Urban Renewal

One cannot get a clear shot in in downtown Moscow nowadays without being obscured or interrupted by a construction crane.  Most of the cranes in the image relate to the reconstruction of the site of the former Hotel Rossiya, a hotel built in the 1960s and demolished in 2006; in its time, it was the largest hotel in the world accommodating some 5,300 people.  The building included a concert hall and cinema and "facilities for the military" in the basement (a huge bunker apparently).  Now it's being rebuilt as a park and hotel apparently with limitations on height and other features to keep it in harmony with the historical center of Moscow.

It was hard to get a clear shot anyway today with dull grey light throughout the day and constant snowfall (it's snow that accounts for the somewhat blurred aspect to the image).