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03.02.2017, 00:50 657006 211 Alexandra Alexandra

Surely, everyone who has ever been to the Moscow metro has noticed that at the Ploshchad Revolyutsii station on the Arbatsko-Pokrovskaya line, many of the sculptures decorating the arches have some parts polished to a shine, and passers-by stop to touch the sculptures. Even in the heat of the day or rush hour, people find time to come up and pet this or that figure, sometimes even forming a line. This tradition has been around for many years - ever since the metro was built.

History of sculptures at the Ploshchad Revolyutsii station

So, a little history. The hall at the station is decorated with 76 bronze figures depicting Soviet people, created by Matvey Manizer. Initially there were 80 sculptures, but due to the opening of the eastern ground lobby in 1947, 4 of them were removed. There are a total of 20 different images at the station. All sculptures are arranged in chronological order from the events of October 1917 to December 1937.

If you look closely, all the figures except those of the pioneers are depicted kneeling, bending or sitting. This was done specifically to fit them into the limited space of the arches. But there was a popular joke about this: “At the station it is shown that the entire Soviet people are bending or on their knees.”

So where did the tradition of touching these sculptures and making wishes come from?

In 1931, the Cathedral of Christ the Savior was blown up. Only a small number of fragments of wall paintings, a small part of church utensils, and a few bas-reliefs were recognized as objects of artistic significance and transferred to museums. Everything else was lost forever. The government decided to use all the material for the needs of the city. The Kropotkinskaya and Okhotny Ryad metro stations were lined with marble from the Temple, and benches were decorated at the Novokuznetskaya station. Part of the plates with the names of heroes Patriotic War In 1812, paths in Moscow parks were crumbled and sprinkled, and some of them were used to decorate city buildings. The bells were melted down, and some sculptures were made from them to decorate the station. This is where the story begins. According to legend, it was the dog that was cast from the melted down bell. Devoted, believing old women came to venerate the sculpture, and after them, smart students of the Bauman Moscow Higher Technical School, located one station from Revolution Square, happily adopted this tradition and began to rub their noses for good luck.

Over time, the sign has undergone slight changes. Now you need to touch the nose with the “test”, to successfully pass the exam you need to touch the dog’s nose, and to pass the test - to its paw.
Since the bronze figures at the station are repeated, there are four dogs. All four have shiny noses. But the most “correct dog” is the one that is closer to the exit in the direction from the center.

You can believe or not believe in omens. But every day, for good luck, not only students rub the dog’s nose, but ordinary city residents and even guests of the capital.

OTHER LIFE HACKS:

I have always been passionately curious about what and who gets polished to a shine at the Ploshchad Revolyutsii metro station. I'm sure that each of you has at least once seen someone rubbing a dog's nose. There are still many beliefs circulating among the people and they will accept that if you touch various parts statues, then your deepest wishes will come true. I’ve been meaning to make a similar excursion into the folk superstitions of the Moscow metro for a long time, and finally I got the chance.

All 76 bronze figures at the Ploshchad Revolyutsii station on the Arbatsko-Pokrovskaya line of the Moscow Metro depict people from the Soviet era. The author of all 20 images is Matvey Manizer. It took three years in the Leningrad art casting workshop to create these exhibits. 18 of them are repeated four times, and two - twice. The sculptures are arranged in chronological order from the events of October 1917 to December 1937. Interestingly, it was originally planned to place 80 sculptures, but in 1947, in connection with the opening of the eastern ground vestibule, 4 statues were removed. I.V. Stalin personally arrived at the opening of the lobby and, having carefully examined all the sculptures, made a historical verdict: “As alive, as alive...” In 1941, the sculptures from the Revolution Square station were evacuated to Central Asia and were returned back to 1944 During the evacuation, the sculptures were badly damaged. However, due to the repetition of sculptural compositions, all exhibits were restored. If anyone is interested in the details and list of characters, you can easily find it on the Internet.

