Moscow Metro – Frunzenskaya – Line 1

Frunzenskaya

Frunzenskaya

More on the USSR

Moscow Metro – a Socialist Realist Art Gallery

Moscow Metro – Frunzenskaya – Line 1

Frunzenskaya 04

Frunzenskaya 04

Frunzenskaya (Фру́нзенская) is a Metro station on the Sokolnicheskaya Line in Moscow, Russia. The station was opened on 1 May 1957 as the first stage of the extension of the Frunzenskiy radius. As the radius follows the bend of the Moskva river, the whole segment had to be built very deep (42 metres/138 ft for Frunzenskaya).

Frunzenskaya 01

Frunzenskaya 01

The station closed on 2 January 2016 for renovation, which was expected to last 14 months. The renovations were completed ahead of schedule with the station reopening on December 29, 2016. The renovations included the installation of four new escalators to replace the three that had been in place. Metro authorities projected that the new escalators would reduce energy consumption by 40% and increase the capacity by one-third.

Frunzenskaya 03

Frunzenskaya 03

The station is also symbolic as being one of the last in Moscow to be fully built in Stalinist style which dominated the Metro Architecture since the mid-1940s, afterwards the station designs show evidence of more vivid decorations that were meant to be installed yet designs were simplified (examples include the station VDNKh and Alexeyevskaya). Frunzenskaya still stands out and architects Robert Pogrebnoi and Yuriy Zenkivich applied a pylon design with cream marbled vaults and tops of pylons, decorated with metallic shields containing a five-sided star. The bottom of Pylons are a form of a thicker red marble base. Suspended from the ceiling are massive eight-horned chandeliers. The floor is covered with black and red granite on floors and the walls are faced with white ceramic tiles.

Frunzenskaya 02

Frunzenskaya 02

In the far end of the station, in front of a red-marbled semicircle is a bust to Mikhail Frunze (work of sculptor Yevgeny Vuchetich), a famous military commander in the Russian Civil War for whom the station is named.

Frunzenskaya 05

Frunzenskaya 05

The station’s massive vestibule (architects Nadia Bykova, Ivan Taranov, I.G. Cherepanov, I.G.Gokhar-Kharmandaryan, N.I.Demchinskiy and T.A.Ilina) is situated on the Komsomolskiy Avenue and Kholzunov side-street was partially demolished and built into the Moscow’s Palace of Youth building in 1984. Presently receives a daily passenger traffic of 47,410. Also behind the station is a junction for a branch to the Koltsevaya Line used for transfers.

Frunzenskaya 06

Frunzenskaya 06

Text from Wikipedia.

Location:

GPS:

55.7267°N

37.5786°E

Opened:

1 May 1957

Depth:

42 metres (138 ft)

More on the USSR

Moscow Metro – a Socialist Realist Art Gallery

Moscow Metro – Belorusskaya – Line 5

Belorusskaya - Line 5 - Interior - By Sudakovsky

Belorusskaya – Line 5 – Interior – By Sudakovsky

More on the USSR

Moscow Metro – a Socialist Realist Art Gallery

Moscow Metro – Belorusskaya – Line 5

Belorusskaya - Line 5 - ceiling mosaic - 12

Belorusskaya – Line 5 – ceiling mosaic – 12

Belorusskaya (Белору́сская) is a station on the Moscow Metro’s Koltsevaya line. It is named after the nearby Belorussky Rail Terminal. It opened in 1952, serving briefly as the terminus of the line before the circle was completed in 1954. Designed by Ivan Taranov, Z. Abramova, A. Markova, and Ya. Tatarzhinskaya, the station has low, white marble pylons, an elaborately patterned plaster ceiling, light fixtures supported by ornate scroll-shaped brackets, and a variety of decorations based on Belarusian themes.

