Underground takeoff: Chkalovskaya metro station in St. Petersburg

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:41

Chkalovskaya metro station was opened in 1997 on the Petrograd side of St. Petersburg. The station was named after Chkalovsky Prospekt, passing nearby. The avenue, in turn, became Chkalovsky in 1952, because Pilot Valery Chkalov, Hero of the Soviet Union, lived on the neighboring street for a long time. Not surprisingly, aviation has become a leading theme in the design of the outer station building and the underground hall.

Petersburg metro - station "Chkalovskaya"

"Chkalovskaya" was commissioned in September 1997, becoming another station on the Frunzensko-Primorskaya line (M5, purple line). The neighboring stations are Sportivnaya and Krestovsky Ostrov. From 1997 to 1999 metro station "Chkalovskaya" was the final one. A ramp was equipped to turn the subway train between the tunnels.

External design of the station

When approaching the Chkalovskaya metro station, do not be surprised that you have to climb the stairs - this is a traditional flood protection in St. Petersburg.

It is easy to identify the station bybust of Valery Chkalov, installed in front of the entrance. The bust on a granite pedestal was made of bronze by sculptors V. Sveshnikov and A. Charkin. The memorial sign was erected in honor of the 60th anniversary of Valery Chkalov's non-stop flight from Moscow to Vancouver via the North Pole.

The pavilion of the lobby has a complex shape with a large area of glazing, in the evening it is beautifully lit. The lamps on the walls look like the metal propellers of the Chkalovsky ANT-6 aircraft. On the wall is a unique medallion depicting Icarus, looking up. The composition is skillfully crafted from stained glass mosaic and aluminium.

There is access to Ropshinskaya Street from the ground lobby, but it is not used.

The escalator goes down from the station hall for more than 2 minutes, because the metro station "Chkalovskaya" belongs to the stations of deep occurrence and is located at a depth of 60 m. This depth is typical for St. Petersburg, where most stations are located on level 50-70 m underground.

The aviation theme already appears on the escalator: the authors of the project placed lighting lamps not next to the escalator tape, but on the ceiling vault. The shape of the lamps is reminiscent of aircraft parts from World War II.

Interior decoration

St. Petersburg architects A. Konstantinov and V. Volonsevich developed the design of the Chkalovskaya metro station, making it recognizable and unusual in St. Petersburg, although it was made according to a typical city project.

This is a single-vaulted station,the platform is located according to the island principle - in the middle. The platform is designed in the style of the runway and contains the necessary arrows and signs on the airfield, partly painted, partly made of aluminum and built into the flooring.

Vaulted walls give the impression that a passenger is inside an aircraft engine. Lighting fixtures stylized as aircraft elements at the Chkalovskaya metro station in St. Petersburg are also reminiscent of aviation.

The decoration of the hall is a stained-glass window in the southern end of the station. It depicts how a person smoothly transforms into an aircraft, embodying the dream of many generations to conquer the sky.

Station design changes

In 2009, the station underwent reconstruction and re-equipment, the purpose of which was to unify the information space of the St. Petersburg Metro. The original pointers were removed from the walls, and the floor arrows were no longer visible behind the information stands. Many citizens believe that Chkalovskaya has lost its charm and unusualness.

Interesting facts

Chkalovskaya metro station in St. Petersburg is a real "movie star".

The group "Demo" in 2000 filmed several episodes of the video for the song "I take a breath" on the station platform.

In the film "Piter FM" (2006), the main characters meet near the monument to the famous pilot. The recognizable design of the station immediately attracts attention.

How to get to the subwayChkalovskaya (St. Petersburg)

From the metro, passengers go to Bolshaya Zelenskaya Street and Chkalovsky Prospekt.

You can get to the station by buses No. 1, 14, 25, 185, 191 and 5M. Also, minibuses No. 120 and 131 stop near the metro station.

How to get to the Chkalovskaya metro station using the St. Petersburg metro? Everything depends on the starting point. You can change to the purple line at Sadovaya (from the M2 and M4 lines) and Zvenigorodskaya (from the M1 line). The station is open from 05:35 to 0:24.

"Chkalovskie" in other cities

There are metro stations with the same name in other Russian cities.

"Chkalovskaya" in Yekaterinburg is the newest, it was opened in 2012 and became the 9th on the first metro line in the city. This station is modern and stylish, with walls and ceiling curved in the shape of an airplane wing, polished metal inserts complementing the aviation theme, as well as decorative lights built into the floor, reminiscent of airfield lights.

In Moscow st. metro station "Chkalovskaya" is located on the 10th Lyublinsko-Dmitrovskaya line. It is made in the traditional Moscow style of marble and granite.

The Chkalovskaya station has been in existence for the longest time in Nizhny Novgorod. It was built back in 1985 and is part of the Avtozavodskaya line.