can remain unchanged for more than a dozen years.

Since 1992, the Laboratory at the Mausoleum of V.I. Lenin has been part of the All-Union Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (VILAR) and is called the Research and Educational Center for Biomedical Technologies. Since 1993, financial assistance to scientists has been provided by the Charitable public organization preservation of the Mausoleum of V.I. Lenin" (until 1999 - "Independent charitable foundation“Mausoleum of V.I. Lenin”). The statutory goal of the fund is to preserve the Mausoleum of V.I. Lenin as a historical monument and a masterpiece of world architecture and to ensure the safety of V.I. Lenin’s body.

The laboratory staff carried out the embalming of Georgy Dimitrov (1949, Bulgaria), Marshal Khorlogiin Choibalsan (1952, Mongolia), Joseph Stalin (1953, USSR), Klement Gottwald (1953, Czechoslovakia), Ho Chi Minh ( 1969, Vietnam), Agostinho Neto (1979, Angola), President of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana Lyndon Forbes Burnham (1985, Georgetown, Guyana), Kim Il Sung (1995, North Korea).

Following the example of Lenin's body, the bodies of leaders of communist parties and states Sun Yat-sen, Georgi Dimitrov, Klement Gottwald, Choibalsan, Enver Hoxha, Agostinho Netto, Lyndon Burnham, Ho Chi Minh, Mao Zedong and Kim Il Sung were embalmed and put on display, of which To beginning of XXI Only the last three centuries have survived.

The first wooden version of the Mausoleum did not have a platform. Its necessity arose only due to the large influx of visitors and the pronouncement funeral speeches. Therefore, the following projects of the Mausoleum already provided for its presence.

Subsequently, the Mausoleum was used as a platform on which figures of the Politburo and the Soviet government, military leaders, as well as honored guests appeared during various kinds of celebrations on Red Square (primarily the May 1 procession and the November 7 parade, and since 1965 the May 9 parade). There was also a special room where those in the stands went for a drink and a snack. The Minister of Defense of the USSR usually addressed the parade participants from the Mausoleum. Western “Kremlinologists” drew conclusions about the influence of certain individuals in the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee and made predictions for the future based on the placement of figures on the Mausoleum podium during official events.

Moscow is the only Russian city in which the starting point for road distances is not the building of the city's main post office, but the Lenin Mausoleum. The Moscow Post Office is located a little less than two kilometers from the Mausoleum, on Myasnitskaya Street.

On March 19, 1934, Mitrofan Mikhailovich Nikitin tried to shoot at the embalmed body of the leader. He was prevented by quickly reacting security and visitors. Nikitin shot himself on the spot. A letter of protest addressed to the party and governments was found on him.

On November 5, 1957, A. N. Romanov, a resident of Moscow with no specific occupation, threw a bottle of ink into the Mausoleum. The sarcophagi containing the bodies of Lenin and Stalin were not damaged.

On March 20, 1959, one of the visitors threw a hammer into the sarcophagus and broke the glass. The bodies of V.I. Lenin and I.V. Stalin were not damaged.

On July 14, 1960, a resident of the city of Frunze, K.N. Minibaev, jumped onto the barrier and broke the glass of the sarcophagus with a kick. The fragments damaged the skin of V. I. Lenin’s embalmed body. Due to restoration work, the Mausoleum was closed until August 15. During the investigation, Minibaev testified that since 1949 he had harbored the intention of destroying the coffin with Lenin’s body, and on July 13, 1960, he flew to Moscow specifically for this purpose.

On September 9, 1961, L.A. Smirnova, passing by the sarcophagus, spat at it and then threw a stone wrapped in a handkerchief into the sarcophagus, accompanying her actions with curses. The glass of the sarcophagus was broken, but Lenin's body was not damaged.

On April 24, 1962, a resident of Pavlovsky Posad, pensioner A. A. Lyutikov, also threw a stone at the sarcophagus. Lenin's body was not damaged. It subsequently turned out that Lyutikov had written anti-Soviet letters to central newspapers and the embassies of Western countries in the previous two years.