Belorusskaya - Line 5 - ceiling mosaic - 02

Belorusskaya – Line 5 – ceiling mosaic – 02

Overhead, twelve octagonal mosaics by G. Opryshko, S. Volkov, and I. Morozov depict Belarusian daily life, and underfoot the platform is intricately tiled to resemble a Belarusian quilt. A sculptural group by sculptor Matvey Manizer called ‘Soviet Belorussia’ used to stand at the end of the platform before it was removed in 1998 to make room for a second entrance. Another sculptural group, ‘Belarussian Partisans’ by S.M. Orlov, S. M. Rabinovich, and I. A. Slonim, is located in the passage between this station and Belorusskaya–Radialnaya.

Belorusskaya - Line 5 - ceiling mosaic - 07

Belorusskaya – Line 5 – ceiling mosaic – 07

The station’s original vestibule is located at the southwest corner of Belorusskaya Square. A newer entrance opens onto Butirsky Val Street.

Belorusskaya - Line 5 - ceiling mosaic - 04

Belorusskaya – Line 5 – ceiling mosaic – 04

In 2002, a bomb exploded under one of Belorusskaya’s marble benches, injuring seven people.

Belorusskaya - Line 5 - ceiling mosaic - 03

Belorusskaya – Line 5 – ceiling mosaic – 03

From this station passengers can transfer to Belorusskaya on the Zamoskvoretskaya line, whose metro entrance in closest to Aero Express, direct train to Sheremetevo Airport.

Belorusskaya - Line 5 - ceiling mosaic - 11

Belorusskaya – Line 5 – ceiling mosaic – 11

Text from Wikipedia.

Belorusskaya

Belorusskaya

Belorusskaya metro entrance

Belorusskaya metro entrance

More images of the external station building and the ticket hall in the second slide show below.

Location:

GPS:

55.7764°N

37.5844°E

Depth:

42.5 metres (139ft)

Opened:

30 January 1952

More on the USSR

Moscow Metro – a Socialist Realist Art Gallery

Moscow Metro – Belorusskaya – Line 2

Moscow Metro - Belorusskaya - Line 2 - by A. Savin

Moscow Metro – Belorusskaya – Line 2 – by A. Savin

More on the USSR

Moscow Metro – a Socialist Realist Art Gallery

Moscow Metro – Belorusskaya – Line 2

Belorusskaya - Line 2 - 03

Belorusskaya – Line 2 – 03

Belorusskaya (Белору́сская) is a Moscow Metro station on the Zamoskvoretskaya line. Designed by architects Ivan Taranov and Nadezhda Bykova, it was opened in 1938 as part of the second stage of the Moscow Metro.

Belorusskaya - Line 2 - 10

Belorusskaya – Line 2 – 10

The station is named after the nearby Belorussky Rail Terminal, from which westward trains towards Belarus and western Europe depart.

Belorusskaya - Line 2 - 08

Belorusskaya – Line 2 – 08

The station is decorated with national Belarusian motives, which include the facing of rectangular pylons faced with pink marble from Birobidzhan on the exterior and with black davalu marble in the passageway to the platforms. Bronze floor-lamps decorate the pylon niches, in the end of the central hall is a bust of Vladimir Lenin.

Belorusskaya - Line 2 - 04

Belorusskaya – Line 2 – 04

The station underwent several modernisations which slightly altered its original design. The floor, initially being based on Belarusian national ornaments, was replaced with square tiles of black and grey marble. The walls also initially covered with indigo ceramic tiles were replaced by indigo marble in 2004.

Belorusskaya - Line 2 - 07

Belorusskaya – Line 2 – 07

In 1952, a series of staircases was added to the southern side of the central hall, and a transfer to Belorusskaya station on the Koltsevaya line was opened. In 1958 the first cruise control system in the Moscow Metro was tested on Belorusskaya, with a photoelement installed on a train.

Belorusskaya - Line 2 - 06

Belorusskaya – Line 2 – 06

Text from Wikipedia.

Belorusskaya - Line 2 - 09

Belorusskaya – Line 2 – 09

Location:

GPS:

55.7767°N

37.5835°E

Opened:

11 September 1938

Depth:

33.1 metres (109 ft)

More on the USSR

Moscow Metro – a Socialist Realist Art Gallery