St Petersburg – Marvellous Metro

Today we are leaving St Petersburg for a trip north, but before we leave Inn Aldebaron, I want to share the engineering and sculptural beauty of the geyser in our bathroom and the delights of our breakfast tray.  We have been beautifully looked after during our stay and communicating  with smiles, laughs and google translate.  The only thing we won’t miss is the 71 steps to the third floor!

 

We had a spare couple of hours in the morning so went metro hopping to visit a few of the stations, nearly all all of which have some decoration or other.

We began with Admiralteyskaya, the city’s deepest station, taking over two minutes on the escalator to reach the platform.

The mosaics tell the story of Peter the Great building the Russian fleet.

And a few more!

Next up Pushkinskaya, celebrating the famous poet …

We also went up to look at the ticket hall …

 

… then Tekhnologichesky Institut with reliefs of famous Russian scientists and details of major scientific achievements.

 

A blank shot from the Aurora signalled the start of the assault on the Winter Palace at the beginning of the October Revolution in 1917 and this is depicted in mosaic at Baltiyskaya as well as a blue wave motif.

Narvskaya features carvings of proletariat workers such as engineers, sailors artists and teachers on the station columns …

 

 

 

… while Kirovsky Zavod takes its inspiration from the oil industry with a bust of a scowling Lenin at the end of the platform.

 

 

Our favourite was last, Avtovo, with stunning marble and cut-glass covered columns, fit for any palace, and a relief of soldiers in the entrance.

 

 

After such a fabulous morning, we wonder what The Moscow metro has in store …!