The most beautiful subway stations in the world were built to honor Stalin

For several months last year, Canadian photographer David Burdeny toured around the Russian cities of Moscow and St. Petersburg, snapping photos of the most beautiful and ornate train stations he found.

And he found a lot.

The metro stations were all built in the early- to mid-20th century, mostly as propagandist odes to Russian dictator Joseph Stalin.

As Burdeny tells Tech Insider, these stations are beloved by the people who travel through them.

We can see why.