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WAM has already published two books about the
metro, one called "70 Years of the Moscow Metro," which was put
together for the anniversary in 2005, and another larger volume
called "Moscow Metropolitan," which was part of their "Russia in
the 20th Century" series.
"We wanted to show that underground in Moscow there is an
amazing museum that no one sees, even though they walk past it
every day," said Yegor Larichev, the chief editor of WAM. "It's
a coffee-table book that can just be a souvenir, but it also has
routes and an explanation at the back that shows all the sights
that can be found above ground." This is helpful for tourists,
since the names of Moscow's metro stations rarely correspond to
anything located above them.
The book, which is published in both Russian and English
editions, is now available at newsstands in metro stations for
100 rubles ($4) -- a surprisingly low price for a large-format,
167-page book. Larichev warned that the price may increase,
since this is a test run.
The first route in the travel guide, which is called "the top
four," takes readers to the stations where Larichev said he
would take his friends even if they were in Moscow for just half
an hour. The stations are the award-winning Mayakovskaya, the
marbled Teatralnaya, Ploshchad Revolyutsii with its bronze
statues and elegant Kropotkinskaya.
The description of each station comes with an explanation of its
history and, in some cases, detailed description of the decor.
For example, the book's notes on the porcelain bas-reliefs at
Teatralnaya explain that each male and female figure is wearing
the national costume of a republic of the former Soviet Union,
and a diagram points out where the different figures are
located.
WAM had to ask for special permission from the Moscow metro to
shoot the photographs in the guidebook, since taking photographs
in the metro is technically illegal, although this law is rarely
enforced. The photographers had to work at night, after the
stations had closed.
"At night, there are no electric trains, but steam engines pass
through the platforms to carry out maintenance work," Larichev
said. "Our photographers would come back to work with bright red
eyes -- a reaction to the dust in the steam."
Alongside the photos and annotations are quirky facts about the
stations. Nikita Khrushchev did not like the design of the
Kievskaya station on the Arbatsko-Pokrovskaya line because, he
said, it did not express the real Ukraine; Komsomolskaya Circle
Line station, designed by Shchusev, once featured a mosaic of
Stalin at the 1945 victory parade; and Park Pobedy is not only
the deepest station with the longest escalator in the world but
also the shiniest in Moscow -- thanks to a new method of
polishing marble.
However, the metro anecdote that Larichev himself finds most
interesting did not make it into the guidebook in its entirety.
Artist Pavel Korin created the panel in the central hall of
Novoslobodskaya metro station that shows a mother holding a
child with doves flying overhead, titled "Peace in the Whole
World." The child bears an uncanny resemblance to the station's
architect, Dushkin, while the mother looks like his wife, Tamara
-- both of whom were Korin's friends. In fact, the artwork was a
personal joke between the trio.
Khrushchev ordered many changes to this particular panel:
Originally it included a portrait of Stalin, but this was
replaced by the doves after the cult of personality was
denounced. The woman was initially barefoot but Khrushchev
demanded sandals because Russian women never walk around without
shoes. Each time the Soviet leader requested a change, Korin
thought that his prank would be discovered, but it never was.
Larichev himself was hesitant to give the name of his favorite
station, initially saying he finds something new and interesting
in all of them. When pressed, he named Elektrozavodskaya,
because of the magical combination of the white stone reliefs
and bright lighting. "For me, it feels like the station that's
the most harmonious," he said.
"Moscow Metro Travel Guide" is published by WAM and sold at
newsstands in metro stations.
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