Vysotki - Seven Sisters, Moscow

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Stalin did build seven other skyscrapers however, allegedly inspired by the Municipal Building in New York.

They form a series of huge, cathedral-like structures with intricate exteriors and are given various labels: 'The Seven Sisters', 'Stalinist Gothic', 'wedding cake architecture' and so on.

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Stalin did build seven other skyscrapers however, allegedly inspired by the Municipal Building in New York. They form a series of huge, cathedral-like structures with intricate exteriors, and are given various labels: 'The Seven Sisters', 'Stalinist Gothic', 'wedding cake architecture' and so on...

One of 7 Moscow's high-rise buildings -
on Kotel'nicheskaya is an apartment house - lots of actors live there

From one of the bridges crossing the Moscow River, we had a good view of the Moscow skyline. Some of the more notable buildings were the famous ‘Seven Sisters’ (Vysotki). They are skyscrapers built in the 1940s and 1950s, inspired from baroque Kremlin towers, gothic cathedrals, and American skyscrapers of the 1930s.

Today the impressive buildings are used as apartment buildings (Kotelnicheskaya Naberezhnaya and Kudrinskaya Square), hotels (Hotel Ukraina and Hotel Leningrad, government buildings (the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Heavy Industry), and the Moscow State University.

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In 1950s seven Gothic skyscrapers were built around Moscow and became its symbols. The tallest and most beautiful is the University building. Others are MID (Ministry of Foreign Affiars), residential building on Kotelnicheskaya embankment, residential building on Kudrinskaya square, office building on Sadovaya-Spasskaya, hotel Ukraina and hotel Leningrad. Each was uniquely and beautifully decorated. The eighth "sister", Triumph Palace, was added in the XXI century. It is a luxurious residential skyscraper, the tallest residential building in Europe, and designed in the same style, albeit not decorated as elaborately. These buildings have undoubtedly added majesty to the city. T

Two similar buildings were built outside of Moscow: one in Warsaw and one in Kiev (where the steeple was not constructed).

Stalinist architecture you cannot escape and is worth seeing. The style of the seven sisters is unique although there are copies in Warshaw and Riga. It's worth going close to one, so you can really appreciate its dimensions.

When you stand next to these buildings, they are very impressive. They look different from the side or the front. These landmarks are easy to reach. This one is just outside Metro Barrikadnaya. But you first see it from the side, for this view you will have to walk along the street and round the corner.

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The Seven Sisters are one of the finer points of Stalinist rule. In 1947, foundations were laid for the Seven Sisters as part of the city of Moscow's 800th anniversary celebrations, and were aimed at bridging the "Skyscraper Gap". Now they dominate the skyline in Moscow, whilst still being very beautiful. The magnificent seven are:

The Foreign Affairs Ministry (Smolenskaya-Sennaya pl. 32/34)
Hotel Leningradskaya (ul. Kalanchevskaya 21/40)
Hotel Ukraina (Kutuzovsky prospekt 2/1)
Kotelnicheskaya apartment block (Kotelnicheskaya nab. 17/1)
Kudrinskaya apartment block (Kudrinskaya ploshchad)
Moscow State University (Universitetskaya pl. 1)
Transport Ministry (ul. Sadovaya-Spasskaya)

A couple of months ago construction of one more vysotka was completed near metro Sokol. This is block of elite flats called "Triumph-Palace". Now it is the tallest house in Moscow - 264,5 m. (And I guess in Europe! Commerzbank in Frankfurt is 257 m. Correct me if I am wrong). Next in Moscow is MSU building on Vorobjev hills - 240 m. "Triumph-Palace" is now in top 100 tallest buildings of the world (No.63) between Bocom Financial Towers, Shanghai and 120 Collins Street Melbourne pushing MSU one step lower to the position 126.


Sorry, I have not jet taken a photo of it. This is a photo of the scale model from internet.

My guide assured me that this was as "grand" a hotel as Grand Hotel Europe in St. Petersburg. Unfortunately I did not have the oppertunity to go into the Ukrainia to verify that asserttion for myself. While in deed Grand Hotel Europe in SPB is "GRAND" in an "old world" style on the interior, it' s setting in the center of "downtown" St. Peteresburg where the buildings are barely distinguishable one from the next all in a row, the Ukrainia easily far surpasses GHE in as an "artistic" statement on the landscape.

Love them or hate them, the seven gothic skyscrapers which dominate Moscows skyline are an integral part of the city's architectural heritage.

Conceived by Stalin in the 30's, the buildings themselves were not all completed until 1953. Collectively known as Vysotniye Zdaniyes "high buildings" they also have the nickname "Seven Sisters" and were located at specific sites around the city to mark its boundaries.

These include the Apartment Block at Kudrinskaya Square - Krasnaya Presnya, Moscow State University at Sparrow Hills, Ministry of Foreign Affairs - Smolenskaya Square, Hotel Ukraine - Kutuzovsky Boulevard, Administrative Building - Red Gate Square, Hotel Leningradskaya at Komsomolskaya Square and the Apartment Block at Kotelnicheskaya Embankment.