Ex 8.7 Read four texts about the famous buildings in Russia and answer the questions.

You are going to read four texts about the famous buildings in Russia. Answer the questions: What buildings do you admire? Why?

1) Moscow State University

The main building of Moscow State University was designed by an architect Lev Rudnev. This is one of the symbols of Russian education. The construction of the building started in May, 1949 on the right bank of the Moskva river and it finished in 1953. It was the seventh tallest building in the world then. The skyscraper is 236 (two hundred and thirty-six) metres high and it has 36 floors. Its walls consist of 175 (one hundred and seventy-five) million bricks. The star on top of the building’s spire weighs 12 tons. The top floors are decorated with statues and monuments.

There are 111 (one hundred and eleven) unique lifts in the skyscraper. They are super fast cabins for tall structures. You can visit the Scientific library or the Museum of Earth Sciences on the 29th floor. Students of three faculties study in the main university building: Faculty of Mathematics, Faculty of Geology and Faculty of Geography.

If you are ever in Moscow, don’t forget to walk around the beautiful main building of the university and take a picture of it.

2) Peterhof

The palace and park ensemble of Peterhof was founded by Peter I in 1705 on the southern shore of the Gulf of Finland. The Grand Palace is the main building of the palace and park ensemble. The construction of the palace began in 1714 and ended in 1755. The author of the project is Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli. The main architectural style is Elizabethan Baroque.

The view of the facade of the Grand Palace from the Upper or Lower Park is impressive, but we must admit that the palace itself is quite narrow and is not as big as it looks. The palace is a three-storey building of almost three hundred meters in length.

Anyone who hears the word “Peterhof” immediately associates it with fountains. These fountains are located in the Lower and Higher Parks of the palace and park ensemble of Peterhof. Experts say that the scale of the fountains of Peterhof exceed the scale of the fountains of the French Versailles. The Lower Park complex has more than 150 fountains and 4 cascades, and in the Upper Garden fountains there are only 5 fountains and one cascade.

The most famous fountains are “The Grand Cascade” and “Samson Fountain”.

3) Bolshoi Theatre

The Bolshoi Theatre is one of the largest in Russia and one of the most significant in the world opera and ballet theaters. The theater is located at the Theater Square in Moscow.

It was founded in March 1776 by prince Pyotr Vasilievich Urusov. However, the theatre has survived several fires, and the modern building is a child of an architect Joseph Bové.

Joseph Bové actually carried out the project of the winner of the contest for the design of the new building of the Bolshoi Theatre – Andrei Mikhailov. However, this project was recognized to be too costly. Bové also revised the design project, while improving it significantly. 

The new building is different from previous ones with its monumental grandeur, commensurate proportions, and harmony of architectural forms, and richness of the interior. 

The Bolshoi Theatre is a compact rectangle in plan with an extended forward portico with eight columns from the Theatre Square. The façade is decorated with a large sculptural group – Apollo in a chariot with three horses – and is “looking” at the Theatre Square.

In the middle of the front part of the building, there is an entrance to the theatre with grand staircases, the main foyer, a five-tiered audience hall and a stage. Side parts of the building are divided into three floors and are reserved for other rooms of the theatre; besides, there are located entrances to the top tiers.

The present theatre building has gable roof with frontons.

4) Moscow Kremlin

The Moscow Kremlin was built in 1482-1495. It is situated on the high left bank of the Moskva River, where the river Neglinnaya flows into it.

Just as the White House in Washington, the Kremlin in Moscow is the official residence of the President of the Russian Federation. If you look at the Kremlin's plan, you will see that it is an irregular triangle with the area of 27.5 hectares.

From the south of the Kremlin there is the Moskva River, in the northwest there is Alexander Gardens, and in the east there is Red Square.

The present red walls and towers of the Kremlin were built in 1485-1516. At the top the wall is decorated with the teeth in the form of a swallow's tail. On the outer side the wall is smooth and the inner side of the wall is framed with arched recesses for reinforcement and facilitating the construction. In the Kremlin there are five palaces and four cathedrals.

Along the walls there are twenty towers. The tallest tower is the Troitskaya Tower. New Year is traditionally greeted by the Russians with the chimes of the Spasskaya Tower.