Victory Day 64th anniversary
The Victory Day is the date of the final surrender of Nazi Germany to the U.S.S.R. in 1945, marking the end of World War II. It is a day of memory and sorrow because millions of people died during this terrible war (only in the U.S.S.R. approximately 27 million people of different nationalities perished). This war became a harsh trial for our country and a great test of our national spirit, our unity, and our armed forces.
Almost every family in the U.S.S.R. lost relatives during the Great Patriotic War (as WWII is called here). We know about this war from hearing real stories passed down from our parents and grandparents. This terrible war and the people who died defending our motherland will never be forgotten.
It is known all over the world that one of the major events for the celebration of Victory Day in Russia (one of the main republics of the former U.S.S.R.) is the Victory Parade in the Red Square. Although the history of the military parade is quite interesting, it is a bit too long to fit into this news article. I would, however, like to mention several important facts that in my opinion are interesting and important to know. The national holiday of Victory Day was established right after the final surrender of Nazi Germany to the U.S.S.R. on May 8th, 1945. It was evening in Berlin, but in Moscow it was already the early morning of May 9th and this day became the Day of the Great Victory. The first military parade in the Red Square occurred with the destruction of symbols and flags of Nazi Germany near Lenin's Mausoleum on the rainy day of June 24, 1945, when all the divisions of the Soviet army were able to return back from Germany.
The full story describing how I spent Victory Day 2009 with my repeat clients from Belgium can be read on the page with my HOT News.
Exiting from the metro station Victory Park, I took several photos when my clients from Belgium and I were ascending on a 3 minute trip on the longest escalator in the world. Unfortunately, most of the photos did not capture the essence of the experience and although I am not thrilled with this particular photo, the quality is the best of all that were taken. Here is a view downstairs of the 4 escalators, with a length of about 126 meters and each one containing 740 steps. There were thousands of people coming to Victory Park that day, which is the reason that 3 escalators were going up and only one escalator going down (on the left side in this photo) to avoid large crowds at the exit.
During tours around the Moscow metro, most of my clients have been quite impressed by the steepness of the escalators. This sensation might happen because many of the stations in the downtown area were built quite deep underground and have long escalators. So it seems to the people who are first time users of the Moscow metro that they are descending or ascending by 45 degree angles or even steeper. But now I will tell you a fact: all escalators in the Moscow metro have a standard angle of inclination and it is approximately 30 degrees. If you look at the escalators in the deepest underground station, "Pobedy Park" even here there is no exception to the rule. Th angle of the escalators in Pobedy Park metro station is about 30 degrees, too, as in the other stations. You can easily check this fact yourself (without the use of a calculator) if you know the length and height of the escalator. For example, I will give you the measurements of the escalators in the Victory Park station:
Length: 126 meters
Height: 63.5 meters
Sine of 30 degrees is equal to about 0.5
Here is the formula:
Sine of an angle = Height / Length
or in our example if the angle of inclination has to be about 30 degrees:
Height / Length = 0.5
So you can see that it is very easy to check the rule if you know length and height of an escalator. If the height of an escalator is approximately twice less than its length, according to the formula then the slope angle is about 30 degrees. I hope that this information was interesting and useful to you.
More photos and information about "Victory Park" metro station:
Photo # 376 "Russian Victories in WWII" - part of an enameled panel in the southern hall of the metro station "Victory Park".
Posted on: May 14th, 2009
Last Edited on: May 15th, 2009
longest escalator, Victory Park, metro sation, Park Pobedy, angle of inclination
Note: These Moscow Photos are to help you familiarize yourself with Moscow's Sightseeing and my services. The photos in my albums are protected by international copyright law. You may keep my photos in your personal albums or, you may use these images as personal wallpaper on your computer, but, they are not for distribution (commercial or non-profit). If you would like to buy a specific photo, feel free to make your request via E-mail. I do hope you enjoy my work as photographer. Many of these photos were taken during excursions with my clients. You can find my pictures in Internet under nickname "ArtLook" (short from Arthur Lookyanov) at the follow websites:
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Contact: Arthur Lookyanov