All you need to know about Bunker-42 in Moscow

If you’ve come to Moscow, chances are you want to experience something unique and authentic. You’ll hardly find a more unique place in Moscow than Bunker-42 Cold Ward Museum. Head to Taganskaya Metro station and make sure you have at least 2 hours of time. You got this!

If you book a Moscow tour with us, your guide will take care of the booking.

Photo by bunker42.com

13 fun facts about Bunker 42 to know before you go.

1. A famous must-see place Bunker-42 is always overcrowded by foreign guests for a reason. The Museum of Cold War used to be an underground complex at a depth of 65 meters like stations of Moscow metro. It has an area of 7,000 square meters (75,000 sqft). The construction of the complex began in the 1950s, with the beginning of the Cold War.
2. The location — Tagansky district — was not chosen by chance, the bunker had to be in the vicinity of the Moscow Kremlin, to let Stalin and the government quickly get to it. It seemed to be a complicated task to build a huge structure in the center of Moscow without damaging the urban systems of communication, and moreover to keep the construction in secret from the eyes of ordinary people and foreign services. Each of the builders signed a special document on secrecy.
3. Moscow Metro was used as a model. Secret maze had several tunnels, connected with Taganskaya and Kurskaya metro stations. The bunker itself was used as a command post of aircraft. From that point would fly the rockets in case of external attack. To keep the telegraph and phone connection operating 100–150 people were on combat duty all the time.
4. Bunker was a complex of institutions, included radio station, Central Telegraph and geophysical laboratory. To let people live and be safe here, the bunker was equipped with the full set of essential needs: fuel reserves, food stocks, air purification systems, access to water and disposal of waste.
5. Up to 3,000 people could live and work there for 90 days without any connection to the outside world.
6. Because of outdated equipment, Bunker-42 had to undergo the reconstruction in 1970-ies. Unfortunately, due to the breakup of the Soviet Union, the restoration works had to be frozen. As a military facility, the Bunker became unprofitable, and in 1995 it was declassified.
7. Nowadays people have a possibility to go down to a depth of 65 meters and walk around the 600-metre-long network of tunnels to experience that distant era when the world stood on the edge of a nuclear war.
8. In 2006, the bunker was purchased by a private company for 65 million rubles and turned into an entertainment complex with a Cold War museum.
9. The brick wall of the main entrance to the underground bunker is a backdrop: it conceals a massive head with a concrete 6-meters think wall thickness.
10. In the exposition hall you can see Soviet radio station from 1950s, chemical protection suits, gas masks and Soviet propaganda posters. You will get a bright red badge of the Soviet Ministry of Defense with your name and photo of the unknown in the mask.
11. In 2008, the museum hosted a presentation of a post-apocalyptic novel “Metro 2033” by a Russian writer Dmitry Glukhov, which was attended by 666 guests.
12. The museum also held a world premiere video game Red Alert 3.
13. Don’t miss the most popular Declassified Tour in Bunker (85 minutes) which is usually part of our Soviet Tour in Moscow. Learn about the historical confrontation between two superpowers, the Soviet Union and the United States, how Bunker-42 is protected from the damaging factors of nuclear explosion and feel the seriousness of nuclear world war risk. You will see the facility’s original architecture and how it is operated. As a bonus, a unique experience of special effects-imitation of nuclear missile. Booking in advance is required.

Original source: https://friendlylocalguides.com/blog/all-you-need-to-know-about-bunker-42-in-moscow