Taganskaya (Koltsevaya line)

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Taganskaya (Koltsevaya line)

Taganskaya is a Moscow Metro station on the Koltsevaya line (the Ring Line). It’s in the Tagansky District, Central Administrative Okrug, Moscow, Russia, and opened on January 1, 1950 as part of the system’s fourth stage. The station is named after Taganka Square, a major city junction.

Design and layout
- Type: pylon station with 1 island platform and 2 tracks
- Depth: about 53 meters
- Architects: K. Ryzhkov and A. Medvedev
- Decorations: 48 maiolica panels around the central column, featuring World War II heroes (pilots, tank crews, sailors, and more). The central hall panels are blue; platform-hall panels are monochrome.
- Lighting and surfaces: 12 gilded chandeliers in the central hall; cream ceramic walls, powder-colored marble on the lower pylons and walls; black and gray checkerboard floor.

Key historical notes
- The station originally showcased a “Stalin and youth” sculpture group in the central hall. It was replaced in 1961 by a Lenin-themed composition and removed in 1966 to make room for transfers to the then-new Zhdanovskaya line.
- A new stairwell for the Marksistskaya transfer (Kalininskaya line) was added in 1979.
- A replica of the Stalin-and-youth sculpture was unveiled in 2025 for the metro’s 90th anniversary.
- Because Taganka Square sits on a hill, the station’s entrance required an intermediate hall and a large dome. An escalator system was split, and renovations added the dome and a grand lobby.
- The vestibule was renovated in 2005–2006, with new escalators, turnstiles, and security upgrades. The station reopened in December 2006.
- Taganskaya was the deepest Moscow Metro station from 1950 to 1958.
- In 2025, a bas-relief wall panel depicting Stalin was installed in the passage between the two Taganskaya stations; a previous version was removed in the 1960s during de-Stalinization.

Cultural note
- In 1991, the band Lyube recorded a song about Taganskaya Station.