Mausoleum of Lenin
| Мавзоле́й Ле́нина Mavzoléy Lénina |
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Lenin's Mausoleum, 2006
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 Location in Central Moscow
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| Coordinates | 55°45′13″N 37°37′11″E / 55.75361°N 37.61972°ECoordinates: 55°45′13″N 37°37′11″E / 55.75361°N 37.61972°E |
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| Location | Moscow, Moscow Oblast, Russia |
| Designer | Aleksey Shchusev |
| Type | Memorial |
| Material | Concrete and marble |
| Completion date | 1924 |
| Dedicated to | Vladimir Lenin |
Lenin's Mausoleum (formerly Lenin's & Stalin's Mausoleum (1953-1961)) (Russian: Мавзоле́й Ле́нина, tr. Mavzoléy Lénina, IPA: [məvzɐˈlʲej ˈlʲenʲɪnə]), also known as Lenin's Tomb, situated in Red Square in the centre of Moscow, is a mausoleum that currently serves as the resting place of Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin. His preserved body has been on public display there since shortly after his death in 1924, with rare exceptions in wartime. Aleksey Shchusev's diminutive but monumental granite structure incorporates some elements from ancient mausoleums, such as the Step Pyramid, the Tomb of Cyrus the Great and, to some degree, Temple of the Inscriptions.
Lenin died on January 21, 1924. Two days later architect Aleksey Shchusev was charged with building a structure suitable for viewing of the body by mourners. A wooden tomb, in Red Square by the Kremlin wall, was ready on January 27, and later that day Lenin's coffin was placed in it. More than 100,000 people visited the tomb in the next six weeks. By August 1924, Shchusev had replaced the tomb with a larger one, and Lenin's body was transferred to a sarcophagus designed by architect Konstantin Melnikov.
Pathologist Alexei Ivanovich Abrikosov had embalmed Lenin's body shortly after his death, but by 1929 it was determined that it would be possible to preserve the body for much longer than usual; therefore, the next year a new mausoleum of marble, porphyry, granite, and labradorite (by Alexey Shchusev, I.A. Frantsuz and G.K. Yakovlev) was completed.
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