Moscow:Its buildings include florid art nouveau houses, brutalist Stalin-era skyscrapers and a magnificent Willy Wonka-style chocolate factory. But Moscow's diverse architectural heritage is in danger of disappearing altogether, a group of experts warned yesterday.
Russia's sprawling capital is being transformed into a series of "super-gentrified ghettos", an "ersatz city" fit only for "Gucci-bagged oligarchs' wives", they claim.
In a report entitled Moscow Heritage at Crisis Point, two architectural charities say the scale of destruction under Moscow's mayor, Yuri Luzhkov, has been breathtaking. During the past five years about 1,000 historic buildings have disappeared, some 200 of which were listed monuments.
In their place, pastiches that "ape" the originals are being constructed, according to the report.
"Architectural monuments of all eras are under threat. Nothing is sacrosanct," Marcus Binney, president of Save Europe's Heritage, wrote in the introduction.
Earlier this year a series of merchants' houses next to the Kremlin were surreptitiously removed. "Rows of traditional painted wooden buildings along ancient streets and river quaysides are being destroyed, robbing the city of its most picturesque beauty," the report said.
It added: "Moscow still presents one of the world's most amazing architectural assemblages."