GEO: Joseph Stalin Museum

Stalin Park, Gori, Georgia
Daily: 10.00am - 6.00pm

A trip to Gori, Georgia wouldn't be complete without visiting the Joseph Stalin Museum, which is dedicated to the life of the leader of the Soviet Union. It was first opened to the public in 1957 with a period of closure in 1989 with the downfall of the Soviet Union and the independence movement of Georgia.

Enshrined within a pavilion in front of the museum is a small hut where Stalin was born and spent the first four years of his life.

The hut has two main rooms, housing the landlord and Stalin's family who rented the place respectively.

"Here, Stalin was born on 21 December 1879 and spent his childhood till 1883."

The entrance fee to the museum at the point of writing is GEL 15.00 (~S$7.95).

Such an awesome hallway!

Last year marked a century since the Russian Revolution in 1917. That was reason enough for my BFF and me to squeeze Gori into our itinerary.

Standing next to THE man!

There's a replica of Stalin's first office in Kremlin that can be accessed without a ticket.

The main exhibition halls are to the left.

A bored-looking middle-aged lady tore our tickets slowly before allowing us in. Note that not all displays have English descriptions. In fact, most are in Georgian and Russian.

Nice tapestry, eh?

Whose house was that?

In essence, the museum charts Stalin’s life from Gori church school to the Soviet Union, World War II and his eventual death on 5 March 1953.

The map shows Stalin's arrests, exiles and escapes.

On display are Stalin's works translated into different languages.

Coat of arms of the Soviet Union and all of the republics!

Did you know that Stalin was born with the name Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili?

Medals of honour~

It's a cool-looking table lamp presented to the museum by Marshal Zhukov in 1969.

Admirers consider him a great leader, while detractors call him a brutal dictator. Which camp do you belong to?

Pardon me for the blurry photo.

That's a huge bullet, right?

One section is devoted to a bronze copy of Stalin's death mask.

One of the twelve copies the death mask of Stalin taken shortly after his death~

In the same room is a model of Lenin and Stalin Mausoleum in Moscow, Russia.

The last part showcases a collection of gifts from other countries.

The red-coloured tapestry from China is so striking.

A goose from Finland?

To the left is a porcelain figure of a man wearing sombrero from Mexico.

Don't forget to head to the western side of the museum to see Stalin's train carriage.

Such a lovely dog!

The green bulletproof Pullman carriage, weighing 83 tons, was used by Stalin from 1941 onwards. As he disliked flying, he chose to travel in it to attend the Tehran Conference in 1943 and the Yalta Conference in 1945.

I'd seriously love to live in that carriage, which includes a bath tub as well.

Some sources mention that there are English-speaking guides in the museum who can bring you through the exhibits, but there didn't seem to be any that morning.