Lenin's Mausoleum

Lenin’s Mausoleum is a memorial and tomb on Moscow’s Red Square that contains the embalmed body of Vladimir Lenin. It has served as a public display and pilgrimage site since the 1920s and is adjacent to the Kremlin wall.

The structure presents a stepped, geometrical façade and leads to a dimly lit viewing chamber where visitors pass past the preserved body. Entry is controlled and the building functions both as a memorial and a state-maintained site.

Following Lenin’s death in January 1924, a temporary structure was first erected and later replaced by the present stone mausoleum designed by architect Alexey Shchusev; it has undergone maintenance and restoration over the decades. The mausoleum became a focal point of Soviet ceremonial and public remembrance.

The mausoleum stands on Red Square in central Moscow, directly in front of the Kremlin wall and near St Basil’s Cathedral and the State Historical Museum.

• On display since 1924: Constructed soon after Vladimir Lenin's death in 1924, the mausoleum displays his embalmed body in a climate-controlled chamber and has been a public site since the 1920s.
• Visitor restrictions: Located on Red Square, the site is subject to strict security checks, occasional closures and rules prohibiting photography inside the viewing chamber.