And I’ll try to sketch out for you what I promised guide to Moscow superstitions. Undoubtedly, the most popular at the station are dogs and roosters. If you stop and watch, then every minute and a half someone will definitely approach them. Photos of repeating sculptures (there are four dogs at the station, four roosters too)

There is a belief that The best way pass the exam - rub the nose of the bronze dog at the “Border Guard with a Dog.” There are four border guards with dogs at the station. And all four dogs have shiny noses. This sign was born thanks to the students of the Bauman Moscow State Technical University, located one station away. Students have been coming to the Revolution Square metro station to ask for good luck since 1938. At the height of the session, entire lines line up to see the dogs. Moreover, students encounter different variants this sign:
1. Run out of the train, touch the noses of all four dogs at once and have time to return to the same train. Particularly popular before state elections.
2. To successfully pass a test or exam, you need to touch your nose with your record book.
3. To get an excellent mark, you need to touch the dog’s nose, and to pass the test, touch its paw.
They also say that this dog helps all people get rid of bad habits and addictions. Two dogs located in the center of the hall, if you pat their faces before an important village or important task, guarantee you the desired outcome.

Birderwith chicken and rooster. As all Asians know, the rooster is a symbol of wealth and prosperity. Therefore, all those who want to get rich rub the roosters and hens everything they can, whispering their secret prayers under their breath. Roosters are rubbed in the same way to increase their salaries. But not all the roosters at the station are helping! There is one that, on the contrary, brings only misfortune - you should never touch it. Make sure you don't confuse them :) And gourmets also come to the roosters. They believe that if you rub the comb of a bird, then on that day an exquisite and tasty food. Oh how!

Lenin with ganata(more precisely, a revolutionary worker with a rifle and a grenade, but very similar to Vladimir Ilyich). In general, weapons are rubbed on all statues by men who want to defeat their external enemies and internal demons. Lenin, by the way, is rubbed on a grenade, on his knee and on his shoe.

Sailor with a revolver. It is believed that if you touch a sailor's revolver, the day will be successful financially and business-wise. Therefore, before concluding an important deal, you should come here and rub the barrel of your weapon and, of course, the star on your sleeve. Some people also rub grenades. Revolvers from statues, by the way, are regularly stolen, so they are all different sizes and varying degrees of rubbing.

Father with child. Here, for all fathers, everything is rubbed at once: the child’s legs, the father’s hands, the father’s knee, and even the father’s leg. But children's heels shine the most! Mostly men come here - future fathers who dream of children. And some ladies who want the father of their child to become a better person.

Mother with child. Mothers have chafed feet from the very hip to the tip of the shoe. And the child’s genitals are rubbed until they shine. Here mothers dream of giving birth to male heirs, because the vast majority of those suitable for the ritual are women, often pregnant. Sometimes future fathers also come up, apparently praying to Providence for a son.

Why tinder grandfather's bast shoe with a rifle remains a mystery to me for now. I have not been able to find any information about this before. However, a passer-by at the station said that all visitors to Moscow do this in order to settle here comfortably and become part of the family, just like in their native village. What a logical explanation!

In general, all the statues at the station will have certain areas rubbed. Except one. Only no one rubs anything on the football players. So they sit, sadly fixing their gaze on the passengers getting off the train, passing by to the rest of the workers and peasants... Maybe this is why we have such a bad time with football? Well, football players don’t take the metro, that’s understandable) But fellow fans, let’s at least rub the ball with the whole world? ;)

Unknown people began to “feed” the rooster sculpture at the Ploshchad Revolutsii metro station with raisins, hoping to attract good luck in this way. “360” figured out the mythology of the Moscow metro.

Unknown people began to bring “gifts” to the sculpture of a rooster at the Moscow metro station “Revolution Square” - a handful of raisins appeared behind the head of the bronze bird. About it Alexey Tsvetkov wrote on his Facebook page, who noticed an unusual phenomenon.

Yesterday, on the way home from work, I was waiting for the train at the Revolution Square station and, curious, looked behind the head of a bronze rooster, caressed by people to a shine. To my surprise, I found a handful of fresh raisins there. That is, the rooster is not only stroked, making a wish, but also fed with raisins to make it more likely to come true

Alexey Tsvetkov.

