The Moscow Metro, the construction of which began in the second half of the twenties of the XX century, is perceived by many exclusively as an achievement of advanced modernity. Illuminated crossings, beautifully (and in some places superbly) decorated stations, hundreds of kilometers of tracks, passenger flow of more than 8 million people a day ... All this somehow does not fit with the popular opinion that there, under the ground, an alien, terrible, otherworldly world is based . But there are places in the mirrored transport kingdom where even infallible materialists begin to doubt that everything in this world is explicable. This is an abandoned metro station in Moscow. The legends associated with them run between people, like high-speed trains. So I want to jump into the next "car" to find out an amazing underground secret, but not one! (In the photo below, "Sovetskaya" station).
Dreams come true and don't come true
Many guests of the capital of Russia (and even the indigenous people) doubt that there are (or existed) abandoned metro stations in Moscow. The list is: “Soviet”, “May Day”, “Volokolamsk”, “Kaluga”. Some remained ghosts, others returned to duty after a long oblivion.
Mysterious worlds are a little away from the underground transport civilization. They are bent around, slipped, used for another purpose. But the speaker’s peppy voice doesn’t sound here: “Caution, the doors are closing! The next station…". These are peculiar monuments to unfulfilled or changed intentions of a rational person.
It is noteworthy that the territory hidden from the sunlight of Moscow with passages, casemates, basements existed in the XVIII century. There is evidence of a map of this "dark country". Let us draw up a short guide telling you about where the abandoned metro stations in Moscow are located and what they look like. Photos will help us better imagine the secret corners.
"Soviet"
Art. "Soviet" (Zamoskvoretskaya line). She is a legend in herself. It is known that the object was included in the second phase of the Moscow metro construction (the project was approved in September 1935). They wanted to install it between the current Teatralnaya station (formerly Sverdlov Square) and Mayakovsky.
During construction, problems arose, including hydrological ones. As a result, the initial ideas lost relevance, especially after the Tverskaya station (another name for Gorkovskaya) appeared. However, the elements of the project allegedly came in handy.
According to rumors, on the site of the failed “Sovetskaya” a civil defense control bunker was built, which has high degrees of protection against adverse external influences. Rushing in the carriage along this subway line, the most curious people stare intently into the underground landscapes: what if at least a hint of this structure flashes? But the secret remains covered in darkness.
If we assume that the bunker exists, then it is located a few meters from the wall of the distillation tunnel, approximately under the place on the surface where the monument to Yuri Dolgoruky stands.
May Day (lost)
The category “abandoned metro stations” in Moscow also includes Art. "May Day" (1954 - 1961, Arbat-Pokrovskaya line). Unlike Sovetskaya, this was an active underground stop. It was located in the building of the electric depot Izmailovo (behind the Izmaylovsky park).
The lobby can be seen now. Until recently, over the entrance group flaunted: “Metro them. L. M. Kaganovich ”and in beautiful clear letters:“ May Day ”. Today, hoisting repair work is in full swing: timely troubleshooting, replacement of worn parts is the key to the safe operation of the metro.
Workshops have the opportunity to see tiles, stucco molding, and the remains of gilding daily, as confirmation that the production building used to be a subway station (terminal), where ordinary passenger life was in full swing. It is believed that a new metro museum could have turned out of the premises (the old one is already crowded): the exhibition complex on the basis of the closed station is a great way to show and tell tourists how it was.
Volokolamsk (revived)
And here is more information on the topic "Abandoned metro stations in Moscow." Art. Volokolamsk (Tagansko-Krasnopresnenskaya branch) consists of three shallow spans. Two rows of columns of 26 pieces each. The design is an analogue of Tushinskaya, assembled in 1975. Finishing work was not carried out, as the opening was postponed.
The facility is located under the former Tushino airfield (airport). In spring, when the snow melted, its outlines were visible. Since 2010, the area has seen a revival in the form of work on the construction of a stadium for the Spartak football club.
If residential quarters were erected here as planned in the 70s of the XXth century, Volokolamskaya would not fall into the category of preserved for decades. The “frozen” station could be seen especially when the train was approaching the Tushinskaya stop (especially when the conditions of a train moving along a parallel path were illuminated in a dark environment).
