The “upgrade” above is an epic fail aesthetically and likely compromised the structure. Mother Russia is the Capital of Kludge. That the structure stands hundreds of years after construction is a testament to the skills of the men who built it. A lack of reverence for and preservation of that kind of skilled labor really ought to be a Crime Against Architecture.

I doubt we’d see anything like this here; the majority of our brick and stone buildings of any appreciable age end up owned by people who’re wealthy enough to repair them properly. I’ll be on the lookout, though, and will send those that I can find.