Greetings, friends, today I propose to go on an unusual excursion: for just one dollar we can take a close and detailed look at one of the stations of the St. Petersburg metro. I have chosen the "International" ("Mezhdunarodnaya") metro station. It is one of the relatively new stations, it was opened in 2012.
In fact, if it were not in the pages of my blog, but in reality, we could see as many stations as we were able to. A metro ticket doesn't limit us by distance or time. We could enter the metro at 5:30 in the morning, ride the trains and view the stations all day, and return to the surface after midnight, when the underground workday is over. True, there is a chance that such a long excursion would have attracted the attention of transport security officers and we would have had to take a short break to explain ourselves.
Out of curiosity, I looked up online how much a metro ticket costs in other countries when I was preparing this story. It turned out that in my city, it wasn't as expensive as I'd previously thought. But if you compare it to the cost of travel in other Russian cities, we come out on top. Even in Moscow, it is cheaper, even though Moscow is the capital and the metro system there is much longer and the number of stations is much greater. The high price has a justification. St. Petersburg is built in the delta of the Neva River, on unreliable, in some places swampy soils. Underground tunnels have to be built at great depth, and this is very difficult and costly.
Unfortunately for the city's residents, the high cost of laying new lines and constructing new stations means the underground is slow to build. And the opening of new stations is always a great celebration for the inhabitants of the neighbourhood: after the opening of the metro, they will be able to get to other parts of the city much faster.
The International metro station was opened in 2012 in an area that was already densely populated at the time. One of my acquaintances lives near that station, and he regularly read the news from the construction sites and dreamed of the moment when the new station would start operating. The station is one of the stations on the new metro line, the line runs roughly midway between two older lines and has greatly alleviated the transport suffering of the inhabitants of the densely populated area.
Some authors think International station is the most beautiful among new stations of St. Petersburg metro (stations built in "Stalin Empire" style stand apart in this rating, and nobody contests their primacy - first Leningrad metro stations were built as underground palaces). I'm not sure if that's fair - the other stations are very beautiful, too. I'd probably put Sportivnaya in first place and Admiralteyskaya in second... though I'd have to think and look again before making that comparison:)
When you go down the escalator to the station, it doesn't make a strong impression at first. In order to appreciate the view of this station from the best possible angle, you have to walk to the opposite end of the concourse. On the way you will think you can climb up the steps and turn left to another exit or to the transition to the adjacent station, but you will be disappointed: the steps end in a blind wall. But you'll get a wonderful surprise if you turn around and look back: the best view of the station is from this point.
I suggest we also pay attention to the details. You can take a closer look at the mosaic: Atlantean holds the globe on his shoulders. This work is made of smalt and was created by Alexander Bystrov. Marble and granite were used to decorate the walls and floor of the underground hall. The design details reveal the general idea, even the ventilation grilles are in the same style.
| ○ | ○ |
|---|---|
| Smartphone | Google Pixel 3a |
| Location | Saint Petersburg, Russia |
This is my entry for the #marketfriday challenge by @dswigle.
Such a beautiful construction and the mosaics are just stunning.
Well worth paying a little to go and look at it. I would visit it when I would be around.
The surroundings look so well kept. Thanks for sharing this with us @tatdt 👋🏻😊
Have a wonderful weekend!
It's a beautiful station. I'm glad you liked it. Thank you so much @littlebee4! Have a great weekend!
You are so welcome, it was beautiful to see.
Thank you so much, enjoy yours 👋🏻😊
Nice and beautiful station place, modern architecture looks clean too. Thank you.
Thank you so much!
I like the metro of St. Petersburg. There are absolutely amazing stations like Avtovo. I read somewhere that according to the project, all the columns there were to be built of crystal. But they didn't make it in time. There are columns in the center of the hall, which are worth coming and seeing (like in a museum).
You're absolutely right, Avtovo is a very beautiful station! Thank you so much!
Yay! 🤗
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Cool entry, I loved it, feels great to look a place like that, so clean, perfect, shiny, so full of concrete hahaha.
Thank you so much!
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Lovely, I have travelled the metro in both Moscow and Kyiv, and they were memorable, So much wonderful art and architecture, this one looks cool too.
Yes, the subways in these cities are very beautiful! Thank you very much!
you're welcome
It's immaculate! Spotless! I can't get over how clean and well kept it is, in fact.
Your photos are marvelous. Love the compositions and it speaks a lot about your nature and eye :)
I can not quite imagine how uncomfortable it must feel to know you're being "watched" continuously. (your statement about being questioned if you ride around with no destination all day)
:/ Not okay at all.
I am very glad that you liked my story. Thank you very much!
Unfortunately, passenger surveillance is a necessity. Passenger safety demands it. A few years ago there was a terrorist attack in the St. Petersburg metro. A terrorist was going to detonate several bombs. The first bomb was left in a bag at one of the stations. This bomb was quickly discovered by transport security workers and defused. The terrorist returned to the station to detonate this bomb, but saw a cordon. The terrorist then blew himself up in the carriage of the train.
Ah... thanks for sharing that. Now I understand more.
We also have cameras on the trains out here (not that it does much good as there's nobody around to respond if there's a crisis but whatever)
But bombings etc for sure. We don't have much of that type of thing in Africa.
I do always wonder, though, if these "terrorist attacks" aren't set up by government to shift things around in the first place. :/ But I haven't trusted corporations, politics and government for some years now so... I just observed and try to stay safe!