Location is hidden

Abandoned River Station in Volzhsky

Under the arches of the lost columns

***
- Mom, mom, will we sail soon?
- Yes, son, very soon, be patient a little.
- Mom, mom, is this the shore?
Yes, this is the beach. Now we will make a short stop and have a snack. And then we still have quite a bit to sail to Astrakhan. You will fish with your dad.
1930 — 1940

Today I will tell you about one very atmospheric place.
This place is an abandoned river station in the city of Volzhsky. For a long time he served people faithfully, was listed in many shipping routes. Including this station was a stopping point of the long cruise route Moscow - Astrakhan. But soon the interregional routes were closed, and the stop in Volzhsky, included in the aforementioned cruise route, became unprofitable due to the water area and the launch of the Volgograd hydroelectric power station. The station was closed. Quite a lot of time has passed: several decades, from the moment the last ship stopped here, it dropped off the last tourists who stepped inside.
It seemed that nothing and no one would ever disturb the inner atmosphere of frozen time.


The hands on the tower clock froze, as if waiting for a crowd of fussy people to appear here again, eager to meet their loved ones soon and tired after a long waterway. But people do not appear, and the arrows still stand still.

Everywhere you look - everywhere there are either boarded up or broken windows, crumbling plaster.

What's interesting: in open sources there are almost no historical reports or mentions of this place. With great difficulty, I managed to find several old photos of the station on the Internet.

1972 year.

1975 year.

2007 year.

In the last photo, we see a rather deplorable picture: instead of a mowed lawn and even, neat shrubs, wild vegetation now flaunts here. The inscription indicating that the river station has a direct affiliation with the city of Volzhsky has disappeared somewhere.

Mother - nature tries to squeeze in everywhere: through the steps, asphalt. Even inside the station building itself, you can see grass / bushes. The roof, by the way, due to the big exception, did not suffer from the onslaught of nature, which is a rather rare occurrence among abandoned places.

Most of the windows are boarded up, and fittings were welded on top of the logs.

There are also more civilized windows, without looking into which you will not think that the place is abandoned.

Of the entire station complex, only the right annex has survived and is functioning. There, in addition to all sorts of things that have a rather indirect relationship to the river station, there is also its security. Probably, if not for her, the building would have been razed to the ground long ago by juvenile vandals.

As for the port at the station: at present, on one side of the station, it has been chosen by several yacht clubs, as well as fishermen and locals. The latter come to sunbathe and swim. On the other side of the station, a lot of cargo ships appear in the port, which are directly related to the nearby plant.

Enough about the surroundings. In an uncomplicated way, we get inside and along the winding corridors we are looking for a passage to the main hall.

And, lo and behold, here it is:

Outside, and even more so in the photo, the station building does not seem so massive and large, while inside you are completely lost because of its gigantic size.

Columns gathering into vaults under the ceiling, as well as peeling paint and the rays of the setting sun, combine to create an incredible picture!

On the ground floor there is a waiting room and a ticket office. In our time, benches, on which people used to wait for the departure of their ship, have found very skillful use. They are propped up the front doors, in the hope that this will save the station from intruders. In vain they hope.

Closed box office and a schedule that does not exist:

Light shines through the boarded up windows.

Soviet-style storage rooms are located right next to the checkout:

On the same floor, you can find a strange room, the purpose of which has remained unclear. Crimson-red curtains and mosaics on the walls make it special.

The floor below this (basement) is already underground. Here, as well as from above, you can find a waiting room, and from here you can immediately get into 3 interesting rooms. The first is a bomb shelter, the airtight door of which turned out to be securely closed. The second is PRU (Anti-Radiation Shelter). And, finally, the third is the food warehouse of the Priboy restaurant, which was previously located in the station building. We go down.

Bomb shelter:

In general, the combination of a bomb shelter, at least somehow performing its protective functions, and a PRU, which is essentially an ordinary basement, under one building is quite perverted.

PRU:

The feeling that the spirit of communism still lives here.

Let's move on to the grocery store. No, there are no products left here. Only the inscriptions on the doors remind of the former purpose of the premises. But there was something interesting nonetheless.

Something - a warehouse of Soviet champagne.

Now that we have examined the first floor, basement and basements, we can proceed to the upper floors. We go up the stairs.

The second, for example, offers a stunning view of the arches of the columns of the main hall.

Let's rise even higher, to the very circle where the columns converge in the previous photo. Yes, right above it is the attic space, which is also very original in its structure.

One of the stairs in front of the exit to the roof of the river station building:

On the roof:

When you are on the roof, you get the impression that it was created specifically for panoramic walks in the fresh air. Already a very beautiful view opens up here on the Volga.

mWe go up to the turret:

Through a narrow hole in the turret we get inside, we have to climb to the spire.

And now we are at the top!

View towards the inner yard of the station:

Downward view towards the Volga:

On this our wonderful walk comes to an end, and we are in a hurry to return back to Volgograd, there are many more interesting things awaiting us!

Thank you for your interest in my posts, stay tuned for new interesting reports from the most inaccessible and unusual places!

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