Mayor builds controversial palace legacy

MOSCOW - City mayor Yuri Luzhkov has been accused of vandalism for steaming ahead with plans to build a mock Tsarist complex on the remains of an 18th-century palace that belonged to Catherine the Great.

Construction of Tsaritsyno, a Gothic red-brick palace conceived as a summer residence for Catherine, began in 1775 on the crest of a hill in southern Moscow. It was never completed because of disputes and the death of the Empress in 1796.

To general disbelief, the palace is being completed according to a design personally approved by the mayor that bears little resemblance to the original.

- INDEPENDENT