Lenin's Tomb, with wall of the Kremlin and the former Soviet Parliament building behind

An entrance to Lenin's Mausoleum

Lenin's Mausoleum (Russian: Мавзолей Ленина Mavzoley Lenina) also known as Lenin's Tomb, situated in Red Square in Moscow, is the mausoleum that serves as the current resting place of Vladimir Lenin. Russian ( transliteration:,) is the most geographically widespread language of Eurasia, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages Red Square ( Красная площадь, Krasnaya ploshchad) is the most famous City square in Moscow, and arguably one of the most Moscow (Москва́ romanised: Moskvá, IPA: see also other names) is the Capital and the largest city of A mausoleum ( plural: mausolea is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the interment space or burial chamber of a deceased person or persons A cemetery is a place in which dead bodies and cremated remains are buried. His embalmed body has been on public display there since the year he died in 1924 (with rare exceptions in wartime). Embalming, in most modern Cultures is the Art and Science of temporarily preserving human remains to forestall Decomposition Aleksey Shchusev's diminutive but monumental granite structure incorporates some elements from ancient mausoleums, such as the Step Pyramid and the Tomb of Cyrus the Great. Alexey Viktorovich Shchusev (Алексе́й Ви́кторович Щу́сев September 26, 1873, Kishinev &mdash May 24, 1949 The Pyramid of Djoser(Zoser, or step pyramid ( kbhw-ntrw in Egyptian) is an archeological remain in the Saqqara necropolis Egypt Pasargadae (پاسارگاد was a city in ancient Persia, and is today an Archaeological site and one of only five of Iran's UNESCO World Heritage

On January 21, the day that Lenin died, the Soviet government received more than 10,000 telegrams from all over Russia, which asked the government to preserve his body somehow for future generations. Events 1189 - Philip II of France and Richard I of England begin to assemble troops to wage the Third Crusade. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR was a constitutionally Socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991 On the morning of January 23, Professor Alexei Ivanovich Abrikosov—a prominent Russian pathologist and anatomist (not to be confused with physicist Alexei Alexeyevich Abrikosov, his son)— embalmed Lenin's body to keep it intact until the burial. Events 393 - Roman Emperor Theodosius I proclaims his nine year old son Honorius co-emperor Alexei Ivanovich Abrikosov (Алексе́й Ива́нович Абрико́сов ( January 18, 1875 &ndash April 9, 1955) was a Pathology (from Greek grc πάθος pathos, "fate harm" and grc -λογία -logia) is the study and Anatomy (from the Greek anatomia, from ana separate apart from and temnein, to cut up cut open is a branch of Biology that is the consideration Alexei Alexeyevich Abrikosov (Алексе́й Алексе́евич Абрико́сов (born June 25, 1928) is a Russian theoretical physicist On the night of January 23, architect Aleksey Shchusev was given a task to complete within three days: design and build a tomb to accommodate all those who wanted to say their goodbyes to Lenin. Events 393 - Roman Emperor Theodosius I proclaims his nine year old son Honorius co-emperor An architect is a licensed individual who leads a design team in the Planning and Design of buildings and participates in oversight of Building Construction Alexey Viktorovich Shchusev (Алексе́й Ви́кторович Щу́сев September 26, 1873, Kishinev &mdash May 24, 1949 For the New York prison see The Tombs. A Tomb is a repository for the remains of the dead. On January 26, the decision was made to place the tomb at the Red Square by the Kremlin Wall. Events 1340 - King Edward III of England is declared King of France. Kremlin Wall refers to the defense wall that surrounds the Moscow Kremlin, recognizable by the characteristic notches and its Kremlin towers. By January 27, Shchusev built a tomb out of wood and at 4 p. Events 98 - Trajan becomes Roman Emperor after the death of Nerva. m. that day they placed Lenin's coffin in it. A coffin (also known as a casket in North American English) is a funerary Box used in the display and containment of deceased remains – either for More than 100,000 people visited the tomb within a month and a half. By August of 1924, Shchusev upgraded the tomb to a bigger version. The architect Konstantin Melnikov designed Lenin's sarcophagus. Konstantin Stepanovich Melnikov (Russian Константин Степанович Мельников;, Moscow - November 28 1974, A sarcophagus is a Funeral receptacle for a Corpse, most commonly carved or cut from stone

In 1929, it was established that it would be possible to preserve Lenin’s body for a much longer period of time. Therefore, it was decided to exchange the wooden mausoleum with the one made of stone (architects Aleksey Shchusev, I. A mausoleum ( plural: mausolea is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the interment space or burial chamber of a deceased person or persons A. Frantsuz, and G. K. Yakovlev). They used marble, porphyry, granite, labradorite, and other construction materials. Marble is a nonfoliated Metamorphic rock resulting from the Metamorphism of Limestone, composed mostly of Calcite (a crystalline form of Porphyry is a variety of Igneous rock consisting of large-grained Crystals such as Feldspar or Quartz, dispersed in a fine-grained Granite (ˈɡrænɪt is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, Felsic, igneous rock. Labradorite ((CaNa(AlSi4O8 a Feldspar Mineral, is an intermediate to calcic member of the Plagioclase series In October 1930, the construction of the stone tomb was finished. In 1973, sculptor Nikolai Tomsky designed a new sarcophagus.

