In the south of the Zamoskvoretskaya line (green line on the metro map) of the Moscow Metro there is a station called "Avtozavodskaya", which is associated with a large number of events and historical facts from the life of the city. This station played a significant role in the development and success of the capital.
Location
Metro "Avtozavodskaya" is located between the stations Kolomenskaya and Paveletskaya, if you go from the region to the center. The circle line starts from the next station. About 70,000 people use this station every day. Even more passengers pass it every day on their way to work and back home, because after the Avtozavodskaya station the metro takes you towards the large sleeping areas of the capital.
Station doors don't open all at once. The north exit opens at 5:30 am, while the south exit opens 5 minutes later at 5:35. The station closes its doors to passengers at exactly 01:00.
History of Creation
The Avtozavodskaya metro station was opened on New Year's Eve - January 1, 1943, at the height of the Great Patriotic War. The decision on the need for a new metro station was made almost three years before the opening, but thethe long war made its own adjustments to urban plans. During the war, the vestibule and tunnels were actively used as bomb shelters.
A competition was announced for the construction of the Avtozavodskaya metro station, in which the project of the famous architect Alexei Nikolaevich Dushkin won. He already had rich experience in creating stations in the city, whose name is Moscow. Metro "Avtozavodskaya" was his fourth and not the last project. Before that, he had already worked on the construction of the Kropotkinskaya metro station (then called the Palace of the Soviets), Revolution Square and Mayakovskaya.
Name history
Initially, the Avtozavodskaya metro station worked under a different name - the Stalin Plant. In short, it was called ZIS. The station was named after the plant of the same name, which was located next to the station and to serve the numerous personnel of which it was conceived. The modern name - "Avtozavodskaya" - this station received later, 13 years after the opening. It was and still is for the most part an industrial area. In addition to the plant in honor of the leader of the peoples, there was another important object here - the automobile plant named after. I. Likhachev.
The history of the name of this station is not yet complete. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the idea of another name change appeared - to "Simonovo", in honor of the ancient Simonovsky Monastery located nearby, but so far it has not been implemented.
By the way, if you look closely, there are small indentations on the walls left from the previous name.
Modern history
The Avtozavodskaya metro station has remained almost unchanged. When passenger traffic increased significantly, and one exit from the lobby could not cope with the number of people entering and leaving, in 1968 it was decided to build another, northern, exit. Before its construction began, a large bust of Joseph Stalin stood here.
Initially, the station had only one, southern, exit, which looked like a two-story separate building. Now it is built into a multi-storey residential building built above and around the entrance to the Avtozavodskaya station. The metro in Moscow is replete with non-standard architectural solutions.
The main theme of all the decorations of the station is the defense of the country and the heroic deed of the people during the Great Patriotic War. Four bas-reliefs on its walls are dedicated to the professional activities of people of various professions and nationalities. This is one of the very patriotic metro stations in the city. However, the murals were made later - in the 1950s. Initially, the walls of the station and the vestibule looked much more modest, since the functionality of the station was originally needed. There was no time to decorate.
Tragic events of the not so distant past are also connected with this station. On February 6, 2004, a terrorist attack took place here, killing 41 people. More than two hundred other passengers received various injuries. After this attack, a memorial plaque with the names of all the victims of the tragedy was erected in memory of those who died at the northern exit from the lobby.
Infrastructure around
It is unlikely that guests of the city will be interested in industrial plants that are located nearby, but there are other buildings and museums nearby that are worthy of attention.
For example, nearby is the Simonovsky Monastery, founded in the 14th century and preserved in very good condition. Previously, it was one of the largest and richest monasteries in the Moscow suburbs. Several centuries ago, it was one of the fortified monasteries designed to protect the approaches to the city from the south. In the 18th century, the monastery buildings were used as a plague isolation ward for patients with a terrible disease that killed many Europeans.
There are also small museums near factories that tell about the history of these industrial facilities, as well as their achievements and participation in the history of the city and country.