In September 1967, a resident of Kaunas named Krysanov detonated a belt filled with explosives near the entrance to the Mausoleum. The terrorist and several other people died, but the Mausoleum was not damaged.

On September 1, 1973, an unknown person detonated an improvised explosive device inside the Lenin Mausoleum. The criminal and one married couple were killed, several people, including children, were injured. V.I. Lenin’s body was not damaged, since by that time the sarcophagus was already covered with bulletproof glass.

On March 15, 2010, a resident of the Moscow region, Sergei Krapetsov, climbed over the fence, climbed onto the podium of the Lenin Mausoleum and from there began shouting calls for the destruction of the Mausoleum and the speedy burial of V. I. Lenin’s body. When he was detained by police officers, Krapetsov offered armed resistance, but was still detained. It subsequently turned out that at that moment Krapetsov was wanted for committing a robbery.

On November 27, 2010, police detained a man who threw a roll of toilet paper and a brochure into the Lenin Mausoleum on Red Square. The detainee was hospitalized in a psychiatric hospital.

In 1990, a loud scandal occurred: during the May Day demonstration, some of the demonstrators carried anti-communist slogans in front of the podium. M. S. Gorbachev and the entire Politburo defiantly left the podium. In 1992-1994. There were no parades or processions on Red Square. On May 9, 1995, a parade was held to mark the 50th anniversary of the Victory, which took place on Poklonnaya Hill. On May 9, 1996, a parade was held to mark the 51st anniversary of the Victory, during which the Mausoleum last time was used as a platform. Since 1995, Victory Parades have been held again every year, but since 1997, the leading figures of the state have been in temporary stands, built each time. During festive events (parades, concerts), the mausoleum has been covered with shields since 2005.

Currently, the Mausoleum is open to access every Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Access to the Mausoleum and to the burials near the Kremlin wall is through a checkpoint at the Nikolskaya Tower, where a metal detector check is carried out. When visiting the Mausoleum, it is prohibited to carry photo and video equipment, or mobile phones with a camera. You are also not allowed to carry bags, backpacks, packages, large metal objects and bottles with liquid (those who wish are provided payable service storage rooms in the building of the historical museum). Access to the Mausoleum is free. In the Mausoleum, it is necessary, maintaining silence and not lingering at the coffin, to make a semicircle around the sarcophagus. For men, remove your hat.



Address: Russia, Moscow, Red Square
Start of construction: 1929
Completion of construction: 1930
Architect: A.V. Shchusev
Coordinates: 55°45"13.2"N 37°37"11.7"E
An object cultural heritage Russian Federation

The place where the embalmed body of V.I. has rested since 1924. Lenin, has long ceased to be just a ritual tomb. It is considered a monument to a bygone socialist era and has the status of a museum. This is one of the main attractions of Red Square, which has already been visited by more than 120 million people. Many tourists, regardless of political beliefs, specially come to the center of the Russian capital to walk past the sarcophagus with the body of the communist leader.

View of the Mausoleum, Red Square, Spasskaya and Senate towers of the Kremlin

How did the idea of ​​building a mausoleum come about?

The leader of the Soviet communists died on January 21, 1924. According to the official version, the idea to preserve his body belonged to the workers and peasants, who sent many telegrams to the government. In them, ordinary people asked not to carry out a regular burial.

Lev Davidovich Trotsky opposed preserving the body, but he was in the Caucasus and did not have time to return to Moscow for the funeral, which was scheduled for January 27. Researchers consider the version of the “popular will” unlikely, since the idea of ​​embalming the leader’s body was not discussed in any way in the press, and not one of the “numerous” letters was ever published anywhere.

According to another assumption, the idea of ​​preserving the body appeared because not everyone had time to say goodbye to the deceased. Delegations from different parts of Russia and from abroad came to the capital one after another, so Lenin’s widow N.K. Krupskaya agreed to place the body in the crypt until the end of the farewell ceremony. However, she repeatedly spoke out against embalming.

