In the 1930s, a new architectural style began to take shape in the
Soviet Union, later called the "
Stalinist". One of the characteristic features directly dictated by the
Soviet government were borrowings from the culture of previous epochs. This position of the authorities was not a recommendation, but a must: "serious shortcomings in the mastering [by architects] of the cultural heritage of the past show little attention to the national heritage, to the Russian architectural classics, to national and folk art". This attitude led to the appearance of the Leningradskaya Hotel project, which was implemented. The influence of medieval Russian architecture was more evident in the exterior design of the building than in other
Stalinist skyscrapers. Contemporaries noted that the white-red-gold colouring of the walls "recalls the favourite colours of ancient Russian architecture", the central section is stylistically close to the
Kremlin towers. The main entrance is designed in the form of a
terem porch. It is decorated with multi-cornered
cornices, fanciful
pediments, hanging weights and
pinnacles. The ribs and emblem of the
octagonal
spire, the rosettes between the
pylons and the orbs on the
obelisks are covered in gold. The stylistic
borrowings in the interiors of the hotel are even more significant. Elements of decoration were copied from samples of
pre-Petrine palaces and churches. The lift hall, decorated with golden
smalt and
Shoksha porphyry, is made in the form of an altar niche. The chandeliers in the halls and on the staircases are stylised as paniculars. Motifs from Russian history were used in the decoration of the interiors: on the ground floor, two round medallions are placed above the stairwells. One of them symbolises the Russian victory at the
Kulikovo Field, the other the victory at the
Battle of the Ice. == Gallery ==