RBTH, 5/21/24
The Moscow Metro subway system continues to grow rapidly. In 2023 alone, 14 new stations were opened and, in the last five years, more than 40! Each has its own, unique design. And Muscovites voted for the most successful ones.
1. ‘Elektrozavodskaya’
stroi.mos.ru
This ‘Big Circle Line’ station opened in 2020. You can transfer from it to the station of the same name on the ‘blue’ Arbatsko-Pokrovskaya line. On one of its walls is a huge glass panel called ‘Battle of Heroes’ depicting a historical plot and the image of the defender of Old Russia. An interesting view of the image opens from the large round openings of the pedestrian gallery.
2. ‘Michurinsky Prospekt’
Sergei Kiselev/Moskva Agency
This ‘Big Circle Line’ station was opened in 2021. You can transfer from it to the station of the same name on the ‘yellow’ Solntsevskaya line, opened earlier, in 2018. The main feature of the design of this station are the red columns and ceiling panels with LED lighting. Some of them depict Chinese ornaments symbolizing the “friendship of nations”.
3. ‘Nagatinsky Zaton’
Sergei Kiselev/Moskva Agency
This ‘Big Circle Line’ station opened in 2023. When going outside, passengers get a picturesque view of the Moskva River. Therefore, the station was decorated with huge mosaic panels depicting fish.
4. ‘Filatov Lug’
stroi.mos.ru
This station on the ‘red’ Sokolnicheskaya line was opened in 2019. It’s an above ground station and its large panoramic windows let in daylight all year round. The designers were inspired by the stations of the 19th century: Waterloo in London, Pennsylvania Station in New York and Kievsky railway station in Moscow. Hence the abundance of glass and high vaulted ceilings.
5. ‘Airport Vnukovo’
stroi.mos.ru
This station on the ‘yellow’ Solntsevskaya line was opened in 2023. It is absolutely unique not only for Moscow, but also for the whole of Russia, as it is the first (and, so far, the only) subway station that leads directly to an airport! That is why its design is reminiscent of the civilian airplanes by the Tupolev Design Bureau, which the airport is dedicated to.
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Russia’s southernmost city – Derbent
MAY 25 2024
RUSSIA BEYOND
Derbent is a city in the Republic of Dagestan, where about 130,000 people live.
Serguei Fomine/Global Look Press
Serguei Fomine/Global Look Press
It is not only the southernmost (located on the 42nd parallel), but also one of the oldest cities in Russia. It was founded in 6th century B.C. And, in 6th century A.D., the Derbent fortess of Naryn-kala, the “solar fortress”, was built. Its walls are three meters thick and, in some places, reach 25 meters in height. It is the oldest fortress in Russia.
Legion Media
The Derbent Juma Mosque, meanwhile, is the oldest mosque not only in Russia, but also in the entire post-Soviet space. It was built in 734.
Bai Xueqi/Global Look Press
Derbent is home to dozens of ethnic peoples. Lezgins, Azerbaijanis, Tabasarans, Dargins, Kumyks, Avars and many others.
Bai Xueqi/Global Look Press
Derbent used to be dubbed the ‘Caspian Gate’. The city had a successful strategic position: the Caucasus Mountains on one side and the Caspian Sea on the other. Today, Derbent has become one of the most popular tourist destinations in the country.
Bai Xueqi/Global Look Press
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RUSSIAN REGIONSREPUBLIC OF DAGESTAN
Read more
- How has Russia’s oldest mosque stood for 1,300 years?
- 8 facts about Derbent, one of Russia’s and the world’s oldest cities
- Russia’s northernmost city – Pevek
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Where to see Russia in miniature? We put together all the installations in one post!
MAY 25 2024
RUSSIA BEYOND
Moscow, St. Petersburg, cities of the Golden Ring and the whole country in miniature. You can see the main sights of Russia on detailed models-dioramas.
