Palace of The Soviets - Demolition of The Cathedral

Demolition of The Cathedral

Six years later, in February 1931, the State declared the first contest for the Palace of the Soviets, distributing preliminary proposals to 15 architectural workshops (avant-garde and traditional architects). This contest ended in May 1931, with no winners.

On June 2, a conference of Party elders identified the site of the future Palace and condemned the Cathedral. This was formally endorsed on July 16 by the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union commission. July 18 (the day when Izvestia announced the second, international contest), state commissioners started an inventory count of Cathedral properties. A small fraction of them were removed and stored at state expense and the expense of Donskoy Monastery; the rest perished. Demolition began on August 18; on December 5, the structure was finally destroyed in two rounds of explosions. Hauling out the rubble took more than a year.