The man checked all four roosters, each of them had a raisin behind their head. “There is something Eurasian in this - feeding sweet dried grapes to an immortal idol. But at the same time it is also imperial and Roman to make a harmless sacrifice in the pantheon to a specific pecking spirit,” he added.

Photo: Alexey Tsvetkov / Facebook

There are 76 sculptures at the Revolution Square station, and the rooster statue is the most mysterious. According to some beliefs, under no circumstances should you touch any of them (there are four of them at the station) - “trouble will definitely come.” Others believe that only one of the bronze birds should not be touched, but which one is unknown.

According to local historian Artem Zadikyan, there are many similar places in Moscow that, for one reason or another, become “sacred” for a certain group of people.

There are many examples of sacred places in parks and squares in Moscow. This rooster is also, in a sense, a place of worship. Suddenly, one person succeeded, and he immediately told others about it

Artem Zadikyan.

This is not the only sculpture at the station from which people expect a blessing or a curse. Thus, those who are going on a date are advised to rub the bronze girl’s shoe - it promises success in love affairs. The nose of the border guard's dog brings good luck to students during exams. And if you touch the signalman’s flag early in the morning, the day must be good.

Not everyone is calm about the fact that the sculptures at the station are popular. For example, local historian Alexander Mozhaev in 2014 appealed to the metro management with a request to save the dog from barbarians and take the bronze sculpture under protection. They refused to do this, but they promised that the dog’s nose would be covered with a special compound that would not wear off due to frequent touching.

The Ploshchad Revolutsii station was opened in 1938. The design of the station was made by architect Alexey Dushkin. Initially there were 80 sculptures, they were made of plaster. Four monuments were later removed due to safety concerns. There are a total of 20 different images at the station, all of them representing Soviet people - from a sailor to a pioneer.

In 1941, sculptures from the Revolution Square station were evacuated to Central Asia. They were returned back in 1944. During the evacuation, the monuments were badly damaged - only scattered parts of some remained. However, due to the fact that each sculptural composition was repeated four times, they were completely restored.

For as long as I can remember, getting to the metro station. Revolution Square, I see this picture: many passers-by touch parts of the bronze statues, mostly everyone goes to rub the nose of the bronze watchdog)))) And that’s what I thought : what is the purpose of these touches? For good luck, from the evil eye? Or maybe it’s just by inertia: everyone is touching and I won’t lag behind? ... And then one thought crept into my BRAIN))): this is an instant version of spreading any infection... Someone sick touched it, and everyone started spreading it... Now it’s like pipes - I’ll pass by, so for sure happiness and luck will not turn away from me... God protects those who are careful....

What other strange signs, read quirks, are there in the Moscow metro? What beliefs? Maybe someone definitely doesn't get into the first or last car? Maybe someone walks around the poles on Novokuznetskaya and covers their tracks?))))) Maybe someone rides the escalatars only with their face up, so as not to look down and all that)))

The dark side of the Moscow metro

Moscow Metro- a real underground kingdom: more than 170 stations, 12 lines, 292 kilometers of tracks, about 10 million passengers per day. This dungeon has its own mythology, legends, traditions, and signs. They say that sometimes people, after going down to the platform or boarding a train, fall into time holes, are transported through space in an unknown way and meet with ghosts. Dear Muscovites and guests of the capital! We invite you on a journey through the dark side of the Moscow metro!

Underground inhabitants

In truth, few ordinary people had to walk through underground tunnels on foot, rather than rush through them at high speed on a train. The unknown always gives birth to the strangest and most terrible legends. A couple of decades ago, many newspapers published articles about huge meter-long mutant rats living underground with five-centimeter teeth, hard and sharp fur like a knife blade, from time to time attacking trains and easily biting through the casing of cars.

Another legend is about a whole tribe of people who once, for various reasons, descended underground and lived there in darkness, losing their human appearance, becoming covered with hair and almost going blind. And, of course, the tunnels are inhabited by ghosts: a black lineman walks along the tracks, having worked in the subway all his life and not daring to part with it after death. And sometimes ghost trains rush along the rails: sometimes empty, without drivers, sometimes filled with passengers dressed in costumes from different times.