Whatever it is the real reason, the country's leadership wanted to turn Lenin's body into a “red shrine” so that it would become an object of worship and a source of communist faith. Just two days after his death, the state leaders firmly decided to preserve Ilyich’s body for as long as possible. Almost immediately, the famous architect Alexei Viktorovich Shchusev received an order for the mausoleum project. And the work of embalming the deceased was entrusted to academicians Vladimir Petrovich Vorobyov and Boris Ilyich Zbarsky.

View of the Mausoleum from GUM

History of the Kremlin tomb

The tomb was planned to be placed on Red Square. By that time, its site near the Kremlin wall was already a necropolis. The dead participants of the October armed uprising of 1917 lay here, and some party leaders were buried. When I was walking Civil War, the Red Army soldiers took an oath in front of their graves, and in Peaceful time parades and demonstrations were held in the square.

The first mausoleum was built on the day of the official funeral - January 27. It was bitterly cold, so the frozen ground had to be blasted with dynamite. The building was erected in great haste, and there is evidence that the last nails were driven in just before the ceremony of removing the body into the Funeral Hall. The tomb was never completed, and it stood in a semi-finished state until the spring of 1924.

The second mausoleum was also made on a wooden frame and covered with varnished oak. It was ready by August 1924 and served for six years. And then it was replaced by a stone mausoleum, which has survived to this day.

When the Great Patriotic War began, the tomb building was disguised as a residential building. These precautions were necessary to preserve the monument during fascist air raids. In the summer of 1941, when German troops were advancing on all fronts, the body of the communist leader was evacuated to Tyumen. It was stored in the building of the Agricultural Academy, and in April 1945 it was returned to the capital.

From 1953 to 1961, Stalin's embalmed body lay next to Lenin's body. And in the 1980s, an extension with an escalator was built behind the mausoleum building, with the help of which the country’s elderly leaders climbed to the podium.

View of the Mausoleum from Red Square

Architectural features

The mausoleum fits perfectly into the architectural ensemble of Red Square and looks harmonious against the backdrop of the jagged Kremlin wall. The building has a width of 24 m and a height of 12 m. It is similar to an Egyptian pyramid and is composed of five steps, built from strong and durable reinforced concrete structures and bricks. Granite, porphyry (crimson quartzite), marble and black labradorite were used in the decoration of the tomb. And above the entrance the name of the communist leader is written in red letters.

During parades, heavy equipment often passes through Red Square. To prevent the architectural structure from experiencing serious problems from shaking, the pit where the reinforced concrete foundation slab is located is filled with clean sand. The last reconstruction of the building was carried out in 2013 - the builders strengthened its foundation.

From the rostrum of the mausoleum, Soviet leaders and leaders spoke to the people for many years communist party. However, this practice has been stopped since 1996. Today, when mass holidays are held on Red Square, the mausoleum is fenced with shields.

The Kremlin tomb is considered an integral part of the main square of the Russian capital. It is protected by UNESCO and included in the World Heritage List.

Entrance to the Mausoleum

What can you see inside

The tomb is always quiet. Visitors follow one another along the same route and stay in the mausoleum for about a minute. There is twilight inside the building.

The funeral hall, where the sarcophagus is installed, is a square room 10 m by 10 m. It is decorated in black and red and has a stepped granite ceiling. Opposite the entrance to it there is a stone coat of arms of the USSR, model 1930, carved from stone. However, due to the dim lighting, it is almost impossible to see small details.

Lenin's body rests on a raised platform in a bulletproof glass sarcophagus, which is framed by granite railings. Such precautions were taken in 1973. Lenin is wearing a black suit, and on the left you can see the badge of a member of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR. The figure of the communist leader is specially illuminated so that those passing by can see his facial features. It contrasts sharply with the dark surroundings and therefore appears like a hologram.

In addition to the Funeral Hall, there is a black columbarium room in the mausoleum, in the niches of which they planned to store the ashes of other deceased. But this room was never used, and visitors are not allowed there.

