Avtovo (russian: А́втово) is a station 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 ...

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 ...

. Designed by architect , it opened as part of the first Leningrad Metro line on November 15, 1955. In 2014,

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide ...

included it on the list of 12 most beautiful metro stations in the world. Avtovo's unique and highly ornate design features columns faced with ornamental

glass Glass is a non-Crystallinity, crystalline, often transparency and translucency, transparent, amorphous solid that has widespread practical, technological, and decorative use in, for example, window panes, tableware, and optics. Glass is most ...

manufactured at the Lomonosov factory. Although the original plan envisaged using glass on all of the columns in the station, 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 metamorpho ...

was substituted on some due to time constraints. This marble was supposed to be temporary, but it has never been replaced. The walls are faced with white marble and adorned on the north side by a row of ornamental ventilation grilles. At the end of the platform a mosaic by V.A. Voronetskiy and A.K. Sokolov commemorates the Leningrad Blockade (1941-1944) during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. Unlike the other stations on the first line, Avtovo is a shallow-level station, constructed using the

cut and cover A tunnel is an underground passageway, dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, and enclosed except for the entrance and exit, commonly at each end. A pipeline is not a tunnel, though some recent tunnels have used immersed tube const ...

method. It belongs to the shallow column class of underground stations. Avtovo has as its entrance vestibule a large Neoclassical building with a domed

cupola In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, most often dome-like, tall structure on top of a building. Often used to provide a lookout or to admit light and air, it usually crowns a larger roof or dome. The word derives, via Italian, fr ...

, located on the east side of .

Gallery

Image:Metro SPB Line1 Avtovo pavilion.jpg, Avtovo entrance vestibule

References

External links

*
Description of the station on Metrowalks.ru

{{Foot zones of Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg Metro stations Railway stations in Russia opened in 1955 Railway stations located underground in Russia Cultural heritage monuments of regional significance in Saint Petersburg