This is the famous Cathedral of Christ the Saviour. Describe what building materials were used in the construction of this magnificent church.

 

9. Read the article from Internet about the cathedral and say what you have learned from it:

The Cathedral of Christ the Saviour (khram Khrista Spasitela) in Moscow may be the largest Orthodox church in the world. The building is magnificent, but not as old as it looks: it was rebuilt in 2000 after the original was demolished by Stalin.

History

The idea for this church dates from the early 19th century. When the last of Napoleon's soldiers left Moscow, Tsar Alexander I signed a manifesto dated December 25, 1812, declaring his intention to build a cathedral in honor of Christ the Savior. The cathedral would "signify Our gratitude to Divine Providence for saving Russia from the doom that overshadowed Her" and acts as a memorial to the sacrifices of the Russian people.

Plans were drawn and a site was chosen but before construction began, Alexander I was succeeded by his brother Nicholas. Profoundly Orthodox and patriotic, the new Tsar disliked the Neoclassical design that had been endorsed by his brother.

Alexander commissioned his favourite architect Konstantin Thon to create a new design, modeled after the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople. The present site was chosen by the Tsar in 1837; a convent and church already standing on the site had to be relocated.

Construction began in 1839 and the cathedral didn't emerge from its scaffolding until 1860; elaborate frescos by some of the best Russian painters continued in the interior for another 20 years. The cathedral was consecrated on the day Alexander III was crowned, May 26, 1883. A year earlier, Tchaikovsky's " 1812 Overture " debuted there.

After the Revolution, the prominent site of the cathedral called out for redevelopment by the Soviets, who planned to replace the church with a monument to socialism, known as the Palace of Soviets. It would rise in modernistic buttressed tiers to support a gigantic sculpture of Lenin, arm raised in blessing, perched atop a dome. On December 5, 1931, the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour was dynamited and reduced to rubble.

Funds for the largest building in the world remained unavailable, however. A foundation hole gaped on the site until under Nikita Khrushchev it was transformed into a huge public swimming pool.

With the end of the Soviet rule, the Russian Orthodox Church received permission to rebuild the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour (February 1990). A temporary cornerstone was laid by the end of the year.

A construction fund was opened in 1992 and foundations began to be poured in the fall of 1994. The lower church (Church of the Transfiguration) was consecrated in 1996, and the completed Cathedral of Christ the Saviour was consecrated August 19, 2000.

             

Home Reading

Read an extract about the invention of some building material. Give a good translation of the text. Give answers to the following questions: 1) what was invented? 2) Who was the inventor?

Wonderful Invention

We live in the world of reinforced concrete. Modern houses and skyscrapers are built of reinforced concrete as are also tunnels and dams and bridges.

Who was the genius that created this wonderful material?

Reinforced concrete was first made in 1861 by the French gardener Monier. He needed tubs, but he had no money to buy them. Monier decided to make the tub from clay like a flower pot.

There was no clay at hand but he found some cement. Monier began to shape his tub from cement.

For this purpose he took two wooden tubs, one larger than the other, put one into the other and in between poured cement.

When the cement hardened he broke up both wooden tubs and obtained a large cement tub barrel.

The tubs were heavy and bulky, but the trouble was that they were weak.

The gardener had to place iron bars along the tub to make it stronger or in other words to reinforce it and put another layer above the bars to make it look nice.

A strange thing happened. The barrel proved to be unusually strong. Hen Monier began to make the walls thinner, and still the barrels remained very strong. This was how reinforced concrete was born.

 

Tasks:

I

Translate, using the text: изобретать, изобретение, бетон, небоскреб, бадья, с этой целью, помеха, слабый, необычайно сильный, железные прутья, тонкий, тяжелый.

II

Найдите 2-ую форму следующих глаголов:

V1	V2	Translation
To invent To be To reinforce To have To create To make To need To begin To shape To find To pour To obtain To put To break To prove

 

III

Agree or disagree?

1. Monier was a genius who created the reinforced concrete.

2. Monier was an Italian inventor.

3. Monier invented reinforced concrete in the 19^th century.

4. Monier made tubs from clay.

5. The first tub was weak.

6. The iron bars helped to make the tubs stronger.

IV

Give the answers to the following questions:

1. Who was the genius that created the reinforced concrete?

2. Why did Monier invent the reinforced concrete?

3. What building materials did Monier use to make tubs?

4. How did he make his first tub?

5. Were his first tubs strong or weak?

6. How did Monier reinforce them?

7. Was reinforces concrete a wonderful invention?

8. How is reinforced concrete used nowadays?

V

Translate the annotation to the text from Russian into English:

Железобетон был изобретен французским садоводом Монье в 19 веке. Монье был беден(poor) и не мог (could not)купить бадьи для сада. Он решил сделать их из глины, но глины также(also) не было. Тогда он взял цемент и залил его между двумя бочками, вставленными (put) одна в другую. Новая (the new) бадья оказалась слабой. Монье поместил железные прутья вдоль бадьи и положил еще один слой цемента. Бочка оказалась очень прочной и был получен новый строительный материал – железобетон.

 

 

UNIT 3