Tourist Information

The mausoleum is open on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday from 10.00 to 13.00. During restoration work, the schedule usually changes, but this will be announced in advance.

You can enter the mausoleum for free through the checkpoint in the Nikolskaya Tower, located on the side of the Alexander Garden. Standing in line usually takes about 30-40 minutes.

View of the Mausoleum from the Spasskaya Tower

Bulky bags, backpacks, containers with liquids and large metal objects cannot be brought into the mausoleum. If tourists have such luggage, they hand it over to a paid storage room, which is located in the Alexander Garden, near the Kutafya Tower. Anyone wishing to enter the mausoleum must pass through a metal detector.

You cannot take photos or shoot videos inside the tomb. You are also required to hand over mobile phones and gadgets upon entry.

If they remain for the duration of the visit, security staff have the right to review the latest footage, and, as a rule, ask visitors to delete these files. Near the sarcophagus, men must remove their hats.

It should be borne in mind that the entire area around the Moscow Kremlin and especially Red Square is under 24-hour surveillance by video cameras. Tourists who come here are advised to have a passport or other identification document with them.

Lenin's Mausoleum is a well-known monument and tomb of the leader of the world proletariat in Moscow on Red Square. Inside, at a depth of 2 m, there is a sarcophagus with the embalmed body of V. I. Lenin. The mausoleum (the third in a row) was built in 1930 according to the design of the architect A.V. Shchusev, who was known in pre-revolutionary times for designing Orthodox churches. When designing the mausoleum, the design of Mesopotamian ziggurats (multi-stage religious buildings) and ancient Egyptian pyramids was taken as a basis. Thus, despite the atheism spread by Soviet propaganda, Lenin’s mausoleum was originally conceived as a religious building to perpetuate not only the name of the leader, but also his

However, with the beginning of the Great Patriotic War and the subsequent evacuation of the incorrupt body to Tyumen, problems arose, associated, as was initially believed, with a violation of the storage regime for the embalmed body. As a result, dark spots and, in some places, mold appeared on the mummy’s skin. Upon returning the body to Moscow, specialists had to carry out a complex re-embalming procedure, as a result of which the appearance of the long-deceased leader became similar to the original one. This is the official version of events, but it differs significantly from the one followed by researchers of anomalous phenomena.

For example, if we take the background of events, then in the old days, in the place where the mausoleum is now located, there was a “torture” tower, from where the screams and groans of the tortured were heard day and night, and their corpses were then thrown into a deep ditch located near the Kremlin wall. Therefore, the energy of this place, to put it mildly, is complex, and during the preparation of the leader for his resting place, it literally became unclean. So, while digging a pit, a sewer pipe located next to the mausoleum broke and all the sewage ended up right under the mausoleum. The pipe had to be urgently repaired and the sewage scooped out. Patriarch Tikhon contemptuously threw out the then famous phrase: “According to the relics and the oil!”

It is known that the mausoleum, according to the party guidelines of those years, was built to last for centuries. For this purpose, the best and very expensive materials were used. However, already in 1944 the ziggurat had to be thoroughly repaired, and again in 1974. According to the recollections of I. Rhodes, who supervised the reconstruction of the mausoleum, when the granite lining was opened, all the restorers were amazed at how quickly this structure fell into complete disrepair: the steel frame rusted, brick and concrete walls collapsed, and insulation turned into slurry. Among other things, it was necessary to replace more than 10 thousand facing blocks of labradorite and granite, which, according to calculations, should not have been subject to destruction at all.

No cannons were fired at the mausoleum, and it was not damaged by the earthquake. Why then did the strongest building materials turn into dust? None of the academic builders could understand this. After all, much more ancient buildings located in Moscow, for example, have been preserved almost in their original form.

The catastrophically rapid destruction of the mausoleum can only be explained by supernatural reasons, since it was built according to the laws of magic.

