It is a surprise to discover both that, as of Jan 2006, no one has reviewed this site and that, despite being one of the unarguably great “iconic” sites of the world, it was not inscribed (as the first “Soviet WHS”) until as late as Dec 1990. The UNESCO inscription takes great trouble to explain that inclusion of a site is not permitted until the sovereign state, on whose territory it is, has ratified the convention and submitted an official application. This the Soviet ambassador to UNESCO did on 24/10/1989 (The USSR having ratified the convention on 12/10/1988). A few days after the submission the Berlin Wall came down – by the time UNESCO were inscribing the site at Banff in Dec 1990 the USSR had just 8 months left.

I would like to concentrate my review on just a part of the site - on what the UNESCO evaluation calls “the Soviet Union’s prime example of symbolic monumental architecture” – Lenin’s Tomb (photo)!! Whether it has “outstanding universal value” we won’t debate here! I visited it on several occasions during the Soviet period – there was always an enormous queue into which western tourists were inserted a respectful way back but not so far as to disrupt the Intourist arrangements for our other sightseeing! I often wondered what the Soviet citizens made of our queue jumping. How many were there out of genuine respect for the “great man”, how many to “demonstrate” their “loyalty” to the cause and how many as part of the necessary “cost” to be paid for getting a trip to Moscow with their work unit or other organisation.

Despite plans to remove it going back to early post Soviet days (you can vote for or against at the Mausoleum web site http://www.aha.ru/~mausoleu/index_e.htm !!!) it is still open to visitors, though the “honour guard”, whose arrival at the doorway was so perfectly timed to synchronise with the chiming of the Kremlin bell (or did they hold back the chime if necessary!), was removed in 1993. “Unfortunately” another wonderful building on Red Square which supported “Lenin mania” namely the Lenin Museum (the building from behind which all those ICBMs used to speed onto Red Square during the Mayday parade) was closed in 1992. It has just been reopened I understand to show Contemporary Art – together apparently, with some Lenin memorabilia.

Who knows how long Lenin himself will survive in his mausoleum - so go there whilst you can! As one of my many travel lists I “collect” visits to the mausolea and graves of dictators. Lenin is one of the “Communist quadrumvirate” with Mao Tse Tung, Ho Chi Minh and Kim Il Song who all lie embalmed in open coffins. But there are many others “worth” visiting - Napoleon, Causcescu and Franco to name but a few) – they always provide food for thought on the corruption of power, the inhumanity of man to man, the impermanence of human endeavour and on mankind's yearning for strong leaders despite so much bad experience!