Leningrad (Saint Petersburg) Metro – Narvskaya – Line 1

Leningrad Metro - Narvskaya - Alex 'Florstein' Fedorov

Leningrad Metro – Narvskaya – Alex ‘Florstein’ Fedorov

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Moscow Metro – the world’s biggest Socialist Realist Art Gallery

Leningrad (Saint Petersburg) Metro – Narvskaya – Line 1

Narvskaya (Russian: На́рвская) is a subway station in Saint Petersburg, Russia on the Kirovsko-Vyborgskaya Line between the stations Baltiyskaya and Kirovsky Zavod.

Leningrad Metro – Narvskaya - 02

Leningrad Metro – Narvskaya – 02

The station was opened on 15 November 1955, as a part of the first stage of Saint Petersburg Metro from Avtovo to Ploschad Vosstania.

When the construction of the station began, it was named after the Ploshchad Stachek (Russian: Площад Стачек, lit. ’Square of the Strikes’), but several years before it was opened the name was changed to ‘Stalinskaya’ after Joseph Stalin. When the Soviet leader died in 1953, and de-Stalinization under Nikita Khrushchev began, the station was renamed ‘Narvskaya’, after the Narva Triumphal Gate, located opposite of the entrance to the station. The name indicates that once there was a gate to the road to Narva.

Despite the name change, it still contains a large number of decorative elements related to Stalin and his cult of personality.

Leningrad Metro – Narvskaya - 05

Leningrad Metro – Narvskaya – 05

The irregular-shaped pavilion is built in the neoclassical style with a dome at one end. The station is lined in white marble with many bronze inserts. The walls of the vestibule are painted red and balustrades of escalators are decorated with red plastic. There is a decorative strip of red stone on the upper section of the walls in the underground hall, and the centre of the station’s platform is constructed with red granite.

Concourse

The station has one concourse, located at Ploshchad Stachek, at the corner of Staro-Peterhofskiy Prospekt and Ivan Chernyh Street. The vestibule of the station was designed by architects I. V. Vasilyev, D. S. Goldgor, S. B. Speransky and engineer O. V. Ivanova.

The wall of the vestibule was planned to be decorated with the engraving of the following quote of Stalin:

There is a chance that Russia will be the country to lead the way to socialism… One must discard the obsolete idea that only Europe can show us the way.

Не исключена возможность, что именно Россия явится страной пролагающей путь к социализму… Надо откинуть отжившее представление о том, что только Европа может указывать нам путь.

Over the escalator run there is a relief reading ‘Glory to Work!’ (Russian: Слава труду!, romanized: Slava trudu!), sculpted by G. V. Kosov, A. G. Ovsyannikov, V. G. Stamov, and A. P. Timchenko. This area had been planned to contain an engraving of Stalin.

In recent years, the station has struggled under the large volume of passenger traffic. Its three escalators have not been sufficient to carry passengers during the morning and afternoon rush hours. The escalators were built in the 1950s and they require occasional repairs. In peak hours, the station works only in one direction: either on the entrance or on exit.

In 2012, the station was closed for a 14-month reconstruction, which was planned to include the replacement of the three outdated escalators with four new ones.

Leningrad Metro – Narvskaya - 06

Leningrad Metro – Narvskaya – 06

Architectural appearance of the underground hall

Three lines of escalators deliver passengers to the underground hall, which is located at a depth of 52 metres (171ft). These escalators are illuminated by highly-artistic fixtures – cylinders topped with a bronze colour metal crown. Fixtures and the housing of the escalator motors are made of steel and aluminium.

Leningrad Metro – Narvskaya - 08

Leningrad Metro – Narvskaya – 08

Below the escalators small rooms are located closed off the main area. The main hall is illuminated gracefully with fixtures located on the walls in groups of three.

The underground hall of the pylon station was built under the direction of architects Alexander Vasilev, David Goldgor, Sergey Speransky, and engineer O. V. Ivanova. The subjects of the station reflect ‘the valour of labour of the Soviet people’ and many elements and decorations represent Soviet-era symbols: hammer and sickles, red stars, and images of red flags.