First of all, it is a pyramidal structure, which is a psychotronic generator that accumulates psychic energy, which is then spent to fulfill the darkest plans of the Bolshevik leaders who rise to the podium of the mausoleum. All such devices have one cardinal principle: while accumulating and transmitting psychic energy, they very quickly destroy themselves.

Another question arises: where does the psychic energy come from, which this ziggurat resonator then accumulates?

According to parapsychologists, this was facilitated by the large masses of people who moved along the mausoleum at demonstrations, and a little less by the lines of tourists passing by the leader’s coffin inside the mausoleum almost every day.

In this sense great importance has a movement of human columns from the Historical Museum to St. Basil's Cathedral as they pass by a special niche at the corner of the mausoleum. It can still be seen if you stand facing the mausoleum on the right side. This is a completely invisible recess with an internal protruding corner. The niche is specially designed in such a way as to capture the energy of people moving towards you. From other, purely materialistic, positions it is impossible to understand its purpose. At the same time, part of the energy received was transferred to the politicians above - it was not without reason that Stalin always stood on the podium just above this niche. Another part of the collected energy was transferred directly to Lenin's mummy, which is why he looked as if he were alive.

Now let's return to the stay of the leader's body in Tyumen. Now his moldiness there is assessed completely differently - after all, there were no huge masses of people near his sarcophagus far from the capital, and the mummy could not “feed” on the captured psychic energy. Moreover, the location of this party relic in a provincial Siberian city was a state secret. Thought is also a form of psychic energy. Since numerous admirers of the leader continued to think that his body was in the mausoleum, this energy of theirs also did not reach the addressee.

Even today, when there are no longer crowds of thousands at the coffin, Lenin’s body continues to be preserved thanks to the actions of a team of professionals.

According to eyewitnesses, Lenin in the coffin looks much healthier and younger than the pathologists caring for his body.

And all because the leader’s mummy continues to take energy, but now mostly from the embalming masters.

Over the entire existence of the mausoleum, over 100 million people visited it, in many cases causing obvious or hidden harm to their health. Now the flow of excursionists has subsided significantly, and the motives for such visits have become different. If earlier people went there, experiencing a mental uplift in advance, because they expected to see the leader with their own eyes, now they go there as if it were an attraction, especially young people who were born after the collapse of the USSR and know little about Lenin. Thus, one 16-year-old girl, when asked by her father what her impressions were after this excursion, answered with a laugh: “Cool corpse,” - such a thought could only arise in a person who had seen enough Hollywood horror films...

All these latest events, tied together, could not help but affect the body of Ilyich himself.

Today, a video recording from the mausoleum, made several years ago by a security camera operating in automatic mode, is freely available on the Internet. The recording shows how the dead Ilyich first raises his hand, then seems to stretch his whole body forward and falls back.

American experts, after a thorough analysis of this video, came to the conclusion that there is no editing or special effects here. However, their statement did not cause surprise among Russian communists, who have long known that “Lenin is more alive than all the living.” Most Kremlin old-timers, from the cleaning lady to senior officials who have seen the ghost of Lenin walking around the Kremlin more than once.

What the architects participating in the competition to design the tomb did not offer: a lighthouse in the form Eiffel Tower, and a giant globe with a statue of Lenin, and a stone ship, and a block of marble on which a steam locomotive walked, and even a giant skyscraper. But Shchusev’s idea won.

Vladimir Ilyich is eternal. His name forever, forever entered the history of Russia, the history of mankind. How can we honor his memory? How to mark his gravestone? In our architecture the cube is eternal. All the diversity of architectural creativity comes from the cube. Let us also make the Mausoleum, which we will now erect in memory of Vladimir Ilyich, a derivative of the cube.

True, this first mausoleum was temporary and stood only until the spring of 1924. The second temporary wooden Mausoleum had already been built with stands on both sides. These forms were recreated when designing the third and final ziggurat. But they built it from reinforced concrete and brick, and lined it with granite, marble, labradorite, and porphyry.

Shchusev also became the author of the first sarcophagus for Lenin’s body. But his project was considered technically difficult, and the architect K.S. Melnikov developed and presented 8 new options within a month.

