presentation primary school terenure history

Presentation P.S.

Bunscoil na Toirbhirte Station Road, Portarlington, Laois

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School History

History of our School

The Presentation Sisters are currently 152 years in Portarlington. The Presentations Sisters’ story begins with Nano Nagle who was the foundress of the Presentation Sisters. In the year 1844, Mother Mary Magdalen Breen and two other Presentation Sisters came to Portarlington. Sadly Mother Mary Magdalan only lived for two years in her new home and after her death her two companions were recalled to the motherhouse in Bagnalstown.

In the year 1854, eight years after the death of Mother Mary Magdalan Breen, the Presentation Sisters came again to Portarlington, due to the zealous exertions of Mother Mary Angela Maher. A project she held dear in her heart was the re-establishment of the convent in Portarlington on a permanent basis. Her uncle, Mr. Edward Lyons helped her by providing an annuity of £100 plus a donation of £200 to aid the infant community. The bishop of Kildare and Leighlin approved the undertaking and informed the Parish Priest of Portarlington Fr. Terence O’ Connell who was delighted -“ To welcome back the daughters of Nano Nagle, to resume the work which had been so unwillingly abandoned”

Fr. T O’ Connell generously made over to the sisters the house in which he himself lived, together with his garden and an adjoining field, at a ground rent of £6 per annum. And so it was that on Sept 29th 1854, Mother Mary Angela and her companions arrived in Portarlington at 7pm in the evening.

The Foundresses of the Portarlington Presentation Community:

• Mother Mary Angela Maher
•  Mother Mary John Kinsella
•  Mother Mary Bernard Kinsella
•  Sister Mary Theresa Donoghue
•  Sister Mary Magdalan Kearney
•  Sister Mary Baptist Davin
•  Sister Mary Catherine Phelan

Sept 1854 – for the first few weeks in Portarlington the infant community had to contend with many difficulties, the only furniture in the convent being a chair for each sister and a table. After a short time however, by the kindness of friends their wants were abundantly supplied.

Oct 1st 1854-  The Convent was blessed and mass was celebrated for the first time

Oct 9th 1854-  The Holy Sacrament was deposited in a small room connected with the large parlour by folding doors. This room served for many years as their chapel.

Oct 16th 1854-  The small parlour was arranged as a schoolroom and six pupils were received. That evening Catechism classes were organised for boys and girls

1855-  Rev James Maher CC laid the foundation stone for the new school on 1st May. It was decided that the new school would be an extension to the convent in the form of a wing, which was to comprise a school 60ft by 22ft (present day assembly hall).

Jan 21st 1856-  The new school was opened and 100 little ones were enrolled. An industrial class was formed for the benefit of young women attending the school. However, after some years it was discontinued as the pupils preferred book learning. The children of the better class were taught in the parlour. An infant school was set up in the upper storey of an old outhouse behind the convent.

1857-  Before the school closed for the summer holidays there was an exhibition and distribution of prizes, so well had the school been working. Around this time Sister Mary John used to invite the young girls into the convent for tea parties so that the sisters might teach them to act politely at tables.

1859-  The school continued to flourish and in addition to reading, writing and mathematics the pupils were introduced to drawing, vocals, instrumental music and French. The district inspector reported so favourably of the discipline and progress of the school that the Rev Mother received a commendatory letter from the secretary of the National Board of Education.

1861-  A bazaar to raise funds was organised by the sisters. £100 was raised and the building of a chapel, cells, a refectory and classrooms commenced soon afterwards.

1862 – The new wing was almost completed and the sisters were able to take possession of the new refectory and classrooms. The children of the better class were removed from the parlour.

1867-  The convent miraculously escaped being burned to the ground. The cause of the fire was never established.

1878-  The Duchess of Maryborough visited. The children sang for the gathering

1893-  In March Rev M. Cullen the first religious examiner for Kildare and Leighlin visited the convent

1904-  In Portarlington Sept 29th was marked by the celebration of the Golden Jubilee of the Foundation of the Presentation Convent

1906-  Major changes were made in the layout of the convent and extensions to the school. A large entrance hall and two new cells were built. The old infant school was changed into a kitchen, with a range, new pantries and a hall. Hot water pipes heated the entire house and school. The convent was painted and decorated. On May 1st the new school was opened and there was a procession through the grounds with the children carrying banners and singing hymns.

