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Oviatt Building

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Oviatt Building

Formerly the headquarters of one of the most prestigious haberdasheries in the city, the 1928 Oviatt Building features Art Deco fixtures and literally tons of Lalique glass.

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• Walker & Eisen

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• Los Angeles

Photo by Annie Laskey/L.A. Conservancy | Photo by Annie Laskey/L.A. Conservancy

This grand building was constructed as the headquarters of one of the most prestigious and expensive haberdasheries in the city, Alexander & Oviatt. The building housed the shop (now Cicada restaurant), rentable office space, and a penthouse suite for owner James Oviatt.

During the early phases of construction of the Italian Romanesque styled building, Oviatt attended the 1925 Paris Exposition and decided to decorate his building in the new style. When the building was completed, the sheltered lobby forecourt contained over thirty tons of glass by designer Rene Lalique. While most of the glass as been lost or sold over the years, a few original pieces remain in the panels at the top of the lobby columns. Lalique also designed the mallechort elevator doors, mailboxes, and directories. The shop interior retains the elegant art deco fixtures, stair rails, and molded plaster ceiling panels.

Oviatt’s ten-room penthouse was originally decorated by the Parisian design firm of Saddler et fils. The rooms featured burled mahogany furniture and cabinets, parquet wood floors in geometric patterns, carved woodwork, imported fabrics and Lalique glass throughout

The Conservancy does not own or operate the Oviatt Building.

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The James Oviatt Building: The Bespoke Brilliance and Pretension Behind an Art Deco Masterpiece

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I have an aversion to -- yet a compulsive fascination with -- the high end clothing industry. As someone who worked in the luxury concierge business, I spent a portion of my life desperately searching for new ways to write about the finest bespoke suits being crafted on Savile Row. Having seen these suits rumpled and crumpled after long nights out, I realized that a handmade Norton and Sons tuxedo can look remarkably like its Men's Warehouse counterpart, especially from afar. Up close though, it is impossible not to admire the detailed stitching, that famous "clean line," and the sumptuous finish of the finest English wool.

That was basically my feeling when I first walked into the Cicada Club in the James Oviatt Building at 617 South Olive Street. It was cavernous and serious, humming with the quiet work of caterers setting up for an evening wedding. The wood mouldings were darkly oppressive, but after I adjusted to the grand ocean liner feel of the place, I found enormous delight in the opulent details. The ornate chandelier gleamed, and the decorative columns were delicately carved -- some with crests labeled "service," others with stylized angels carrying a mission bell to signify "the city of angels." Then there was the exquisite glass work, done by the master Art Deco craftsman, Rene Lalique. Beautiful panels with stylized ornamentation, reminiscent of Miro, or Picasso's cubist collages, fractured and softened the light on the second floor. Even the elevator door featured Lalique glass carved with foliage and fruit.

As I stepped outside, I took another look at the diminutive skyscraper I had rushed into earlier. I noticed the whimsical metal work, the Romanesque arches and moulding. I looked up at the building, now dwarfed by surrounding structures, and saw the lovely three-faced clock tower. I knew that right under that tower, in his "castle in the air" penthouse, a man named James Oviatt had lived a good portion of his life. 1 He had built Alexander and Oviatt (later known as Oviatt's), L.A.'s finest haberdashery, from the ground up, and built this building to house the store, using the same exacting detail he used when selecting fabrics. Born into humble circumstances, he had ascended to the heights of his time, always dreaming of the best, until his vision of the world consumed him and limited his views of all that was possible.

The best is none too good

Art is not a thing, but a way-a beautiful way --James Oviatt, Los Angeles Times, May 16, 1929

James Zera Oviatt was born in 1888 in Farmington, Utah. His father was a blacksmith, but Oviatt preferred to emphasize the fact that his mother was French and his father English, therefore imparting him with impeccable taste. After working in Salt Lake City, he came to Los Angeles in 1906 and was employed as a window dresser at Desmond's Department Store. Quickly rising through the ranks, Oviatt, and a hat salesman named Frank Alexander, decided to start their own luxury men's shop. Their motto was "the best is none too good." 2 Oviatt explained:

Even back in 1911, when we opened a little shop at 209 West Fourth Street and placed above the door the firm name Alexander and Oviatt we dreamed, even at that early date, of greater things for the future.3

His dreams were steadily realized. The store was a success, filling a void in the Los Angeles market. L.A.'s forming society and the burgeoning film colony were desperate for all the trappings of the Eastern and European elite. Alexander and Oviatt provided the tangible accoutrements and clubby atmosphere that these self-made men, embarrassed by their past, needed to feel that they had arrived. In 1914 the firm moved to spacious quarters at Sixth and Hill. Frank Alexander's death in 1921 did not slow the business down, and in 1923 the store expanded into women's wear.

