Not far from the Kievskaya metro station there is another miracle of Moscow's high–rise urban planning - the famous Ukraina Hotel, which soared 200 meters into the sky. Its buildings are visible at the entrance to Kutuzovsky Prospekt from the center of Novy Arbat. The skyscraper not only highlights the government highway, but also draws attention to the channel of the Moskva River, which loops around this hulk. The hotel was built in 1953-1957. Ekaterina Furtseva, then Minister of Culture of the USSR, attended the opening ceremony of the hotel. Gagarin, immediately after returning to Moscow, after a space flight, was invited to the observation deck of the hotel.

The main hall of the hotel is decorated with a round picturesque canopy, no less abundantly, the exterior walls are decorated with obelisks, attics of five-pointed stars, vases in the form of sheaves of wheat. This high-rise building got the most from critics: both the silhouette and the spire are harsh and inharmonious, and there is too much decor. But it is already difficult to imagine any other building on the site of the Ukraine Hotel - the high–rise still attracts admiring glances. The walking part of the tour begins on Ukrainsky Boulevard. A story about the architecture of the early 60s of the twentieth century, and an inspection of the facades of the hotel Ukraine. With a visit to the interiors of the post office, which is located in a high-rise building and has preserved the appearance of the interiors of the middle of the last century.

Historical facts from the history of the high-rise building of the hotel "Ukraine":
Stalin personally participated in the creation of projects for the high-rise of the future hotel. The spire-shaped top is also his idea.
At the time of completion, it was the tallest hotel in the world. It is currently the tallest hotel in Europe.
The era of the construction of the "Stalinist" skyscrapers ended at the time of the opening of the seventh skyscraper of the hotel "Ukraine". The eighth similar building was never built. Mystics believe that the city itself opposed this because Moscow stands on 7 hills, so there should be 7 buildings.
In fact, the eighth high-rise was not built because of Stalin's death. Khrushchev immediately began to struggle with the legacy of the Stalin era in architecture.
In 1954, Khrushchev gave Crimea to the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, in honor of the 300th anniversary of the reunification of Ukraine with Russia. The hotel was named in memory of this event.
Khrushchev ordered that the building be divided between residential apartments and hotel rooms. Therefore, the high-rise became half a hotel and half a residential building.

YOU WILL SEE:
Historical interiors of the post office in the high-rise building.
Formal interiors of the hotel lobby and lobby.
A picturesque lampshade on the ceiling of the hall, 10 meters in diameter.
Halls of the former restaurants of the hotel.
A unique 1977 Moscow diorama that was almost abandoned in the USA.
Authentic paintings and statues of Soviet artists and sculptors of the mid-twentieth century.
The bathrooms where the VOGUE magazine photo shoots took place.

YOU'LL FIND OUT:
What kind of work became famous for one of the architects of the building, Vyacheslav Oltarzhevsky, before the construction of the hotel "Ukraine".
Why N.S. Khrushchev's struggle with architectural excesses bypassed the architecture of the hotel building.
Which details of the hotel's interior have survived unchanged, and what has been lost.
The history of Moscow's "Stalinist" skyscrapers.

ORGANIZATIONAL INFORMATION
The duration of the tour along the street is 1 hour, at the hotel - 1.5 hours.
The tour starts and the group gathers at the KIEVSKAYA metro station of the Ring (brown) line No. 6, at the end ("blind") wall, on which there is a portrait of V. I. Lenin. The tourists will be accompanied by a guide to the Ukrainian Boulevard, where the tour will begin.

Before starting the tour at the hotel, tourists will be asked to leave their outerwear and bags in the wardrobe (during the cold season).

Inside the hotel, there are ascents and descents of stairs to the ground floor.
It is forbidden to carry bulky bags inside the building. The passage is carried out through the frames of metal detectors.