Pavel Kuzmichev
1. Miniature Golden Ring model, Yaroslavl
Show-Model of the Golden Ring of Russia
You can visit all the ancient cities of Russia in just one hour in Yaroslavl. In the center of the city there is a show model of the Golden Ring, where not just the main sights and ancient temples are presented, but the life and atmosphere of the cities have been recreated.
The main cities of the Golden Ring are also represented in miniature: Yaroslavl, Kostroma, Uglich, Ivanovo, Rostov the Great, Pereslavl-Zalessky, Sergiev Posad, Vladimir and Suzdal. In Ivanovo, dubbed the “city of brides”, they make fun of stereotypes – you can see brides in white dresses, while tours are being held in the Rostov Veliky Kremlin.
Night falls every 10 minutes. The street lamps in the cities turn on and the windows of the residential houses light up.
2. Miniature Moscow model, VDNKh, Moscow
Artur Novosiltsev/Moskva Agency
At the VDNKh exhibition center in Moscow, there is a whole pavilion dedicated to a miniature version of Moscow, in which more than 23 000 buildings and constructions of the capital have been recreated on a scale of 1:400.
Monasteries, train stations, bridges, palaces, skyscrapers are represented in detail. Interestingly, the chimes of the Kremlin’s Spasskaya Tower chime at the exact time. The lighting system imitates not only day and night, but also natural phenomena. In addition, the layout accurately depicts all the hills and valleys of Moscow. You can explore the city endlessly!
3. ‘Tsar’s layout’ of Russia, Moscow
Pavel Kuzmichev
Travel by train from St. Petersburg to Moscow, climb Mount Elbrus by funicular and get stuck in traffic near Moscow City. All in one day. In the Moscow diorama museum ‘Tsar-Maket’ (‘Tsar-layout’), you can see the whole of Russia on a 1:87 scale model and meet its tiny inhabitants.
The main idea of the model was to depict how trains and roads connect different regions. As on a real railroad, in addition to the trains themselves, there is a repair bureau, where diesel locomotives are repaired and several tracks between which the switches are switched and people who have mixed up their trains.
In mini-St. Petersburg, it rains all “night”, Moscow greets you with a giant traffic jam near the skyscrapers and, in Rostov-on-Don, there is a soccer match being held in a huge stadium. Soviet cartoon characters – ‘Cheburashka’, ‘Crocodile Gena’ and ‘Shapoklyak’ – ride on the carriage of one of the trains in Pskov. And there are a huge number of such “Easter eggs” in the layout!
4. ‘Grand Maket Russia’, St. Petersburg
Yulia Khakimova
Everyday life of Russia, from Kamchatka to Kaliningrad, can be found in miniature on the ‘Grand Maket’ (“Grand Model”) in St. Petersburg. In Siberia, they play dominoes, in the Urals, a TV crew films a report about mysterious crop circles, while in Kamchatka, a volcano wakes up at night. The 1917 Bolshevik Revolution is also depicted by the creators on a movie set.
Along the entire model field, there are buttons that activate interactive scenarios: extinguishing a forest fire, ash ejection on the Kamchatka hills, operating a sawmill and much more.
5. ‘Petrovsky Aquatorium’, St. Petersburg
Maria Rukhlova (CC BY-SA)
You can see 18th century St. Petersburg in this model museum. The main part of the layout shows the space in the waters of the Neva River and the Gulf of Finland, and the water is real!
You can see interesting scenes of city life of that time: elephants walking along Nevsky Prospekt (they were once sent as a gift to Emperor Peter the Great), a fight between Lomonosov and sailors, Maslenitsa festivities, duels, balls and haymaking.
6. Exhibition Complex of Russian Railways, Moscow
Exhibition Complex of Russian Railways
At the Rizhsky train terminal, there is another model of Russia, the central idea of which is railways. On it, you can see all modern types of trains that travel around the country, the historical steam locomotive depot, railroad bridges and, of course, a model of the Riga station itself. All train lovers will find it very interesting!
Thank you for sharing these most beautiful photos, Natylie. I found that the metro stations were one of the most impressive structures I saw even way back in the Soviet era.