Volkovskaya
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- Opened: December 20, 2008
- Station depth: 64m
- Project title: Volkovskaya
- Popular names: Volk (wolf), Volkusha, Cemetery
- Type of station: pylon
- Entrance to the station: lobby in the shopping center building
- Traffic: total about 172 thousand people per month
The name of the station Volkovskaya (i.e. "wolf place") owes its name to the area in which it was built. Now it is practically the geometric center of Saint-Petersburg. However, this place is extremely difficult in many senses.
Upstairs above the station you can find the Volkovskaya railway station, the Volkovskoye cemetery, the Volkovka River and a gloomy industrial zone with almost no human habitation. Passenger traffic at this station is smallest in Saint-Petersburg. The river and the cemetery got their name from the village of Volkovka (before that, this river was also called the Black River because of the color of the water and soil). A rare case, because usually on the contrary villages are called by the name of the river.
The village, originally Finno-Ugric, bore the name "wolf", "wolf's place" in Swedish and Finnish. Even in the 18th century, attacks of wolf packs on people were documented here. Accordingly, the village was renamed from Finnish to Russian while retaining the same name. This moment is reflected in the wonderful stained glass window of the entrance lobby of the station. However, it is normally visible only during the day, at daylight. The lobby itself is located on the first floor of the shopping center. It is unclear for whom it was built - there is practically no housing here.
However, this is not the end of Volkovskaya's gloom.
The place where the Volkovka River flows into the Bypass Canal today has always been considered bad, cursed. In 1833, there was even a riot at the construction of the Bypass Canal here, the workers refused to continue construction. There is a whole detective story about the murders and mass suicides taking place here in the third year of each decade (recorded in 1913, 1923, 1933). It is claimed that the case is in the ancient Karelian temples ruined by the Swedes back in 1300, granite slabs and burials of which were discovered during the laying of the heating main in 1923. In general, a gloomy place. And it's not for nothing that the decorative panels in the station hall reflect this gloomy wilderness.
The panels, I must say, perfectly convey the spirit and style of this place.
This is where the most wonderful cat lives, which you definitely need to pet :) Of course, the owl is also beautiful, but the cat is above all praise ;)
To reduce the cost, the station, originally conceived as a single-arched, and then a column, was made a pylon. Also, to reduce the cost, the station is finished with metal-plastic panels. It was claimed that this is to improve vandal-proof properties, but for me, metal plastic is useless here. The floor is lined with black granite with white stripes, with a pattern of squares and rectangles, as if directing the flow of passengers.
The doors in the track walls are almost invisible here.
The lighting is mostly behind the curtain, except for the passages between the pylons.
In general, it turned out quite organic and pretty.
In the period from 2008 to 2012, the station was the terminus, and reverse dead ends were actively used on it.
Now the line has been extended to the south, and the reverse dead ends are used as a maintenance point.
In order to get on the escalator, you need to climb the stairs above the hall.
There is a hermetic door located here, it is difficult to determine what type - a vertical "guillotine" or a horizontal "wardrobe". Based on the structure of the portal, rather the first option.
The station is served by 4 escalators.
Initially, there were pole lamps on the escalators, now they have been replaced with torches. I have old photos of these columns somewhere, but of very poor quality, alas.
Let's go back to the station hall.
Everything is strict here. Keep to the right side!
When you are here, be sure to stroke the cat ;)
Another life hack is that this is probably the metro station itself close to the city center, to which you can relatively safely drive from the suburbs by car even during rush hour and always find a free parking space.
Nice station. Authentic.