On July 31, 1956, the Central Lenin Stadium in Luzhniki (now the Luzhniki Olympic Complex) opened
The decision to build the “large Moscow stadium” was made in December 1954. Construction began the following spring. The stadium was built with contributions from practically the entire country: construction materials were brought from Leningrad and Armenia, electrical equipment and oak beams for the spectator benches from Ukraine, furniture from Riga and Kaunas, glass from Minsk, and larch beams from Irkutsk. Volunteer builders arrived from all over the USSR. The Central Stadium was constructed in a record-breaking 450 days. At that time, the Central Lenin Stadium in Luzhniki consisted of the Grand Sports Arena, the Small Sports Arena, the Sports Palace, an open swimming pool, and several open sports grounds. […]