The Great Patriotic War did not stop the construction of the metro. During these difficult years, seven stations were launched, which are easily recognized by memorial plaques with the inscription: “Constructed during the days of the Patriotic War.” Among them are Baumanskaya, Semenovskaya and Partizanskaya, which opened on January 18, 1944. This year they turned 75 years old.
It was decided to extend the Blue Line of the Moscow metro to the north in 1937, and construction began in 1938. By June 1941, almost 70% of the tunnels of the new section of the Pokrovsky radius were ready.
The war suspended work, turning unfinished facilities into bomb shelters. As soon as the threat of the capture of Moscow had passed, the construction of the metro resumed.
Many professional builders went to the front, which created a personnel shortage. Seven kilometers of the section “Kurskaya” - “Izmailovsky Park” were completed by teenagers, women and front-line soldiers demobilized after being wounded.
Despite the difficult conditions in which “Baumanskaya”, “Semyonovskaya” and “Partizanskaya” were built, they turned out to be one of the most beautiful in the Moscow metro. The Art Deco style, characteristic of the architecture of that period, acquired military and patriotic notes here. Now these stations are classified as cultural heritage sites of regional significance.
According to the project, the stations of the Pokrovsky radius connected the city with the new working quarters of Izmailovo, where residential buildings, factories, and factories were built. It was also planned to build the Stalin Stadium, which would become the main sports arena of the city. A new station with the same name was to be located next to the sports complex. The designed three routes would help avoid crowding when people return from mass sporting events. In addition, there was supposed to be a second exit at the station.
The stadium was never completed due to the outbreak of the war. The station opened under the name “Izmailovsky Park of Culture and Leisure named after Stalin”, from 1947 to 1963 it was called “Izmailovskaya”, then it was renamed “Izmailovsky Park” and since 2005 it has been named “Partizanskaya”. The last name, given in honor of the 60th anniversary of the victory in the Second World War, most closely matches the design.
“Partizanskaya” is a column-mounted, three-span shallow station. In its spacious hall there are two wide platforms and three paths. The works of sculptor Matvey Manizer, located at the station, reflect the theme of partisan warfare. On the columns closest to the exit there are figures of Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya and Matvey Kuzmin. In the staircase hall there is a whole sculptural group “Partisans”.
The track walls and capitals of the columns are decorated with bas-reliefs by Saul Rabinovich: there are machine guns, hand grenades, and machine guns hung in the forest thicket. On the ceiling above the middle tracks of the station hall there used to be large lamps and a circular fresco by the artist Andrei Goncharov, which has not survived to this day.
There were several projects for a three-track station. Famous architects worked on them - Valery Taushkanov, Dmitry Chechulin. In the end, Boris Vilensky’s version won due to the simplicity of the architectural solutions, which were more acceptable for the war years. Thanks to its three-track structure, Partizanskaya is the widest station of the Moscow metro.
The station was named in honor of the nearby Semyonovskaya Square. In the 17th century, there was the Semenovskaya Soldiers' Settlement of Peter I. Until 1961, the station was called “Stalinskaya”, since it was built in the district of Moscow of the same name.
The architect of “Semyonovskaya” was Samuil Kravets, who at that time headed the architectural bureau of Metrostroy. The three-bay deep station was his first underground project. The work turned out to be original. The station, located at a depth of 40 meters underground, looked like a temple. The ticket hall is crowned with a high dome and decorated with red marble columns; large windows are located along its perimeter.
Geology made it possible to remove the heavy pylons and replace them with four rows of steel supports, lined with white marble with red inserts. The central hall was decorated with large floor lamps in bronze frames. The track walls are lined with gray marble, the floor with slabs of red and black granite.
The theme of the design was the defense of the Motherland. This is evidenced by the high relief on the end wall, depicting the Order of Victory against the background of weapons and banners, with the inscription: “Glory to our Red Army!” In addition, on the track walls there are chased shields depicting various types of weapons and round bas-reliefs with profiles of Russian soldiers, among whom are a scout, a Cossack, a Red Army soldier, a tanker, a Red Navy man, and a pilot. The creation of “Semyonovskaya” involved the sculptor-monumentalist Vera Mukhina, who became famous throughout the world for the famous statue “Worker and Collective Farm Woman”.
“Baumanskaya” is named in honor of the revolutionary Nikolai Bauman, killed in 1905 year not far from the main building of the Imperial Moscow Technical School (later - MSTU named after N.E. Bauman). In the ticket office there is a bust of him by sculptor Alexei Shlykov.
At the project stage, the station was called “Spartakovskaya”. According to the architect Boris Iofan, the uprising of Spartacus is the main theme in the interior design. According to this idea, statues of gladiators should have been located in the pylon niches.
The war made adjustments here too. The theme has changed, but the original architectural design has been preserved. The niches were occupied by figures of front-line soldiers and rear workers by Vyacheslav Andreev. Four of them were made by the sculptor himself: “Metrostroevka”, “Red Army Soldier with a Banner”, “Red Army Soldier in a Camouflage Robe” and “Pilot”. The rest (“Commander”, “Partisan”, “Worker”, “Constructor”) after Andreev’s death were completed by his widow and colleague Sergei Koltsov. The material for the statues was plaster; in 1950 they were tinted bronze. In the 1970s, due to wear and tear, the originals were replaced with bronze copies.
At the end of the hall there is a mosaic panel by Alexander Ivanov with the profile of Vladimir Lenin. Initially, Joseph Stalin was also on it, but after the debunking of the cult of personality, the image of the leader was removed. On the arch of the escalator descent there is a majolica panel “Glory of the Soviet Army” by artist Isaac Rabinovich. Above him, on the wall of the ground vestibule, is a quote from Stalin: “The front and rear represent our single and indivisible battle camp.”