The Cathedral of Christ the Savior is not only a symbol of Moscow, it is also a landmark of the wild nineties: a magnificent sacred building in the style of the tsarist era, but with underground car park, car wash, shops - financed among others with money from McDonald's, as the list the financier on the walls of the church shows.
It makes sense that Russia here said goodbye to Yury Luzhkov - the man who led the capital from communism to capitalism, which shaped it architecturally, gave it a new face. The ex-mayor was layed out on Thursday in the cathedral, while a stream of tall visitors past him.
Vladimir Putin also arrived, wearing a black tie, to spend time with Luzhkov's widow at the coffin. Who knows, maybe Putin went through his head again, that Luzhkov was once his rival for the highest office in the state.
Mikhail Klimentyev / Sputnik / AFP
Vladimir Putin in the first row of mourners
After two decades of Putin's rule, it has almost been forgotten that there was once a generation of genuine, independent politicians in Russia - people who did not depend solely on the Kremlin's goodwill, but were themselves able to convince citizens to win elections to shape the conditions.
Luzhkov was such a person.
A supporter of the Democrat Boris Yeltsin, he was appointed by this mayor in 1992 and remained until 2010. It is impossible to imagine Moscow without its architectural heritage. Even Red Square is shaped by him, as Russia's top church leader, Patriarch Kirill, said on Thursday. The Kazan Church and the Resurrection Gate, demolished during the Soviet era, have Luzhkov rebuilt, as well as the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, whose predecessor building was blown up under Stalin.
"A person of extraordinary scale"
Under Luzhkov, the high-rise district of Moskva-City was built, the Victory Park on Poklonnaya Hill was built, and probably the most bizarre monument in the entire city - an almost 100-meter-high sculpture of Peter the Great of such monumental ugliness that it was at least a good landmark in the city Cityscape is good. It was created by Luzhkov's favorite sculptor Surab Zeretelli.
In retrospect, Putin called the dead "a person of extraordinary standard", and those of Moscow who are critical of Luzhkov's work can agree with this - his preference for kitschy architecture, car traffic and the expansion of the ring roads ("Lord of the Rings"). was his nickname), his protection for corrupt entrepreneurs. Under him, his wife and construction entrepreneur Jelena Baturina became the richest woman in Russia.
But at the same time, Luzhkov was considered a person who paid attention to the social balance: Pensioners and teachers received supplements under him, for which the Muscovites are grateful. This stands out from his successor, Sergei Sobyanin, under which investment in infrastructure and urban beautification has risen rapidly, but has been saved in social spending. It also stands out from the central government, which closes hospitals nationwide and has increased the retirement age.
Luzhkov was popular - and controlled the electoral system
There was a time when Luzhkov was on the verge of stirring up big politics. In 1999, when the whole of Russia was puzzling over the succession of President Boris Yeltsin, he joined the electorate with his own center-left party called "Vaterland" - and thus in effect against Yeltsin's designated successor Vladimir Putin, who was a member of the newly formed party. " Unity "was supported and at that time was considered a pale Prime Minister without charisma.
The second Chechen war was to change that, Luzhkov lost and limited his ambitions to the capital. There he ruled firmly, based on his popularity and the de facto control of the electoral system - the "controlled democracy", to which Russia was to become Putin, had its model in Luzhkov's Moscow.
Foreign policy Luschkow mourned the lost Soviet empire - and especially the Crimea. He openly advocated their "return" long before Vladimir Putin did it himself. In Ukraine, therefore, he had an entry ban. Luzhkov's grave is located in the New Virgin Cemetery - fittingly right next to one of the city's major ring roads, which were expanded under Luzhkov.
