Description of the attraction
Stalin's metro - under this name in Kiev there is a very interesting object, part of the so-called Construction No. 1. This object was intended to duplicate railway bridges across the Dnieper for the purpose of transferring troops and various cargoes from coast to coast. This once top-secret object got its name due to the fact that the idea of its construction in 1938 was submitted by Stalin himself, and the employees of the metro construction were engaged in the implementation.
Work on the construction of the Stalinist metro began at the end of the 30s of the twentieth century, but with the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, they were stopped, while equipment and machinery were flooded in the Dnieper. During this time, about 10,000 employees and workers managed to visit work, who managed to build part of the previously planned underground tunnels and railway embankments. At the end of the war, the continuation of work on the construction of the tunnels was considered unprofitable, so they were not renewed.
To date, part of this unrealized project, also known as the “South Pipe”, located on Zhukov Island, is considered one of the most accessible and spectacular parts of the Stalin metro. The object is a reinforced concrete tunnel descending towards the Dnieper. The western part of the South pipe almost completely rises above the ground, and the eastern part practically goes under the water and only rises a few centimeters above the mirror of the lake. The tunnel stretches for six hundred meters and is flooded today.
Extremists, taking advantage of the fact that in winter, the water in the tunnel freezes, they like to travel on the ice from the western entrance to the intermediate one. Also, the head and the remains of the tunnel located on Osokorki are open for public access. On Obolon you can see the caisson of the Northern Tunnel, popularly known as the “Concrete Ship”.