The roaring '20s were tailor made for the Oviatt brand. It was an era of conspicuous consumption, and nothing said "moneyed" like a perfectly crafted cravat. Oviatt became a celebrity in his own right. Professionally imperious, he worshiped Abe Lincoln because "he solved his problems alone." 4 He terrified employees with his frequent store inspections, checking for dust on countertops with a swipe of his perfect, fitted white glove. For all his pretensions, the suave Oviatt was privately a great deal of fun, and a very popular and sought after social guest. He was also an avid golfer and a member of the Los Angeles Athletic Club, where his stash of rare brandies and scotch whiskies was discovered in a locker during the height of prohibition.

Oviatt's yearly, three month-long buying tours of European fashion capitals were considered citywide news. At a time when trans-continental travel was rare, he was expected to bring back gossip and political observations. In 1920 he reported that prices in England were skyrocketing due to "labor getting its just dues." 5 By his 1925 trip he had become fed up with the English, stating: "The English laboring man seems to think that it is better to get two pounds a week from the government than it is to work and make twice that." 6 Three years later he was singing Germany's praises, impressed with their quality of workmanship and their post war financial advances.

He also seems to have had a sense of humor about his haughty profession. In an amazing 1927 spread in the Los Angeles Times, he revealed his choice of uniform for various male professionals, firmly believing that every profession called for a definite (and elaborate) style of attire. City councilmen were to wear:

a frock coat, striped trousers, black shoes, white doeskin gloves, silk hat, black overcoat, white spats, white wing collar, white shirt, black and white check tie(large checks), cane with concealed sword in straight handle. Lawyers: black sack coat with striped trousers, shirt with woven figures, white stiff collars, fancy gray moiré necktie, black derby hat, grey spats, black shoes, and a cane with concealed gun for protection. Actors: gray or tan west of England flannel coat and vest, light flannel trousers with stripes, plain colored collar-attached shirt, striped Mogador tie, grey or tan spats, black or tan shoes, tan or grey hat, large plaid overcoat, tan or gray gloves, novelty walking stick.7

And then, in total jest, was the correct outfit for pesky reporters, which consisted of:

a large Glen Urquhart plaid suit, purple hue, dark wine shirt with collar to match, pink necktie with pink carnation in buttonhole, white socks, black pumps, white gloves, straight hand Malacca cane with hand carved ivory ball top and concealed compass attachment, vest pocket camera, small magnifying glass and telescope, pearly derby hat with black band and white binding. Very light tan coat with large purple plaid, suitable for wet or dry weather.

In 1927 construction began on the building at 617 Olive Street. This was already the hippest neighborhood of downtown Los Angeles, featuring The Biltmore Hotel, the Athletic Club, and the Pacific Finance Building. Buildings were capped at a height limit of 12 stories, and in 1926 twenty-three of these early skyscrapers were built. The following year promised the construction of even more, including Oviatt's thoroughly modern Romanesque-Art Deco hybrid. Alexander and Oviatt would occupy the first three floors of the building and the basement, while the rest would be rented out to suitable businesses.

Oviatt had fallen in love with Lalique glass at the famous 1925 Exposition in Paris. Soon, thirty tons of custom-made Lalique, including a ceiling, doors, chandeliers, and elevator panels were shipped through the Panama Canal, the largest shipment of its kind to America. Draperies, rugs, and tons of French grey marble "tinged with brown and crimson" were also imported. Mailbox and lighting fixtures were made of a new white metal known as "melchior," and even the toilet bowls were to be a rich tan to complement the dark wood work. Bronze statues were posted prominently throughout the store, and the "Outdoor California Palm Grove" was constructed so men could see their new clothing in natural light.

When the building and the new store, designed by the firm of Walker and Eisen, was opened on May 15, 1928, the city was in awe. Reporter Olive Gray rhapsodically riffed on the building that Oviatt had "dreamed true," 8 writing:

Upon removal of the boards screening the façade, the public feasted eyes upon a novel form of lighting, where- back of a marvelous Lalique creation in glass, the rainbow seemed to have been housed - the chromatic rays, playing from dark to pastel tones in the colors of the heavenly arc.

