Not all of the muscovites know but The Gorky Park conduct guide tours in its territory which are quite fascinating but surprisinly unpopular.
Recently I took a tour to Vorobievy Gory. A young boy – a student of MSU faculty of History – told a lot interesting facts about that area from the ancient time. I was intrigued by his stories of the Andreevskiy Monastery, Metro bridge, abandoned and plundered escalators from Kosygina street down to the river bank and many-many others.
But the greatest story was about the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour very first project which was never built. This one I want to share with you.
The idea to raise the CCS appeared in 1812 after the war with Napoleon’s army. Moscow was devostated and burnt. So to elevate peoples mood Alexander I ordered to build a Cathedral as a monument in honour of all victims of the war. In th competition a young unknown artist – Karl Vitberg – surpassed all eminent architects. His super ambitious and grandiose project stroke Alexander I to the heart.
The levels, 240 meters hight – unprescedend scale for that times. It should have spread from the river bank to the top of a hill. The levels had a concept of Trinity – not only about Holy Trinity, but also supposed to represent a temple of body, a tempe of soul and a temple of spirit. The form, the logic and even the decorations were very well-thought and reflected the main idea. On a basement level was suggested to engrave all names of people died on the war – a bold gesture which would have erased class separation.
Vitberg wasn’t an architect but his project was so deeply rooted in context – historically and conceptually – that Alexander I loved it and chose to be built.
A grandiose project started with a grandiose ceremony. Thousands of people came to the first stone placement ceremony. It was planned to elevate the Cathedral in 10 years, enormous amount of money was diverted from state budget (16 million rub) and a great sum of donations.
Vitberg directed the construction by himself. For the stone supply a canel was built. But… in 7 years even the foundation was not finished. Alexander I was tolerant and patient, he trusted Vitberg and continued to sponsor the project. In fact the young and unexperienced architect couldn’t deal with embezzelments. All went out of his contol. Supplyers cheated, barges sank, soil crumbled...
Then Alexander I died and Nikolay I was not so favourable. The special commettee estimated the project as unreal to be built. After 8 years of trial Vitberg was charged of fraud, forfeited for 1 million rub and sent into exile.
He never built anything. Though his drawings were used a lot for other different projects. Such a sad story. You can bring your own summary from it.
As for me that is a good example how excessive ambitions can ruin your career, that’s about collaboration with other specialists and ability to delegate a part of work to people with more experience.
You can find more information about the Vitberg’s project here:
http://tvkultura.ru/video/show/brand_id/20907/episode_id/281572
Olga Lyatifova
Level 5
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