Particularly attentive people can see a Red Army soldier sitting in front of a laptop, speaking in mobile phone and holding a PDA. Although less mystical-minded citizens claim that the fighter for the new order speaks only on the walkie-talkie, looks at a book and holds a notebook in his hand.

Fans of various pagan cults pay attention to the seemingly unremarkable modern station “Perovo”. Inspired by folk art In the panels, some see ancient idols, others - animals from the “Apocalypse” of John the Theologian.

On “Ilyich Square” you can see the inhabitants of the ancient warm sea, and this is no longer a legend. The stones that line the station contain the remains of thousands of fossil mollusks, contemporaries of dinosaurs. If you look closely, similar fossils can be seen in the lobby of the Belorusskaya-Koltsevaya, Dobryninskaya, Krasnoselskaya, Paveletskaya, Kurskaya and many other stations.

"Bad" places

Metro builders had to disturb the peace of several cemeteries. The dead were not carried over with the appropriate rituals, simply “forgetting” about them, and marble from the tombstones was used in the decoration of new stations. Such cases, as we know, do not pass without a trace. The underground is closer to dark forces, and therefore the influence of “black” energy increases.

One of the most unloved places among metro workers is the Sokol station. Employees constantly feel an otherworldly presence, as if someone is quietly watching them. Particularly impressionable people even talk about transparent figures appearing at the station when there are no passengers there yet. The reason for the anomalous phenomena supposed by parapsychologists is a nearby huge cemetery, where soldiers who died in the First World War were first buried, and then priests who were shot after the revolution.

However, this is far from the only “cemetery” station. The Old Believer churchyard was located on the site of the Preobrazhenskaya Ploshchad station; the entire area was built on the bones of the deceased, buried in a huge Jewish cemetery on Kutuzovsky Prospekt near the Kutuzovskaya metro station. Suicides are attracted by the largest interchange hub of the Lenin Library, Borovitskaya, Arbatskaya and Aleksandrovsky Sad stations. This is the revenge of the inhabitants of the ancient Starovagankovskaya settlement for the destroyed houses and the destroyed ancient graveyard.

Signs

As the popular saying goes, luck will be with those who travel the entire line from end to end (it seems that some of the most happy people Those from Moscow are those who live on Novogireevo and work in the center: they have to overcome this short line twice a day, but whether the sign works on the shortest Kakhovskaya line, 3.3 km long, is unknown).

One of the most magical stations is “Revolution Square”. 76 bronze sculptures by Matvey Manizer so captured the imagination of the townspeople that there was even talk of German prisoners of war being covered in metal. Several signs were born. The muzzle of a dog, rubbed by the hands of passers-by to a golden shine, frozen by a border guard crouched on one knee, is adored by careless students - you just need to touch it and the exam will be passed. Another way to pass the test with dignity is to hold the dog's paw. Just in case, it is better to bypass all four animals. Before an important date, it won’t hurt to touch the polished breasts of one of the female figures - and everything will go perfectly. A real anti-crisis remedy is the security officer’s Mauser: touch it, and financial well-being and assistance in business are guaranteed. Some townspeople do not want luck to smile on anyone else, and constantly steal weapons. On average, the Mauser has to be rebuilt once a season. But he doesn’t lose his magical power because of this. But you should stay away from the bronze rooster at the feet of the collective farmer: touching it can bring misfortune.

This sculptor probably had some kind of magical gift - another sign is associated with his creations at the Partizanskaya station (formerly Izmailovsky Park): lovers are recommended to meet exclusively at the right foot of a huge partisan, and then their relationship will last a long time. On the contrary, it is not recommended to schedule a rendezvous with the left one: someone will definitely go through life “in the wrong direction.”

copypost from http://turist.rbc.ru

Storyteller and explorer

I’ll repost it here so it’s saved just in case :)

Magic Square.
Signs are always interesting. I wonder where they come from and what they evolve into.
Every time I got off at the Ploshchad Revolutsii station, I noticed how people rubbed the dog’s nose on one of the sculptures decorating the arches. Walking around the station, I noticed that many of the sculptures had their protruding parts polished to a shine. And then I began to wonder what signs people associate with these sculptures?
So, a guide for those seeking good luck.

