| Kropotkinskaya is a station on the Sokolnicheskaya Line of the Moscow Metro. One of the better-known Metro stations, it was designed by Alexey Dushkin and Ya. Likhtenberg and opened in 1935 as part of the original Metro line. The station was originally planned to serve the enormous Palace of the Soviets (Dvorets Sovetov), which was to rise nearby on the former site of the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour. Kropotkinskaya was therefore designed to be the largest and grandest station on the first line. However, the Palace project was cancelled by Nikita Khrushchev in 1953, leaving the Metro station as the only part of the complex that was actually built. Kropotkinskaya was constructed in a massive open trench measuring 176 metres long by 25 metres wide. The tunnels from Biblioteka Imeni Lenina were constructed using the cut and cover technique. The combination of unrestricted space and dry soil made for ideal conditions, and construction of the station took only 180 days from start to finish. Kropotkinskaya was completed in January 1935 and opened five months later, on May 15. The station was named Dvorets Sovetov until 1957, when it was renamed in honour of Peter Kropotkin. Since it was to serve as the gateway to the Palace of Soviets, great care was taken to make Kropotkinskaya suitably elegant and impressive. The station has flared columns faced with white marble which are said to have been inspired by the Temple of Amon at Karnak. Contrary to popular opinion, the marble ... |
