In the Soviet era, it housed party congresses and Vladimir Lenin's and Joseph Stalin's funeral services.
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Golitsyn Hospital (Голицынская больница) was built with a 900,000 rouble private endowment of the late Prince Dmitry Golitsyn (1721–1793), on the condition that the hospital would remain free to all, regardless of wealth or creed.
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Preservation advocate Alexei Komech reported from the site, "crushed walls, ripped air ducts and piles of 200 year old bricks remind me of wandering around ruins of Berlin in 1946".