Museum of the Cold War "Bunker-42", which is located on Taganka, aka "Stalin's Bunker", is located at the address: Moscow, 5th Kotelnichesky lane, 11. It is the largest underground complex. Currently serving as the Cold War Museum.
Underground Bunker Museum
"Bunker-42" on Taganka is a unique facility located in the very center of Moscow at a depth of sixty-five meters. This is the former location of a secret military facility - the Tagansky Reserve Command Post.
The design of the complex began in the forties, with the beginning of the Cold War, at the direction of Stalin. In 1951, the facility began to be built according to the construction technologies of the Moscow Metro. In 1956, the bunker had an area of 7,000 square meters. The host State Commission handed it over to the Ministry of Defense.
The underground complex had tunnels that were connected by two passages to the Taganskaya metro station. The first move was used to supply the facility. He entered the tunnel between the Taganskaya and Kurskaya stations. The second passage was laid directly into the technical premises of the Taganskaya ring station. The bunker itselfwas used as a reserve command post of the Long-Range Aviation Headquarters. From here, missiles would fly if a decision was made from above in the direction of the United States. To ensure the work of telegraph and telephone communications, from one hundred to five hundred people were on combat duty. The entire staff of employees was 2500 units.
Equipment and equipment of the bunker
Institutions functioned in the bunker:
- radio station;
- central telegraph;
- geodetic laboratory.
The facility became fully equipped in the 1960s. Bunker complete equipment system predetermined:
- fuel reserves;
- food stocks;
- installation of air purification systems;
- availability of drinking water wells;
- waste management system.
"Bunker-42" on Taganka in the 1970s had to be reconstructed due to outdated equipment and life support systems. But then the well-known processes began: perestroika, the collapse of the Soviet Union, troubled times, and the financing of restoration work was stopped. As a military facility, the bunker became unprofitable, and in 1995 it was declassified.
The current purpose of the bunker
Now it is maintained as a Cold War Bunker Museum and is open to the public. Times are changing, and there are now group tours around the property. Today the developed program of visitingunderground facility includes:
- inspection of underground tunnels;
- entertainment activities;
- sporting events;
- conferences and presentations.
Dungeon Journey
There is Moscow on the ground and there is Moscow underground. Underground Moscow is a complex of tunnels and dungeons, which are a legacy of both ancient times and the Soviet era. The brightest representative of the Soviet era is the underground Bunker-42, and now the Cold War Museum on Taganka. Groups of several dozen people are recruited for a guided tour of the museum, although there is the possibility of an individual visit to the once most secret object of the Soviet Union. Entrance to the facility is carried out strictly with the officer on duty.
The tour lasts an hour and a half and is guided by a guide. The entrance to the bunker is through a massive green gate with a red star painted on it. Immediately behind the two-tonne airtight door are two more airtight doors. When they are closed, compressed air is supplied between them, blocking the entrance from the outside. Those coming from the contaminated surface could enter a special compartment, where a shower and clean uniforms were provided. Behind the door was a staircase going down. Those who wish can now use the elevator. The descent itself is sixty-five meters or eighteen floors down.
Bottom is the checkpoint for workers andemployees of the facility. Everyone can drink sparkling water from the installed machine.
Cold War Museum
What is the Bunker-42 Cold War Museum? This is a dungeon corridor system that has a looped structure. In general, the facility used to have four entrances. The people who worked here used different entrances. During the day, the duty officers changed in small groups of several people, so that it was not so noticeable from the outside. Each employee knew only his own entrance to his own workplace.
From the corridor you can turn into a cinema room equipped with equipment for watching movies. The main room is a room with nuclear buttons, a place for constant duty. At least two officers on duty must be on duty here at any time of the day, monitoring the signals of the monitors and ready to complete the task at any time. There is also a showcase with models of rockets that could fly at any moment, if ordered, to a certain point in the world. There is the possibility of virtual observation of the destruction of a nuclear strike.
Further underground museum "Bunker-42" has a hall in which are installed:
- telegraph equipment;
- radio equipment;
- telephone equipment;
- encryption equipment.
There are also showcases with gas masks, weapons, Geyser counters that measure the level of radiation.
Types of tours around the facility
The Bunker-42 Cold War Museum providesvisitor's choice types of tours around the facility:
- “Vulture Removed” - an excursion dedicated to the past period of nuclear confrontation between the Soviet Union and the USA.
- "ZKP-42" - an excursion including a visit to Stalin's office and the hall in which the country's top leadership met.
- "Extreme" - an excursion to the technological corridors, which demonstrates the operation of the facility's life support systems both in peacetime and in the event of a nuclear war.
- "Bunker-42" - an excursion that tells about the goals, purpose and construction of the "Bunker-42" facility.
The price of different types of programs is slightly different. So, for example, the cost of the tour "ZKP-42" is 1400 rubles, and "Vulture removed" - 700 rubles in a group of up to 40 people. Discounts are provided for students and schoolchildren.
Museum game programs
The Cold War Museum provides various types of play programs for both children and adults.
- "Crazy Professor" - a program that provides museum visitors to pass certain tests, where you can show such qualities as: ingenuity, dexterity, physical strength, teamwork, target shooting.
- Zombie Apocalypse is an adult game program. The meaning of the game is that a group of participants must, escaping from zombies themselves, find traces of survivors and, preventing the spread of the zombie virus,destroy the bunker.
- "Bunker Quest" - terrorists, having seized the bunker, plant a bomb. Task: Complete the task of destroying the terrorists and defusing the bomb, you must complete the stages by collecting and solving the corresponding clues.
- "Confrontation" is a process of competition in which the team strategy has an advantage. The program is designed for simultaneous participation in the game of adults and children.
- "Dungeon Horror" is a program that helps you develop courage by overcoming your fears.
Types of services provided
The museum provides a wide variety of services to its visitors. If desired, for a certain amount, it is allowed here:
- children's holidays;
- corporate events;
- private parties;
- business meetings;
- seminars and conferences;
- weddings;
- exhibitions;
- filming.
Another bunker museum provides an opportunity for a team strike game. For this, an area of one thousand two hundred square meters is equipped. You will be given equipment and weapons. Judging by the reviews, this is one of the best places in the city for a game shootout.
The 24-hour bunker provides the opportunity to use the services:
- restaurant;
- conference room;
- banquet room;
- karaoke club;
- cinema hall with DVD equipment;
- hall for 1000 people.
Bunker-42: reviews
Thousands of people visit this place every year. Most of them are satisfied that they ended up in the Bunker-42 museum. Reviews indicate that visiting the museum is:
- a fascinating pastime not only for adults, but also for children who are interested in history;
- an unforgettable impression of the scale of the exhibits, the power of the entire structure;
- an excursion to a parallel reality, a very bewitching place;
- this is a place where you feel different, like you have stepped into the past;
- great place as a museum, the bunker makes a strong and positive impression.
It is important to know that the residents of Moscow only recently learned about the construction and existence of a secret bunker. Everything was classified, encrypted, and the information was hidden. Only persons close to the government of the state were privy to the secrets of the complex. When the veil of mystery fell, all that remained was to admire the grandeur of the scale of this structure.
The most important thing after visiting the complex is what questions a person asks himself, what worries him and what he thinks about.
