In the south of the Zamoskvoretskaya line (the green line on the metro map) of the Moscow Metro there is a station called Avtozavodskaya, which is associated with a large number of events and historical facts from the life of the city. This station played a significant role in the development and success of the capital.
Location
Metro Avtozavodskaya is located between the stations Kolomenskaya and Paveletskaya, if you go from the region to the center. The ring line starts at the next station. About 70,000 people use this station daily. Even more passengers pass it daily on the way to work and back home, because after the Avtozavodskaya station, the metro is driven towards the large sleeping areas of the capital.
Station doors do not open simultaneously. The north exit starts at 5:30 in the morning, while the south opens 5 minutes later at 5:35. The station closes its doors for passengers at exactly 01:00.
History of creation
Avtozavodskaya metro station was opened on New Year's Day - January 1, 1943, in the midst of World War II. The decision on the need for a new metro station was made almost three years before the opening, but the long war that had begun made adjustments to the urban plans. During the war, the lobby and tunnels were actively used as bomb shelters.
A competition was announced for the construction of the Avtozavodskaya metro station, in which the project of the famous architect Aleksey Nikolayevich Dushkin won. He already had extensive experience in creating stations in the city, whose name is Moscow. Metro Avtozavodskaya became his fourth and not the last project. Prior to that, he had already worked on the construction of the Kropotkinskaya metro station (then it was called the Palace of Soviets), Ploshchad Revolyutsii and Mayakovskaya.
Name history
Initially, the Avtozavodskaya metro station operated under a different name - the Stalin Plant. In short, it was called VMS. The station was named in honor of the plant of the same name, which was located next to the station and for the maintenance of the numerous personnel of which it was thought. The modern name - "Avtozavodskaya" - this station was received later, 13 years after opening. It was and remains for the most part an industrial area. In addition to the plant in honor of the leader of the peoples, another important object was located here - the automobile plant named after I. Likhachev.
The history of the name of this station is not yet complete. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the idea came up of another change of name - to Simonovo, in honor of the nearby ancient Simonov Monastery, but so far it has not been implemented.
By the way, if you look closely, then on the walls are visible small indentations left over from the previous name.
Modern history
The metro station "Avtozavodskaya" remained almost unchanged. When the passenger flow increased significantly, and one exit from the lobby could not cope with the number of people entering and leaving, in 1968 it was decided to build another northern exit. Before the start of its construction, there was a large bust of Joseph Stalin.
Initially, the station had only one, southern, exit, which looked like a two-story separate building. Now it is built into a multi-story residential building built above and around the entrance to the Avtozavodskaya station. Metro in Moscow is replete with non-standard architectural solutions.
The main theme of all station decorations is the protection of the country and the heroic feat of the people during the Great Patriotic War. Four bas-reliefs on its walls are dedicated to the professional activities of people of various professions and nationalities. This is one of the very patriotic decorated metro stations in the city. However, the paintings were completed later - in the 1950s. Initially, the walls of the station and the lobby looked much more modest, since initially the station's functionality was necessary. There was no time to decorate.
The tragic events of the not so distant past are connected with this station. On February 6, 2004, a terrorist attack took place, killing 41 people. More than two hundred other passengers received various injuries. After this terrorist attack, a memorial plaque with the names of all the victims of the tragedy was erected in memory of those who died at the northern exit from the lobby.
Infrastructure around
It is unlikely that guests of the city will be interested in industrial plants that are located nearby, but there are other buildings and museums nearby that are worthy of attention.
For example, nearby is the Simonovsky Monastery, founded in the XIV century and preserved in very good condition. Previously, it was one of the largest and richest monasteries in the near Moscow region. Centuries ago, it was one of the fortified monasteries designed to protect the approaches to the city from the south. In the XVIII century, the monastery buildings were used as a plague isolator for patients with a terrible disease, which killed many people in Europe.
At the factories that are nearby, there are also small museums that tell about the history of the creation of these industrial facilities, as well as about their achievements and participation in the history of the city and country.