Surely many passengers thought mentally: how would everything look ready-made? Now there is no particular need for such fantasies: in 2014, the station was opened. Not far from her at the home stadium Spartak training. So not everything is so sad: although not at noon, but lifeless shadows disappear, sometimes changing names. Volokolamskaya is now called Spartak.
Kaluga (temporary)
This fickle person also enters an abandoned metro station in Moscow. Art. "Kaluga" (Kaluga-Riga line) operated from 1964 to 1974. The name was given to the object in which it was opened - the Kaluga depot. Exact address: Profsoyuznaya street, 59, the farthest 5 hall, or nave. Located in close proximity to the modern, existing. Once it was finite on this (Kaluga) radius.
Until 1971, the wall of the extreme nave had a window. But the depot was expanded by adding three more halls. The wall has become deaf. Two paths to Kaluga led to a dead end. No ornaments were observed at the object: since the 60s of the XX century, artists and sculptors were not involved in the design of the stations, the case was put on stream.
Lighting was provided by industrial fixtures; passengers whiled away the waiting time of the train on simple wooden benches. The platform and lobby with ticket offices and turnstiles were a kind of common space - the waiting area passed into the entrance group. In 1974, when after the extension of the line the ground part became underground, the temporary station was closed.
The platform in recent years has been a warehouse (according to some reports, it has been completely destroyed), service lounges are equipped in the old lobby, the service tunnel allows you to move around bypassing the passenger area. In some places you can see old lamps. There is an opinion that it would be nice for all this economy to be under the wing of the Moscow Metro Museum, until time completely erased the traces.
Vorobyovy Gory (reconstructed)
And how do you like such an abandoned metro station? Moscow "Vorobyovy Gory" ("Lenin") is well known. Station opened on January 12, 1959. It was sheltered by the lower tier of the Luzhnetsk metro bridge. In 1983, signs of destruction of the base object began to be observed: the poor quality of the concrete affected. He could not withstand the vibration of the bridge from the effects of intense auto flow.
Stopping traffic for two to three years (to fix the problem) meant leaving a huge part of the city without communication with the center (you won’t jump over the Moscow River). The solution was found in the construction of two roundabout mini-bridges (1984) and the station was quietly closed for repairs.
But it was not possible to fulfill what was planned, the destruction only worsened. At the end of the 90s, the question was no longer about the reconstruction of the Sparrow Hills, but about the repair of the entire Metro Bridge. The restoration was carried out in stages: first, the upper level was transformed, then it came to the lower, station level. Waves of crises complicated and tightened the work. The station opened only on December 14, 2002. The train tracks and the platform were separated, so now the "mountains" are not shaking.
Dreaming is not bad
Those who like to tickle their nerves are interested in: “Abandoned metro stations in Moscow? How to get? So I want to go where it’s scary, dark, where the gray dust of the underworld lies. ” It is hard to imagine regular organized trips along the difficult, mostly unsafe, secret subway tracks. But they say that private firms of the curious are led to Stalin’s bunker (a real object) (pleasure, however, is not cheap).
But you should not be particularly upset: the legends of the Moscow subway are global, including a train with pale "men in gray" - phantoms of prisoners who died at work and are buried in the tunnel; the restless soul of a lineman wandering at night on his work trails; a figure of a dead girl appearing in a black passageway; giant mutant rats; some entities pushing people to death, putting footboards. All this can be found out in detail without penetrating into abandoned metro stations in Moscow. Tours cover other places of the subway.
Come on the subway!
As the roar of approaching or drifting trains subsides, the guides tell the elemental groups interesting stories about metro stations. Although waiting for the noise means getting stuck for a long time, and the time of the excursion is not infinite. So experts often shout information.
How many interesting things are hidden in the Moscow metro! Almost every meter of the excursion route reveals a secret behind a grateful listener. They can’t be counted: architectural, political, paleontological, artistic ... The pages that tell about the abandoned metro stations in Moscow are “scrolling”. There are "chapters" about existing and under construction objects. Everything is interesting! There is no time to be bored!