Komsomolskaya (Koltsevaya line)

Route map
	Legend
	This diagram: view; talk; edit;

Komsomolskaya

Комсомольская
Komsomolskaya; Комсомольская
Deep column tri-vault
Depth	37 metres (121 ft)
Platform levels	1
Parking	No
Other information
Station code	070
History
Opened	30 January 1952; 72 years ago
Passengers
2009	54,469,315
Services
Route map
Route map
	Legend
	This diagram: view; talk; edit;
Location
	Komsomolskaya Location within Central Moscow

Komsomolskaya (

Kurskaya

stations.

The station is located under the busiest Moscow transport hub,

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

Stations on the first southern segment of the Koltsevaya line were dedicated to the victory over

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

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

Beginning with the large vestibule located among the former of the two train stations, the building features a large octagonal

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

Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kiev

, where Korin saw that such artforms could last for eternity. Chronologically the mosaics are as following:

1242: Alexander Nevsky after the
Battle on the Ice
.
1380: Dmitry Donskoy after the Battle of Kulikovo.
1612: Kuzma Minin and Dmitry Pozharsky after the end of the Time of Troubles.
1799:
Crossing of the Alps
.
1812: Mikhail Kutuzov after the Battle of Borodino.
1945: The original mosaic here was of Red Army troops on
Guards banner from Soviet army command, but because it contained images of some commanders whose careers and legacy would later be re-evaluated (including Joseph Stalin) most of the mosaic was replaced with that of Vladimir Lenin
addressing a meeting in Red Square, thus moving the date of the artwork to a period between 1917 and 1922.

1945: Soviet Troops on the Reichstag building after the Battle of Berlin (according to some, the original banner had superimposed profiles of Lenin and Stalin: the latter was removed to leave just Lenin remaining).
1945: The original image was of a
Mother Russia) standing on the Nazi banners in front of the same mausoleum, holding a hammer and sickle in one hand and a palm branch in the other. This mosaic is made of more than 300,000 tiles, takes up 31.5 square metres (339 sq ft) and weighs more than three tonnes.^{[citation needed}
]

In between each of the main mosaics there are smaller ones made of gilded

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

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

Expo '58 in Brussels

.

Evolution of the design

Architecture and decoration

Notes