What if the tallest Orthodox church almost stood? Back in…
What if the tallest Orthodox church almost stood? Back in 1986, in what was then Sverdlovsk (now Yekaterinburg), a massive TV tower began to rise—sharp, raw, and reaching 235 meters into the sky. But time ran out before the project did. The USSR collapsed, funding dried up, and the structure stood unfinished, a ghostly spire cutting through the skyline. For years, it loomed like a relic of something half-remembered—until people began to see it not as a ruin, but as a monument. Locals grew attached. The abandoned tower became a symbol, even a sacred silhouette. When talk of demolition came, the public pushed back hard. And then came a breathtaking idea: transform the skeleton of the tower into the world’s tallest Orthodox church. A fusion of concrete modernism and sacred architecture, towering above all others. It would have redefined Orthodox church design—a temple rooted in post-Soviet memory, rising into eternity. But bureaucracy moves faster than dreams. Before an investor could be found, the tower was gone. Razed to dust. Today, the vision survives only in sketches—and in the hearts of those who imagined something transcendent rising from Soviet bones. #molodin #aleksandrmolodin #molodinarchitect #OrthodoxChurchDesign #TraditionalChurchArchitecture #SacredArchitecture #ArchitecturalServices #CustomChurchDesign #ProfessionalChurchArchitect #ChurchArchitectureRussia #OrthodoxModernism