1930/31-  A field adjoining the convent garden was sold to the sisters at a cost of £250. This was only one half of the field.

1933-  The community at their own expense extended the school. Two classrooms, two music rooms (principal and secretary’s office today) and a corridor were added.

1935-  The second half of the field was purchased for £150.

1939-  There was a retreat in the school  for the first time for the students. Holy mass and benediction was held in the large classroom.

1946-  The need to provide secondary education for pupils attending the school became apparent. It was decided to open a ‘secondary top’. This meant that the school followed the curriculum of the secondary school but officially remained a primary school.

1954-  The convent celebrated its Centenary

1956-  A few purchases were made for the school- two singer sewing machines and an electric cooker. 1957/58-  A field was purchased in view of a new school or extension. It was locally known as Molloy’s field and was on the other side of the road.

1962-  Building of the new school commenced in October

1964-  The new school was opened and blessed on the first Monday in February. Each sister decorated her classroom with pictures and charts of her own choice. The old school was renovated. It was plastered and eleven new windows were put in. The cookery room (computer room today) was brought up to date. Outside this room a new set of toilets were built. A bicycle shed and lunch shed were also built.

1968-  A cottage and three acres was purchased on the bog road adjoining the field previously purchased by the convent. On 29th April, 104 pupils ranging from 4-6yrs started school. To find accommodation for all of them was a problem. One sister had to take her class to the newly purchased cottage on the bog road. four new pre-fabricated classrooms were erected in the autumn

1969-  The secondary school staff organised a school sports day for the first time. It was held in the CBS field

1970-  More pre-fabricated classrooms were erected in the convent garden to accommodate extra pupils expected at the beginning of the next school year

1971-  Five more pre-fabs for the secondary school were erected in the convent gardens

1991-  Sr. Martina O’ Rourke, principal of the primary school decided to go to work on the missions. When she left the primary school got its first lay principal Mrs. Mary Egan

2000-  Sr. Kathleen Ryan joined the staff. She had previously worked in Zimbabwe and came to us directly from Mountmellick where she had been principal for a number of years

2005-  The parish of Portarlington gathered on Sun 24th April to celebrate 150 years of the Presentation Sisters in Portarlington. In June Nano Nagle was voted “Ireland’s Greatest Woman”.

In  June 2005  the Board of Management was pleased to announce that the Department of Education and Science was in the process of appointing a design team for our new 16 classroom primary school on Station Road

2008-  On Monday October 17th we moved into our new school on Station Road

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Presentation Primary School, Terenure

Presentation Primary School is a large urban school located in Dublin City. The school is located along a narrow, busy commuter road and has over 600 students and 28 teachers travelling to and from the school every school day.

Step 1: Green-Schools Committee

Teachers: Two teachers were selected for the Green-Schools committee. This enabled the activities and meeting to run smoothly and continuously throughout the two years even if one of the teachers was too busy. Having more than one teacher on the committee also enabled sharing of ideas and tasks, and ultimately helped embed Green-Schools into different classes within the school.

Students: It was decided that two students from each class representing second to sixth class would be selected for the committee. Those interested in signing up were asked to write a letter and give a short presentation to their classes as to why they wanted to join and the classes then voted in who they thought would best represent their class.

Step 2: Environmental Review

The environmental review involved assessing what the travel situation was like in the school at the beginning of the programme. This step helps establish what modes of transport should be promoted in the school. The main activities carried out were:

• Travel Survey

A hands-up travel survey was conducted by the school’s dedicated Green-Schools Travel officer in a number of classes to see how people travelled to and from the school. The results showed that almost 65% of students travelled to school by car making it by far the most common mode. The survey showed that 25% walked, 6% cycled and only 5% traveled by bus. From these results it was decided that the school should focus on promoting walking, park ‘n’ stride and scooting.

Traffic Count Survey

The committee also carried out a traffic count survey on the main road in front of the school. This was done to assess: how busy the road was, what types of vehicles pass, driver behaviour and car occupancy. It was noted that the road outside the school was extremely busy with constant traffic flow as well as a high level of double decker buses. Due to this and the narrow roads it was decided that cycling would not be a good mode to promote in this school and promoting scooting on paths would be a safer option.

