Arbatskaya (Arbatsko-Pokrovskaya line)

Arbatskaya (Russian: Арба́тская) is a station on the Arbatsko–Pokrovskaya line of the Moscow Metro. Along with Smolenskaya and Kievskaya, it was built in 1953 to replace an older, parallel section of track which has since become part of the Filyovskaya line. The old station had been damaged in a German bomb attack in 1941, so its replacement was much deeper and included larger stations that could double as shelters (especially in the event of nuclear attack). Although it was initially supposed to be closed permanently, the old section reopened five years later, creating the somewhat confusing situation of having two pairs of completely separate stations with the same names (Arbatskaya and Smolenskaya).

Plaque in the passage connecting Arbatsko–Pokrovskaya and Filyovskaya lines

Arbatskaya Арбатская
Moscow Metro station
General information
Location	Arbat District Central Administrative Okrug Moscow Russia
Coordinates	55.7522°N 37.6061°E / 55.7522; 37.6061
Owned by	Moskovsky Metropoliten
Line(s)	Arbatsko-Pokrovskaya line
Platforms	1 island platform
Tracks	2
Construction
Structure type	Pylon station
Depth	41 metres (135 ft)
Platform levels	1
Parking	No
Other information
Station code	042
History
Opened	5 April 1953 (1953-04-05)
Services
Preceding station Moscow Metro Following station Smolenskaya towards Pyatnitskoye Shosse Arbatsko-Pokrovskaya line Ploshchad Revolyutsii towards Shchyolkovskaya Arbatskaya towards Kuntsevskaya Filyovskaya line transfer at Aleksandrovsky Sad Terminus Kropotkinskaya towards Kommunarka Sokolnicheskaya line transfer at Biblioteka Imeni Lenina Okhotny Ryad towards Bulvar Rokossovskogo Chekhovskaya towards Altufyevo Serpukhovsko-Timiryazevskaya line transfer at Borovitskaya Polyanka towards Bulvar Dmitriya Donskogo
Route map Rozhdestveno Mitino yard Pyatnitskoye Shosse Mitino Volokolamskaya Mitinsky Bridge over Moskva River Myakinino MKAD Strogino () Troitse-Lykovo Krylatskoye Molodyozhnaya Kuntsevskaya Slavyansky Bulvar Park Pobedy Kiyevskaya Moskva River Smolenskaya () Arbatskaya to Aleksandrovsky Sad Ploshchad Revolyutsii () Kurskaya Baumanskaya Elektrozavodskaya Semyonovskaya Partizanskaya Pervomayskaya (closed) Izmaylovo yard Izmaylovskaya Pervomayskaya Shchyolkovskaya Golyanovo
Location
Arbatskaya Location within Central Moscow

Arbatskaya was designed by Leonid Polyakov, Valentin Pelevin and Yury Zenkevich. Since it was meant to serve as a bomb shelter as well as a Metro station, Arbatskaya is both large (the 250-m platform is the second-longest in Moscow) and deep (41 m underground). The main tunnel is elliptical in cross-section, an unusual departure from the standard circular design. The station features low, square pylons faced with red marble and a high vaulted ceiling elaborately decorated with ornamental brackets, floral reliefs, and chandeliers.