The Cats of the Moscow Metro: Commuters of an Underground Palace

The Moscow Metro is one of the world's busiest, deepest, and most ornately decorated subway systems, often called an 'underground palace'. Few know that it has long been home to a colony of 'station cats'. They live mostly in equipment rooms, ventilation shafts, and the working areas at the ends of platforms. As at the Hermitage, they have a practical purpose — rodent control. After the Metro began operations in the 1950s, a serious rat problem emerged, and by the 1970s cats were officially brought in. Today each station cat has a 'service number' and is cared for by metro staff on rotation. Visitors rarely see them — they are careful to avoid the rush hours — but occasionally a bold cat walks onto the platform, glances at the closing doors, and disappears back into the tunnels.