Lenin died in 1924 and it was quickly decided that he should not be buried, but instead lie-in-state in a Mausoleum-burial vault next to the Kremlin wall on Red Square.  The talented architect Alexei Shchusev was selected to design this mausoleum.  6 days after Lenin's death, the temporary wooden Mausoleum was ready.  In six weeks over 100,000 people visited the Mausoleum, but there were still millions more who wished to pay their last respects.  So the Government passed a resolution that a permanent tomb would be built and that Lenin's body should be "permanently" embalmed.  A second wooden Mausoleum was built to "display" the body.  But in 1929 the government decided to build a permanent stone Mausoleum. 

Again Alexei Shchusev was the architect. For his design, Shchusev studied the ancient tombs of Rome and Egypt, but he didn't copy any of them.  His design is void of ornament and deliberately plain.  On a powerful base rises a tiered pyramid, which is crowned by a massive slab resting on thirty-six columns.   He selected the finest types of stone in Russia.  Over the main entrance portal is a block of polished black stone inscribed with one work in red granite:  LENIN.  On either side of the entrance are flights of steps leading up to the governmental tribune, famous as the "reviewing stand" for Soviet dignitaries during the "May Day Parades" in Moscow.  In various lawns around the Mausoleum, blue spruce trees are planted.  Red Square was reconstructed at the same time as the Mausoleum was being built, with construction being completed in 1930.

The Lenin Mausoleum occupies a key position on Red Square.  Directly behind the Mausoleum is the Senate Tower and the massive Kremlin Wall.  On either side of the tower is the Revolution Necropolis.  Here are the graves with tombstones and busts of important figures in the Soviet state, among them Stalin.  In the wall are urns containing the ashes of other eminent members, statesmen, writers, scholars, etc.  The Senate Tower got it's name from the nearby Senate Building.

In spite of recent talk to finally bury Lenin, his body remains on display.  The Mausoleum is open 4 days each week, with two days set aside for "touch ups".  Then once each year the Mausoleum is closed for two months and Lenin's body is taken to the basement laboratory for extensive re-embalming.  And prior to going on display again, he receives a new suit.  The embalming process is a State secret.