But nothing matched the grandeur of Oviatt's personal "castle in the air," which he moved into two years later. This grand, ten room penthouse boasted a Turkish bath, a gym, a tennis court, practice golf links, a rooftop garden, and a pool with sand imported from France to make a private beach. The blacksmith's son was on top of the world.

Dinner, dancing and the Depression

We'll see it through. --James Oviatt, The Los Angeles Times, February 18, 1933

The James Oviatt Building quickly filled to capacity with lawyers, ad agencies, insurance firms, political campaign offices, and the National Association of Safe Driving Motorists. Disgraced district attorney Asa Keyes had offices there, and his dealings in the Oviatt Building were discussed during his 1928 bribery trial. In 1930 Miss Isabelle M. Hanbury opened her "College of Cultural Subjects." 9 She taught "social success and etiquette, the art of conversation, cultured speech and vocabulary, public speaking, appreciation of literature and history, law for layman, languages, psychology, logic, philosophy and ballroom dancing."

The Depression decimated the high end clothing business, and an "embarrassed" Oviatt lost his controlling interest in both his store and his building. Speaking to his employees at the height of the crisis, he stressed, "we'll see it through." He retained his entire corps of salespeople, even while staging a drastic inventory clearance sale. By April 1933, Oviatt was able to announce that he had paid off all creditors and regained control of the store and his beloved building. That week, the Director of the Chamber of Commerce, Major R.M. MacLennan, during a radio interview, congratulated Oviatt on his resurgence. By June, Oviatt was able to announce a pay raise for all his employees. "It demonstrates not only my faith in the national administration's activity to create more jobs and higher salaries, but also the fact that tangible business betterment permits such a step. It is a token of my appreciation to the men who have fought with me to victory," he stated. 10

That summer a big party was thrown for Oviatt by his "Divot Club" golfing pals. The party, at the Cocoanut Grove, was to celebrate the reopening of a bigger and better Alexander and Oviatt. He also expanded his brand by opening a store at his friend Walter G. McCarty's Beverly Wilshire Hotel. His employees were fond of him, and the 40% discount they received on all Oviatt goods.

As Oviatt conquered the Depression, he also continued to conquer Los Angeles high society. The 1930s found Oviatt, the perennial bachelor, at the center of the smart, café society set that flourished in the inter-war period. He was a founding member of the Turf and Jockey Club, and along with such notables as Harold Lloyd, Robert Montgomery, Chico Marx and Lionel Barrymore, pledged to hold "clean racing sponsored by responsible sportsmen." 11 The club's first headquarters were at the Oviatt Building, before they were moved to the new tracks at Santa Anita. Tickets to the inaugural meet at Santa Anita were sold at Alexander and Oviatt. Of course, Oviatt attended, looking "the perfect sportsman in tweeds." 12

And so it went. The flagship store continued to flourish, and its owner continued to party. One night he would be at the Mayfair Club with Pat O'Brien and Leo McCarey, the next at a "Gay Nineties" theme party with Spencer Tracy and Dolores Del Rio. He won the putting prize at the "Divot Diggers" tournament at the exclusive Hillcrest Club. In 1941 he could be found at a "lake stag party" given by J. Benton "Bent" Van Nuys, where they fished, hiked, and bowled, "showing the younger generation how they used to roll 'em years ago."

Toughening up at the Turf Club

In 1945, 57 year old Oviatt dropped a bomb on polite society. He was walking through his store on his daily inspection when he was awestruck by a pretty 22 year old sales girl named Mary. He invited the stunned woman up to his penthouse and summarily asked her to marry him. She asked for time to think it over. Legend has it, that as she rode down the elevator she thought of all the items she had on layaway. The next day she sent all the items, and the bill, up to the penthouse. They were married in Reno shortly thereafter.

Mary and her young daughter moved into the penthouse and quickly integrated into her husband's high society. She became a member of many tony charity committees and clubs, like the "Las Floristas", and was frequently seen at the Turf Club at Santa Anita. There were dinner dances in Palm Springs, luncheons at Perino's, and the birth of James Oviatt, Jr. A playground was installed on the rooftop garden. In May of 1952 the Oviatts sailed to Europe on the Queen Elizabeth. The trip included attendance at the Royal Ascot, the Grand Prix and the Helsinki Olympic games. Oviatt came back impressed with General Franco's Spain. In Madrid, he noted, "coats are mandatory on the street and in public gatherings. A cabbie was arrested and fined for not wearing his cap, and streets are washed with a fire hose three times a day." 13 His disdain for the English had not abated, and he perceptively declared that "cheap labor and no taxes in Germany and Japan may soon result in tough competition in the world market."

