Joseph Stalin Museum

Gori, Georgia

The Joseph Stalin Museum is a museum in Gori, Georgia dedicated to the life of Joseph Stalin, the leader of the Soviet Union, who was born in Gori. The Museum retains its Soviet-era characteristics.

The museum has three sections, all located in the town's central square. It was officially dedicated to Stalin in 1957. With the downfall of the Soviet Union and independence movement of Georgia, the museum was closed in 1989, but has since been reopened, and is a popular tourist attraction.

Stalin's house

Enshrined within a Greco-Italianate pavilion is a small wooden hut, in which Stalin was born in 1878 and spent his first four years. The small hut has two rooms on the ground floor. Stalin's father Vissarion Jughashvili, a local shoemaker, rented the one room on the left hand side of the building and maintained a workshop in the basement. The landlord lived in the other room. The hut originally formed part of a line of similar dwellings, but the others have been demolished.

Stalin Museum

The main corpus of the complex is a large palazzo in Stalinist Gothic style, begun in 1951 ostensibly as a museum of the history of socialism, but clearly intended to become a memorial to Stalin, who died in 1953. The exhibits are divided into six halls in roughly chronological order, and contain many items actually or allegedly owned by Stalin, including some of his office furniture, his personal effects and gifts made to him over the years. There is also much illustration by way of documentation, photographs, paintings and newspaper articles. The display concludes with one of twelve copies of the death mask of Stalin taken shortly after his death.

Stalin's railway carriage

To one side of the museum is Stalin's personal railway carriage. The green Pullman carriage, which is armour plated and weighs 83 tons, was used by Stalin from 1941 onwards, including his attendances at the Yalta Conference and the Tehran Conference. It was sent to the museum on being recovered from the railway yards at Rostov-on-Don in 1985.

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Address

Stalin Avenue, Gori, Georgia
See all sites in Gori

Details

Founded: 1957
Category: Museums in Georgia

More Information

en.wikipedia.org
www.atlasobscura.com

Rating

4.1/5 (based on Google user reviews)

Interesting Sites Nearby


Uplistsikhe (8 km)
Virgin Mary Cathedral (0,3 km)
Gori Castle (0,5 km)


Kintsvisi Monastery (23 km)
Betania Monastery (52,8 km)
Manglisi Cathedral (37,9 km)
Ateni Sioni Church (9,3 km)
Urbnisi Church (11,4 km)
Birtvisi Castle Ruins (54,9 km)
Samtavisi Cathedral (24,5 km)
Kvatakhevi Monastery (35,7 km)
Largvisi Monastery (43,9 km)

User Reviews

Aytac Əhmədova. (17 months ago)
Price is not too expensive. The entrance to the inner part is 10-15 lari. The advantage is that it is accessible to the park at any time despite being a museum.
Steve Christie (17 months ago)
This is obviously a very unique museum. Entry is GEL15. There's not much information in English. There is a lot to see here, you need at least an hour.
Sara Elbaum (18 months ago)
Museum is very interesting. Layed out in a beautiful building. Best if a guide gives the tour. 10 gel entrance fee.
Luca Bartolini (18 months ago)
No English explanations, in a "museum" where 80% of material is black&white photos with a tag like "J Stalin in 1912" or so. It feels more like a memorial than a place to learn anything. A night in a guesthouse in Gori is cheaper than the entrance ticket of 15GEL. The parks outside are free to visit and very beautiful, the "museum" was bad. Avoid it
Moira Corcoran (18 months ago)
Very interesting museum. Definitely worth visiting. When I went, they told me to wait for an English tour. Do not be afraid to ask about the tour. I had to ask a few times before they finally called the tour guide to come give the tour.
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