Moscow Metro
The Moscow Metro system is massive. As you can see from the map above, it's quite intricate, but once you know how to navigate yourself, it really isn't that difficult. Shirly and I decided a long time ago that we wanted to do a metro tour together. On Wednesday we decided we wanted to do it on Friday and the only tour we managed to find availability for was a private tour for over $100 each! "Forget it", we said, we can do this ourselves. So, armed with Shirly's Eyewitness Travel book "Top 10 Moscow" we navigated our own tour! It took us over three hours and one wrong turn later, but we did it and had lots of fun. The only bad part was the air quality down there. When I blew my nose afterwards there was some black on the kleenex! Also, I've been doing a lot of coughing since emerging from underground. Although it is beautiful below the busy city, it is not healthy air down there. I feel sad for the people who spend lots of time down there...mostly the people who work there.
The Top 10 according to Eyewitness Travel's Top 10 are:
1. Mayakovskaya (1938)
2. Ploshchad Revolyutsii (1938)
3. Kropotkinskaya (1935) - we aren't sure why this one made the list because it's our metro station and really, although it has nice smooth lines in the columns, it's not that visually stunning like some of the other ones.
4. Teatralnaya (1938)
5. Komsomolskaaya (1952) - hands down, this was our favorite
6. Taganskaya (1950)
7. Kievskaya (1954)
8. Novokuznetskaya (1943)
9. Novoslobodskaya (1952)
10. Arbatskaya (1953)
We followed the order of the list except that we started with our station (#3). Well, we took a bit of a detour after #9 because I accidentally typed in "Kievskaya" again instead of Arbatskaya and didn't realize my mistake until Shirly said "didn't we already visit this one"? LOL Maybe the air was affecting my brain? Or, perhaps it was exhaustion after 3 hours underground!?
Mayakovskaya
On of the world's most beautiful metro stations - it has Art Deco styling and is famous for its 34 superb ceiling mosaics depicting "24 Hours in the Land of the Soviets". It won a grand prize at the 1938 New York World Trade Fair. (Note: all the blurbs under the station names come from the Eyewitness Travel guides description of each station)
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| Cheeky Shirly...she wanted a picture with the police who patrol the metro stations |
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| In the ceiling there are these mosaic pictures |
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| Internet photo - there is no bend at this station, so this is trick photography, but still cool |
Ploshchad Revolyutsii
Stalin's favorite station which has niches containing 76 life-size bronze sculptures of Soviet citizens. Students (and others) rub the noses of the bronze guard dogs for luck before taking exams.
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| Rub the dogs nose for luck! |
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| Or rub the rooster |
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| Internet photo - you can always tell because there are no people in the pictures! |
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| Same station - picture from internet |
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| Hallway on the way to the next metro station |
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| Ceiling of that hallway |
Teatralnaya
Intended to celebrate culture and the creative arts, the station ceiling is adorned with exquisite porcelain figures depicting dancing men and women from 7 of 11 Soviet republics, all in traditional dress.
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| Another hallway - apparently I didn't take pictures of this metro station. How'd that happen? |
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| Internet photo |
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| Column while in transit from one station to another |
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| Escalator down to Brown line |
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| Platform decoration |
Komsomolskaya - our favorite!
This Baroque-style station has more Communist memorabilia than most. It boasts a bust of Lenin, a delightful mosaic of Lenin addressing a rally outside the Kremlin and a domed hall with a massive red mosaic star.
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| Good thing I had my camera ready as we approached this station |
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| Gorgeous! |
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| Ceiling mosaic decoration |
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| Shirly getting a sore neck from looking around |
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| Tribute to Lenin |
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| Selfie time...wait, let me put my chin down |
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| Chin down, but too much light from chandelier |
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| Getting just the right shot |
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| Every once in a while a cool train goes by instead of the usual metal buckets - this one was celebrating Russian films |
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| Mosaic ceiling of Lenin addressing a rally outside the Kremlin |
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| Gorgeous ceiling on the landing with huge mosaic red star (symbolizes communist ideology) |
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| As we turned around we had this beautiful view from the landing |
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| On the more modern train cars you'll see these electronic indicators of which station you have been at and which one is coming up next |
Taganskaya
This station has supporting pylons lined with white marble, each adorned with a ceramic relief depicting a Soviet hero against a sky-blue background
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| Shirly posing with the beautiful Wedgwood blue decor (and her buddy) at the Taganskaya station |
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| This is the board that indicates which colour line you are on (in this case brown), which station you are at (Taganskaya), which stations are on this colour line and what other colour lines you can connect to from each of the stops on the brown line. There is a sign like this one at every station. This one happens to have lots of connecting lines because it is the circle line in the first photo at the top of this post. It's a very efficient system, I love it! |
Kievskaya
This elegant station, which was designed to illustrate Russia's friendship with Ukraine (now strained), features massive iconic-styled pylons adorned with imitation mosaics that depict idyllic scenes of Ukrainian life.
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| (Internet photo) Where was this at Kievskaya Metro Shirly? I don't know how me missed it, but somehow we did. Oh, now I know... it's Kievskaya on the Royal blue line, not the brown line! See further below, our good "mistake" |
Paveletskaya
I started taking pictures of this station only to realize... a) it wasn't part of the top 10 and b) it wasn't THAT fantastic, but I've included it anyhow!
Novokuznetskaya
Built during WWII, this magnificent station was intended as a celebration of Russian military prowess and includes dramatic bronze portraits of heroic leaders and some fine ceiling mosaics.
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| Ceiling mosaic |
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| Ceiling mosaic |
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| Ceiling mosaic |
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| Are you knighted now Shirly?? |
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| Not sure what I was doing! |
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| Pretty archway - more like New Mexico design, but nice. |
Novoslobodskaya
Famous for its back-lit stained-glass panels, made by Latvian artists depicting Soviet citizens
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| She didn't care to move... good thing she matches the stained glass! lol |
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| Nice one! |
Our mistake station...
Because of my little "oops" we ended up at Kievskaya on the blue line and therefore saw this station. It was a pretty good mistake. It seemed to be folk art.This matches with the decor of that internet shot above that I didn't know where it was from!
Arbatskaya
It is one of the longest and deepest on the metro. Its graceful central hall has a high valted ceiling with elaborate ornamentation.
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| After seeing so many beautiful stations, this one was just "ok" to us.... boy are we spoiled! |
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| Internet photo |
Lunch after the metro tour
After the tour we went to Chaihona #1 - a Central Asian restaurant that mostly serves Uzbekistan cuisine. I love it because it's so unique... not something we get in Canada, although, I do believe when looking it up I did see that Toronto has one. I love the decor and the food, and of course, the company! Thank you Shirly for accompanying me on the tour and lunch after. It was a fun day!
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| Berry tea... LOVE this stuff! |
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| Plov dish with veal |
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| The decor |
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| Russian spelling of the restaurant |
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| co-ed washroom... I loved the tile and had to take a picture! |
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| The tile up closer. The bathroom attendant thought I was very weird taking these pictures! |
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| Love ya Shirly! |
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| Shirly's cabbage salad... not my cup of tea |
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| They called these samosas - like the Indian name - I must admit I like these ones better. |
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| I forget what these were called, but like Vareniki |