This is the point in the story where it seems our protagonist should sail off into a grateful old age, with a late life family, a steady empire, and lots of fabulous stories. I have often wondered what would have happened to Jay Gatsby if he had lived and life had given him all he wanted. It seems that success, and an obsession with the "best," turned Oviatt into a hardline conservative. A longtime member of the John Birch Society, he became an ardent letter writer to the op-ed sections of newspapers, where he espoused his increasingly dated views.

In 1953 the CIO Amalgamated Clothing Workers called for a strike after Oviatt refused to operate with a closed shop agreement. In 1965 a government report linked Oviatt to the Christian Defense League, a "secret guerilla force" which "aimed at uniting 'white Christians' in opposition to such Negro and Jewish organizations as the NAACP, CORE, the American Jewish Congress, the Anti-Defamation League and B'nai B'rith." 14 The report alleged that Oviatt had briefly provided money and an office in the Oviatt Building to the league. Oviatt responded that the report was a "damned lie," that he had only rented space to the group, and kicked them out when they had been unable to pay the rent. 15 However, in the same interview, he called the CDL "a great organization."

Oviatt's store closed in 1969, a victim of ready-made clothes and the decline of downtown. Oviatt and Mary continued to live in his "castle in the air" as the town closed in around him, and all that he had valued was deemed hopelessly snobbish and out of date.

James Oviatt died in 1974 at the age of 85, his beloved building barely occupied. The Oviatt Building eventually passed through several hands, including the Roman Catholic Archdiocese. After massive renovations, it is again a happening place. The Cicada Club bursts with retro sophistication and musical swagger. The penthouse is now rented out for parties and weddings. The grand building is once again appreciated, and filled with elegant, well-dressed people. And so, the best of James Oviatt's dream lives on.

1 "Restaurant Planned for Oviatt" Los Angeles Times, April 8, 1979 2 "Door Open at New Men's Shop" Los Angeles Times, May 16, 1928 3 "Alexander and Oviatt Goal Won" Los Angeles Times, August 12, 1931 4 Ibid. 5 "Studies Hindenburg Line from the Air" Los Angeles Times, September 9, 1920 6 "Importer Paints Drab Picture of Europe's Plight" Los Angeles Times, September 14, 1925 7 "Garb to Index Profession if Clothier Has His Way" Los Angeles Times, April 27, 1927 8 "Door Open at New Men's Shop" Los Angeles Times, May 16, 1928 9 "City Leads in One Form of Teaching College of Cultural Subjects Hires Instructors of Outstanding Ability" Los Angeles Times, August 27, 1933 10 "Salary Raise Announced by Oviatt Word" Los Angeles Times, June 27, 1933 11 "Prominent L.A. Businessmen Luncheon at Biltmore Yesterday" Los Angeles Times, 1933 12 "Racing Tickets Due to Go On Sale Today" Los Angeles Times, December 7, 1934 13 "Spain Leads Europe Say James Oviatt" Los Angeles Times, August 18, 1952 14 "Ex Klan Leader Linked to California Rangers" Los Angeles Times, April 13, 1965 15 "Oviatt Denies He Financed Radical Unit" Los Angeles Times, April 13, 1965

Top: Art deco gate at the Oviatt Building. Photo: ibison4 /Flickr/Creative Commons

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THE OVIATT BUILDING

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They called it “the castle of our dreams", and to this day, visitors and passing onlookers gaze up at the Romanesque Art Deco marvel at 617 South Olive Street in downtown Los Angeles with wonder. The history of the James Oviatt Building spans a century, beginning when it’s creator arrived in Los Angeles as a window dresser, with an eccentric taste for male fashion and glamour. Virtually a second home to Clark Gable, Errol Flynn and other male stars of Hollywood’s Golden Age, the Oviatt Building housed L.A.’s finest haberdashery and catered to filmdom’s titans. In this feature length documentary, director Seth M. Shulman and writer/producer Marc Chevalier unearth misinformation that has been recorded and interview the many people that helped shaped the building’s past and future.