On walls opposite the platforms, there are decorative lattices with the inscription ‘1955’, the year the station was opened.

Fluorescent lamps on consecutive arches of the ceiling illuminate the central hall, merging in the distance to create the impression of a continuous shiny surface.

Leningrad Metro – Narvskaya - 01

Leningrad Metro – Narvskaya – 01

Originally there was a large mosaic panel ‘Stalin on a tribune’, Russian: Сталин на трибуне, romanized: Stalin na tribune, located on a prominent wall of the central underground hall. This mosaic was constructed by the director of the Academy of Arts of the Soviet Union, Aleksandr Gerasimov. Stalin’s bust was planned to be displayed on a colourful background; however, in 1961, after the 22nd Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, the panel was covered by a false wall of marble, with a photo of the original panel included in the book dedicated to the line’s opening.

There was a boardroom in an enclosed space. Later this premise was used as the linear point for machinists of the Depot ‘Avtovo’ which is still there. According to machinists, the wall with a mosaic is still displayed and staff-only premises have been expanded to the following pair of columns, but during the organization of the Museum of Saint-Petersburg Metro a museum of underground this mosaic has not been displayed, and its location and condition are not known.

Leningrad Metro – Narvskaya - 07

Leningrad Metro – Narvskaya – 07

Sidewalls of the pylons of the central underground hall are decorated with high reliefs depicting people of different professions:

High reliefs of Narvskaya

 

Professions

Sculptors

In Russian

Peoples of art

Maria Litovchenko

Мария Тимофеевна Литовченко

Collective farmers

Mikhail Anikushin

Михаил Константинович Аникушин

Naval architects

Mikhail Gabe

Михаил Руфимович Габе

Scholars

Elena Chelpanova

Елена Георгиевна Челпанова

Plant selection breeders

Valentina Rybalko

Валентина Лаврентьевна Рыбалко

Tube builders

Alexander Ignatiev

Александр Михайлович Игнатьев

Textilemen

Lubov Hohlina

Любовь Михайловна Холина

Founders

P. Kulikov

П. А. Куликов

Seamen

V. Sichev

В. И. Сычёв

Doctors

N. Slobodinskiy

Н. К. Слободинский

Red soldiers

V. Pirozhkov

В. О. Пирожков

Builders

Alexander Chernitsky

Александр Николаевич Черницкий

Facts and prospects

The 2.5-kilometre (1.6mi) run between Narvskaya and Kirovsky Zavod stations is the longest on the initial stage of the Saint Petersburg Metro. To meet the schedule for the opening, fast construction methods were employed. Information displays the information for passengers on platforms of stations: under the phrase ‘the train follows to station’ one of two variants was highlighted: Avtovo or Narvskaya.

Leningrad Metro – Narvskaya - 04

Leningrad Metro – Narvskaya – 04

The first stage of Saint Petersburg Metro was laid practically on an existing branch of a tram. To accustom passengers to use new transport, the tram line has been transferred on small streets, but at Narvskaya metro station the tram ring has remained.

After these tunnels ceased to be used for transport Line 1, they were used for storing Line 2 trains overnight. When in 1972 Depot 3 ‘Moskovskoye’ was constructed, all trains of Line 2 began to spend the night on the line.

Since the beginning of the 21st century, the station has been functioning continuously under a maximum load. In 2007, the Administration of the underground announced the full closure of the station in 2010 due to repairs and replacement of the escalators. In 2008 the tender for manufacture and delivery of four escalators was won by factory Universalmash [perhaps].

On summer 2009, information of the project approval were published and plans specified the middle of 2010 as the beginning of work. [But what happened from then is unknown – at present.]

