On the Road is a weekday feature spotlighting reader photo submissions.
From the exotic to the familiar, whether you’re traveling or in your own backyard, we would love to see the world through your eyes.
Origuy
I was in Moscow in March 2013. As I mentioned in an earlier OTR, I was there with my friend Natasha and stayed at the apartment of her mother’s friend. I explored a lot of Moscow on my own, as well as with Natasha, her family, and my hostess. Since I could read Cyrillic and knew a little Russian, I got around fairly well on my own. There are a few signs in English in the central area, but not as much in the outskirts. The Metro is great; you pay once when you enter the system and can go anywhere that connects to it.
The Moscow Metro opened its first stations in 1935. The stations built under Stalin were lavishly decorated with artworks and prize-winning architecture; palaces for the people as one architect said. Naturally, the Socialist Realism style predominates, but Art Nouveau and Art Deco are also represented. My source for the history and art of the stations is Moscow Metro Guide Book, which I picked up at Dom Knigi, Moscow’s largest bookstore. I haven’t found an online source for it, but you can find more information about the Moscow Metro on many sites. There are guided tours that hit the high points; I think they would be worthwhile to check out if you are in Moscow.
ТЕАТРАЛьНАЯ The Teatralnaya station opens onto Moscow’s theater district, including the famous Bolshoi Theater. The walls are decorated with bas-reliefs of dancers and musicians in the national costumes of various peoples of the USSR.
БИБЛИОТЕКА ИМЕНИ ЛЕНИНА The Biblioteka imeni Lenina or Lenin Library station is one of the oldest. Although the library itself has been renamed, the station retains the name of the founder of the Soviet Union. There’s a large mosaic of Lenin at one end of the station, but I thought this plaque was more interesting.
ПЛОЩАДЬ РЕВОЛЮЦИИ The Ploshchad Revolyutsii or Revolution Square station is lined with eight bronze statues depicting sailors, students, farmers, and other heroes of the proletariat. This sculpture of a soldier with his dog is typical, the dog having a shiny nose from being rubbed for good luck on the school exams.
НОВОКУЗНЕЦКАЯ The Novokuznetskaya station, completed in 1943, is adorned with mosaics showing peacetime scenes. This one shows a skier looking up at a train passing overhead.
ЦЕХОВСКАЯ The Russians love their writers, and the Chekovskaya and nearby Pushkinskaya stations pay homage to two of their greatest. These were added after Khrushchev, who ended Stalin’s policy of elaborate decoration.
КОМСОМОЛЬСКАЯ The Komsomolskaya station features mosaic panels depicting Russian folk heroes and military leaders.
ТАГАНСКАЯ The Taganskaya station contains majolica panels depicting men of the Soviet armed forces.
ПАРК КУЛЬТУРЫ The Park of Culture station depicts leisure activities, including of course chess.
КРАСНОПРЕСЕНЕНСКАЯ The Krasnopresnenskaya station commemorates the 1905 uprising near the Prasnaya River.
MazeDancer
Quite fascinating!
Mary G
Love the Lenin Library station plaque – it’s so ’30s. I had no idea there was this much art dedicated to the subways in Moscow, thanks for introducing me.
JPL
Thank you for sharing your journey with us.
raven
Wow!
J R in WV
Pretty cool, thanks for sharing your photos with us! I love the world travel we can explore with the Jackalteriat!
randy khan
Those are great. I’ve read about the Moscow subway system before, but never seen any photos from inside.
Laura Too
Beautiful, thanks!
Elma
I visited several of the subway stations when I was in Russia in 2012. But my camera battery died in the first one. I was new to digital and hadn’t figured out to carry a spare. So I saw but got no pics. Your pictures are great. I remember rubbing the dog’s nose.
HinTN
I love the bit about rubbing the dog’s nose for luck on exams. Thanks for the ride through the metro.
caphilldcne
So in 2011 (I think) I met my Indonesian then-boyfriend in Moscow which is approximately halfway between where he lives in Indonesia and DC. 12,000 mile long distance relationship since gays couldn’t get married then. Stayed near Red square and walks along the River. We had a great time using the Moscow metro and I really enjoyed just walking around the city. It was lovely. I was not fearful although we were careful to not hold hands in public. Now I would not go. Putin has endangered LGBTQ people and supported outright persecution in places like Chechnya. We broke up a year or so later because the distance was too much. Obergefell was decided in 2015. Too late for us but I hope in time for young LGBTQ kids. I respect Navalny and the Russian people seeking change and I hope they stay strong and succeed so one day I can visit again.
zhena gogolia
Very beautiful. I was always in too much of a hurry to notice any of this.
Mike in NC
When we visited St Petersburg in 2014, our tour guide had us leave the bus and go down into the Metro and ride a couple of stops just to mingle with ordinary people. That was pretty cool. The stations are clean and well designed but obviously not on the same scale as Moscow.
Nettoyeur
When I was working in Moscow years ago, I spent 2+ hours per day on the transit system, mostly the Metro. I have since lived all over the world, and the only systems that rival Moscow’s are Japan’s.
Origuy
I’m not sure I would go now, either. Everyone was friendly towards me then, but from what I hear, Putin has turned people more anti-American. Although in the past few days, things might have started to turn around with the protests.
The soldier with the dog isn’t the only statue that people rub for luck. I saw an old man rub a rooster next to a young farmgirl, somewhat furtively. I wondered that what that was for and speculated that Russians have the meaning for cock as we do. The guidebook says that it was for good luck in business, but I wonder.
Glad everyone enjoyed the pictures.
JanieM
Thanks for these. Very interesting change from my usual images of Russia. I like seeing interesting art in public spaces.
Captain C
These are lovely. As I recall, the Moscow Subway System was built for beauty and also very deep so as to be sheltered from potential bombing.