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Basarab metro station

1990 establishments in RomaniaBucharest Metro stationsRailway stations opened in 1990
IVA at Basarab Metro station
IVA at Basarab Metro station

Basarab is a metro station in Bucharest. It is located near the Basarab railway station (Gara Basarab), which is part of Bucharest's main railway station, at the intersection of Calea Griviței and Nicolae Titulescu Avenue. The M1 station was added on 26 August 1992 to the already operating extension from Crângași to Gara de Nord. The M4 station was opened on 1 March 2000 as part of the inaugural section of the line from Gara de Nord to 1 Mai.Access to Gara Basarab proper (a small annex of Gara de Nord, used mainly for commuter trains) is possible via a tunnel crossing the 14 platforms and tracks of Gara de Nord. The Basarab metro station was added after Line M1 was finished, with the sole intent of providing a means to change from M1 to M4 (while initially the trains of M1 and M4 were supposed to run on the same trackage up to Crângași, a change of project in 1988 involved building separate trackage for each, with the trains running exclusively under Calea Griviței and no longer reaching Crângași, with access between the two at Gara de Nord 1 being impossible without leaving the system and paying for a fare again). The station is extremely close to the Gara de Nord metro station (not only are the lights of Basarab easily visible through the tunnel at Gara de Nord 2, but both stations are built below the platforms of Gara de Nord railway station), a situation uncommon for a system characterized by large distances between stations (up to 2 km (1.2 mi)). The construction of the station began in November 1990 and was completed in January 1992 for the M1 section and March 2000 for the M4 section. The station has four tracks on the same level, two of the tracks on each side of the station, and two as a pair in the center, leaving space for two wide platforms. The two central tracks are used by M1 while the outermost tracks are used by M4, leaving one platform to be used for northbound trains and one for southbound trains. Each platform has very long and thick wall-like columns, spanning for three quarters of the station, allowing access between the M1 and M4 sections through 6 points. This was done to easier conceal the work being done on the M4 side while passengers were using the M1 side. The design of the two sides, although part of the same station and even the same platform, is quite different – the M1 side features white-grey marble walls and floors, with a grey travertine roof arranged as to form a square grid, lit by square white fluorescent neon lights built inside the grid while the M4 side features orange synthetic walls, black Azul Noce granite on the floors, and yellow neon lighting running in a continuous line along the station, above the tracks. The station is usually announced in trains at Gara de Nord, Grivița, and Crângași as "the place to switch between M1 and M4".

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Basarab metro station (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Basarab metro station
Șoseaua Nicolae Titulescu, Bucharest Grivița (Sector 1)

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Geographical coordinates (GPS)

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N 44.45073 ° E 26.06944 °
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Basarab (M4)

Șoseaua Nicolae Titulescu
011146 Bucharest, Grivița (Sector 1)
Romania
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IVA at Basarab Metro station
IVA at Basarab Metro station
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Gara de Nord metro station
Gara de Nord metro station

Gara de Nord is the name of two separate metro stations, situated near Gara de Nord train station in Bucharest and serving lines M1 and M4. Neither of the metro stations nor the railway station are interconnected, passengers being required to use the next station (Basarab) to switch from M1 to M4 directly, without having to validate a ticket. The first station was opened on 24 December 1987 as the eastern terminus on an extension from Crângași. On 17 August 1989, the extension to Dristor was opened. The M4 station was opened on 1 March 2000 as part of the inaugural section of the line from Gara de Nord to 1 Mai.It is very unusual mainly due to its story: Initially designed as a bilevel station, the layout of it was heavily changed, leading into a one-year delay until its opening (this involved abandoning its bilevel plan and inserting a tight turn going towards Piața Victoriei). One can notice the structures made for the bi-level tunnel, in the tunnel towards Basarab. The second station began construction during 1989, but the construction work froze due to the economic downturn following the revolution in the same year. Construction on line M4 resumed in 1996, by removing the water filled in the tunnels, and it was opened in 2000. Owing to this current configuration, passengers have to exit the system and enter again, despite there being a sort of connection tunnel between the stations. A widely circulated urban story tells how supposedly the upper deck of one of the bilevel tunnels served as a siding, where trains could be left overnight in case there was no capacity in other places. Supposedly, one Astra IVA set was left in the upper deck but the tracks leading to the sidings were destroyed by construction work, and was left there abandoned, in its place, another set with the identical numbers was delivered. The story further claims that the set was eventually found in working order after 1989, but since it could not be removed, it was left there and thieves, years later, broke into the tunnels and dismantled parts from the unit.

Malmaison Church
Malmaison Church

The Malmaison Church (Romanian: Biserica Malmaison) is a Romanian Orthodox church located at 122 Calea Plevnei in Bucharest, Romania. It is dedicated to Saint George. The church, nicknamed after a former military barracks in the area, stands on the site of an earlier wooden church from the 1830s. During the Wallachian Revolution of 1848, the remains of 47 soldiers and two officers were buried in a mass grave in the churchyard; a stone cross was dedicated to their memory in 1998. The current church was built from the foundations up in 1906–1908, and consecrated in 1909. Monuments to the main donor and her family stand in the yard. The structure was damaged during the 1940 earthquake and repaired in 1943. The old oil painting was redone in fresco from 1954 to 1963. Cracks in the walls appeared after the 1977 earthquake. Repairs followed, as well as a repainting in 1983, and the church was rededicated in 1984. Various improvements were carried out starting in 1992, including to the main dome, riddled with bullets during the Romanian Revolution.The cross-shaped church measures 22 meters long by 7.5–11 meters wide. It features polygonal apses, a dome above the nave and two small, square-based towers. A large portico reaches to the base of the pediment. It has three arches resting on stone columns. The octagonal domes have conical roofs coated in tiles, like the rest of the roof. The pediment has layers of crenellated brick. The exterior is made up of red brick alternating with pieces of masonry. Icons of Saints Peter and Paul are painted on the portico, with Christ Pantocrator above the entrance. The windows are of stained glass and depict saints. A chapel dates to 2001.The church is listed as a historic monument by Romania's Ministry of Culture and Religious Affairs.