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Stalin's Seven Sister skyscrapers

On September 7, 1947, during the celebration of Moscow’s 800th anniversary, the foundations of Stalin's Seven Sister skyscrapers were laid

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Construction of Leningradskaya Hotel, 136-meter high (26 floors) building on Komsomolskaya Square. After the renovation in 2008, the hotel re-opened as the Hilton Moscow Leningradskaya

The main building of Moscow State University, designed by Lev Rudnev, is the highest of seven Stalinist skyscrapers of Moscow

© Vitaly Sozinov/TASS

The skyscraper has 36 levels in its central part and is 240 metres tall

© Andrei Solovyev/TASS

It was the tallest building in Europe from its completion until 1990. It is still the tallest educational building in the world

© Viktor Koshevoi/TASS

Its roof is topped by a 57-metre spire which ends with a 12-ton five-pointed star

© Vitaly Sozinov/TASS

The main tower of Kotelnicheskaya Embankment Apartments has 32 levels (including mechanical floors) and is 176 metres tall. The building incorporates an apartment block facing Moskva River

© Igor Zotin, Boris Kavashkin/TASS

The Kotelnicheskaya embankment skyscraper was completed in 1952

© Valeriy Khristoforov/TASS

A view of the Moskva river and Bolshoy Ustinsky Bridge from top of the Kotelnicheskaya embankment skyscraper

© Andrei Solovyev/TASS

The second tallest of the neoclassical Stalin-era "seven sisters", hotel Ukraina is 198-meter high (34 stories). It was then the tallest hotel in the world. Photo:An aerial view of the Ukraina Hotel and Kutuzovsky Avenue

© Vasily Yegorov/TASS

The Red Gates administrative building has 24 levels and is 133 metres tall. The building also incorporates two 11-story apartment blocks

© Viktor Koshevoi/TASS

The construction of the tower was complicated by its location near the Moscow Metro tunnels and the Red Gates station. Second entrance to the station was built into the ground floor of the tower. Photo: A Soviet emblem on the Red Gates administrative building

© Stanislav Krasilnikov/TASS

The skyscraper on Smolenskaya Square houses the offices for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia. It is 172 metres tall. Photo: A view of Borodinsky Bridge and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Smolenskaya Square

© Viktor Koshevoi/TASS

The Kudrinskaya Square Building is 160 metres tall (22 floors). It is located on the end of Krasnaya Presnya street, facing the Sadovoye Koltso and was primary built with high-end apartments for Soviet cultural leaders rather than politicians. Photo: A view of the Kudrinskaya Square Building, the roof of the State Historical Museum of Moscow and a part of the Nikolskaya tower of the Kremlin

© Valery Zufarov/TASS

On September 7, 1947, during the celebration of Moscow’s 800th anniversary, the foundations of "Seven Sisters", a group of seven skyscrapers in Moscow designed in the Stalinist style were laid. The seven are: Hotel Ukraina, Kotelnicheskaya Embankment Apartments, the Kudrinskaya Square Building, the Hilton Moscow Leningradskaya Hotel, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs main building, the main building of the Moscow State University, and the Red Gates Administrative Building. Have a look at Moscow's iconic buildings, that light up the city's skyline.

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