MOSCOW

MUSEUMS. Lenin Mausoleum

Lenin's body lies on a pedestal in the bullet-proof sarcophagus. Lenin had been embalmed at Stalin's insistence. When Lenin died in January 1924, his widow Nadezhda Krupskaya called for him to be buried in St. Petersburg next to his mother but her plea was ignored. Three mausoleums were erected after Lenin's death, every next was more remarkable than the previous one. The first one erected in two days was a gray-painted wooden hut put up in Red Square to shelter the body while mourners trooped past it. This one was replaced by a second, more elaborate wooden structure. The last one was built in stone. The mausoleum's behind-the-scenes control room resembles a nuclear power plant. A monitor displays data and mechanisms that record and control temperature automatically and restabilizes the area when the lights in the viewing room are used for an extended period. How the corps is kept in repair is a closely guarded secret. The mausoleum was guarded for 69 years. The changing of the guard took place every hour during the day: new guards stepped out of the Kremlin through the main gate two minutes before the hour and replaced the previous guards at the tomb as the clock in the Spassky Tower chimed the hour. Visitors are not allowed to stop in front of the remains, neither pictures nor video.

You are welcome to visit other museums in Moscow!