Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
The main building of the MSU was designed by architect Lev Rudnev. In the post-war era, Joseph Stalin ordered seven huge tiered neoclassic towers to be built around the city.
The MSU Main building is by far the largest of these. It was the tallest building in the world...
...outside of New York City at the time of its construction, and remained the tallest building in Europe until 1990.
The central tower is 240 m tall, 36 stories high, and flanked by four huge wings of student and faculty accommodations.
It is said to contain a total of 33 kilometers of corridors and 5,000 rooms.
Facilities available inside the building include a concert hall, a theater, a museum, various administrative services, a library, a swimming pool...
... a police station, a post office, a laundry, a hairdresser's salon, several canteens, bank offices and ATMs, shops, cafeterias, a bomb shelter, etc.
Along with the university administration, the Museum of Earth Sciences and four of the main faculties...
...Faculty of Mechanics and Mathematics, the Faculty of Geology, the Faculty of Geography, and the Faculty of Fine and Performing Arts -- now reside in the Main building.
The star on the top of the tower is large enough to include a small room and a viewing platform; it weighs 12 tons.
The building's facades are ornamented with giant clocks, barometers, thermometers, statues, carved wheat sheaves, and Soviet crests.
Several other buildings and sports facilities were later added to the campus, including the only baseball stadium in Russia.