Before it’s premiere screening, The Cicada Club housed an 80th Anniversary celebration high atop the opulent penthouse of the Oviatt Building. There developer Wayne Ratkovich, architect Brenda Levin and  team were honored for their restoration of the structure. It was also the first glimpse of the documentary, screened in the rooms of the penthouse as the celebration occurred. Later that year, the film had it’s premiere at the historic Grauman’s Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood to a large audience. The event, sponsored by the Art Deco Society of Los Angeles, was a tremendous success. Featured in numerous television shows and films, including “American Horror Story", “Suicide Squad", and “The Artist", the building has seen yet another rebirth. The film left the public eye for several years, but is back for the streaming era.

Inside L.A.’s famous Art Deco penthouse, this show has you choose your own dark adventure

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In a story with outrageous, less-than-savory personalities, one character stands apart: the stage.

Or, in this case, the 13th-story penthouse of the Oviatt, which is the setting for a new immersive theater production running this month in downtown. “Castle in the Sky” aims to tell a slice of a mostly forgotten Los Angeles tale: the high-society life of James Oviatt, the once renowned clothier of the silent film era who had a long, slow fall from grace.

The name of the show stems from the nickname for the Art Deco palace, which sits atop an Olive Street building in Oviatt’s name . The penthouse is a collection of intimate rooms, each ornate and filled with personal, hand-crafted details (some of them eccentric, such as a tiny space designed to mimic a private rail car).

“Castle in the Sky” is designed so that guests follow certain actors from room to room during an Oviatt-hosted party. Each scene is short, at about five minutes, and participants choose their own adventure throughout; they might, say, spend the evening trailing actors playing Oviatt and his family or tail other performers playing invited guests.

Outfitted in French marble, zebra-skinned bar stools and exquisitely etched windows that block the view of downtown — a narcissistic move that seems to argue that what’s inside matters more than the world beyond — Oviatt’s penthouse is dedicated to the preservation of consumption. This paper, in 1930, described the residence as “architecturally graceful, luxurious in appointments, sumptuous and artistic adornment.” The ground floor of the building, now home to the Cicada Club, once housed Oviatt’s prestigious clothing store, Alexander & Oviatt.

“Castle in the Sky” probes what kind of temperament it takes to create such a space, one equally dedicated to socializing and a flaunting of wealth with fragile accouterments — those etched windows came courtesy, for instance, of famed artist Rene Lalique. The story isn’t pretty, but it’s also one that has to walk a delicate line. Oviatt in his later years became known for extreme right-wing views, so much so that he once described to this paper the racist and antisemitic Christian Defense League as “a great organization.”

The show explores the tension in a certain kind of excess. There is a lonely desire to belong, and it is contrasted with a warped, offensive idea of the immaculate.

Stories of Oviatt sometimes speak of his perfectionism with nostalgia rather than the harassment that it was. According to myth, he made the trip from his penthouse to the store early each morning, and theatrically dragged his white gloved hands over the shop’s display cases on the prowl for dust. Unsaid but presumed is the disappointment that followed.

“It’s an eat-the-rich story,” says Tracy Phillips, one of the three principals with Under the Rose productions, of which the self-funded “Castle in the Sky” is its first show.

“I think that’s the only way to handle somebody like that,” adds Phillips, a longtime dance choreographer.

“Castle in the Sky” is set during the Prohibition era, when Oviatt was at the height of his power and social prominence.

“The present doesn’t look back fondly on a lot of people in history, particularly him, if you know anything about his unsavory characteristics, to say the least. We don’t go there in the show, but we make sure that we destroy him. This is not a good guy,” Phillips says.

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In addition to Phillips, Under the Rose is run by Denna Thomsen and Kristin Campbell-Taylor, all veterans of various aspects of the L.A. dance community. “Castle in the Sky” came together in about six months, the three say, although they had been tinkering with an immersive concept inspired by the first Academy Awards in 1929 at the Hollywood Roosevelt before discovering the Oviatt story. When looking for venues to house a production, they stumbled upon the Oviatt building and its penthouse and learned some of his history. They immediately changed course. “We were in the space, and it was so beautiful and instantly transported you to a place,” says Campbell-Taylor.

Campbell-Taylor, a producer whose credits include “So You Think You Can Dance” and “The Masked Singer,” says the team was inspired by shows such as “Sleep No More,” a long-running New York production that tasks guests to piece together the narrative by following various scenes throughout the McKittrick Hotel. “Castle in the Sky” participants are invited to stick around after the production for a post-show reception with a bar and a live band; that’s also a good time to mingle with strangers and discuss which scenes each of you missed.

