Russian architects have canceled the competition for the reconstruction of Lenin's mausoleum

Moscow - The Union of Architects of Russia has decided to cancel the nationwide competition for the new use of the mausoleum in Red Square in the center of Moscow, where the body of the leader of the Bolshevik Revolution, Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, lies. This was announced by the head of the union, Nikolai Shumakov. "We decided to end the competition because the influx of negative reactions and insults was so large, as if we wanted to raze the mausoleum to the ground. I was already tired of explaining and defending myself," quoted Shumakov by the Newsru.com server.

According to him, the competition was originally based on the idea of preserving the mausoleum and was only held in case Lenin's body would be buried.

"But that won't happen during our lifetime, so we decided to wait. We will announce the competition in the next life. But first, we will need a five-year plan to recover. I haven't encountered such negative feedback in a long time," Shumakov added.

The union decided on the competition at the end of August, but the details were only published last Friday. The goal was to gather as many ideas as possible regarding the new use of the mausoleum, most likely as a branch of an architecture museum that would acquaint the public with the design and construction of all three versions of the mausoleum - made of plywood, wood, and marble - as an architectural gem of the 20th century.

The union assures that it did not act on a political commission. Nevertheless, the leader of the Russian Communists, Gennady Zyuganov, condemned the competition as a provocation.

Last month, a spokesman for the Russian Orthodox Church, Vladimir Legoyda, said that Lenin, whose embalmed body still rests in the mausoleum decades after the fall of communism and the collapse of the Soviet Union, will eventually be buried. The whole matter, however, requires "tolerance, wisdom, and a delicate approach," although even within church circles, there are opponents of Lenin who argue that the church should immediately and firmly demand the removal of the revolutionary's body.

Three years ago, the independent sociological center Levada published the results of a survey, according to which the Russian public was then divided into two equally sized camps regarding Lenin's future: 41 percent of respondents wanted to bury Lenin, while another 41 percent demanded that the mummified body remain in the mausoleum.