Walkability Audit

A walkability audit was also carried out by the committee accompanied by their Green-Schools Travel Officer. A route from the school along Terenure Road West and Templeogue Road was surveyed as most pupils travel along these roads on the way to school. A log was kept of the infrastructure surrounding the school: positives such as pedestrian crossings, footpaths, traffic calming and negatives such as trip hazards, lack of pedestrian crossings and obstacles. Suitable park ‘n’ stride locations were also noted and a report was done up to send to the local authority.

Step 3: Action Plan

Once the committee established they would mainly promote walking, park ‘n’ stride and scooting, they began to set out an Action Plan. An action planning workshop was arranged with their Green-Schools Travel Officer to set out a road map of actions and events for the calendar year. Each month had a number of actions set out to be completed by a particular person/group. Some of the main activities that were set out were:

• Action planning workshop
• Weekly Walk/Scoot/Park ‘n’ Stride on Wednesdays
• Climate Change workshops
• Walkability audit
• Scooter Skills Workshops
• Garda Road Safety Talk
• Travel poster & Green Code competition
• Class travel competitions – ‘Golden Boot’ trophy
• Cycle training workshops
• Apply for Green-Schools scooter parking
• Take part in ‘Big Travel Challenge’
• Take part in National Walk/Scoot to School Weeks & RTE news2day filming

Step 4: Monitoring & Evaluation

In order to monitor and evaluate the school’s progress, ‘Scores on Doors’ (tallies) for each class were kept every Wednesday. From these a ‘Golden Boot’ award was awarded to a different class each week based on sustainable travel results. In addition to this, the Green-Schools Travel officer carried out travel surveys twice a year. These surveys showed an increase in walking from 26% to 40% and a reduction of car use from 63% to 10% from Year One to Year Two respectively. After the first year of the programme it was decided that an extra layer of fun needed to be injected into the monitoring do the committee set up a ‘Travel Destination’ target for the school to reach. Each person walking to school represented 1km distance travelled for the school. The school aimed to reach a number of destinations including: Longford, London & Paris.

Step 5: Curriculum Work

The school made efforts to link various subjects in with the  Travel theme  for instance; doing pie charts and bar charts to represent modes of travel for Maths, poster competitions and transport models for Art, road safety for SPHE, transport debates and creative writing for English, as well as skooter skills for PE. All teachers kept note of any travel related work they undertook throughout the year.

Step 6: Informing & Involving

Informing and Involving aims to inform the whole school as well as the wider community of the Green-Schools work that is being carried out. To inform the pupils and teachers in the school, the committee regularly updated the Green-Schools notice board, gave updates at assembly, reported back to classes and used intercom announcements. As well as having a number of mini action days and promotion of regular Walk / Scoot / Park n’ Stride on Wednesdays, the school carried out a number of actions to inform the wider community ongoing work. This included: letter drops to parents, ‘text a parent’, newsletters and regular updates on social media and the school website.

• Watch Presentation Primary School celebrate National Walk to School Week on RTÉ’s news2day show. 

Step 7: Green Code

The school held a Green Code competition among all classes. From this two winning slogans were chosen and combined to form the Green Travel Code. The winning slogans were displayed around the school and chanted at assembly.

WALK TO SCHOOL, USE YOUR OWN FUEL, CARS CAUSE POLLUTION, WALKING IS THE SOLUTION

Working together for a sustainable future

Green-Schools, An Taisce Environmental Education Unit. Registered Charity Number: CHY 4741 / CRA No: 20006358 / Company No: 12469

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Teaching primary school: ‘It’s the most rewarding thing you can do’

Profile: sarah brazil currently works at presentation primary school in terenure, dublin.

Sarah Brazil: 'Being kind, reliable and empathetic while keeping abreast of all the latest educational thinking through continuous professional development is key'

Course: Bachelor of arts and humanities, DCU; master’s in primary education, Hibernia College

Why did you decide to become a teacher?

