The Main Building Of Moscow State University. Stock Photo

The Main building of Moscow State University, designed by Lev Rudnev, is the highest of seven Stalinist skyscrapers of Moscow. The skyscraper has 36 levels in its central part and is 240 metres 790 ft tall. Its roof 182 metres 597 ft is topped by a 57-metre spire which ends with a 12-ton five-pointed star. The main tower, which consumed over 40,000 tons of steel for its framework and 130,000 cubic metres of concrete, was inaugurated on September 1, 1953. At 240 metres tall, it was the 7th tallest building of the world and also the tallest in Europe. Its European record lasted up to 1988. It is still the tallest educational building in the world. Moscow University is probably the best known of Lev Rudnev buildings, for which he was awarded the Stalin Prize in 1949.