History of railway stations: railway gates of Moscow

There are nine railway stations in Moscow. If you look at the map, they seem to encircle the city center. Mos.ru together with the Department of Cultural Heritage and the project #Moskvastoboy (Moscow with you) tells about the history and architectural peculiarities of Moscow railway gates.

Leningradsky Railway Station. The first and tsarist one

In 1851, the imperial train left Petersburg for Moscow: the trip of Nicholas I and his family took as long as 19 hours. The train arrived at the station that was built by the architect Konstantin Thon. It was the first railway station of Moscow; back then, it was referred to as Peterburgsky station. It was the place where the members of the imperial family came from Petersburg for coronation.

In 1855, the station was renamed into Nikolaevsky, and since 1923 it was known as Oktyabrsky. The first deluxe soviet train Red Arrow was seen here first in 1931. Shortly before the war, the station changed its name for Leningradsky. It was rebuilt several times, but its general appearance remained the same as Thon had intended it: a strict classical facade with columns and a tower in the center.

During comprehensive reconstruction of the Leningradsky railway station which was accomplished in 2013, specialists restored the historical color and elements of the facade decor, placed back the historical cast-iron stairs and balcony parapets. Due to archival drawings the clock on the main tower was given a new life.

Belorussky Railway Station. Tying Moscow with Brest

Merchants from Tver and Petersburg made use of the Tver route to reach the Golden-domed city. Commonly, travelers made a stop-off at the Tver outpost of the Chamber-Collegium wall and continued their way to the city. In 1870, the Smolensky station was built at this place. A few years later, the station turned out too small to hold all the passengers: the railway stretched as far as Brest.

City authorities decided to build a new transport hub. By 1912, just for the centenary of the end of the Great Patriotic War, the architect Ivan Strukov had created a laconic building with a large entrance arch and turrets. The station changed its names several times and finally was named Belorussky in 1963.

In 1941, troops went off to war from here, and it was here that the song Sacred War sounded for the first time - a memorial plaque on the station building reminds of it. Belorussky station was also the venue that welcomed the warriors-winners who were coming back from Berlin in 1945.

In 2019, landscaping of the square in front of the station was completed. The restoration conception of the building historical facade is under discussion.

Kazansky Railway Station. On a visit to a dragon

In 1862, railway traffic route connecting Moscow with Kolomna was started. The first passengers complained that upon arrival in the city they had nowhere to set their foot on when they get out of the train car. The Ryazansky station (the then name of the Kazansky station) had no platforms. Men had to jump out of the cars first and carry their fellow-travelers of gentle sex in their arms.

The station building suffered several renovations. The version that we know appeared in 1913. According to the project of Aleksei Shchusev, a styled Russian tower-house was built which was decorated with a turret resembling the image of the famous Soyembika Tower. It is situated in the Kazan Kremlin. Another recognizable symbol - Zilant dragon - still flaunts on the top of the station building.

Restoration work inside the Kazansky station was completed in 2016. Specialists had reconstituted white stone portals, walls and columns in hall No. 3. In hall No. 5, the brick vaults and self-leveling concrete flour with marble chips were restored. Specialists had reconstructed the stone front staircase and decor elements in the waiting halls and dining rooms and placed back historical lanterns and doors of oak. The Soyembika Tower had also been repaired.

Kievsky Railway Station. Clock on the old tower

The decision to build a railway station near the former Dorogomilovsky settlement was made in 1895, it was called Briansky then. A new building was erected for the centenary of the Battle of Borodino: Vladimir Shukhov developed a project of arched halls ceilings and metal and glass platforms; internal paintings were dedicated to the Patriotic War of 1812.

In 1918, the ensemble acquired an amazing tower with four clock-faces guarded by eagles with spread wings. They are as popular as the clock on the Spasskaya Tower: many Muscovites and guests of the capital city continue to check their watches by them.

During the restoration carried out in 2013-2016, specialists reconstituted historical elements of facades decor. They restored the majolica mosaic panels representing St. George the Victorious and Michael the Archangel, the clock-faces on the tower, and concrete sculptures. The historical appearance of the main station building halls enfilade was also recreated.

Kursky Railway Station. From the Nizhegorodsky station to Obiralovka

A small wooden station behind the Pokrovka outpost became in 1877 practically the most popular place in the city. Muscovite women who had read the novel by Count Tolstoy Anna Karenina certainly wanted to make a trip to the place of her suicide described in the book. They travelled from the Nizhegorodsky station to Obiralovka, hoping to find out some details or to feel what the heroine felt in the last minutes of her life.

In 1896 the Nizhegorodski station was combined with the Kursky station which was then under construction. In 1938 it was reconstructed. The new building hid the previous one, ancient interiors can still be seen in waiting rooms.

Paveletsky Railway Station. In the wilderness, to Saratov

The Ryazan-Ural railway linked towns of 12 provinces, but had no connection with Moscow. In order to solve this problem, an additional railway line was built from Pavelets to Moscow. On September 1, 1900, a station was opened where trains began to come. The new railway station was immediately surrounded by taverns and shops; a large market was also started there.

Initially, the station was called Saratovsky, because the administration of the line was located in that town. In 1910, a train with those who wanted to pay their final respects to Leo Tolstoy left the station for Tula. In the middle of the 1920s, the station was renamed into Leninsky - it was here that the mourning train with the body of the revolution leader arrived. It was in only in 1941 that the station got its current name - Paveletsky.

In 2021, a comprehensive reconstruction and improvement of the square in front of the Paveletsky station will be completed. Instead of a giant ditch dug out in the 1990s for a commercial center project which was never implemented, a landscape park of about tree hectares will appear.

Rizhsky Railway Station. How far is it to Vindava?

At the end of the 19th century, two red brick towers were erected in the place where the Yaroslavl highway began, near the Krestovsky outpost, for the Mytishchi water line. Working at the Vindava station project, the architect Stanislav Brzhozovsky tried to create one whole ensemble with these structures. Tower-houses in the pseudo-Russian style with fancy windows and a clock under a high gable were outfitted with the latest technology; the station even featured its own power plant. Since 1946, it is known as Rizhsky station. Every year, the Victory Train leaves the station for Dubosekovo where a memorial to 28 Panfilov`s heroes is situated.

Savelovsky Railway Station. Breams are found in the suburbs of Moscow

Trains leave the capital city in various directions, but there is a station, from where trains go only within the Moscow region - Savelovsky (Butyrsky until 1912). Trains were expected to run from here to the Savelov village and further to Kalyazin, Uglich, and Rybinsk, but the plans were never destined to come true.

In 2016 work was carried out to restore the historical facade of the station building, and at the end of 2019, when the Savelovsky station became part of Moscow center diameter system, the reconstruction of the square in front of the building and a part of the interior was completed.

Yaroslavsky Railway Station. Pilgrims from the fifth carriage

Trains for Sergiev Posad and Yaroslavl departed from the Troitsky - now Yaroslavsky - station. It was from here that Anton Pavlovich Chekhov headed to faraway Sakhalin in 1890.

The Yaroslavsky station is located next two others - Kazansky and Leningradsky stations. It was built in the site of an artillery yard. But less than half a century later, a large-scale reconstruction was launched.

It was Fedor Shekhtel who put his hand to the plough. He designed a high building in the Russian style with towers, ceramic panels, and emblems of Moscow, Arkhangelsk, and Yaroslavl. In the Soviet period, the elegant Art Nouveau style was diluted with socialist-realistic bas-reliefs featuring workers and the coat of arms of the Soviet Union.