Stunning Historical Photos of Moscow Metro in 1935 Soon after its Opening

The Moscow Metro was first opened in 1935 with one 11-kilometer line and 13 stations. In the Soviet Union, it was the first underground railway system. Today it has 241 stations, making it the fifth-longest in the world and the longest outside China. The system is mostly underground, with the deepest station at 74 meters underground at Park Pobedy, one of the world’s deepest stations. The system is the busiest in Europe and is considered a tourist attraction in and of itself.

During Stalin’s regime, subway stations were constructed in socialist classicism to serve as underground “palaces of the people.” The stations such as Komsomolskaya, Kiyevskaya and Mayakovskaya, and others built after 1935 are tourist attractions because of their unique architecture, large chandeliers, and detailed decoration. Names, alphanumeric indices (usually consisting of just a number), and colors identify each line. A male voice announces the upcoming station on inbound trains to the city center (clockwise trains on the Circle Line) and a female voice on outbound trains (counter-clockwise trains on the Circle line).

Below are some fascinating historical photos showing Moscow metro stations soon after the opening of the Moscow metro in 1935.

#1 Entrance to the Crimean Square subway station, Moscow, 1935

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#2 Escalator at the Red Gates subway station, Moscow, 1935

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#3 Kirovskaya subway station, vestibule, Moscow, 1935

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#4 Komsomolskaya Square subway station, hall before the platform, Moscow, 1935

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#5 Krasnoselskaya Street subway station, ticket hall, Moscow, 1935

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#6 Okhotny Ryad subway station, escalator hall, Moscow, 1935

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#7 Okhotny Ryad subway station, exit to the platform, Moscow, 1935

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#8 Palace of Soviets subway station, ticet hall, Moscow, 1935

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#9 Platform of the Crimean Square subway station, Moscow, 1935

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#10 Platform of the Dzerzhinski Square subway station, Moscow, 1935

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#11 Platform of the Kirovskaya subway station, Moscow, 1935

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#12 Platform of the Komsomolskaya Square subway station, Moscow, 1935

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#13 Platform of the Sokolniki subway station, Moscow, 1935

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#14 Subway station Sokolniki, Moscow, 1935

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#15 Lenin Library subway station, Moscow, 1935

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#16 Platform of the Komsomolskaya Square subway station, Moscow, 1935

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#17 Platform of the Sokolniki subway station, Moscow, 1935

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#18 Red Gates subway station, exit to the platform, Moscow, 1935

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#19 Single-railed tunnel of the Kirov subway section, Moscow, 1935

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#20 Smolenski Square subway station, passage to the trains, Moscow, 1935

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#21 Sokolniki subway station, passage to the trains, Moscow, 1935

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#22 Sokolniki subway station, passage to the trains, Moscow, 1935

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#23 Subway station “Komsomolskaya Square”, balcony of the platform, Moscow, 1935

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#24 Subway station Arbat Square, Moscow, 1935

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#25 Subway station Krimskaya Square, Moscow, 1935

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#26 Subway station Kropotkin Gate, Moscow, 1935

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#27 Subway station Kropotkin Gate, Moscow, 1935

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#28 Subway station Okhotny Ryad, escalator, Moscow, 1935

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#29 Subway station Okhotny Ryad. Distribution Hall, Moscow, 1935

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#30 Subway station Smolenski Square, entrance-hall, Moscow, 1935

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#31 Train on the subway station Komsomolski Square, Moscow, 1935

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#32 Train on the subway station Sokolniki, Moscow, 1935

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#33 Vestibule of the Crimean Square subway station, Moscow, 1935

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#34 Vestibule of the Komsomolskaya Square subway station, Moscow, 1935

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#35 Vestibule of the Smolensk Square subway station, Moscow, 1935

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