Tagansky Protected Command Point The Tangansky Protected Command Point , also known as An - 02 ( 1947 ) , FS - 293 ( 1951 ) , FS - 572 ( 1953 ) , and GO - 42 ( from 1980 ) , as well as RFQ " Tagan " ( and now known as the exhibition complex bunker - 42 ) is a once - secret military complex , bunker , and Spare Long - Range Aviation Command Post ( ET - 42 ) in Moscow , Russia , near the underground station of Taganskaya . It has an area of and is situated at a depth of below ground . History . Construction of the facility began in 1951 , in connection with the early threat of nuclear war with the United States . The underground complex was built the same technique that was used in the construction of the subway . Tunnels of the complex are connected by two strokes with the Moscow subway - station " Taganskaya " circle line metro . The first move was used to supply the facility , and leads to a tunnel between metro stations " Kursk " and " Taganskaya " , the second leads directly to the station " Taganskaya ring " in the technical areas . In 1956 , the facility operated as an emergency command post headquarters and long - range aviation communications . Every 24 hours , personnel , including technical staff , were changed over at the facility . In order to prevent combat anxiety the staff worked in short shifts in order to stay alert . According to recollections of veterans , many worked for a number of other institutions , including the central telegraph , radio studio , and Geodetic laboratory . In the 1960s the bunker was fully equipped with everything needed in the case of a nuclear attack . Stocks of food , fuel , two artesian wells to provide clean drinking water , over a long period of time . In the mid - seventies due to a backlog of technical problems ( lack of waterproofing , aging of diesel generators and ventilation systems ) , it was decided to reconstruct part of the bunker . The command post was supposed to be converted to the needs of the central telegraph office , however the plans never went ahead and in 1995 the bunker was fully declassified . In the Russian federal budget for 2001 , one million rubles of capital investments were invested in the site . Private ownership and Museum . In 2006 , the bunker was put up by the Russian Federal Agency for State Property Management for public auction and purchased by a private company , " Novick - Service " , for 65 , 000 , 000 rubles with plans to turn it into an entertainment complex with a Cold War museum , a restaurant , and possibly a spa . After the takeover , the only objects unaltered are a massive steel door and steel paneling in the bunker . As of April 2007 , it is possible to book excursions around the 600 - metre - long network of tunnels . In March 2012 , part of the bunker had been renovated and renovation is still in progress in some parts of the bunker . Capacity . Up to 3 , 000 people could live and work there for 90 days without assistance from the outside world , thanks to stores of food and medicine , an air recycling system and diesel generators . One entrance to the bunker leads to the Taganskaya metro station , workers used to commute to the complex on special metro trains that ran at night .