Avtovo (, ) is a station on the

Kirovsko-Vyborgskaya Line Line 1 of the Saint Petersburg Metro, also known as ''Kirovsko-Vyborgskaya Line'' () or ''Red Line'', is the oldest rapid transit line in Saint Petersburg, Russia, opened in 1955, which connects Kirovsky and Vyborgsky districts of the city. Th ...

of the

Saint Petersburg Metro The Saint Petersburg Metro () is a rapid transit system in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Construction began in early 1941, but was put on hold due to World War II and the subsequent Siege of Leningrad, during which the constructed stations were used a ...

. Designed by architect , it opened as part of the first Leningrad Metro line on November 15, 1955. In 2014,

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

included it on the list of 12 most beautiful metro stations in the world. Avtovo's unique and highly ornate design features columns faced with ornamental

glass Glass is an amorphous (non-crystalline solid, non-crystalline) solid. Because it is often transparency and translucency, transparent and chemically inert, glass has found widespread practical, technological, and decorative use in window pane ...

manufactured at the Lomonosov factory. Although the original plan envisaged using glass on all of the columns in the station, white

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock consisting of carbonate minerals (most commonly calcite (CaCO3) or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite (CaMg(CO3)2) that have recrystallized under the influence of heat and pressure. It has a crystalline texture, and is ty ...

was substituted on some due to time constraints. This marble was supposed to be temporary but has never been replaced. The walls are faced with white marble and adorned on the north side by a row of ornamental ventilation grilles. At the end of the platform, a mosaic by V.A. Voronetskiy and A.K. Sokolov commemorates the

Leningrad Blockade The siege of Leningrad was a military blockade undertaken by the Axis powers against the city of Leningrad (present-day Saint Petersburg) in the Soviet Union on the Eastern Front of World War II from 1941 to 1944. Leningrad, the country's se ...

(1941–1944) during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Unlike the other stations on the first line, Avtovo is a shallow-level station constructed using the

cut and cover A tunnel is an underground or undersea passageway. It is dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, or laid under water, and is usually completely enclosed except for the two portals common at each end, though there may be access and ve ...

method. It belongs to the shallow column class of underground stations. Avtovo has as its entrance vestibule a large Neoclassical building with a domed

cupola In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, usually dome-like structure on top of a building often crowning a larger roof or dome. Cupolas often serve as a roof lantern to admit light and air or as a lookout. The word derives, via Ital ...

, located on the east side of .

Gallery

Image:Metro SPB Line1 Avtovo pavilion.jpg, Avtovo entrance vestibule

References

External links

*
Description of the station on Metrowalks.ru

{{Foot zones of Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg Metro stations Railway stations in Russia opened in 1955 Railway stations located underground in Russia Cultural heritage monuments of regional significance in Saint Petersburg