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Komsomolskaya (Koltsevaya line)

Coordinates: 55°46′29″N 37°39′18″E / 55.7748°N 37.6549°E / 55.7748; 37.6549
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(Redirected from Komsomol'skaya-Kol'tsevaya)
Komsomolskaya

Комсомольская
Moscow Metro station
station hall
General information
LocationKomsomolskaya Square
Krasnoselsky District
Central Administrative Okrug
Moscow
Russia
Coordinates55°46′29″N 37°39′18″E / 55.7748°N 37.6549°E / 55.7748; 37.6549
Owned byMoskovsky Metropoliten
Line(s)#5 Koltsevaya line Koltsevaya line
Platforms1 island platform
Tracks2
ConnectionsLeningradsky Rail Terminal
Yaroslavsky Rail Terminal
Kazansky Rail Terminal

Tram: 7, 13, 37, 50
Bus: A, т14, т41, 40, 122
Trolleybus: T
Construction
Structure typeDeep column tri-vault
Depth37 metres (121 ft)
Platform levels1
ParkingNo
Other information
Station code070
History
Opened30 January 1952; 72 years ago (1952-01-30)
Passengers
200954,469,315
Services
Preceding station Moscow Metro Following station
Prospekt Mira
anticlockwise / outer
Koltsevaya line Kurskaya
clockwise / inner
Krasnye Vorota
towards Potapovo
Sokolnicheskaya line
transfer at Komsomolskaya
Krasnoselskaya
Location
Komsomolskaya is located in Central Moscow
Komsomolskaya
Komsomolskaya
Location within Central Moscow

Komsomolskaya (Russian: Комсомо́льская) is a Moscow Metro station in the Krasnoselsky District, Central Administrative Okrug, Moscow. It is on the Koltsevaya line, between Prospekt Mira and Kurskaya stations.

The station is located under the busiest Moscow transport hub, Komsomolskaya Square, which serves Leningradsky, Yaroslavsky, and Kazansky railway terminals. Because of that, the station is one of the busiest in the whole system. It opened on 30 January 1952 as a part of the second stage of the line.

Evolution of the design

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Stations on the first southern segment of the Koltsevaya line were dedicated to the victory over Nazi Germany, while those on the northern segment (Belorusskaya-Koltsevaya to Komsomolskaya) were dedicated to the theme of post-war labour. Komsomolskaya was designed by Alexey Shchusev as an illustration of a historical speech given by Joseph Stalin November 7, 1941. In the speech, Stalin evoked the memories of Alexander Nevsky, Dmitry Donskoy and other military leaders of the past, and all these historical figures eventually appeared on the mosaics of Komsomolskaya.[citation needed]

The early roots of the station's design can be traced to a 1944 draft by Shchusev implemented in pure Petrine baroque, a local adaptation of the 17th century Dutch Golden Age. However, after the end of World War II the drafts of 1944 were discarded and the stations of the Koltsevaya line were completed in the mainstream late Stalinist style of the period. Shchusev, who died in 1949, retained his baroque nonce order.[citation needed][clarification needed]

Komsomolskaya remained Shchusev's first and only metro station design. The station was initially planned as a traditional deep pylon type. Later, Shchusev replaced the heavy concrete pylons with narrow octagonal steel columns, riveted with marble tiles, creating the larger open space.

After Shchusev's death, the station was completed by Viktor Kokorin, A. Zabolotnaya, V. Varvarin and O. Velikoretsky and Pavel Korin, the creator of the mosaics.

Architecture and decoration

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Interior on a 1952 stamp

Beginning with the large vestibule located among the former of the two train stations, the building features a large octagonal dome topped by a cupola, and a spire crowned by a large star and imposing full-height portico with stylised Corinthian columns. Inside amid the Baroque-style ornaments, rich torchères and chandelier lights, two escalators descend, one leading to the old 1935 Komsomolskaya-Radialnaya station, and the second to this one.

On the platform level, there is a Baroque ceiling, with accompanying friezes, painted yellow. Supporting the enlarged barrel vault are 68 octagonal columns faced with white marble, and topped with baroque pilasters. The platform is lit up by chandeliers and additional concealed elements in the niches of both the central and platform halls.

The theme of the design, the Historical Russian fight for freedom and independence, is expressed in eight large ceiling mosaics by Pavel Korin. Korin said that the inspiration came from Joseph Stalin's speech at the Moscow Parade of 1941, where he inspired the soldiers amid the catastrophic losses in the early period of World War II to remember the historical heroics of their Russian forefathers. The idea to design the art as a mosaic came from the Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv, where Korin saw that such artforms could last for eternity. Chronologically the mosaics are as following:

In between each of the main mosaics there are smaller ones made of gilded smalt depicting various weaponry and armour. One set is focused on ancient Russian equipment, a second on the Napoleonic era, and the third on World War II. At the end of the platform is a bust of Vladimir Lenin under an arch decorated with gilt floral designs and the Coat of arms of the Soviet Union.

In the centre of the red granite covered platform are two passageways, surrounded by marble balustrades with escalators that descend into a lobby with a main escalator tunnel upwards to the Sokolnicheskaya line's Komsomolskaya station. On the wall opposite the escalator is a large fluorescent mosaic, also of Pavel Korin, depicting the Order of Victory surrounded by red and green banners and Georgian colours.

In 1951 both Pavel Korin and Alexey Schusev were posthumously awarded the Stalin Prize for their work on the station, and on 30 January 1952 the station was opened to the public as the first on the second stage of the Koltsevaya line. In 1958 the station was awarded the Grand Prix ("Grand Prize") title of Expo '58 in Brussels.

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Notes

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