I had a very positive experience in both primary and secondary school. In particular I loved the school community in primary school and felt a real sense of family and fun with my friends and teachers. My teachers were fantastic role models and my sixth-class teacher had a very positive impact on me and made me feel like I could be a teacher myself. My experience was so positive that I decided it would be something that I should aspire to and I’m now delighted to be back working as a teacher in my own primary school.

How did you decide on what course to study and college to attend?

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Going to college was a huge deal for me as I was the first person in my family to go to third level. Unfortunately, I fell short of the required points for the bachelor of education course so I decided I would do a BA degree in St Patrick’s College, Drumcondra, where I studied human development and English.

I then did a master’s of education with Hibernia College. I decided to go here as the timetable would allow me to observe and work as a substitute in different schools which provided me with invaluable teaching practice.

What skills do you need to become a teacher?

Being a teacher is much more than the traditional idea of teaching. Primary schoolteachers play a massively important role in a child’s life, and this is something that is really important to me. Good listening and organisational skills are important, but being kind, reliable and empathetic while keeping abreast of all the latest educational thinking through continuous professional development is key.

What is your favourite thing about your job?

The best thing about my job are the girls in my class. I spend about 30 hours a week with them and spend many more hours planning, preparing and reviewing. I have the pleasure of spending lots of time laughing with the girls and listening to their many stories about their lives outside of school. I love seeing when something clicks with the students.

What do you find the most challenging aspect of your career?

In the classroom, the biggest thing is class size. Having a large class means I have less time to give individual attention to each pupil. I think the influence of social media on children could become a difficult challenge that will be facing teachers in the coming years. Another challenge is the teacher supply crisis. My own friends are leaving Ireland to teach in the Middle East and Australia as the housing crisis in Dublin means it’s impossible to rent in Dublin and to save towards a mortgage.

What would your advice be to someone considering a career in teaching?

Go for it. It’s the most rewarding thing you can do. Seeing the pupils having fun while learning is the best feeling. When I head into school I don’t feel like I’m in a stressful workplace, I absolutely love my job. I know I’m very lucky to feel like that and I’m very lucky to have supportive colleagues along with lovely pupils.

Sarah Burns

Sarah Burns is a reporter for The Irish Times

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Our History & Our Mission

Our school’s history.

Nano Nagle , voted the Irish woman of the millennium, is the foundress of the Presentation Order, which she founded in Cork in 1775. The order was established for the education of boys and girls who, at the time, were almost totally deprived of schooling. The Presentation schools today form a worldwide network carrying the vision of Nano Nagle to every continent. The Nagle family motto, Not Words But Deeds , is still the dynamic that underlies the Presentation vision today.

In early 1817 Margaret Cormack opened the first Presentation convent and school at Stradavoher, Thurles in a building donated by her brother. In November 1817 the school and convent moved to Cathedral Street , to premises on either side of Chapel Lane, buildings just vacated by the Christian Brothers when they re-located to Gaol Street. Chapel Lane occupies roughly the same position as the driveway in Archbishop’s House does today. In 1824, when there were seven sisters in the community, they moved to a new convent, the oldest part of the present convent building.

The Famine took a heavy toll on the sisters who were engaged in much charitable and relief work in the neighbourhood. Nevertheless, by 1862, because of pressure of numbers in the original school, a new building was opened and blessed by Archbishop Leahy. This second primary school today stands at right angles to Cathedral Street, adjoining the grounds of Archbishop’s House. Except for £200 subscriptions, the £1950 cost of the building was borne by the Presentation Community . It was used as a primary school for almost one hundred years.

The present primary school was blessed by Archbishop Kinane in May 1957, in the presence of Mr Jack Lynch, then Minister for Education. Costing over £100,000, the building was then and still remains one of the finest primary school buildings in the country with wide, spacious corridors and bright, airy classrooms.

Presentation Primary School celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2007, while also remembering 190 proud years of Presentation education in Thurles. The Minister for Education, Mary Hanafin, a past pupil, together with Archbishop Clifford, opened an anniversary garden at the rear of the school. Three murals were unveiled on the stairwells as part of the celebrations. The school community, past and present, attended a Mass of Thanksgiving in the cathedral.

