1982 Huge 6-Sheet Soviet GUGK Map of Moscow, Russia

Largest Soviet-era city plan ever issued?

This is an immense 6-sheet city plan of Moscow (more than 7 feet tall), prepared in 1982 by the Soviet Main Administration of Geodesy and Cartography. Possibly the largest Soviet Era city plan ever issued, it displays the city on a remarkably detailed scale, highlighting roads, metro and rail lines, and major landmarks.

A Closer Look

Consisting of six separate sheets, each of which is about 30 inches high and 36 inches wide, Moscow is divided into its dozens of districts (raion, район). Metro stations are clearly indicated by the distinctive 'M' of the Moscow Metro, while a map of the city's metro lines is provided at the bottom-right. Aside from metro lines marked in red, rail lines are in black, and rail stations are labeled. Major roads throughout the city are identified, with the inner 'Garden Ring Road' and the outer 'Automobile Ring Road' providing recognizable outlines for the city.

Recognizable landmarks are illustrated, from the Kremlin complex at the center, to the Bolshoi Theater, the still-new Olympic Village (Олимпийская деревня, for the 1980 Olympic Games), and several imposing skyscrapers built soon after World War II, including the Hotel Ukraina (Украина) and the main building of Moscow State University (Московский государственный университет). Orthodox cathedrals and monasteries are labeled as art museums, reflecting their secularized status at the time. Moscow's green spaces, docks, sporting complexes, and amusement facilities, such as the circus (Цирк), are also depicted or labeled. Some areas are deliberately distorted, a common practice in non-classified Soviet maps, intended to misdirect foreign spies.

Publication History and Census

This map was produced in 1981 and printed in October 1982. It was compiled by the 'Kartografiya' Production Mapping Association (Производственное картосоставительское объединение «Картография»), a unit within the GUGK. G. A. Skachkova (Г. А. Скачкова) is listed as editor, while N.P. Knyazeva (Н.П. Князева) and S.N. Turs (С.Н. Турс) served as technical editors. Only 2050 copies were printed, an unusually small run for the time, suggesting it was intended for use in a government office or a state-run enterprise, such as a hotel or taxi depot. The only known examples of this map in institutional collections are at Cambridge University, the Latvian National Library, and the Russian National Library.

Cartographer

Main Administration of Geodesy and Cartography, U.S.S.R. (Главное управление геодезии и картографии, or GUGK; 1939 – 1991) traced its roots to the early years of the Soviet Union, when the Higher Geodetic Administration (Высшее геодезическое управление, VGU) was created to centralize and direct topographic, geodetic, and cartographic work in the new state. However, as a branch office of the Supreme Council of National Economy with little authority and a small staff, it was not able to achieve these lofty goals. In 1925, VGU was moved to the State Planning Commission (Gosplan) and underwent several organizational changes, but problems of coordination persisted. In 1935, the office was placed under the People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (NKVD) and in 1939 renamed the Main Administration of Geodesy and Cartography (GUGK) under the USSR Council of Ministers, the form it would take until the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. With its structure and authority settled, GUGK went on to produce many thousands of maps of the Soviet Union, other territories, and the world in several languages over the course of its existence. The successor to GUGK was the Federal Agency for Geodesy and Cartography (Roskartografiya), which existed from 1991 until 2009, when it was replaced with the Federal Service for State Registration, Cadastre and Cartography (Rosreestr).   Further Details...

Condition

Very good. Some creasing along edges.

References

OCLC 300626158. Latvian National Library Call No. 000779192.