First, a little information about the sculptures themselves.

(from Wikipedia)

In the niches of each of the arches formed by the pylons of the station hall, there are 76 bronze figures depicting Soviet people (by Matvey Manizer). Initially there were 80 sculptures, but in 1947, in connection with the opening of the eastern ground vestibule, 4 were removed. There are a total of 20 different images at the station (18 of them are repeated four times, and 2 are repeated twice).
The sculptures are arranged in chronological order from the events of October 1917 to December 1937.
In 1941, the sculptures from the Revolution Square station were evacuated to Central Asia and were returned back in 1944. The sculptures were damaged during the evacuation. All that remained of them were scattered parts - heads, torsos, arms, weapons and other details. However, due to the fact that each sculptural composition was repeated four times, all sculptures were completely restored.
All figures (except those of the pioneers), in order to fit into the limited vaulted volume of the arched passages, are depicted either kneeling, bending, or sitting. There was a joke about this: “At the station it is shown that the entire Soviet people are either sitting or kneeling.”
The sculptures of the restored station so captured the imagination of the townspeople, exhausted by the hard times of war, that rumors spread about German prisoners of war covered in metal.
So, the actual sculptures, descriptions, photographs and beliefs associated with them. Some sculptures have beliefs, some are just for company, but it’s interesting to look at everything.

Arch I

Revolutionary worker with a rifle and a grenade.

A worker with a rifle is the first sculpture at the entrance to the hall. His knee is rubbed a little, but mostly the grenade is rubbed to a shine.

There are no specific legends associated with this particular worker, so it seems that this is how the search for happiness for some people entering the station begins - with a grenade.

Revolutionary soldier with a rifle.

The soldier is the second sculpture; the butt of a rifle is rubbed against him.

Probably at the same time as the worker's grenade, although the butt of the rifle was more chafed.

Arc II

A peasant in bast shoes, taking up arms.

The third sculpture has the most rubbing on its bast shoe and finger (which is incomprehensible and surprising), although this sculpture is much less popular and much poorer in features than the next one.

Revolutionary sailor with a revolver.

This is how it should look initially. It is believed that if you touch a sailor's revolver, the day will be successful financially and business-wise. Therefore, before concluding an important deal, you should come and rub the barrel of your revolver.
But one must not be mistaken, because not each of the four sculptures looks exactly like this.
Another sculpture of a sailor's revolver is constantly stolen (who knows? Maybe our Russian millionaire businessmen keep a revolver from this station at home?), so it looks like this:

As you can see, this sculpture’s revolver is not rubbed, but the grenades are. Well, in the absence of fish, as they say...
Nagant and grenades closer:

Arc III

DOSAAF paratrooper.

For some reason, no one is interested in the parachutist, although it would seem that she has enough protruding parts that can be rubbed. Although it is probably lost in the shadow of the next sculpture.

Sailor-signalman from the battleship "Marat".

Despite the fact that it is not very clearly visible in the general photograph, the sailor signalman is a very popular sculpture. Dreamers come to him, believing that if they rub the signal flags, their dreams will come true. Also in the morning everyone else comes to him just so that the day turns out well. Apparently, this belief is connected with a maritime sign: the day will pass in the same way as the flag is raised on the ship.

Arc IV

Girl "Voroshilov shooter" with an air rifle.

The sculpted girls of this station have no luck! This is not the first and not the last to go unnoticed and in the shadows.
But what a neighbor she has!

Border guard with a dog.