Our Mission Statement

Presentation Primary School is an urban Catholic Primary school that welcomes everyone and facilitates the educational development and spiritual needs of the children in a caring and well-disciplined milieu. The school aspires to nurture in the pupils a sense of their own self-worth and an awareness and tolerance of the needs and differences of others.

The school, acknowledging that parents are the primary educators of their children, values and encourages their interest in and support of all our efforts. While working as a team, the school respects the professionalism and individuality of each staff member. Together we promote a code of discipline that is firm but kind and fair. Within a secure, happy environment we endeavour to foster the total well-being of every child within the context of their cultural and religious traditions.

It was the conviction of the foundress of the Presentation Order, Nano Nagle, that every child has the right to be educated to achieve the maximum of his/her potential. In Presentation Primary School we do our best to follow Nano’s practical vision with her motto:

“Not Words But Deeds”

-Nano Nagle

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Presentation Primary School

Presentation primary school warrenmount, dublin 8.

Congratulations to Presentation Primary School of Warrenmount, Dublin 8 for winning Scoilnet's Star Site award!

Visitors to Warrenmount's website are greeted with a clean layout with excellent use of space. The homepage contains a photo slider containing high quality images of the school's pupils along with a welcome message from the principal. Further down the homepage, there are columns for news, the school calendar and contacts details for the school.

The site is extremely easy to navigate due to its intuitive design. There are seven navigation tabs across the top of the homepage which enables users to find what they need in an efficient and timely manner. The About tab contains information on the school such as Board of Management members, history of the school and school policies. The Information tab contains details about enrollment, school lunches, school calendar and lunches.

Presentation Primary School offers an extensive amount of after school activities such as GAA, music, athletics, science, hip-hop and swimming. The school's website also contains a link to a separate website dedicated to their Active School Flag. This site contains information on what the school are doing to promote an active lifestyle among their pupils. The site showcases their projects, active school committee and outlines their physical activity plans.

Presentation Primary School's website is well designed, easy to navigate and is kept up to date. It reflects the inclusive and friendly spirit of the school while showcasing the hard work of pupils, teachers and parents. Well done on winning Scoilnet's Star Site Award!

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Parent teacher interviews in school or by phone

Parent teacher meetings; All children P1/2/3/4/5/6/7 will go home at 1.45pm Meetings will take place from 2pm to 3.20pm on Monday 25/3/24 Tuesday 26/3/24 and Wednesday 27/3/24

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A warm welcome to you and your child. Here in Presentation Primary School we take great pride in providing a welcoming, caring, nurturing and safe environment in our school. We take a holistic approach to the development of children and encourage a positive approach to learning. We give pride of place to the development of the social qualities of honesty, sincerity and courtesy. We are dedicated to the health and wellbeing of pupils and staff and we are actively involved in the Health Promoting Schools initiative. Presentation Primary School is based in the heart of Limerick City and has a rich history having been set up in 1837 by the Presentation Sisters. We hope that you enjoy visiting our school website and that it is a help to parents/guardians and members of the school community.

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Presentation Primary School, Sexton St, Limerick, Ireland | Phone: +353 61 412 494

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Presentation Primary School Waterford

A great tradition of education in waterford since 1798, educating since 1798, welcome….

Dear Visitors,

Welcome to our school website. Presentation Primary School is an all-girls school apart from two Speech and Language Classes which caters for boys and girls. We aim to provide a learning environment that is inclusive and welcoming.

Our dedicated staff is committed to the welfare of the pupils and to providing a broad range of learning experiences in a safe, supportive, caring environment. Our school is a happy place where the pupils engage productively in learning.

In partnership with Parents, we work to achieve the best possible outcomes for all pupils so they can reach their full potential in body, mind and spirit. The Presentation ethos, inspired by Nano Nagle, is to cherish all and be especially mindful of those most in need.

I hope that our website will convey to you the vibrant, creative atmosphere in our school where everyone is treated with courtesy and respect. We are halfway through our first term and everyone has worked so hard since September. We have lots of exciting activities planned here at school for the months ahead.

Ann Marie O’Mara

Important Information for Parents:

• School reopens  Monday April 8th following Easter holidays.
• Date for your diary: In service for teachers will take place on Tuesday April 16th.  School will be closed for all pupils on this day.

