Cathedral of Christ the Savior

The original cathedral, the largest Russian Orthodox Cathedral ever built, was erected to commemorate Napoleon’s withdrawal from Moscow but it took decades to be completed and didn’t open its doors until 1883. After the Revolution, however, it was demolished in a demonstration of the state’s adherence to atheism. (Many of the cathedral’s marble benches and statues were placed within Moscow’s metro stations; and the gold from its domes was used for state funds.)

Stalin chose to build a Palace to the Soviets on the sacred site to be crowned with a statue of Lenin, but it was never built and, under Nikita Khruschev the foundation was eventually turned into the world’s largest outdoor public swimming pool. After the fall of the Soviet Union, the building was resurrected, a symbol of Russian faith and fortitude, at the cost of $360 million. While it remains the holiest of Russian Orthodox buildings, it has been the site of controversy in 2012, when Russian punk band Pussy Riot’s performance on its altar led to the jailing of its young, female members.