Kazansky Rail Terminal

Kazansky Station on Komsomolskaya Square is one of nine long-distance terminals in Moscow, serving routes towards the Volga, the Urals and Central Asia. Architect Alexey Shchusev began the building in 1912 and deliberately drew on Old Russian and Tatar forms: the striking corner tower quotes the Soyembika Tower of the Kazan Kremlin, signalling the line's most important destination. Construction dragged on through war and revolution until 1940, and the result is considered a key work of early Soviet historicism. Inside, murals by Yevgeny Lanceray and a vast barrel-vaulted waiting hall reward a slow look. Walking across the Square of Three Stations you see the Leningradsky and Yaroslavsky terminals at the same time.