Nizami metro station is in the top five most beautiful metro stations in the world named after the great Azerbaijani poet and philosopher Nizami Ganjavi. Underground station was erected according to the project of the USSR national architect, academician M. Useynov. The station is decorated with a mosaic portrait of Nizami and a panel on the subjects of his works.
The station, which was commissioned on December 31, 1976, is located in the geologically complex region of the capital. As a result of the aggressive environment over its 40 years of activity, station installations, constructions and decorative-architectural elements have become completely useless. The station was partly-closed for renovations.
A restoration work at Nizami metro station has been completed in 2017. Restoration work went through several stages without completely limiting the movement of passengers.
Mikayil Huseyn oglu Abdullayev was an Azerbaijani painter, a People’s Painter of the former USSR since 1963, and creator of a series of paintings entitled Through India designed the hall of the Nizami Ganjavi metro station, where he created mosaic panels based on the stories of Nizami’s works and the portrait of Nizami himself.
To avoid monotony in a homogeneous drawing of white-marble arches covering the entire length of the middle hall, the author synthesizes architecture with painting. Passages to the platform through the arches, which alternate with the pylons decorated with colorful panels made using the technology of smalt mosaic.
Chandeliers with matt incandescent lamps are treated here as a decorative element characteristic of Azerbaijani architecture – stalactites. Stylized and enlarged, they are made of anodized bronze-cast aluminum. Lamps have an elongated shape, associated with a still not stagnant drop of natural stalactites. Lamps are placed in groups above the arches of the aisles. The arrangement of luminaires of a plafond and a passage on one transverse axis creates a peculiar light rhythm.
The mosaics depict the heroes at the moment of the most significant events of their life.