To step onto the Moscow metro is to step back in time and enter a museum of architecture and history. Opened 80 years ago -- on May 15, 1935 -- it is an extravagant gallery of communist design, featuring Soviet artworks, statues, chandeliers, stained glass, and ceiling mosaics. Built under Soviet dictator Josef Stalin, the metro now transports 7 million to 9 million people each day.
80th Anniversary: Inside The Moscow Metro, A Collection Of 20th-Century Art
![Men stand in front of a mosaic depicting former Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin at the Biblioteka Imeni Lenina metro station in Moscow.](https://gdb.rferl.org/3294044b-abdf-4e56-91a4-9a8bb6e6e19c_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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Men stand in front of a mosaic depicting former Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin at the Biblioteka Imeni Lenina metro station in Moscow.
![A couple kisses in front of a stained-glass panel at the Novoslobodskaya metro station, which was built in 1952.](https://gdb.rferl.org/1d7bf297-855d-41a7-a9e5-964ecba4fef8_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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A couple kisses in front of a stained-glass panel at the Novoslobodskaya metro station, which was built in 1952.
![People wait for the train at the Mayakovskaya metro station, built in 1938.](https://gdb.rferl.org/5986c486-b709-4614-b02c-0ee848f5af90_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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People wait for the train at the Mayakovskaya metro station, built in 1938.
![A ceiling panel at the Novoslobodskaya metro station](https://gdb.rferl.org/a929a430-4dbe-4c1c-b05c-542ec5d21889_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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A ceiling panel at the Novoslobodskaya metro station
![A woman touches the nose of the so-called "lucky dog" statue at the Ploshchad Revolyutsii station.](https://gdb.rferl.org/fbe64b63-2eb6-4019-8f99-6428ef5c515b_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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A woman touches the nose of the so-called "lucky dog" statue at the Ploshchad Revolyutsii station.
![People walk under a mosaic of Lenin at the Komsomolskaya metro station.](https://gdb.rferl.org/08d41f17-fcea-42e8-9e15-5503af606d9f_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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People walk under a mosaic of Lenin at the Komsomolskaya metro station.
![A couple in front of a stained glass panel at the Novoslobodskaya metro station](https://gdb.rferl.org/2c46bd41-3770-4e6f-83f1-95008007d6ac_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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A couple in front of a stained glass panel at the Novoslobodskaya metro station
![Women walk past a statue at the Belorusskaya metro station.](https://gdb.rferl.org/8d894ddc-5dd6-4619-8d2e-e80db9c8399c_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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Women walk past a statue at the Belorusskaya metro station.
![The interior of the Prospekt Mira metro station](https://gdb.rferl.org/6313c7f0-5f67-4cb4-a0ab-d003ed0a4ca9_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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The interior of the Prospekt Mira metro station
![The Moscow metro also boasts interesting benches and seats.](https://gdb.rferl.org/0a058095-cc4a-440c-bfc3-7da63f897c75_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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The Moscow metro also boasts interesting benches and seats.
![Two men go down an escalator at a Moscow metro station.](https://gdb.rferl.org/0281284b-251d-4ec5-9955-fb1a9e112009_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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Two men go down an escalator at a Moscow metro station.
![A stained-glass panel inside the Novoslobodskaya station](https://gdb.rferl.org/f4aebaaa-d8aa-46e0-8dda-586cbb751a2b_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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A stained-glass panel inside the Novoslobodskaya station
![Crowds at the Prospekt Mira station](https://gdb.rferl.org/29d73d3f-45ce-48fe-b597-4e83ddac8374_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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Crowds at the Prospekt Mira station
![A map of the Moscow metro system is seen behind a poster warning passengers to avoid the closing doors on the train.](https://gdb.rferl.org/a3149803-d9ce-4908-9350-781cab7779bc_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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A map of the Moscow metro system is seen behind a poster warning passengers to avoid the closing doors on the train.