Biblioteka Imeni Lenina

Biblioteka Imeni Lenina ( _ru. Библиоте́ка и́мени Ле́нина, translated as "Lenin Library") is a station on the Sokolnicheskaya Line of the Moscow Metro. The station was opened on May 15, 1935 as a part of the first stage of the Metro. It is situated in the very centre of the city under the Mokhovaya Street, and is named for the nearby Russian State Library (called the Lenin Library in 1925–1992). Its architects were A. I. Gontskevich and S. Sulin.

To prevent the disruption of traffic, Biblioteka Imeni Lenina was built using underground excavation rather than cut and cover even though the station ceiling is just two metres below ground level. Soil conditions and the narrowness of the space in which the station was to be built necessitated a single-vault design, the only one on the first Metro line. The entire excavation was only 19.8 metres wide and 11.7 metres high. The main station vault was built from rubble stone set in concrete and reinforced with an iron framework. This was lined with an "umbrella" of bitumen-coated paper to prevent groundwater from seeping into the station. The station was finished with plaster, yellow ceramic tile, and marble.

The station originally had two entrance vestibules, one at either end. The southern vestibule, located between the old and new buildings of the State Library, is shared with Borovitskaya. The temporary northern vestibule, which served Biblioteka Imeni Lenina and Alexandrovsky Sad, was removed in the 1940s.

Transfers

From this station it is possible to transfer to Arbatskaya on the Arbatsko-Pokrovskaya Line, Alexandrovsky Sad on the Filyovskaya Line, and Borovitskaya on the Serpukhovsko-Timiryazevskaya Line.

Though Biblioteka Imeni Lenina and Alexandrovsky Sad (then called Kominintern) were built concurrently, they were not connected by transfer passages until 1938, when Alexandrovsky Sad became part of the Arbatsko-Pokrovskaya Line. Before this the line from Alexandrovsky Sad to Kievskaya operated as a branch of the Sokolnicheskaya Line.

External links

* [http://www.metro.ru/stations/sokolnicheskaya/biblioteka_im_lenina/ Description of the station on Metro.ru] ru icon
* [http://www.mymetro.ru/cgi-bin/list.pl?lng=ru&a=1&b=1&c=11 Description of the station on Mymetro.ru] ru icon
* [http://metro.molot.ru/st_sl_bil.shtml Description of the station on Metro.molot.ru] ru icon
* [http://www.kartametro.info/?hl=EN&ms=BibliotekaImeniLenina&z=17&t=k KartaMetro.info] — Station location and exits on Moscow map en icon ru icon