Mayakovskaya

Mayakovskaya is a Moscow Metro station on the Zamoskvoretskaya Line in Moscow's Tverskoy District. It is a magnificent example of pre-World War II Stalinist architecture and one of the most famous Metro stations in the world and is regarded as one of the most attractive in the system. It is most known for the 34 mosaic ceilings representing "24 Hours in the Land of the Soviets." It served as a command center for Moscow's anti-aircraft regiment during WWII.

Regarded as one of the most beautiful historical sites in Russia, Mayakovskaya was constructed as part of the second stage of the Moscow Metro extension, which opened on September 11, 1938. If the first stage was primarily focused on the construction of the system itself, both architecturally and in terms of engineering, the stations that the second stage brought to the system appear little compared to those that the third stage brought to the system. Instead of the usual three-neath pylon station configuration, the engineers were able to overlap the vault space and support it with two colonnades, one on each side, for the first time in the world. This gave birth to a new Deep column station design, which Mayakovskaya was the first to display.

Mayakovskaya, 33 meters beneath the surface, became famous during World War II because it housed an air raid shelter. On the 7th of November 1941, the anniversary of the October Revolution, Joseph Stalin addressed a vast assembly of party leaders and ordinary Muscovites in the central hall of the station. During World War II, Stalin lived in this location. A new second north exit and vestibule were installed in 2005. Other mosaic works were created from scratch, with marble and stainless steel sculpting extensive use. The poet Vladimir Mayakovsky's bust was relocated to the new surface vestibule, which also featured a mosaic composition from Mayakovsky's poem "Moscow Sky."

Location: Tverskoy District, Central Administrative Okrug, Moscow, Russia