Triumfal'naya Arka

This guide to the Triumphal Arch on Kutuzovsky Avenue in Moscow follows architect Joseph Bove's original 1820s design, raised to celebrate Russia's victory over Napoleon and the burning of Moscow in 1812. You'll hear how Stalin's planners ordered it dismantled in 1936, and the choice a demolition crew made to save its bronze six-horse chariot rather than scrap it. The guide traces the three decades the statues spent in storage at the Donskoy Monastery before anyone decided what to do with them.