We chose one of Melnikov’s sarcophagi. It stood in the mausoleum until the end of the Great Patriotic War. By the way, during the war, in July 1941, Lenin’s body was evacuated to Tyumen. Academician Zbarsky accompanied the Russian mummy with his wife and son. They were given a separate compartment, where Zbarsky and his wife occupied the upper shelves, and Lenin’s son and body occupied the lower ones.

In Tyumen, the leader's body was kept in the current building of the main building of the Tyumen State Agricultural Academy, on the second floor in room 15. In April 1945, Lenin's body returned to Moscow. But it did not survive the trip well and became moldy. Perhaps this happened because the attendants exchanged the alcohol allocated for body care for margarine.

However, the mummy was restored. At the same time, the interior of the Mausoleum was updated and Melnikov’s sarcophagus was replaced with a sarcophagus designed by A.V. Shchusev.

At that time, it seemed that science would soon make a breakthrough and Lenin would be revived. Therefore, to preserve his body, at the end of 1939, a research laboratory at the Mausoleum appeared as part of the USSR Ministry of Health.

Issues of temperature and humidity of the atmosphere of the sarcophagus and body, the composition of impregnating solutions, the content of preventive measures, the color of the skin, photographic recording of the volumes and relief of the face and hands, the study of tissue destruction processes - this is not a complete list of tasks of the laboratory. At the same time, Nadezhda Krupskaya and brother V.I. were invited to “accept the work.” Lenin. What they saw shocked them: the deceased looks as if he died yesterday, and not a few months ago.

Laboratory staff also embalmed Georgiy Dimitrov (1949, Bulgaria), Marshal Khorlogiin Choibalsan (1952, Mongolia), Joseph Stalin (1953, USSR), Klement Gottwald (1953, Czechoslovakia), Ho Chi Minh (1969, Vietnam) , Agostinho Neto (1979, Angola), President of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana Lyndon Forbes Burnham (1985, Guyana), Kim Il Sung (1995, DPRK). The bodies of only four embalmed leaders have survived - Lenin, Ho Chi Minh, Kim Il Sung and Mao Zedong.

The method of embalming Lenin's body is constantly being improved: at first, scientists assumed that the leader's body would be stored unchanged for only 20-30 years, now - more than 100. It is known that the mummy requires special ventilation and temperature conditions. It is periodically updated by immersing it in a special solution, and Ilyich’s suit is replaced every few years. Few from the previous generation remember that the leader once wore not a civilian suit, but a military jacket.

After the death of Joseph Stalin, his body was also embalmed and placed in the Mausoleum.

Since it was not easy to find a slab of the size required for the Mausoleum, “Lenin” and “Stalin” were painted on top of the inscription “Lenin” in 1953 on an already installed granite slab. According to eyewitnesses, in severe frosts the old inscription “studded” through the top layer. And in 1958 the plate was replaced with a new one with the inscriptions located one above the other: “LENIN” and “STALIN”.

But Stalin did not lie in the Mausoleum for long: after the debunking of the “cult of personality” in 1961, he was buried in a necropolis near the Kremlin wall, and the granite slab with Lenin’s name returned to its place.

In the 1970s, a bulletproof sarcophagus appeared in the Mausoleum.

Such precautions were not accidental - there were attempts on Lenin’s body several times. For example, on March 19, 1934, Mitrofan Mikhailovich Nikitin tried to shoot at the embalmed body of the leader, but security and visitors prevented him. Nikitin shot himself.

On March 20, 1959, one of the visitors threw a hammer into the sarcophagus and broke the glass. The sarcophagus also suffered damage on July 14, 1960, when a resident of the city of Frunze K.N. Minibaev jumped onto the barrier and broke the glass with his foot. Then the fragments damaged the skin of Lenin’s embalmed body.

September 9, 1961 L.A. Smirnova, passing by the sarcophagus, spat at it and then threw a stone wrapped in a handkerchief, accompanying her actions with curses. The glass of the sarcophagus then broke, but Lenin’s body was not damaged.

