More than 80 years have passed since the opening of the first stations of the Moscow Metro (May 1935). Every year the relevance of such underground transport increases. More and more people prefer the underground mode of transportation, which is associated with numerous and constant traffic jams on the roads.
The Moscow metro is like an underground city, or rather cities. Here, each station has its own distinctive history, and some of them got their names from the names of streets and other objects located on the surface next to the metro.
The article provides information about one of the oldest metro stations - the Lenin Library.
General information about the Moscow Metro
The Moscow metro is one of the most reliable, comfortable and beautiful in the world. More than forty of its stations have the status of architectural masterpieces. They are objects of cultural heritage in a regional sense.
The history of the subway is closely connected with numerous events that took place in the country. Particularly goodyou can feel it while traveling through the stations accompanied by a guide who tells about the history of construction, about the symbols contained in the elements present in the design of the halls.
Almost all metro stations are unique in their own way. Each of them is well thought out both in technical and engineering terms, and in artistic and decorative design.
Metro station "Library named after Lenin"
Initially, the station was supposed to be a giant underground monument dedicated to the proletarian leader V. I. Lenin. Its location is between Kropotkinskaya and Okhotny Ryad.
This station is the first of the single-vaulted ones in the Moscow metro. Its underground hall is located under Mokhovaya Street. The vestibules lead to the library of the same name before (the current name is the Russian State Library). The project of the station was created by the famous architect A. I. Gontskevich.
The design of this station is shallow (only 12 meters deep). The method of construction is mountain, the finishing of the base is monolithic concrete. The boarding hall is covered with a single vault, over which the thickness of the soil is only 2 - 3.5 meters. The station is 160 meters long.
Administratively, the station is located on the territory of the Tverskoy District (Central District of Moscow).
A bit of construction history
The transition to Ulitsa Kominterna metro station (the modern name is Aleksandrovsky Sad) was built back in 1937. Since then, the metro stationThe Lenin Library (photo is presented in the article) became one of the first 2 interchanges in the Moscow Metro. That crossing was reconstructed in 1946, and the entrance hall and the escalator track from the Arbatskaya station were completed in 1953.
After the next opening in 1958 of the station, called at that time "Kalininskaya" (the modern name "Alexander Garden"), the transitions to it were also repaired. The old east vestibule was demolished in the 1960s and a new one was built in its place. At the same time, a network of underground passages was also built. They began to take passengers to the Alexander Garden and to the cash desks of the Kremlin Palace. A bridge was also built in the very center of the hall, leading to the passages leading to the Alexandrovsky Sad and Arbatskaya stations. Under the western vestibule of the Lenin Library metro station, a common entrance hall and a new Borovitskaya station were built in 1984.
Decoration and finishing
Track walls are finished with ceramic tiles and yellow marble. Initially, at the time of the opening of the station, the floors of the central hall were covered with parquet. Then the coating was made with asph alt, and subsequently the floors were made of gray granite. The arch of the hall, illuminated by round lamps, is decorated with a cellular pattern.
The eastern entrance hall is decorated with a portrait of V. I. Lenin (mosaic), made in the 70s by the artist G. I. Opryshko.
It should be noted that in the lining you can see traces of ancient fossils, about which in his scientific book Entertainingmineralogy” wrote A. E. Fersman (Soviet and Russian mineralogist). He noted that in the Crimean marble of a reddish hue, one can see the fossilized remains of shells and snails. They represent the remains of the life of the most ancient southern seas, the waters of which once, many millions of years ago, covered the territories of the entire Caucasus and Crimea.
Lobbies and transfers
Moscow metro station "Library named after Lenin" - transfer to the following stations:
- Arbatskaya (Arbatsko-Pokrovskaya line);
- Aleksandrovsky Garden (Filevskaya line);
- Borovitskaya (Serpukhovsko-Timiryazevskaya line).
Very convenient in terms of transfers metro station "Library named after Lenin". Exits and transitions are convenient and numerous. The transition to the Arbatskaya station is carried out through the eastern hall, and through the stairs located in the center of the boarding hall. In the same way, you can go to the Aleksandrovsky Sad metro station, as well as access the ground and underground combined vestibules of the Lenin Library and Aleksandrovsky Garden. The western entrance hall connects with the ground lobby near the RGM building and with the Borovitskaya station. It should be noted that none of the presented vestibules of this transfer hub formally refers to the vestibules of the Lenin Library metro station.
Station neighborhood
The most important sights of Moscow are located in the city center. How to get there? From the metro station "Library named after Lenin" tothe most famous historical places of the capital are very close.
Leaving the metro station, you can visit the following attractions:
- RSL (library).
- Alexander Garden, located near the walls of the Kremlin.
- The Kremlin is the main attraction of the capital, on the territory of which the Moscow Kremlin Museum is located.
- Red Square (approximately 600 meters from metro).
- St. Basil's Cathedral - the famous church of Moscow (about 100 meters from the station).
- The largest historical museum in Russia, located on Red Square (about 500 meters from the metro station).
- Kremlin embankment.
In conclusion about interesting facts
The subway is a place shrouded in mystery, rumors and stories.
In the name of the Moscow metro station “Biblioteka im. Lenin” on both letters “B” there are 2 identical strange holes of unknown origin. Their appearance is explained by two stories (most likely, they belong to the category of urban legends). One of them tells that about 20 years ago, at the night before the subway closed, there was some kind of shootout at the station. The second story says that these "autographs" were left by two drunk repairmen who tried to drive dowels into these letters on a dare.
In general, the subway in the capital of Russia could have appeared during the reign of the tsar, since the very first projects date back to 1890. The construction of such an object at that time was preventedclergy. It made a statement that a person who is created in God's image and likeness, descending into the underworld, can humiliate himself.
