How Yuri Gagarin met with metro builders

The whole world on April 12 remembered one of the greatest achievements of mankind of the 20th century - Yuri Gagarin's flight into space. 60 years ago, he ascended into the orbit of our planet on the Vostok spacecraft and circled it in 1 hour 48 minutes. The first cosmonaut received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, and the day of his flight became a public holiday - Cosmonautics Day.

In the Metrostroy Palace of Culture, Yuri Alekseevich and Valentina Ivanovna Gagarin took pictures with Metrostroy women. Next to the cosmonaut are Tatyana Viktorovna Fedorova and Elena Maksimovna Seslavinskaya

Yuri Alekseevich Gagarin won worldwide fame. Many people both in the Soviet Union and abroad dreamed of meeting him and asking about his feat. It is said that even the Queen of Great Britain invited the first astronaut to an informal dinner during his trip to England. The metro builders were no exception.

In March 1963, Yuri Gagarin, together with his wife Valentina Ivanovna, visited our large and friendly team. The historical event took place at the Metrostroy House of Culture on the eve of International Women's Day. Tatyana Viktorovna Fedorova left a detailed story about this in her book of memoirs “At the Top of Moscow”. She did everything possible to make this event happen.

“Metro construction workers are rejoicing. The pioneers and Komsomol members prepared flowers, the miners chose a helmet as a gift - “To the space pioneer from the pioneers of the metro,” wrote Tatyana Fedorova about the minutes of waiting for the star guest. –I look out the window at Kostomarovsky Lane and see the Volga. She turned around and stood not far from the entrance. Yuri Gagarin emerges from it in an overcoat and astrakhan hat. We rush down. The joy of meeting, how to convey it?”

Yuri Gagarin greeted veterans and youth and toured the Palace of Culture, of which Metrostroy has always been proud. In the foyer, drawing attention to the stands with the names of those awarded for hard work, Yuri Alekseevich noted that not every team has so many Heroes of the Soviet Union, and Alexey Ryazanov is even a twice Hero.

He told the metro workers about his flight, about his impressions, about his dreams of visiting distant planets and finding out whether International Women's Day is celebrated there. On his trips abroad, he had seen subways in different countries, but nowhere had he seen anything like ours. He compared Moscow stations to underground palaces, calling them a work of art: “You can walk for hours even around one station and admire its beauty and decoration. Everywhere there is the creative thought of people who work to create a real underground miracle.”

Yuri Gagarin took pictures with metro builders and signed autographs, and also left a commemorative inscription on a large photograph where he was captured with German Titov, Andriyan Nikolaev and Pavel Popovich.

“On that pre-holiday day, Yuri Gagarin came to us with his wife Valya,” recalls Mosmetrostroy veteran Elena Maksimovna Seslavinskaya. She just happened to be between the first cosmonaut and his wife in the group photo. “He made the most positive impression on everyone present.” His wide smile, talkativeness, sincerity and special sense of patriotism delighted everyone. He gave the impression of being “his guy,” a simple Russian person with whom it was pleasant to talk.

Metro construction workers present a helmet to the first cosmonaut