In September 1967, a resident of Kaunas named Krysanov detonated a belt filled with explosives near the entrance to the Mausoleum. The terrorist and several other people died. And on September 1, 1973, an unknown person detonated an improvised explosive device inside the Mausoleum.

Guide to Architectural Styles

The question of burying Lenin’s remains is often raised in society.

For example, in 1994, under the slogan “Let’s bury the work and body of Lenin,” the Democratic Union party held an unauthorized rally on Red Square. And on January 20, 2011, Vladimir Medinsky raised the issue of removing Lenin’s body from the Mausoleum.

This is some kind of ridiculous, pagan-necrophiliac mission on Red Square. There is no Lenin’s body there, experts know that about 10% of the body has been preserved, everything else from there has long been gutted and replaced. But the main thing is not the body - the main thing is the spirit. Lenin is an extremely controversial political figure and his presence as a central figure in the necropolis in the heart of our country is extremely absurd. Many people are offended by rock concerts on, but we don’t even think about the fact that this is double blasphemy - the concerts are held on the territory of a cemetery. This is some kind of Satanism. And we walk through the cemetery.

Representatives of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation name their arguments in defense of the Mausoleum:
- Lenin has already been buried (his body rests in a sarcophagus coffin at a depth of three meters underground);
- in other countries there are also mausoleums of famous people and burials in a sarcophagus open to view (for example, the sarcophagus of the Russian surgeon Nikolai Pirogov, the tomb of Marshal Pilsudski, the Grant Mausoleum in Manhattan, the Ataturk Mausoleum in secular Turkey, the tomb of Napoleon);
- there is no instruction from Lenin himself that he should be buried at the Volkovsky cemetery, but he rests next to his widow, Nadezhda Krupskaya, and sister, whose ashes are in the necropolis near the Kremlin wall;
- mausoleum and necropolis of heroes Soviet era are historical "sovereign burials" on Red Square (as are the burials on the territory of the cathedral).

Now the Mausoleum is open to the public. Access to the museum and to the burials near the Kremlin wall is free and is through the checkpoint at, where a metal detector check is carried out.
When visiting the Mausoleum, it is prohibited to carry photo and video equipment, or mobile phones with a camera. You are also prohibited from bringing bags, backpacks, packages, large metal objects and bottles with liquid.

They say that...

...when they were hastily preparing the foundation pit for the first Mausoleum, sappers carried out 40 explosions of frozen ground near the Kremlin wall at night. Muscovites then wondered for days whether a coup had begun in the country. Further more! Sewer pipes burst and the site of the future funeral hall was flooded with feces. Patriarch Tikhon then thoughtfully remarked: “By the relics and the oil.” Ironically, there were public toilets on three sides of the mausoleum.
...in mid-2011, a video appeared on the Internet where Lenin stood up in the sarcophagus, then lay back down. At first, no one took the recording seriously, classifying it as a joke using editing. However, it fell into the hands of paranormal investigators from America. The recording was carefully examined, and scientists reported that they found no falsification.
At the same time, visitors have already met the ghost of Lenin in the Mausoleum more than once. Sometimes a ghost comes out to walk to his wife's grave. And when a Paul McCartney concert took place on Red Square, the ghost of Lenin was frightened by the roaring music, squatted down and covered his ears with his hands.
...Lenin kills even after death: bullets bounce off the sarcophagus made of bulletproof glass and wound those who encroach on the leader’s body.
...under Lenin's sarcophagus the head of the executed Emperor Nicholas II is walled up.
...after the construction of the tribune on the Mausoleum, the structure was popularly called “Fifteen people on a dead man’s chest.”
...Khrushchev decided that at the XXII Congress of the CPSU a Georgian must make a proposal to remove Stalin’s body from the mausoleum. This case was assigned to Mzhavanadze, but he immediately “fell ill” and did not appear at the meeting. Then Dzhavakharnadze made a proposal, and soon his house was burned down in Georgia.