The Northern River Terminal is located on the bank of the Khimki reservoir, in the north-western district of Moscow. The building of the River Terminal is one of the outstanding monuments of the Stalinist Empire architectural style. It was built in 1933-1937. There is a large landscaped park around the river Terminal.
In the 19th century, the Moscow-River was quite suitable for navigation of small vessels. At the beginning of the 20th century, it began to become shallow, and the displacement of ships increased. The need for the construction of the Moscow-Volga shipping Channel has become obvious. It was built in record time from 1932 to 1937. The length of the canal is 128 kilometers; more than 200 hydraulic engineering constructions have been built on the rivers, including 8 locks. The capital of Russia, the city of Moscow, was declared the "port of the five seas: Baltic, White, Caspian, Black, and Azov". In those years, the Soviet government was implementing grandiose "construction projects of communism", and the River Terminal became one of the image of that era.
The Northern River Terminal was built at the same time as the Moscow-Volga canal. As soon as the Khimki reservoir was filled, the first ships set off from here. The building of the Theater of the Russian Army, which was built in the same years, was gigantic. The size of the Northern River Terminal is also impressive, but it does not look massive.
The length of the Terminal is 150 meters. Above the central part rises a spire, 75 meters high (the length of the spire is 27 meters). The star at the top of the spire looks like the ruby stars of the Moscow Kremlin. Alexey Rukhlyadev, the chief architect of the River Terminal, recalled that he was inspired by the architecture of the Doge Palace in Venice, but the Northern River Terminal looks much easier. All three floors of the Terminal are framed by light arcades. The tower, which rises above the Terminal building, is also made in the Renaissance style.
Round majolica panels can be seen on the facade of the Northern River Terminal. The size of these panels (sometimes called "plates") is half a meter. The plates depict symbols of the Stalin era: a tank, a steam locomotive, a metallurgical plant, an airship, a stratostat, a hydroelectric power station, a polar aviation aircraft.
Some plates depict the sights of Russia: The Moscow Kremlin, the Theater of the Russian Army, the Moscow Metro, Lenin`s Mausoleum. In addition, here you can see the project of the most monumental building of the Palace of Soviets, which was planned to be built on the site of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. The cathedral was blown up, but the pit in its place was constantly filled with water and the project could not be implemented.
In 2020, the Northern River Terminal was completely reconstructed. There is a large landscaped park around it. A small museum is open in the Terminal lobby. Now thousands of people visit it every month.