“We worked really hard to weave together and craft narrative and emotion so you can have an understanding, even if you don’t know what happened,” Campbell-Taylor says. “Our show is a deconstructed narrative, but it does have a beginning, middle and end for each character, and a beginning, middle and end for the show itself.”

In my time with the show on its opening weekend — “Castle in the Sky” runs trough Nov. 30 — I opted to get a glimpse into each character’s storyline rather than sticking with one performer for the evening. I saw the isolation felt by Oviatt’s wife, Mary (Nicole Pacent), the misguided attention sought by his son, James Jr. (Connor McRaith), and a performative marriage from Hollywood actors going up in flames.

The Oviatt I witnessed, as performed by Circus-Szalewski was controlling, voyeuristic and desperate, and it helped to have read up a bit on the real Oviatt’s history before seeing “Castle in the Sky.” To know, for instance, that he proposed to his wife, a former shop girl half his age, after seeing her at work in his store. Oviatt’s name appeared regularly in this newspaper throughout the ’20s and ’30s. His yearly trips to Europe for fashion inspiration were the stuff of gossip-making headlines.

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“James Oviatt was very transactional in all of his relationships with everyone around him,” Campbell-Taylor says. “Both sides of those transactions was something we explored a lot.”

“Castle in the Sky” can be lightly interactive. For the bulk of the 21 and over show, we are simply an audience, watching in one scene a bedroom seduction and the results of overindulging at a party in another. (It’s said that Oviatt throughout Prohibition had a near endless supply of alcohol, turning his parties into some of the most in-demand places in the city). But there are times we may be spoken to, or find ourselves engaging in a game of Rock Paper Scissors with other attendees.

Other scenes, however, are purely interpretive, pulling on the experimental dance choreography expertise of Phillips and Thomsen. One features a character giving himself a shave, the daily task treated as if it’s a delicate dance atop a music box.

Don’t, in other words, expect any big Charleston-inspired dance numbers. “That’s something we’ve all seen before,” Phillips says. “It was a challenge to stay within the era, but these were full people. They didn’t only do the Charleston. That’s just one little thing that has lingered. They had full lives, and we wanted to express that through dance and performance without falling into a novelty.”

The hope is that “Castle in the Sky” won’t feel solely like a period piece, despite the costumes and aesthetics of the penthouse. After all, its themes, centered on the emptiness of power — and the vapidity of those who seek to be close to it — are timeless, especially in this city.

“We put you in the present, even though we’re telling a story about the past,” Phillips says.

'Castle in the Sky'

Where: The Oviatt Penthouse and Rooftop Event Deck, 617 S. Olive St.

When: 7:30 p.m. Thursday to Saturday, 6:30 p.m. Sunday (check website for exceptions). Guests must be at least 21. Ends Nov. 30

Price: $150

Info: Under the Rose productions

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Todd Martens joined the Los Angeles Times in 2007 and covers a mix of interactive entertainment (video games) and pop music. Previously, Martens reported on the music business for Billboard Magazine. He has contributed to numerous books, including “The Big Lebowski: An Illustrated, Annotated History of the Greatest Cult Film of All Time.” He continues to torture himself by rooting for the Chicago Cubs and, while he likes dogs, he is more of a cat person.

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Moscow Metro

The Moscow Metro Tour is included in most guided tours’ itineraries. Opened in 1935, under Stalin’s regime, the metro was not only meant to solve transport problems, but also was hailed as “a people’s palace”. Every station you will see during your Moscow metro tour looks like a palace room. There are bright paintings, mosaics, stained glass, bronze statues… Our Moscow metro tour includes the most impressive stations best architects and designers worked at - Ploshchad Revolutsii, Mayakovskaya, Komsomolskaya, Kievskaya, Novoslobodskaya and some others.

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The guide will not only help you navigate the metro, but will also provide you with fascinating background tales for the images you see and a history of each station.

And there some stories to be told during the Moscow metro tour! The deepest station - Park Pobedy - is 84 metres under the ground with the world longest escalator of 140 meters. Parts of the so-called Metro-2, a secret strategic system of underground tunnels, was used for its construction.

During the Second World War the metro itself became a strategic asset: it was turned into the city's biggest bomb-shelter and one of the stations even became a library. 217 children were born here in 1941-1942! The metro is the most effective means of transport in the capital.

