For centuries, Moscow's architectural crown of myriad festive church spires made it distinct. In the fire of 1812 two-thirds of the city was erased. By 1836, Moscow was rebuilt and 200 churches sparkled like Christmas trees in the snowy winters, each with several pinnacles—multi-colored helmet-domes, onion-domes, and tent-roofs—forms that soon appeared on other building types. After the Russian Revolution, under Lenin, an assiduous conservation bureaucracy restored with greater authenticity a number of churches hastily rebuilt after the Great Fire. But from the era of Stalin forward, Moscow was eviscerated with highways and giant apartment blocks. Fifty percent of its landmarks were destroyed, including many churches that had been reinstated several times before with great devotion.