Bunker-42 on Taganka — Attraction in Tagansky District

My girlfriend called a few days in advance to book a tour. We were interested in tour called “Object CHZ 293”, but the employee at telephone told her that there was just one per week, in a time not comfortable for us, so she offered us a similar tour and we decided to reserve 2 tickets for that one on Friday evening at 20:00. The employee by phone specified that the whole price for us would be 3.500 (3.500 rubles for the foreign visitor and free for the russian visitor who accompanies the foreign visitor, as a sort of translator, as the that tour is just in russian language - that’s what she said). But when we arrived at the Bunker, the woman working at the cash, told us that the price was 5.200 rubles (3.500 for foreign visitor + 1.700 rubles for russian visitor). We explained her that by phone, when we reserved the tickets, we were told that the price would be 3.500. The woman, with unpleasant behavior, first said that we called another number, not their offices, then when we showed her that the number we called was the same written on their website, she cut it short saying that we talked to someone else, not to her, so it was not her problem what they told us. My girlfriend was sure about what they told her by phone few days before, so she insisted and the woman at the cash replied that what they told her (foreigner visitor pays 3500 rub. and russian mate enters for free) it’s true, but it is applied just to other tours, not the one we had booked, and to demonstrate it, she showed us the old tariff paper attached on the wall, concerning our tour, where, it’s true, it was written that foreigners pay 3.500 and russians 1.700, and no mention about russian mate not paying. Strange that, when i looked also at all the other papers on the walls, concerning the other tours, in no one of them was mentioned that too, so if this “fare” exists (as also the woman at the cash admitted), it looks like its application is let to the discretion of whom you are talking to at a specific time. Astonished by her rude behaviour and lack of clarity, my girlfriend demanded to talk to some manager, so the woman made a call and suddenly arrived a man, who claimed to be the commercial manager of the place, but honestly looked like someone who was passing there by chance and was asked to come and talk to us, as the ID badge pinned to his jacket was upside-down. This man behaved even more unpleasant and arrogant than the woman at the cash, as he didn’t even let us explain the situation and simply told us that that was the fare and nothing else to discuss about. At the end, as we crossed the city to get there in time, we decided to pay anyway 5.200 rub. instead of 3.500 they told when we booked tickets by phone, and we had the tour. About the tour, the bunker it’s surely worth a visit, it’s interesting place, even if honestly i would have expected to see more artefacts from old times, rather than huge empty spaces, but maybe in other tours they show more. The tour is just in russian (which makes the choice of making foreigners pay twice the price even more incomprehensible), so if you don’t speak russian at all, or you speak just a little, as i do, you won’t understand anything of what the guide says, which unfortunately makes the experience much less interesting than it could be. So, all considered, 3.500 rubles (46 euros) for one person is definitely too expensive for what they offer in this tour, i would not recommend it, at least to foreigners who don’t speak...

Located in downtown Moscow, the underground fortification facility was constructed in response to the US development of nuclear weapons. Built in the 1950s by "SMU Mosmetrostroy," the Soviet government aimed to create both a bunker and their own nuclear bomb for protection. The bunker needed to be at least 65 meters deep to ensure leaders' safety in the event of a nuclear attack, based on nuclear weapon tests in 1949.

Proposed in the fall of 1949 by the projection bureau "Metroproekt," the "Bunker on Taganka" project, coded as "Object 02," was strategically located near the Kremlin for swift access in case of an attack. Constructing a large facility in downtown Moscow posed challenges, including avoiding disruption to urban systems and alerting civilians and foreign intelligence.

By 1952, the main constructions of the bunker were completed, with environmental support systems in place by summer 1953. Military and civilian communication operators began working on the object from April 1954, with communication lines laid and equipment installed simultaneously. Excavation was expedited using four constructional mines previously used for building Moscow subway stations.

New communication channels were established with strategic bomber regiments and divisions across the USSR in 1955-1956. The Ministry of Communications facilitated the transfer of classified reports and supported communication within radio centers across the USSR and Warsaw Pact countries, utilizing over 1000 transmitters for aircraft communication.

Until 1986, the bunker served as the command center for strategic bombers capable of carrying nuclear bombs.

Worth to visit for whoever interested in USSR...

In general it’s a really POOR and commercially-driven experience.

First of all, the tour makes a failed attempt on being informative or educational. The tour guide presented limited and repetitive facts, which would make you bored and annoyed after a while. It also does not stick to the real history - namely the Stalin mannequin in the room (he died before the bunker finished construction).

Second of all, it fails to appeal on my senses and to create a mysterious atmosphere - namely the weird “interactive experience” in the bunker control room. The tour guide asked two participants to sit on the stage and press the launch buttons. He then played a poorly made video of nuclear attacks, which was (illegally?) extracted from Hollywood movies. How exciting.

In nutshell, it’s a disastrous hybrid of a museum and a haunted house experience. It tries to be BOTH at the same time, but that’s not how things work.

It’s also pretty crowded - each tour carries about 30+ people, which made it quite hard to follow what the tour guide was saying.

Most importantly - it’s 2200 RUB per person (July 2018 price, English tour), it was really a waste of money.

Conclusion: Do NOT visit this, unless you really want to see the architecture of the bunker. To be fair, some parts are with nice layout and lightings setup, but the rest just do not worth the...