There are almost 200 stations 196 at the moment and trains run every 90 seconds! The guide of your Moscow metro tour can explain to you how to buy tickets and find your way if you plan to get around by yourself.

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Moscow Metro

Introduction of moscow subway system (metro).

Nowadays the Moscow Metro has 12 lines, light subway and monorail. All stations are unique and beautiful in their own way. Unfortunately, in order to visit them all, you need to spend many days. I invite guests to visit the ones that have the greatest cultural and historical interest from my point of view. Among them are the Revolution Square, Arbatskaya, Kievskaya (Arbatsko-Pokrovskaya Line № 3); Kievskaya, Belarusskaya, Novoslobodskaya, Komsomolskaya (the Ring line number 5). Let us dwell a bit on each.

Arbatsko-Pokrovskaya Line

Subway station "revolution square".

Most recently - in the year 2008-2010 – the Eastern lobby was renovated. Because of the terrorist attacks in the Moscow subway that took place several hours before the planned opening of the East lobby after renovation, the solemn part of the event was canceled.

Subway station Arbatskaya

Subway Arbatskaya is located on the same subway line as the station "Revolution Square." It was founded in 1953. It received the name in honor of the Arbat Street. It has one ground lobby (Western). Initially, the lobby was in a separate building, but the new building of the General Staff of the Ministry of Defense started, the lobby appeared to be in its atrium. The old exits were bricked up; a new entrance was built into the building of General Staff of the street Vozdvizhenka. There is a huge frame with a missing portrait in the ground lobby - until mid-1950 there was a portrait of Stalin. According to some reports, it survived, but closed with plaster.

The lobby was restored and partially reconstructed in 2007-2008.

The depth of the station is 41 meters.

Pylons are finished with red marble at the bottom, decorated with bouquets of flowers made from ceramics. The floor is laid out with gray granite. The walls lined with glazed ceramic tiles, white top and black bottom. The station hall is illuminated by massive bronze chandeliers in the form of rings.

Subway station Kievskaya

There are several subway stations "Kievskaya" in Moscow, located on different branches. This name is quite popular. It comes from the capital of Ukraine - one of Russia's nearest neighbors - the city of Kiev. The name is fully consistent with the idea of the subway station. The interior the station devoted to Soviet Ukraine and the reunification of Ukraine and Russia. The station is decorated with a large number of paintings .Twenty four murals depicting workers of Soviet Ukraine are placed on the arch above the pylons. The wall from the side of platform also contains frescos, mainly with images of fantastic plants. Pylons are decorated with light marble and additionally decorated with colorful ceramic cornice. The butt of the station has a large mosaic, depicting festivities to celebrate the 300 anniversary of the reunification of Ukraine and Russia.

Opened in 1953, this subway station for a long time was the final (1953-2003).

The station has one lobby, combined with the station ring line and located in the building of the Kievskaya railway station. The diameter of the central hall station is 9.5 m, the diameter of side one is 8.5 m. The depth of the station is 38 meters.

= Ring Line Subway =

It opened in 1954. The station received its name after the Kiev station, and locked the Ring line. During the construction of the station many projects were proposed, but the victory in the competition won the Kiev architects who made the construction of the station. It is the only station of the Ring Line which is not located in the Central Administrative District of Moscow.

The station has a pylon structure. Eighteen pylons are decorated with mosaic panels of glazes, decorated on the theme of Ukrainian history and friendship between the Ukrainian and Russian peoples, which started in the mid-17 century.

On the front wall of the central hall of the station a large panel with molding in the form of flags and a mosaic portrait of Lenin in the center are located. There are lines of the Soviet national anthem around the portrait, and under the portrait - the words of Lenin. One of the ways out of the station was designed by French architects modeled on the Paris Subway in 2006.

At one of the mosaics – “The Struggle for Soviet power in Ukraine "- modern passengers observe a mobile phone and PDA in the hand of one of the guerrillas, and on his knees - a laptop. In fact, he uses a field telephone, which was really a heavy thing (guerrillas holds it in two hands), and thing that people see a laptop is the lid of a box with a telephone. However, these phones have begun to produce only in the second half of the 20-ies of XX century. We must assume that the mosaic depicts a foreign field telephone transmitter.

Subway station Belorusskaya

The founded of the station was in 1952. It received the name after the Belarusian railway station nearby. The station has two ground-based lobbies. The Western one goes to Tverskaya  Zastava. It is decorated with beautiful carvings. The Eastern one leads to Butyrskiy shaft and Forest Street. The Eastern lobby is known for its majolica panels.

