Health

Tactile tradition in Moscow metro continues despite health warnings

Anush Janbabian

Moscow, Dec 12 (efe-epa).- There is a spot in the Moscow metro that all of its passengers know: it is the bronze dog that brings luck to anyone who touches it, and even in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, it has remained a place of “pilgrimage” despite calls from the authorities to avoid touching the statue.

“I always touch the dog’s nose when I come get off at this station. Sometimes I also get off here on purpose just to do it,” she tells Efe Natalia, a Moscow student.

At Revolution Square (Ploschad Revoliutsii), home of the lucky dog and one of the oldest subway stations in Moscow, there are always crowds of people. In fact, life here has continued its usual pace despite the Covid-19 pandemic.

Before the health crisis, large groups of tourists would come to the station to view the 76 Soviet-era statues of humans, some of them accompanied by an animal.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, the passengers at Revolution Square are largely Russians who might be used to the sumptuous interior of the capital’s subway but still stop at the statues that are believed to bring good fortune.

The Moscow Department of Transport has appealed to Muscovites to keep them from touching the sculptures at Revolution Square.

This is a public health recommendation but also one that some architecture experts have made, concerned as they are about the deterioration of the works.

It is estimated that the statue of the dog alone has been caressed hundreds of millions of times since the end of the 1930s, when it was installed in the station. Other monuments that are popular among passengers are a peasant girl with a cock and a chicken, a sailor with his revolver or a daydreaming student.

“After many years of satisfying desires, the statues need help, many have become worn out and lost their original image,” the Transport Department says.

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