Lubianka Square with visit to the old KGB building

The building of the state security forces in Lubyanka (FSB building)

The building of the state security forces in Lubyanka is the main building of the state security forces of the RSFSR and the USSR in the period from 1919 to 1991. In different years, the headquarters of the Cheka, the NKVD, the OGPU and the KGB of the USSR were located here, now the building is occupied by the FSB of the Russian Federation.

The building occupies an entire block in Lubyanka and, in fact, is the result of the most radical restructuring and reconstruction of the existing building in its place.

In 1897-1902, according to the project of the architects Alexander Ivanov and Nikolai Proskurin, in the plots in front of Lubyanka Square and separated by Malaya Lubyanka Street, 2 apartment buildings were built in neoclassicism style with no barrel details by order of the Rossiya insurance company. Both buildings were rented as apartments and commercial premises.

After the Revolution, all private insurance companies were liquidated and their properties nationalized. Initially, the houses of the Rossiya insurance company were planned to be delivered to the Moscow Trade Union Council, however, in 1919 the buildings were delivered to the Central Office of Cheka (Extraordinary Commission of Russia to Combat Counterrevolution and Sabotage under the SNK of the RSFSR).

In addition to the houses of the Rossiya insurance company, the agency received several other buildings located in the quarter. From that moment, the complex became the home of the state security organs; subsequently, the buildings in Lubyanka were used only by the successive departments of Cheka: OGPU, NKVD, MGB and NKGB, KGB.

Soon, the covered special services apparatus demanded the expansion of the facilities, and in 1928-1933 of the Furkasovsky Lane, a W-shaped building was erected in the building (which was built on 2 floors between the box), built according with the design of Arkady Langman and Ivan Bezrukov in the style of constructivism.

This turned out to be insufficient, and in 1939, by order of the department, Alexey Shchusev presented a new expansion project, which provides for the integration of existing buildings and places them under a single facade from Lubyanka Square. Part of Malaya Lubyanka at the same time became the courtyard of the complex.

The war prevented the implementation of the new project, and returned to its implementation in 1944, and the complete reconstruction of the building took almost 40 years: its right side was rebuilt in 1944-1947, and the left side was completed only in 1986, all this time the building had an asymmetrical appearance.

The unique facade of the updated complex has been resolved on a larger scale than the facades of the Rossiya insurance company buildings and looks less decorative, however, it does not lack elegance: the lower floors are finished with gray granite, the floors The upper ones are yellowish and decorated with pilasters. There are clocks at the top of the building, in addition, medallions and bas-reliefs with Soviet symbols are placed in different places on the facade.

Being the headquarters of the State security organs of the RSFSR and the USSR from the Cheka to the KGB, the building in Lubyanka finally gained a bad reputation and became a symbol of the Soviet repression, making the name of the place in Lubyanka In a familiar word.

Since the 1920s, an internal prison has been located here, where prisoners remained suspected of crimes against the Soviet regime. Opinions are expressed that executions were carried out in the basements of the building, in cases where the prisoner was sentenced to death, but this is not known with certainty; On the roof, according to a common urban legend, there was a patio for walking. In 1961, the interior prison was closed and turned into a dining room, and new rooms were made for employees from the cells.

The fame associated with the complex in Lubyanka was also expressed in folklore. For example, in the Soviet years, people used the following joke: “What is the tallest building in Moscow? In Lubyanka, from its roof you can see Siberia and Kolyma.”

Today the building belongs to the state security bodies of the Russian Federation, the FSB is located in it, however, it is no longer the main service building: this paper passed to the gray building, built in the 1980s in the opposite side of the street.

The state security agency building in Lubyanka is located in Bolshaya Lubyanka 2 (overlooking Lubyanka Square). You can reach it on foot from the metro station “Lubyanka” Sokolnicheskaya line.

One of the most beautiful and sinister buildings in Bolshaya Lubyanka was built in 1898 for the largest insurance company “Russia”.

The insurance company acquired the land for the construction in 1894 of the landowner N.S. Mosolova Then, with the permission of the authorities, all the old buildings were demolished and the architect A.V. He took his place. Ivanov (the author of the National and Baltschug hotels), in collaboration with N. M. Proskurnin and V. A. Velichkin, built a new five-story building for rent.

There were turrets on the roof of the house, and two female figures symbolizing Justice and Consolation decorated the central clock tower. A second house was built on Malaya Lubyanka Street in 1900-1902 in a common style with the first building. The author of the project was A.V. Ivanov The premises of both buildings were leased. The first two floors were occupied by several shops and banks, while the rest were apartments.

In 1918, when all insurance companies were liquidated and their properties and real estate nationalized, the Bolshaya Lubyanka building was transferred to the Moscow Trade Union Council, but in a few days the Extraordinary Commission of all Russia was moved. Until 1991, the former apartment building of the Rossiya insurance company remained the main building of the State security organs of the RSFSR and the USSR.

At the end of the 20s, the department expanded, which required an increase in space. A new building in the style of constructivism appeared in 1932-1933. The building, designed by architects A. Ya. Langman and Bezrukov, was attached to the house of the OGPU. At the same time, the main building was built on two floors. The next reconstruction was designed by architect A.A.

Shchuseva passed in 2 stages. The reconstruction and reconstruction of the right side of the building with the development of Malaya Lubyanka lasted from 1944 to 1947. The building acquired its modern appearance only in 1983, after the next reconstruction carried out according to the idea of ​​Shchusev.

Due to the location of the KGB building in Lubyanka Square, its name began to be associated with KGB structures and security services.

For a long time there was a monument in the square to the founder of the Cheka / GPU Felix Dzerzhinsky. But after the fall of Soviet power, the sculpture was transferred to the Art Park near the Crimea bridge. Closer to the Polytechnic Museum building, another monument was erected for victims of political repression. This stone was brought from the Solovetsky Islands, places of exile and conclusions.

The Federal Security Service currently owns not only this most important house in the square, but also a series of other buildings in neighboring neighborhoods, where the FSB’s public reception is located, among others.

The word “Lubyanka” in the Soviet Union became a familiar word and for a long time had an ominous meaning. A lot of rumors, fables and secrets are associated with the building in Lubyanka. In Soviet times, he joked that the highest building in Moscow was the KGB in Lubyanka. As, from its windows, Siberia is visible