The station Belorusskaya is located at a depth of 42.5 m below ground. The diameter of the central hall is 9.5 meters.

Pylons are faced with light marble. The walls lined with white ceramic tiles, the floor is covered with ceramic tiles, gray, white and red colors. Lamps placed on pylons, in the form of vases made of glass and marble. The theme of decoration is economy and culture of Belarus. Decorative pattern on the floor repeats the theme of traditional Belarusian embroidery. Decorations of the ceiling consist of stucco decorations and 12 mosaic panels depicting the life of the Belarusian people.

Subway station Novoslobodskaya

Built in 1952, Subway station Novoslobodskaya got its name from the eponymous street:  the station is located at the very beginning of it.

Novoslobodskaya is pylon station of deep foundation (its depth is 40 m) with three arches.

Exit to the street is through the ground lobby with column portico, located on Novoslobodskaya Street lined with gray marble. Pylons of the underground station are faced with marble from the Urals. Thirty two spectacularly illuminated stained-glasses, placed inside the pylon and bordered by steel and gilt brass are splendid decoration of the station. A remarkable mosaic "World Peace" is located at the end of the central hall. The picture depicts a happy mother with a baby in her arms; it was the face of Stalin at the picture: the child gave a hand to him. But in times of Khrushchev the face of the former leader of USSR was removed from the panel. The walls are lined with bright marble; floor is covered with white and black granite slabs, placed in a checkerboard pattern.

Subway station Komsomolskaya

The station was built in 1952 and named in honor of the Komsomolskaya Square, which is situated nearby.

This subway station is the station of the deep bedding. Its depth is 37 meters. The station has column and three- arched design. Cast iron decoration is used in the construction, monolithic slab used as a tray for a collapsible finishing. The length of the boarding hall is 190 meters; width of it is 10 meters. There are 68 octagonal columns at station.

The main theme of the interior of the station is the fighting of the Russian people for their independence. The ceiling is decorated with eight station mosaic mural made from glazes and precious stones. Six of them represent the Alexander Nevsky, Dmitry Donskoy, Kuzma Minin and Dmitry Pozharsky, Alexander Suvorov and Mikhail Kutuzov, the Soviet soldiers and officers at the walls of the Reichstag.

 Two other panels, depicting Stalin ("Victory Parade" and "Presentation of the Guards Banner"), were replaced after the dethronement of Stalin's personality cult in 1963. New panels depict Lenin's speech in front of the Red Guards and the Motherland on the background of the Kremlin's Spasskaya Tower.

The yellow ceiling is decorated with mosaic and moldings. The hall is illuminated by massive chandeliers hanging between the panels; platforms are illuminated with smaller chandeliers. The columns are decorated with marble capitals and trimmed with light marble, as well as the wall station. The floor is laid with pink granite. There is a bust of Lenin at the end of the hall. At the opposite end of the escalator is a large Florentine mosaic of the Order of Victory with red banners on the background. The ground lobby of the station is decorated with bas-reliefs.

In conclusion...

Each of the stations of the Moscow subway is attractive and interesting in its own way. Each has its own long and fascinating history and is beautifully decorated. The Moscow subway is a whole world, which can be talking about for hours. I suggest you short - no more than one hour and a half - and a fascinating journey through the world of the Moscow subway. The pleasure is guaranteed!

Sculpture Park "Art Muzeon"

Mausoleum and necropolis.

• Bombing in Moscow Metro On March 29, 2010, another tragic event happened in Moscow that shocked not only the citizens of the Russian Federation, but also many people from countries that oppose the threat of terrorism. In the early morning rush hour, two women bearing suicide weapons blasted themselves in the subway trains of the Moscow Metro.
• The Best Redesign of Moscow Metropolitan Map 2013 Russia's leading internet and graphic design agency has won an online vote for the best redesign of the Moscow Metro map. Art. Lebedev Studio is a design company in Russia, founded in 1995 by Artemy Lebedev. They redrew the Moscow Metro map for a second time in three years, with even cleaner graphics and a raft of new details and won more than 50% of the online vote.

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About Me in Short

My name's Arthur Lookyanov, I'm a private tour guide, personal driver and photographer in Moscow, Russia. I work in my business and run my website Moscow-Driver.com from 2002. Read more about me and my services , check out testimonials of my former business and travel clients from all over the World, hit me up on Twitter or other social websites. I hope that you will like my photos as well.

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