Leningrad Metro – Narvskaya - 03

Leningrad Metro – Narvskaya – 03

Text from Wikipedia [slightly re-worked]

Location:

Kirovsky District

GPS:

59°54′04.35″N

30°16′29.65″E

Depth:

52m (171ft)

Opened:

15 November 1955

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Leningrad (Saint Petersburg) Metro – Kirovsky Zavod – Line 1

Leningrad Metro - Kirovsky Zavod - Alex 'Florstein' Fedorov

Leningrad Metro – Kirovsky Zavod – Alex ‘Florstein’ Fedorov

More on the USSR

Moscow Metro – the world’s biggest Socialist Realist Art Gallery

Leningrad (Saint Petersburg) Metro – Kirovsky Zavod – Line 1

Kirovsky Zavod (Russian: Ки́ровский заво́д) is a station of the Saint Petersburg Metro on the Kirovsko-Vyborgskaya Line 1. It is named after the Kirov Plant which traditionally manufactured armaments – which itself was named after the Leningrad Party leader Sergei Kirov. The station opened on 15 November 1955.

[Limited] text from Wikipedia.

Kirovsky Zavod - 01

Kirovsky Zavod – 01

The decoration at the top of the pillars on either side of the entrances from the passageway to the platforms are images that represent some of the ‘pillars’ of the Soviet economy, here in 1955. Those aspects of the economy are; oil, electricity, heavy engineering and mining. As in the more elaborate stations of the Moscow Metro not everyone of the images is unique. Here there are four which get repeated along both sides of the central passageway.

Kirovsky Zavod - 03

Kirovsky Zavod – 03

I don’t know if these are actually made of metal, as they appear, or are, on the other hand, plaster casts which have been painted with a metallic paint. What tends to go against the latter explanation is the almost pristine condition of the cast. There’s no sign whatsoever of any chipping – which does appear in some of the items in the Moscow Metro that are not all what they seem. If I get definitive information about this I’ll update. Unfortunately, to date, I have no information about the artists.

Kirovsky Zavod - 02

Kirovsky Zavod – 02

At one end of the platform is a bust of VI Lenin, dated 1955 – so presumably commissioned for the station.

Kirovsky Zavod - 04

Kirovsky Zavod – 04

Location:

Kirovsky District

GPS:

59°52′46.92″N

30°15′42.88″E

Depth:

50m (164ft)

Opened:

15 November 1955

More on the USSR

Moscow Metro – the world’s biggest Socialist Realist Art Gallery

SM Kirov House and Museum – Leningrad (Saint Petersburg)

Sergei Kirov Apartment Museum

Sergei Kirov Apartment Museum

More on the USSR

SM Kirov House and Museum – Leningrad (Saint Petersburg)

Kirov’s museum is located in the famous ‘House of Three Benois’ on the second entrance of the house number 26/28 on Kamennoostrovsky Prospect, on the 4th and 5th floors.

‘The House of three Benois’ is one of the largest pre-revolutionary St. Petersburg tenement buildings. It was constructed in 1911-1914. for the First Russian Insurance Company, designed by architects L. Benois, A. Benois, J. Benois and A. Gunst.

After the revolution of 1917, many apartments in this house became communal. Some of the apartments have been given to the Party and government leaders.

In April 1926, Kirov started to live in a service apartment number 20 in the house 26/28 on the Krasnyh Zor’ (Red Dawn) street (former Kamennoostrovsky Avenue). Sergei Mironovich Kirov was head of the Communist party organization in Leningrad. There he lived with his wife, Maria Lvovna Marcus until the last day of his life, up to December 1st 1934. In 1955, the apartment became a museum.

In addition to the memorial five-room apartment (in four of which authentic furniture are fully preserved ) you will see two hallways, bathroom and kitchen (which were renovated in the 2000s.). In the former maids room is an interactive educational game ‘Take what you are given’, which dedicated to the food supply and rationing system in 1920-1930 Leningrad. In another room of the museum is an exposition ‘Kirov’s office in Smolny’.

Text from the museum website.

Location and information:

5th floor

Kamennoostrovsky Avenue, 26-28,

St. Petersburg,

197101

Metro: Petrogradskaya, Gorkovskaya

Opening Hours

Everyday: 11.00 to 18.00.

Ticket Office: from 11.00 to 17.30

Closed: Wednesday

Entrance

Adults 200 rouble

Students 150 rouble

Guided Excursion:

(individuals) 600 rouble + entrance

(group 3-5) 1,500 rouble + entrance

To Book a Guided Excursion: (812) 346-02-89

E-mail: KirovCM@yandex.ru

Website: https://kirovmuseum.ru/en

More on the USSR