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A ride across passages of history - Moscow Metro rolls on

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Lying at a depth of 5 (Pechatniki station) to 80 metres (Park Pobedy station), the history of the last eight decades unfold before your eyes, carved out of marble and granite and built in iron and glass – revealing the tastes, ideas, dreams, hopes and disappointments of the previous generations and contemporaries. The Moscow Metro dates back to 1931, when its construction first began, although engineers Pyotr Balinsky and Evgeny Knorre submitted their first designs to the Moscow City Duma as far back as 1902. “His speeches carried a strong temptation: like a true demon, he would promise to cast Moscow down to the bottom of the sea and raise it above the clouds”, a journalist for the Russkoye Slovo newspaper commented on Balinsky’s idea. Yet the Duma, made up of rich people, did not bite the bait: after all, they all lived in the centre of the city and never rode overcrowded trams.

After five failed proposals before the Duma, the Moscow Metro finally threw open its doors on May 15, 1935, 18 years after the revolution, and carried the first passengers on its moving staircases, escalators, and the padded seats of its new wagons (unlike the wooden seats in trams). The first metro line – from Sokolniki to Dvorets Sovetov (now known as Kropotkinskaya) -- was 11 km long and had 13 stations. Now, the Moscow Metro has a track of over 300 km with 12 lines and 182 stations. The city’s development outline for 2020 envisages that, by then, another 120 km will have been added to the existing routes.

For the first 20 years of its history, the Moscow Metro was named after Lazar Kaganovich, the “iron commissar” and Stalin’s right hand man, who was in-charge of construction of the first stage of the metro (incidentally, he personally blew up the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in December 1931 as a part of the Proletarian Capital project). In 1955, however, the Metro was renamed after Vladimir Lenin. Although Russia has long since changed its political track, you can still find the images of the former leader at over 10 stations, including, for instance, busts of Lenin at Belorusskaya and Komsomolskaya stations, impressive mosaics at Baumanskaya and Kievskaya stations, a tile panel in the passage between the Borovitskaya and Biblioteka Imeni Lenina stations. By a bitter irony of fate, Lenin’s full-face and side-face images decorate the Tsaritsyno (translated as the Tsarina’s Estate) station (dubbed Lenino up until 1990) – images of the very person who ordered the shooting of the royal family. You will not, however, find any images of Stalin in Moscow’s underground. A symbol of Russia's victory, he was omnipresent in the late 1940s. After his death in 1953 and the denunciation of Stalin’s personality cult, his images were gradually withdrawn from the Moscow Metro.

“Architecture developed along the same lines, both above and below the surface. Anything that emerged above ground had a reflection underground. It is equally true that vice versa never occurred: good architecture underground but bad architecture above the ground,” says Nikolay Shumakov, chief architect of the Moscow Metro. The first metro stations, up until the mid-1950s, were conceived and built as luxurious “palaces for the people”, great architecture for a great state. Art historians insist that the richly-decorated underground was a deliberate ideological move to eulogise the young Soviet country. Stations built between 1937 and 1955 are characteristic of the first architectural period. Everything completed at this time is worthy of special attention. For instance, look at the ceiling at Mayakovskaya and Novokuznetskaya stations to see mosaic panels based on designs by artist Alexander Deineka – 24-Hour Soviet Sky and Heroic Labour of the Soviet People on the Home Front. The mosaics were assembled by famous mosaic artist Vladimir Frolov, author of the mosaic icons in St. Petersburg’s Church of the Saviour on Blood. The Ploshchad Revolutsii station was decorated with 76 bronze sculptures of workers, soldiers, farmers, students and other Soviet people. You can even find a frontier guard with a dog and rub its nose for good luck. You may also note that all the figures (except pioneers) are either sitting or bent, which engendered the sad joke – “Any Soviet man is either in jail or on his knees.”

