Travel Russia Today

In the Taganskaya area of the Moscow, stands an apartment building on a street corner. This building appears to be typical of every other building on the block but it does hold a secret. A 1950’s era cold war bunker is located 20 stories below. The only visible sign from ground level is the army green gate with a red star on it.

Once we were granted entrance (appointments are necessary), we were ushered in and then an enormous door was slammed shut and locked behind us letting us just how secure this site once was. My companions and I squeezed into a small elevator with our guide who was appropriately dressed in the traditional Russian army garb of green and red. We were delighted we did not have to climb down (or back up) 20 flights of stairs.

Once the elevator doors opened, we stepped in a maze of cavernous dimly lit tunnels. Small light bulbs hung from the ceiling providing just enough light to see a few feet in front of us. Wires dangle from the ceilings and walls alluding to unfinished construction. The bunker was originally dug out as part of the metro system. Every few minutes we could hear the roar and feel the vibrations of the metro zooming by a tunnel just feet away from where we were standing.
After wandering through the corridors, suddenly a large siren went off and red lights began flashing prompting jumps and screams from our group. With Russian commands barking over the loud speaker, it really gave us a sense that an attack was imminent.

Finally, we arrived at the command center. This bunker was the main center for communication in the event of a nuclear attack. Much of the original communication equipment is still in tact. A large picture of Stalin hangs on the wall and a Russian military jacket and hat rest on a chair.

We took the elevator back up to ground level, walked out into the bright sunlight and joined the pedestrians walking on the street that probably walked past here every day and had no idea what lies beneath them.