When the Arbatsko-Pokrovskaya Line was first built, the tracks from Ploshchad Revolyutsii extended westward to Aleksandrovsky Sad rather than Arbatskaya. When the westward extension of the line was completed in 1953, trains were rerouted through the new segment.
Architecture
The station opened in 1938, its architect was Alexey Dushkin. The station features red and yellow marblearches resting on low pylons faced with black Armenian marble. The spaces between the arches are partially filled by decorative ventilation grilles and ceiling tracery.
Sculptures
The station contains 76 statues in the socialist realism style. Originally, 80 sculptures were created for the space—10 pairs, each replicated 4 times throughout the station. Today, nine pairs are in the archways, and a copy of the final pair ("The Pioneers") appears on each of the two platforms, bringing the total number of statues to 76.[1] Each arch is flanked by a pair of bronze sculptures by Matvey Manizer depicting the people of the Soviet Union, including soldiers, farmers, athletes, writers, aviators, industrial workers, and schoolchildren. The series is meant to be considered in order, symbolizing Russia's transformation from the pre-revolutionary past, through the revolution, into the (then) contemporary era.[1] The order of sculpture pairs are:
Male worker-partisan & male enlisted soldier
Male agricultural laborer & male sailor with pistol
Male sailor & female aviator
Male soldier with dog & female sharpshooter
Male miner & male engineer
Male & female agricultural laborers
Female & male students
Male football player & female athlete
Mother & father in swim clothing
Male & female students in Young Pioneers uniforms
Several of the sculptures are widely believed to bring good luck to those who rub them. The practice is targeted at specific areas on individual sculptures, including the soldier's pistol, the patrolman's dog, the roosters, and the female student's shoe.[2]
Ploschad Revolyutsii Metro Station, Moscow, Russia
References
^ abO'Mahony, Mike (January 2003). "Archaeological Fantasies: Constructing History on the Moscow Metro". The Modern Language Review. 98 (1): 138–150. doi:10.2307/3738180. JSTOR3738180. S2CID161592843.
