[1] The first building on this location was constructed in the early 1770s, and originally belonged to Moscow Governor General Vasily Dolgorukov-Krymsky.

[1] During the Soviet era, it mostly served as a place for important state events, i.e. housing the Communist Party Congresses and conferences, and governmental award ceremonies, and also as a concert platform for classical and popular music performances, including those by Emil Gilels, Gennady Rozhdestvensky, Klavdiya Shulzhenko and Lev Leshchenko.

Vladimir Lenin, Joseph Stalin, Leonid Brezhnev, Konstantin Chernenko, Yuri Andropov, and Mikhail Suslov all had a lying in state in the Pillar Hall prior to their interment in the Kremlin Wall Necropolis on Red Square.

[2] Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader of the Soviet Union, also had a lying in state in the hall following his death in 2022; he was buried at the Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow next to his wife Raisa, in accordance with his will.

In particular, Kazakov added the monumental Pillar Hall (Колонный зал, Kolonnyy zal) in place of the interior courtyard of the building.