6 THE DOG WITH THE SHINY NOSE

Moscow

Ploshchad Revolyutsii metro station in Moscow – the one that serves Red Square and the Kremlin – is one of the most impressive in a city famous for its grandiose underground system. The long central galleries that connect the platforms to the escalators have vaulted roofs, polished black and grey floors and decorative flourishes more reminiscent of a luxury Art-Deco hotel than a city underground station.

In the gallery which serves the Arbatsko-Pokrovskaya Line, the arches that form the main access points are rimmed with red and black marble running between them, and set on the corners of each arch is one of a series of bronze statues. There are 76 in total – in the Social Realist style – and they depict men and women of 1930s Russia, the everyday heroes of the new Soviet Socialist Republic.

There are soldiers and miners, athletes and students, engineers and agricultural labourers – all with that 1,000-yard stare and an air of intent, dynamic energy. They are idealised figures designed to inspire and indoctrinate, characterisations of the New Soviet Man and Woman – selfless, disciplined and totally committed to the socialist cause.

The metro, the station and the art works were all part of Stalin’s programme of industrialisation and propaganda as he consolidated his grip on the USSR in the 1930s. Ironically, he had to turn to Britain for help. While local workers did the tunnelling and construction, and Soviet architects and artists conceived the designs and artworks, the main engineering of the routes and structures was done by consultants from the London Underground (in fact, the influence was two-way – the design of Gants Hill tube station on the Central Line, which opened in 1947, is highly reminiscent of the Moscow Metro).

Today, modern Russians who hurry