Moskovsky Rail Terminal

Why go

Moskovsky Rail Terminal rewards attention to scale, orientation, and setting. Moskovsky Rail Terminal (Моско́вский вокза́л), also called Moscow Rail Terminal, with an easily recognizable Neo-Renaissance frontage on Nevsky Prospekt and Uprising Square, is a terminal railway station in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Before leaving, compare one close detail of Moskovsky Rail Terminal with its broadest public view.

What to look for

• Moskovsky Rail Terminal: Begin with the broad massing rather than a single decorative feature.
• Moskovsky Rail Terminal: Move along the frontage to watch its rhythm change.
• Moskovsky Rail Terminal: Find a distant angle that shows the surrounding urban geometry.

The full story

Moskovsky Rail Terminal (Моско́вский вокза́л), also called Moscow Rail Terminal, with an easily recognizable Neo-Renaissance frontage on Nevsky Prospekt and Uprising Square, is a terminal railway station in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is a terminus for the Moscow-Saint Petersburg Railway and other lines running from Central and South Russia, Siberia, Eastern Ukraine, and Crimea. The oldest preserved station in the city, it was erected in 1851 to a design by Konstantin Thon. The station was not given its present name until 1930. Although large ""Venetian"" windows, two floors of Corinthian columns and a two-storey clocktower at the centre explicitly reference Italian Renaissance architecture, the building incorporates other features from a variety of periods and countries. While Thon's facade remains fundamentally intact to this day, the station was expanded in 1869-79 and 1912. It was completely redeveloped internally in 1950-52 and 1967. A bronze bust of Peter the Great in the main vestibule was unveiled in 1993.

Useful to know

• Walk Moskovsky Rail Terminal in daylight, then compare its outline with Vosstaniya Square.

Your next visit

Estimated · Declared scenario and planning estimates; no live opening, weather, queue or booking service.