During the cold war, the United States and Russia built all sorts of crazy weapons and implements of death. They also built plenty of bunkers and hiding places to avoid said weapons and implements of death, and this now extremely neon lit bunker in Russia – known as Bunker 42 – is a relic of that not-so-distant era.
Spanning 75,000 square feet, and located deep under underground near the Taganskaya subway station, this cold war era bunker was used between 1950 and 1986 before it was decommissioned. It sat dormant until the early 2000s when a private company decided to buy it up and transform it into an amazing restaurant and night club, complete with neon lights, large screen TVs, and what appears to be a stripper stage.
Inside the Renovated Bunker 42
This is one of the original looking tunnels, and I’ve decided to display it first as it’s also the ugliest. Let’s just get it out of the way so you can enjoy the modern, neon goodness of the other photos. If I had to sum this up, I would say it looks like a brown poo tunnel, and I’m sorry that anyone had to move around down here.
Now this… is more like it. See that little pulley at the top? I bet that as used to haul up bombs and the like. Now? Who knows what, but I bet it’s awesome. Perhaps massive loads of vodka, or people when they’re really drunk?
I’m actually surprised the Russian’s didn’t design it like this from the start. If the bombs start falling, what better place to be than an underground nightclub?
It looks a bit like a bowling alley, but I bet this long corridor of drinking goodness would make for one hell of a night. My only hope is that the music isn’t simply hours of warning sirens, though many DJs seem to do that anyway.
Here is the stage, and if I had my way, it would be complete with a tall, shiny metal pole – to grow plants, of course. Perhaps they should call this place Bunker 69 instead?
This is a model of the entire compound, and as you can see, it’s pretty friggin’ huge. I’m not sure how much of it they’ve already modernized, but it seems like they have a whole lot of room for expansion.
Further Information
Now, unfortunately I don’t have much more information on Bunker 42, and can’t seem to find an official website, but if you head over to Moscow Walks (Russian website) then at the very least you can see more photos, and if you read Russian, well… perhaps some interesting bits of information as well.
That just made the bucket list.