It just so happened that metro stations around the world compete in their decoration and architectural delights. Among them are those who have long been classics and role models. These include the metro station "Riga", located in the capital of the Russian Federation.
A bit of history
On May 1, 1958, the new metro station Riga was opened for visitors. It is named after the Riga station, to which passengers get through it. The construction itself began much earlier.
In the mid-50s of the last century, the Moscow Metro has already established itself as a profitable and convenient means of transportation. But he still could not cope with all the needs of the capital in transporting passengers to its different ends. Therefore, it was decided to develop the metro, increasing the length of lines and the number of stations.
Since the presence of the Riga railway station required improvement of transport conditions for Muscovites, it was decided to open another station not far from it, which became part of the Prospekt Mira - VDNKh stretch.
Strengthening friendship between nations
To confirm the policy of the USSR aimed at developing friendly relations between peoples, the Moscow government decided to offer the design and construction of the station to representatives of Latvia. Who, if not they, knew what this metro station should be like.
But the work did not begin immediately. In 1956, a competition was announced for design work on the construction and decoration of a new station. It was attended by 6 projects. The competition was held not only in Latvia, but also in Moscow. In the end, they finally approved the version of the team of young architects, which included: A. Reinfelds, V. Apsitis, S. Kravets, Yu. Kolesnikova, G. Golubev.
A little later a decree was issued on the inappropriateness of architectural excesses. In the final version, we had to abandon the openwork aluminum grilles for ventilation and the huge panel with the image of Riga on the blank wall of the lobby.
Station Features
The entire Kaluga-Riga line runs underground with different depths of tunnels. In particular, Riga itself is located 46 meters from the surface. This is a three-vault pylon station with a lobby and two platforms. It has one exit to the surface to which three escalator belts are laid. An external lobby is located above the station.
This is one of the first stations that gave rise to the entire line. It was built using new technologies. The spans between the tunnels were reduced to 8.5 meters in diameter, which allowed them to be laid parallel to the busy Avenue of the World, but immediately below it.
Among the features is the “Riga” metro station, which Moscow is used relatively frequently, was built in honor of the capital of Latvia and taking into account its color.
The uniqueness of the finish
Initially, the Riga metro station was designed as a reflection of the characteristics of the country in whose name it is named. Therefore, it was decided to finish the decoration in tan. The meaning of this color scheme lies in the fact that the tile should imitate the color of the famous Baltic amber, which Latvia is famous for.
To add splendor to the interior, the architects decided on the front of the pylons trimmed with brown-red tiles to make small bas-reliefs depicting iconic places for Riga.
It was planned that a beautiful panel depicting this city would decorate the blank wall, but in the course of the struggle against “architectural excesses”, this idea had to be abandoned.
The tunnels opposite the platforms are trimmed with tan and black tiles, which periodically fall off from vibration and due to poor quality. Therefore, from time to time it is necessary to carry out repairs of the metro station "Riga" to eliminate ugly bald spots.
The legend of tile
It is known that the construction of the station was done by masters from Latvia. Finishing materials were also ordered in this country. One potter was tasked with making a batch of tiles that would exactly mimic the amber color. He did the job just fine. But only during transportation and facing work, part of the tile crashed, so it was not possible to complete the project.
Of course, the architects turned to the master potter again. But he was offended that his creation was treated so casually and refused to repeat the game. In addition, he said that he would not succeed in repeating the color exactly under any circumstances.
In order to somehow get out of the situation, an intelligent student was sent to him. But he still could not find out the secret of the tile. To be able to deliver the station on time, he was forced to confess to the master in his "spy" mission. And he took pity on the people working on the project. But the tile still turned out a little different shade than the one that was already used. So the scheme of the Moscow metro replenished the station with its own legend.
Famous market
At the end of the 80s of the last century, the Riga Market was especially popular , which could be reached using the Moscow metro. Kaluga-Riga line contributed to the fact that merchants from all over the city flocked to the market. It was from here that the famous nineties began. The fact is that commercial activity appeared on the Riga market for the first time in the city, and with it the first bandits who began to “protect” newly-made businessmen. One could buy imported jeans, jackets and sweaters on the market, something that could not be done anywhere else in Moscow before.
The famous gangster series “The Brigade” illustrates this moment of history well. Sasha Bely began his criminal career with his friends in this particular market. As you can see from the film, not one criminal authority and thief in law "was born" here.
Line named after two cities
In 1950, it was not planned that the Moscow Metro scheme would have a new branch from south to north. In those days, they thought to build several branches from the radial line. In the north direction the Riga branch was created, which consisted of four stations. In the south side, a branch was built from Oktyabrskaya to Novy Cheryomushki, and later to the Kaluzhskaya station itself, which is located in the Kaluga metro depot.
The development of the city and the increase in the flow of passengers created such circumstances that it was necessary to connect two branches inside the ring, resulting in a single Kaluga-Riga line.
During its construction, the Moscow method was first applied, during which only metro stations were built with open pits, and the spans between the tunnels were pressed through without opening the upper arch.
Due to the use of standard station designs and cheap finishing materials, problems on the Kaluga-Riga line began almost immediately. The tile constantly fell off, which required cosmetic repairs. Over time, it was replaced with aluminum profiles and granite of the same color as the previously used tile.
Metro station "Riga" today
Today, passenger traffic through this station is about 50,600 people per day, which is not the largest indicator in the city.
Near the wall, where there is free space after the cancellation of the panel, there is a banner that shows the cities of the world and the Moscow metro station, after which they are named: Bratislava, Rome, Kiev, Warsaw, Prague, Riga. This is a kind of tribute to these cities.
2004 was a tragic year for Riga. It was on it that it was planned to carry out a terrorist attack. The suicide bomber walked in the subway with a bomb on herself, but she was frightened by the police who were on duty at the entrance to the station. Therefore, the woman moved into the thick of the people and blew up the device on the surface. In addition to her, that day, an explosion equal to 2.5-3 kg in TNT equivalent killed nine people.
The station also became famous thanks to the apocalyptic novel by D. Glukhovsky "Metro 2033". It was she who was in the world invented by the author a center of trade, fraud and prostitution.