 Elements of decoration in Moscow's metro.   Photos by Alexandr Ganyushin

1955 heralded the end of the good times for Russian architecture – both underground and above ground – after the Communist Party issued a decree "On elimination of extravagance in design and construction.” Dull stations, without any stucco work, mosaics, original columns or other “unjustified” elements, were built under the slogan “Kilometres at the expense of architecture”. Things were the same above the ground, where entire cities were built of commonplace five-storey apartment blocks, all looking the same, nicknamed ‘Khrushchevkas’ after the then leader, Nikita Khrushchev. To get a sense of this period’s architecture, see the few stations built in the 1960s-1980s like Tverskaya, Kitay-Gorod and Kolomenskaya. In 2002, with the reconstruction of the Vorobyovy Gory station, the development of the Moscow Metro entered a third stage, which could be defined as ‘renaissance’. The platform of the station offers a splendid view of the Moskva River, the Luzhniki Olympic Complex and the Academy of Sciences building. Architectural canons of the 1930s-1940s were once again in use in the design of underground stations. By the same token, artists once again become involved in decorating the stations. As such, the Sretensky Bulvar station boasts silhouettes of Pushkin, Gogol, and Timiryazev and Moscow sights; the Dostoevskaya station is decorated with black-and-white panels featuring the main characters from Dostoyevsky’s novels The Idiot, Demons, Crime and Punishment, The Brothers Karamazov, and the Maryina Roshcha station flaunts its pastoral mosaic landscapes. In 2004, Russia's first monorail transport system was launched into service – an elevated track (running 6 to 12 metres above the ground) in the northern part of Moscow, linking the All-Russian Exhibition Centre and the Timiryazevskaya metro station. The evolution of the Moscow Metro goes on. It’s still a work in progress, with ambitious plans to move the Moscow Metro even closer to passengers over the next ten years, not just by adding an extra 120 km to its total track. “We want to strip the stations of everything we can,” says Nikolai Shumakov. “We are trying to show the passengers their very framework, what the metro is made of. Cast iron and concrete are beautiful.”

Joy ride: Read Gogol, Dante or savour art

The Aquarelle Train.   Source: Reuters/Vostock-Photo

With any luck, you can ride in a retro train, a moving art gallery or a library. The trains are actually a part of the general traffic (i.e., they do not run to any special schedule) and are used on certain lines. The Reading Moscow Train , an ordinary train on the face of it, features extracts from literary works for adults and children. Each wagon has its own selection, from children’s fairy tales to Gogol. Circle Line. The Poetry in Metro Train carries an exposition, updated this year, dedicated to Italian poets Dante Alighieri, Francesco Petrarch, Giacomo Leopardi, etc. All the poems are featured in two languages, Russian and Italian. Filevskaya Line. The Sokolniki Retro Train looks exactly like the first Moscow Metro train, both inside and out. Painted brown, it has padded seats, typical wall decorations and retro lamps. Sokolnicheskaya Line. The Aquarelle Train looks like a cabinet painted with flowers and fruit on the outside. Inside, it is an art gallery featuring art reproductions from the Vyatka Apollinary and Viktor Vasnetsov Art Museum. Arbatsko-Pokrovskaya Line.

Revolution Square station (built in 1938) is close to the Red Square area. There are 72 sculptures in the station, depicting the people of the Soviet Union, including soldiers, farmers, athletes, writers, industrial workers and school children.

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• Calls & Conferences
• Dutch Studies

Underground History: Splendor and Misery of the Moscow Metro

A public lecture by GABOR RITTERSPORN, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Paris, Centre d'Etudes des Mondes Russe, Caucasien et Centre-Europeen

Duration: 43:53

The Moscow metro is a rare achievement of the Soviet regime continuing to receive virtually unanimous acclaim from post-Soviet citizens. Even those who decry it as a product of Stalinism recognize qualities of the subway's sumptuous architecture and decoration at least by taking it for spectacular kitsch.

The metro is expected to impress the world. It was intended to convey a clear message at the beginning. For fifty-five years the architecture and decoration had been meant to manifest a will to represent and celebrate the Soviet project, which was supposedly the construction of a radically new world of abundance, justice and happiness. The post-Soviet metro is also grappling with the task of representing values, those of the New Regime's architects.

One can make sense of Soviet and post-Soviet imageries of the best of possible worlds through interpreting the decoration of the underground and putting it in historical perspective. The exercise may reveal meanings contemporaries have been unlikely to grasp. It can also open eyes on trends historians are not necessarily aware of.

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Published: Saturday, February 7, 2009

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