Riding the Moscow metro

London has the world’s oldest underground rail system; Tokyo’s metro has employees to push people into packed trains; New York’s subway is an ethnic melting pot.

Hidden beneath the streets of Moscow is something completely different. To step onto the Moscow metro is to step back in time and immerse yourself in a museum rich in architecture and history.

A woman walks on the platform as a train arrives at Mayakovskaya metro station, which was built in 1938, in Moscow August 17, 2013. The Moscow metro was opened in 1935, and carries more passengers daily than the London and New York metro systems combined. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson

Opened in 1935, it is an extravagant gallery of Communist design, full of Soviet artworks, Art Deco styling, statues, chandeliers, marble columns and ceiling mosaics.

People walk under the mosaic of former Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin at Komsomolskaya metro station in Moscow August 14, 2013. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson 

Built under Stalin by some of the best Soviet artists and architects, the metro transports 7-9 million people a day, more than London and New York combined. It costs 30 Rubles, around $1, for a single ride.

People walk near the entrance to Arbatskaya metro station, which was built in 1953, is seen in Moscow August 17, 2013. The Moscow metro was opened in 1935, and carries more passengers daily than the London and New York metro systems combined. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson 

We were given metro passes with our credentials when we arrived to cover the IAAF World Athletics Championships in Moscow.

On the first day, I caught the metro back to our hotel with a group of Reuters photographers, when we missed the last media bus.

People walk through Prospekt Mira metro station in Moscow August 14, 2013. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson 

We were wowed by the architecture, and continued to travel this way to photograph it, and the people riding it: couples kissing, drunks taking late trains home, average commuters doing their best to avoid eye contact.

A couple hugs in front of a stained glass panel in Novoslobodskaya metro station, which was built in 1952, in Moscow August 17, 2013. The Moscow metro was opened in 1935, and carries more passengers daily than the London and New York metro systems combined. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson 
Women joke with each other on the platform in Turgenevskaya metro station in Moscow August 16, 2013. The Moscow metro was opened in 1935, and carries more passengers daily than the London and New York metro systems combined. Picture taken August 16, 2013. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson 

The trains were incredibly noisy, and it was difficult to hold a conversation while in a carriage. But they were also incredibly prompt. If we missed a train, rarely did we have to wait more than a minute for another to arrive.

A woman sits on a bench at Prospekt Mira metro station in Moscow August 14, 2013. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson 

It was best to rush onto a train when it first pulled into the station, to avoid the moment when the driver closes the doors on stragglers. I only made this mistake once, the heavy doors bouncing off my forearms, before aggressively snapping shut.

A couple hugs on the metro in Moscow August 17, 2013. The Moscow metro was opened in 1935, and carries more passengers daily than the London and New York metro systems combined, according to media reports. Picture taken August 17, 2013. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson 

Locals said we were experiencing the metro during the only tolerable empty time of year: August is when many Muscovites are on vacation.

A woman reads a magazine in Chistye Prudy metro station in Moscow August 16, 2013. The Moscow metro was opened in 1935, and carries more passengers daily than the London and New York metro systems combined. Picture taken August 16, 2013. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson 

A Russian photographer told me that after the Soviet era, people tended to be wary and suspicious of being photographed.

Men use their mobile phones as they stand in front of a mosaic depicting former Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin at Biblioteka Imeni Lenina metro station in Moscow August 13, 2013. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson 

But wearing our World Athletics backpacks, we clearly looked like tourists, and people generally ignored our presence. A rare few smiled; a couple of children borrowed their mother’s iPhone and photographed us back. Only a train driver responded angrily sounding a deafening horn that echoed through the station when I tried to photograph him.

Theft is common on the metro, despite the ubiquitous presence of security cameras and police, so we always stayed together as a group when carrying our cameras.

One of the most beautiful metro stations, Mayakovskaya, is famous for its 34 ceiling mosaics depicting “24 Hours in the Land of the Soviets.” During World War II, it was used as a command post for Moscow’s anti-aircraft regiment.

Ceiling panels are seen in Mayakovskaya metro station, which was built in 1938, in Moscow August 17, 2013. The Moscow metro was opened in 1935, and carries more passengers daily than the London and New York metro systems combined. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson 

At Ploshchad Revolyutsii station, as each crowd of people hurtles off the train, a throng of hands reaches out to rub the nose of a bronze dog to bring them luck. The dog’s nose has been polished shiny, and stands out amongst the 76 life-size bronze sculptures in the dark station.

A woman touches the nose of the “lucky dog” statue at the Ploshchad Revolyutsii Metro station in Moscow, August 14, 2013. Commuters believe that rubbing the nose of the bronze dog statue will bring them good luck.
REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson 

During the Cold War, stations on the Arbatskaya line with plodding wooden escalators, were dug deep to serve as shelters in the event of nuclear war.

Rumor has it that in the 1950s, Stalin ordered a top-secret line dug deeper than the other metro lines, linking the Kremlin to the airport and a series of nuclear bunkers.

People wait for the train at Prospekt Mira metro station in Moscow August 14, 2013. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson 

Lenin’s face is everywhere; Stalin’s was removed in 1956, three years after his death. Nikita S. Khrushshev’s de-Stalinization program sought to remove references to the dictator responsible for the deaths of millions of Soviet citizens, through forced collectivization, deportation of ethnic groups, imprisonment in the Gulag, and party purges.

Women walk past a statue in Belorusskaya metro station in Moscow August 17, 2013. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson 

A ceiling panel in Belorusskaya metro station, which shows three women holding a hammer and sickle wreath, with the letters CCCP, originally depicted the women reaching to touch a bust of Stalin.

A ceiling panel is seen in Belorusskaya metro station, which was built in 1952, in Moscow August 17, 2013. The Moscow metro was opened in 1935, and carries more passengers daily than the London and New York metro systems combined. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson

Only recently under Putin, have more favorable references to Stalin crept back into the patriotic narrative of World War II. A 2009 renovation of Kurskaya station, surprised people with its inclusion of the words of the Soviet anthem as it used to be sung under Stalin:

“Stalin reared us — on loyalty to the people. He inspired us to labor and to heroism.”

In the corner of Red Square stands the beautiful Kazan Cathedral, which was rebuilt in 1993 after the fall of communism, having been demolished by Stalin.

In a country with a modern history so laden with violent upheaval, there is a fine line between reconstructing and celebrating the political undertones of the rich architectural heritage.

“He who controls the past controls the future. He who controls the present controls the past,” wrote George Orwell in his novel ‘1984’.

 

architecturecommunismhistoryiaaf world athletics championshipsmetromoscowrussia
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