History
The station was constructed between 1844 and 1851 to an eclectic design by Konstantin Thon as the terminus of the Moscow-Saint Petersburg Railway, a pet project of Emperor Nicholas I. Regular connection was opened in 1851. Initially it was known as Peterburgsky (i.e., St Petersburg station). Upon the Emperor's death five years later, the station was named Nikolayevsky (and the railway Nikolayevskaya) after him and retained this name until 1924, when the Bolsheviks renamed it Oktyabrsky Station (and the railway Oktyabrskaya), to commemorate the October Revolution. The present name was given a year later when the city of Petrograd became Leningrad.
Thon's design follows closely that of the station's counterpart in St. Petersburg. The monotonous regularity of rustication and pilasters is enlivened with Italianate details (ground floor windows strongly reminiscent of the Palazzo Rucellai) and an elegant clocktower at the centre (probably inspired by the Palazzo Senatorio in Rome). Even more rigorous is the exterior of the nearby Moscow Customs House (1844–1852), also by Thon. The interior of the station was modernized and renovated in 1950 and 1972.
Read more about this topic: Leningradsky Rail Terminal
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