Narvskaya () is a subway station in
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
,
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...
on the
Kirovsko-Vyborgskaya Line
Line 1 of the Saint Petersburg Metro, also known as ''Kirovsko-Vyborgskaya Line'' (russian: Ки́ровско-Вы́боргская ли́ния) or ''Red Line'', is the oldest rapid transit line in Saint Petersburg, Russia, opened in 1955, wh ...
between the stations
Baltiyskaya and
Kirovsky Zavod.
The station was opened on 15 November 1955, as a part of the first stage of
Saint Petersburg Metro
The Saint Petersburg Metro (russian: links=no, Петербургский метрополитен, Peterburgskiy metropoliten) is a rapid transit system in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Construction began in early 1941, but was put on hold due to Wor ...
from
Avtovo
Avtovo (russian: А́втово) is a station on the Kirovsko-Vyborgskaya Line of the Saint Petersburg Metro. Designed by architect , it opened as part of the first Leningrad Metro line on November 15, 1955. In 2014, The Guardian included it on t ...
to
Ploschad Vosstania.
Overview
When the construction of the station began, it was named after the Ploshchad Stachek (), but several years before it has been opened, the name was changed to "Stalinskaya" after
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secretar ...
. When the Soviet leader died in 1953 and
de-Stalinization under
Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (– 11 September 1971) was the First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964 and chairman of the country's Council of Ministers from 1958 to 1964. During his rule, Khrushchev s ...
began, the station was renamed "Narvskaya" after the
Narva Triumphal Gate, located opposite of the entrance to the station. The name indicates that once there was a gate of the road to
Narva
Narva, russian: Нарва is a municipality and city in Estonia. It is located in Ida-Viru county, at the eastern extreme point of Estonia, on the west bank of the Narva river which forms the Estonia–Russia international border. With 54 ...
.
Despite the name change, it still contains a large number of decorative elements related to
Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secretar ...
and
his cult of personality.
The irregular-shaped pavilion is built in the
neoclassical style
Neoclassical architecture is an architectural style produced by the Neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century in Italy and France. It became one of the most prominent architectural styles in the Western world. The prevailing sty ...
with a dome at one end. The station is lined in white
marble
Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite. Marble is typically not foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the term ''marble'' refers to metamorphose ...
with many
bronze inserts. The walls of the vestibule are painted red and balustrades of escalators are decorated with red plastic. There is a decorative strip of red stone on the upper section of the walls in the underground hall, and the centre of the station's platform is constructed with red
granite
Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies under ...
.
Concourse
![Нарвская](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/07/%D0%9D%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%B2%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B0%D1%8F.jpg)
The station has one concourse, located at Ploshchad Stachek, at the corner of Staro-Peterhofskiy Prospekt and Ivan Chernyh Street. The vestibule of the station was designed by
architect
An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...
s I. V. Vasilyev, D. S. Goldgor, S. B. Speransky and
engineer
Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the limit ...
O. V. Ivanova.
The wall of the vestibule was planned to be decorated with the engraving of the following quote of Stalin:
![Narvskaya metropoliten 2006](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/ff/Narvskaya_metropoliten_2006.06.Top_view.JPG)
Over the
escalator run there is a relief reading "Glory to Work!" (), sculpted by G. V. Kosov, A. G. Ovsyannikov, V. G. Stamov, and A. P. Timchenko. This area had been planned to contain an engraving of Stalin.
In recent years, the station has struggled under the large volume of passenger traffic. Its three escalators have not been sufficient to carry passengers during the morning and afternoon rush hours. The escalators were built in the 1950s and they require occasional repairs. In peak hours, the station works only in one direction: either on the entrance or on exit.
![Narvskaya metrostation - Escalator Lights](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/99/Narvskaya_metrostation_-_Escalator_Lights.jpg)
In 2012, the station was closed for a 14-month reconstruction, which was planned to include the replacement of the three outdated escalators with four new ones.
Architectural appearance of the underground hall
Three lines of escalators deliver passengers to the underground hall, which is located at a depth of . These escalators are illuminated by highly-artistic fixtures - cylinders topped with a bronze colour metal crown. Fixtures and the housing of the escalator motors are made of
steel and
aluminium
Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. I ...
.
Below the escalators small rooms are located closed off the main area. The main hall is illuminated gracefully with fixtures located on the walls in groups of three.
