Moskva Pool

The Moskva Pool (Moscow Pool) was, for a time, the world's largest open air swimming pool, built in Moscow on the site of the demolished Cathedral of Christ the Saviour. It was built in Moscow in 1958 on the foundation of the abandoned Palace of the Soviets, to the designs of Moscow architect Dmitry Chechulin. Construction of the Palace of Soviets had begun in 1937 and was abandoned in 1941 when steel from the foundation of the building was used for war materials during World War II. The construction did not resume after the war's end, and the empty foundation of the Palace of the Soviets in 1958 was made into an open-air swimming pool which existed from 1958 until 1994. The water was heated in order to extend the pool season into colder weather. In 1995, the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour was restored in its place, the original cathedral having been demolished in 1931 by the Soviet regime to make way for the Palace of the Soviets.