Vladimirskaya

What to see: mosaic

Mosaic panels are among the most common details in St. Pete's underground, with one located at Vladimirskaya (M1, red line). Though the panel itself is difficult to miss, the mosaic's real meaning is frequently overlooked. The panel, titled Изобилие (Abundance), was created by a group of celebrated Soviet masters to represent the country's prosperity and wealth – but allegedly it also refers to the old-standing Kuznechny Market that is literally around the corner.

Narvskaya

What to see: reliefs

Also on M1, the Narvskaya station is lavishly adorned with all kinds of marble reliefs, including the large one above the escalators and a number of smaller ones on the station's pylons. Overall, the station displays 48 reliefs featuring the Soviet working class, including engineers, medical specialists, sailors, researchers, teachers, farmers, and many others; among the figures, you can also find horses and chicks accompanying human characters.

Komendantsky Prospekt

What to see: mosaic

Unlike the two above, Komendantsky Prospekt (M5, purple line) is not a historical metro station; it was opened in 2005 and decorated with the aviation theme – hence blue being the predominant color in the interior. The reason for this is the air base that used to be located in the area and played a vital role in domestic aviation. Most of the mosaic panels on the station commemorate the first Russian aviators and their feats during WWII – but one, that though carries on with the sky-inspired motif, depicts balloon travelers: men and women, a bear playing the balalaika, and even a black cat! 

Zvenigorodskaya

What to see: mosaic

Credit: bellena / photogenica.ru

Credit: bellena / photogenica.ru

The Zvenigorodskaya station on the M5 line houses the city’s largest mosaic panel, 4x20 m, which is roughly the size of a metro train. This monumental, curved panel portrays the Battle of Poltava, the most pivotal battle of the Great Northern War, in the traditional Orthodox icon colors (red, yellow, brown, and blue). The station’s opening was timed to coincide with the 300th anniversary of the battle, which was celebrated in 2008. 

Bukharestskaya

What to see: mosaic

Another relatively new station, Bukharestskaya, also on the M5 line, has a rather unusual design: it is decorated with nature motifs that are rare to find in St. Pete’s metro. Namely, there you’ll see picturesque mosaics of autumn foliage and Romanian landscapes (the station is named after Romania’s capital, Bucharest); and particularly watchful eyes will be lucky to spot a lovely chickadee, affectionately called the bird of happiness by the metro workers, amidst all this nature decor. 

Volkovskaya

What to see: stained glass, mosaic

Though the Volkovskaya (M5) station, standing well aside from the downtown, is quite low on passengers, it’s proudly heavy on the decor. Among its gems are a forged stained-glass window (one of the few in the metro) inspired by the Russian winter and a couple of mosaic panels, one of which features yet another, now orange, cat. For those interested, there are three cats in St. Pete’s metro (apart from the two mentioned in the article, the third one is on Spasskaya)!

We’ve got a couple of more metro-inspired stories for you: go here if you’d like to learn more about the literary origins of St. Petersburg’s metro stations and here – to master some local metro vocab.