![Saint Petersburg Metro, Russia (44488201715)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d9/Saint_Petersburg_Metro%2C_Russia_%2844488201715%29.jpg)
The underground hall of the
pylon station
A metro station or subway station is a station for a rapid transit system, which as a whole is usually called a "metro" or "subway". A station provides a means for passengers to purchase tickets, board trains, and evacuate the system in th ...
was built under the direction of
architect
An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...
s Alexander Vasilev, David Goldgor, Sergey Speransky, and engineer O. V. Ivanova. The subjects of the station reflect "the valour of labour of the Soviet people", and many elements and decorations represent Soviet-era symbols:
hammer and sickles,
red stars, and images of
red flags.
On walls opposite the
platforms, there are decorative lattices with the inscription «1955», the year when the station was opened.
Fluorescent lamps on consecutive arches of the ceiling illuminate the central hall, merging in the distance to create the impression of a continuous shiny surface.
Originally there was a large mosaic panel "Stalin on a tribune" located on a prominent wall of the central underground hall. This mosaic was constructed by the director of the Academy of Arts of the Soviet Union,
Aleksandr Gerasimov. Stalin's bust was planned to be displayed on a colourful background; however, in 1961, after the
22nd Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
The 22nd Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (russian: XXII съезд КПСС) was held from 17 to 31 October 1961. In fourteen days of sessions (22 October was a day off), 4,413 delegates, in addition to delegates from 83 foreign ...
, the panel was covered by a false wall of marble, with a photo of the original panel included in the book dedicated to the line's opening.
There was a boardroom in an enclosed space. Later this premise was used as the linear point for machinists of the Depot "Avtovo" which is still there. According to machinists, the wall with a mosaic is still displayed and staff-only premises have been expanded to the following pair of columns, but during the organization of the Museum of Saint-Petersburg Metro a museum of underground this mosaic has not been displayed, and its location and condition are not known.
Sidewalls of the
pylons of the central underground hall are decorated with high reliefs depicting people of different professions:
Facts and prospects
The run between Narvskaya and Kirovsky Zavod stations is the longest on the initial stage of the
Saint Petersburg Metro
The Saint Petersburg Metro (russian: links=no, Петербургский метрополитен, Peterburgskiy metropoliten) is a rapid transit system in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Construction began in early 1941, but was put on hold due to Wor ...
.
To meet the schedule for the opening, fast construction methods were employed. Information displays the information for passengers on platforms of stations: under the phrase "the train follows to station" one of two variants was highlighted:
Avtovo
Avtovo (russian: А́втово) is a station on the Kirovsko-Vyborgskaya Line of the Saint Petersburg Metro. Designed by architect , it opened as part of the first Leningrad Metro line on November 15, 1955. In 2014, The Guardian included it on t ...
or Narvskaya.
The first stage of
Saint Petersburg Metro
The Saint Petersburg Metro (russian: links=no, Петербургский метрополитен, Peterburgskiy metropoliten) is a rapid transit system in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Construction began in early 1941, but was put on hold due to Wor ...
was laid practically on an existing branch of a
tram
A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...
.
To accustom passengers to use new transport, the tram line has been transferred on small streets, but at Narvskaya metro station the tram ring has remained.
After these tunnels ceased to be used for transport
Line 1, they were used for storing
Line 2 trains overnight.
When in 1972 Depot 3 "Moskovskoye" was constructed, all trains of Line 2 began to spend the night on the line.
Since the beginning of the 21st century, the station has been functioning continuously under a maximum load. In 2007, the Administration of the underground announced the full closure of close the station on 2010 due to reparations and replacement of
escalator
An escalator is a moving staircase which carries people between floors of a building or structure. It consists of a motor-driven chain of individually linked steps on a track which cycle on a pair of tracks which keep the step tread horizo ...
s. In 2008 the tender for manufacture and delivery of four escalators was won by factory Universalmash.
On summer 2009, informations of the project approval were published and plans specified the middle of 2010 as the beginning of work.
References
External links
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{{Placename toponym Narva
Saint Petersburg Metro stations
Neoclassical architecture in Russia
Railway stations in Russia opened in 1955
Railway stations located underground in Russia
Cultural heritage monuments of regional significance in Saint Petersburg