Without a doubt, this is the most famous sculpture of all on Revolution Square, and perhaps in the entire Moscow metro. Almost everyone passing rubs the dog's nose, paws, thighs...
So, almost everyone knows, but no less interesting legend.
This sign was born, most likely, thanks to the students of the Bauman Moscow State Technical University, located one station from Revolution Square.
It is believed that if a student touches a dog's nose, it will bring him good luck. There are different versions of this sign. For example, run out of the train, touch the noses of all four dogs at once and manage to return to the same train. There is an option that you need to touch your nose with your record book. There is also a version of the sign that to successfully pass the exam you need to touch the dog’s nose, and to pass the test you need to touch its paw.
Because the bronze figures at the station are repeated, and there are four dogs, like the border guards. That's why all four dogs have shiny noses. Students of the Bauman Moscow State Technical University, for example, believe that “their” dog is the one closest to the exit. But which one is closer is also difficult to determine. But most students think that correct sequence The action is as follows: the third carriage from the end towards "Shchelkovskaya", and it is called Bauman's dog.
Students have been coming to the Revolution Square metro station to ask for good luck since 1938. At the height of the session, sometimes a whole line forms to pet the dog.
It probably helps, because not only students, but also ordinary residents and guests of the capital come to ask this dog for help, and just good luck.
Closer view of the nose and paw:

Arch V

Stakhanovite with a jackhammer.

Stakhanovite, unfortunately, is not popular among fortune seekers. Only the knee shines slightly - perhaps, no, no, but someone passing by still asks the Stakhanovite for a little luck for himself. Yes, along with everyone else.

Young engineer.

This sculpture is also notorious for the activities of fortune hunter thieves. The engineer holds a gear in his left hand, but opinions differ regarding what he held in his right hand. Wikipedia believes that he held a compass in his right hand, but there is a popular belief that he held a pencil. In addition, there is a belief that touching this pencil (or compass) will bring good luck in scientific activity. It’s a pity that it’s impossible to check this now, although some people don’t lose hope and rub the gear.

Arch VI

Poultry house with chicken and rooster.

We came to the most interesting, in my opinion, sculpture of the station. In addition to the fact that this is one of the two girls who receive more attention than their male neighbors, this is also the only sculpture that brings misfortune instead of good luck.
Yes, that’s right: a rooster, and especially its beak, should not be stroked under any circumstances: something terrible will happen. But those passing by this sculpture either don’t know about this, or don’t believe in omens, or want to test their luck, but nevertheless, the comb, the beak, and indeed the entire head and neck of the rooster are rubbed to a shine.

Grain grower-mechanicist.

But the neighbor-farmer remained forgotten against the backdrop of a poultry house with a rooster. Although some, passing by, rub the tip of his shoe.

Arch VII

Student.

The Student, although some call him a dreamer, is also not the most popular sculpture. People probably think that asking something from a person looking dreamily into the distance is pointless.

Student with a book.

But many more people turn to the attentively reading student, although these requests are not related to education. Girls come to the student and rub her shoe so as not to remain old maids. In addition, her shoe helps those who want to avoid unhappy love. And, of course, just for luck.
In addition to the touching nature of the sign itself, the student is also interesting because it is the second statue of a girl after the birdwoman, more popular than her male neighbor.
The same shoe:

Arc VIII

Discus athlete.

Apparently, men come to the discus club after having seen enough of the romantic girls around the student. Because this sculpture's chest is rubbed.

Football player.

But women are not inspired by the example, and the discus thrower’s neighbor cannot boast of any chafed parts of his body.

Arch IX

Father with child.

Once again, male sculpture is more popular than female sculpture. Although it would seem, why? Although women's sculpture also has admirers, men's sculpture has disproportionately more.
Here they rub everything: the child’s leg, the father’s hands, the father’s knee, the father’s leg. And although I did not find any signs associated with this sculpture, I would like to hope that future fathers come here, dreaming of a son.

Mother with child.

The sculpture, as has already happened, is less popular than its neighbor, with the exception of one small detail. The child's genitals are rubbed until shiny. It is unknown what motivates the people who come to her, although it is possible that these are still the same fathers dreaming of a son. In the previous sculpture, the genitals are not visible.

Walled arched passage.
There are sculptures here only on the side of the platforms, so not everyone knows about them.

Pioneer aircraft model makers.

The boys have chafed feet and a bit of a model airplane.

Pioneer geographers.

But the girls, as always, remained in the shadows.

Well, as a bonus - the polished shoes of some sculptures:

These are the already known signs of this station. But no one is stopping you from coming up with your own and even choosing a sculpture that has not yet been chosen by anyone, and may it bring you good luck :)