Samara: Stalin's secret bunker on the Volga

On the banks of the Volga, Europe's longest river, Samara houses a secret underground bunker built for Stalin during World War II.

The center, which hides Stalin's secret bunker on the Volga, is comfortably explored on foot.

Stalin's Bunker, constructed forty meters underground in 1942 in total secrecy, today remains a museum reconstructing the original rooms of the underground refuge.

Steps away, the Volga Waterfront, among Europe's longest rivers, animates promenades and urban beaches along the continent's most extensive river.

Heading toward the center, you visit the Samara Space Museum, which displays a real Soyuz rocket erected vertically, commemorating the city's historic role in the Soviet space industry.

Toward evening, Kuybyshev Square, among Europe's largest, animates concerts and public events in the city's heart.

Stalin's Bunker, built by thousands of workers in complete secrecy during World War II as a backup shelter should Moscow fall to the Germans, was never actually used by the Soviet dictator.

Samara was a major centre of Soviet missile and space production during the Cold War, an industrial legacy the city celebrates today with its own space museum dedicated to the Soyuz rocket.