Arsenalna Metro Station, Kiev

Arsenalna Metro Station is one of the city’s most fascinating underground landmarks — and an engineering marvel in its own right. Opened on November 6, 1960, as part of the Kyiv Metro’s first line (the Sviatoshynsko–Brovarska Line), Arsenalna is world-famous for its extraordinary depth of 105.5 meters (or 346 feet) below the surface. For decades, it held the title of the deepest metro station in the world; today, it remains the second-deepest, just after Hongyancun Station in China.

Its impressive depth is due to Kyiv’s dramatic geography — the station sits on a high bank of the Dnipro River, where the metro tunnels had to be built deep into the bedrock to pass beneath the valley.

Descending into Arsenalna is an unforgettable experience for visitors. The journey involves two long escalator rides, totaling over 100 meters, and taking up to five minutes — one of the longest escalator rides in the world.

The interior is simple yet elegant, featuring white plastered ceilings, pink and white marble, and bronze-anodized aluminum details, reflecting the understated Soviet modernism of the 1960s.

Since 1986, Arsenalna Metro Station has been officially recognized as an Architectural Monument of Local Significance.