On January 26, 1924 the Head of the Moscow Garrison issued an order to place the Guard of Honour at the mausoleum. Events 1340 - King Edward III of England is declared King of France. Year 1924 ( MCMXXIV) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Garrison (various spellings (from the French garnison, itself from the verb garnir, "to equip" is the collective term for a body of Troops An honor guard, or ceremonial guard, is a ceremonial escort often military in nature usually composed of volunteers who are carefully screened for their ability and physical Russians call it the "Number One Sentry". After the events of the Russian constitutional crisis of 1993, the Guard of Honor was disbanded. The Russian constitutional crisis of 1993 began on 21 September when Russian President Boris Yeltsin dissolved the country's legislature ( Congress of People's In 1997 the "Number One Sentry" was restored at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Alexander Garden. The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier ( Могила Неизвестного Солдата in Russian, or Mogila Neizvestnovo Soldata is a War memorial, dedicated

More than 10 million people visited Lenin's tomb between 1924 and 1972.

Though supposedly "rejuvenated" annually by Russian undertakers, Lenin's body currently gives off a waxed appearance, prompting many to wonder if it is still real. A funeral director (also known as a mortician or undertaker) is someone involved in the business of Funeral rites Some parts might be fake, or partially fake for the needs of presentability. Neither the former Soviet government nor the current Russian authorities would comment on the topic of the body's authenticity. The family of Lenin's embalmers states that the corpse is real and requires daily work to moisturize the features and inject preservatives under the clothes. On a regular basis the corpse is removed from view to be undressed and treated.

The body was removed in October 1941 and evacuated to Tyumen, in Siberia, when it appeared that Moscow might be in imminent danger of falling to invading Nazi troops. Tyumen ( is a city in Russia, located on the Tura River east of Moscow. After the war, it was returned and the tomb reopened.

Joseph Stalin's embalmed body shared a spot next to Vladimir Lenin, from the time of his death in 1953 until October 31, 1961, when Stalin was removed as part of de-Stalinization and Khrushchev's Thaw, and buried outside the walls of the Kremlin. Joseph Stalin ( ნამდვილი გვარი ჯუღაშვილი|Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili; March 5 1953 was General Secretary of the Communist Party Events 445 BC – Ezra reads the Book of the Law to the Israelites in Jerusalem (see Nehemiah 91 NLTse Year 1961 ( MCMLXI) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The Cold War ensued as the USSR and the United States struggled indirectly for influence around the world Khrushchev's Thaw or the Khrushchev Thaw refers to the period from the mid 1950s to the early 1960s when repression and Censorship in the Soviet Union

Boris Yeltsin, with the support of the Russian Orthodox Church, intended to close the tomb and bury Lenin, but did not achieve this while he was in power. Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin () (1 February 1931 23 April 2007 was the first President of the Russian Federation, serving from 1991 to 1999 See also Eastern Orthodox Church Structure and organization The Slavic Orthodox Church is organized in a hierarchical structure

The tomb is open every day except Mondays and Fridays from 10:00 to 13:00. There is normally a long line to see Lenin. No photos or video are allowed.

The preservation and public display of Lenin's body provided the inspiration for the Mausoleum of Mao Zedong, and a similar one for Ho Chi Minh and Kim Il Sung, violating their wishes to be cremated. The Chairman Mao Memorial Hall ( commonly known as the Mausoleum of Mao Zedong, or the Mao Mausoleum, the final resting place of Mao Zedong, Chairman The Hồ Chí Minh Mausoleum (Lăng Hồ Chí Minh is a large Memorial to the Vietnamese leader The Kumsusan Memorial Palace, sometimes referred to as the Kim Il-sung Mausoleum, is a large building located northeast of downtown Pyongyang, the capital city of

See also

• Kremlin Wall Necropolis
• Pantheon, Moscow

References

External links

• Virtual Mausoleum
• Lenin's Mausoleum in Wikimapia
• Lenin Undergoes Extreme Makeover