More than 80 years have passed since the opening of the first stations of the Moscow Metro (May 1935). Every year the relevance of such underground transport is increasing. More and more people prefer the underground mode of transportation, which is associated with numerous and constant traffic jams.
The Moscow metro looks like an underground city, or rather, a city. Here, each station has its own distinctive history, and some of them got their names according to the names of streets and other objects located on the surface near the metro.
The article provides information about one of the oldest metro stations - the Lenin Library.
General information about the Moscow metro
Moscow Metro is one of the most reliable, convenient and beautiful in the world. More than forty of its stations have the status of architectural masterpieces. They are objects of cultural heritage in regional significance.
The history of the subway is closely connected with the numerous events that took place in the country. This can be especially well felt when traveling around the stations accompanied by a guide telling about the history of construction, about the symbols contained in the elements present in the design of the halls.
Almost all metro stations are unique in their own way. Each of them is well thought out both in technical and engineering terms, and in artistic and decorative design.
Metro station "Lenin Library"
Initially, the station was supposed to represent a gigantic underground monument dedicated to the proletarian leader V.I. Lenin. Its location is between Kropotkinskaya and Okhotny Ryad.
This station is the first one-vault in the Moscow metro. Its underground hall is located under Mokhovaya Street. Entrance halls go to the previously named library (current name is the Russian State Library). The design of the station was created by the famous architect A.I. Gontskevich.
The design of this station is shallow (only 12 meters is its depth). The method of construction is mining, the base finish is cast concrete. The landing hall is blocked by a single arch, above which the thickness of the soil is only 2 - 3.5 meters. The length of the station is 160 meters.
Administratively, the station is located on the territory of the Tver district (Central District of Moscow).
A bit of construction history
The transition to the metro station "Ulitsa Kominterna" (the modern name is "Alexander Garden") was laid back in 1937. From that moment, the Lenin Library metro station (photo presented in the article) became one of the first 2 interchanges in the Moscow metro. That passage was reconstructed in 1946, and the entrance hall and escalator route from the Arbatskaya station were completed in 1953.
After the next opening in 1958 of the station, which at that time was called “Kalininskaya” (the modern name is “Alexander Garden”), transitions to it were repaired. The old eastern lobby was demolished in the 60s and a new one was built in its place. At the same time, a network of underpasses was built . They began to take passengers to the Alexander Garden and to the ticket offices of the Kremlin Palace. Also, a bridge was built in the very center of the hall, leading to the passages going to the Alexander Garden and Arbat stations. Under the western entrance hall of the Lenin Library metro station, in 1984 a common entrance hall and a new Borovitskaya station were built.
Decoration and decoration
The track walls are decorated with ceramic tiles and yellow marble. Initially, at the time of the opening of the station, the floors of the central hall were covered with parquet. Then the coating was made asphalt, and later the floors were made of gray granite. The arch of the hall, illuminated by round lamps, is decorated with a cellular pattern.
The eastern entrance hall is decorated with a portrait of V.I. Lenin (mosaic), made in the 70s by the artist G.I. Opryshko.
It should be noted that in the lining you can see traces of ancient fossils, about which A. E. Fersman (Soviet and Russian mineralogist) wrote in his scientific book "Entertaining Mineralogy". He noted that in Crimean reddish marble, you can see the fossilized remains of shells, snails. They represent the remnants of life of the most ancient southern seas, the waters of which once, many millions of years ago, covered the entire Caucasus and Crimea.
Lobbies and transplants
The Moscow metro station "Lenin Library" is a transfer station to the following stations:
- "Arbat" (line Arbat-Pokrovskaya);
- "Alexander Garden" (Filevskaya line);
- Borovitskaya (Serpukhov-Timiryazevskaya line).
The metro station "Lenin Library" is very convenient in terms of transfers. Exits and transitions are convenient and plentiful. The passage to the Arbatskaya station is through the eastern hall, and through the stairs located in the center of the landing hall. In the same way you can go to the metro station "Alexander Garden", as well as access to the aboveground and underground combined vestibules of the "Library named after Lenin" and "Alexander Garden". The western entrance hall is connected with the ground lobby at the building of the Russian State Museum and with the Borovitskaya station. It should be noted that not one of the presented vestibules of this interchange node formally refers to the lobby of the Lenin Library metro station.
Station surroundings
The most important sights of Moscow are located in the city center. How to get there From the metro station "Lenin Library" to the most famous historical places of the capital is very close.
Leaving the metro station, you can visit the following attractions:
- RSL (library).
- Alexander Garden, located near the walls of the Kremlin.
- The Kremlin is the main attraction of the capital, on the territory of which the Moscow Kremlin Museum is located.
- Red Square (approximately 600 meters from the metro).
- St. Basil's Cathedral - the famous church of Moscow (from the station about 100 meters).
- The largest historical museum in Russia, located on Red Square (distance from the metro is approximately 500 meters).
- Kremlin embankment.
In conclusion about interesting facts
The metro is a place shrouded in secrets, rumors and stories.
In the name of the Moscow metro station “Library named after Lenin ”on both letters“ B ”there are 2 identical strange holes of unknown origin. Two stories explain their occurrence (most likely, they belong to the category of urban legends). One of them tells that about 20 years ago, at night before the closure of the metro, a shootout occurred at the station. The second story says that these "autographs" were left by two drunk repairmen who tried to argue to drive dowels into these letters.
In general, the subway in the capital of Russia could appear even during the reign of the tsar, since the very first projects date back to 1890. The construction of such an object at that time was prevented by the clergy. It made a statement that a person who was created in God's image and likeness, having descended into the underworld, can humiliate himself.