Who would have thought that every day Muscovites visit a completely unique place, like the Novokuznetskaya metro station? But, nevertheless, it is so. The station was designed by architects Bykova and Taranov. It was opened in 1943, in the middle of the Great Patriotic War, which affected its appearance.
The station symbolizes the connection between past centuries and the present. Its bas-reliefs depict historical figures and famous military leaders, whose deeds and words were watched by all of Russia and Moscow. "Novokuznetskaya" captured Minin and Pozharsky, Suvorov, Alexander Nevsky, Dmitry Donskoy, Mikhail Kutuzov and, of course, Lenin and the traditional figures of that time - proletarians from various professions.
The ceiling panels of the Novokuznetskaya metro station depict scenes from the life of a utopian communist society - harvesting a rich harvest, building houses, etc. These mosaics can rightly be called priceless, because they were made in 1942 by V. A. Frolov according to the sketches of the famous A. A. Deineka in besieged Leningrad. At first he worked together with three employees of the workshop, howevercompleted the work alone. All this time, the workshop was not heated and was lit only with a kerosene lamp.
Having finished work and escorted trucks with panels to the famous "road of life" on Ladoga, Vladimir Alexandrovich died of exhaustion and hunger, like many blockade survivors. And only recently a memorial plaque in his honor appeared at the station. In addition to Novokuznetskaya, Frolov's works can also be seen at Mayakovskaya, as well as in St. Petersburg: in the Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ on Blood (Church of the Savior on Blood), in the tomb of the Peter and Paul Fortress and on the Nabokovs' house.
The architects who designed the station, N. A. Bykova and I. G. Taranov, were spouses. The Novokuznetskaya metro station was their second joint brainchild after Sokolniki. This creative tandem of talented architects also gave Moscow Belorusskaya-ring, VDNH, Sportivnaya, Izmailovskaya, Shchelkovskaya and Vernadsky Avenue.
Nadezhda Alexandrovna wrote in her memoirs that initially the mosaic panels were intended for Paveletskaya, but during its construction and decoration it was decided not to use ceiling lamps in the interior, and they turned out to be unnecessary. Her husband returned to Moscow from evacuation and wrote to her about these panels. And although she was against their use, she could no longer dissuade her husband.
An interesting detail - the benches installed at the station are made ofmarble taken from the old Cathedral of Christ the Savior, which was blown up. So the next time you're at the station, pay attention to them.
An illustration to the history of Russia in times of war and peacetime - that's what "Novokuznetskaya" is. It is simply impossible to imagine the metro of the capital without it today: after all, it is located in the center of Moscow, on Pyatnitskaya Street, and is part of a large interchange hub along with the Tretyakovskaya stations of the Kalinin and Kaluzhsko-Rizhskaya lines. There is a small square next to the station ground lobby. The daily passenger flow at the entrance and exit to the station is 43 and 36 thousand people, respectively. And few of them think about the history of the creation of the amazing Novokuznetskaya metro station.
