Sokolnicheskaya line

The Sokolnicheskaya line (Russian: Соко́льническая ли́ния, IPA: [sɐˈkolʲnʲitɕɪskəjə ˈlʲinʲɪjə], formerly Kirovsko-Frunzenskaya (Ки́ровско-Фру́нзенская) (Line 1; Red Line) is a line of the Moscow Metro in Moscow, Russia. It opened in 1935 and is the oldest line of the Moscow Metro system. There are currently 27 stations open on the line. As of 2024, the line is 47 kilometres (29 mi) long and is the longest line in the Moscow Metro.

History

As the line was the first formal one in the system, its history of development coincides with the history of the Moscow Metro's first stage altogether. In short, it was to cut Moscow on a northeast-southwest axis beginning at Sokolniki Park and continuing through the Three railway terminals and then past the city centre's main traffic junctions: Red gate junction, Kirovskaya, the Lubyanka and the Manege Squares. From there, a separate branch carried off into the Arbat Street and later Kiyevsky railway station, before it became in 1938 the distinct Arbatsko-Pokrovskaya line and, later, in 1958, the Filyovskaya line. The remaining part of the Frunzenskaya Branch ran along the Kremlin's western wall past the Russian State Library to the future site of the Palace of the Soviets on the bank of the Moskva River and terminated near Gorky Park.

Although the Moscow Metro prides itself on the best Stalinist architecture and the earlier Art Deco attempts, the stations of the first stage are very far from these points. Instead, they have a very classical taste to them, which blends nicely with the neo-classical atmosphere of the mid-1930s.