No Carousels in Stalin-land
Blog: Joe's Trippin' - 7 November 2009
By: This is Joe!
When you think about the most notorious leaders in our time, a very short list should pop into mind. Mao Zedong in China, Pol Pot in Cambodia, George W. Bush from the U.S. and Joseph Stalin from Russia. The only problem is Stalin's from Georgia!! The small town of Gori, 1 hour west of the capital Tbilisi, proudly stakes their claim to fame as the dictators home town. So of course I just had to visit.
Arrival into Gori was uneventful. The mini-bus was faster than expected, giving all the more 
time for site-seeing. The city itself isn't particularly spectacular. But it is a good example of a typical Georgian city. But i had a mission. Located at #32 Stalin Avenue, is the creatively named Stalin Museum. The first thing you run into, though is a small wood and mud-brick house, preserved under some soviet-style shrine. This was the home Stalin's parents rented for the first 4 years of the man's life. And from here it only gets better. I then entered the 1950's building which actually houses 
the museum. It carries a semi-religious air. Shockingly, the museum was only 10 Lari (extra 5 for his train). That price includes a guide and photo permission. Bonus!! The museum doesn't go so far as to glorify the man's life. It's simply a historical account of his education, early political struggles and career successes. There's no mention of Gulags or purges, so if you're looking for some representation of his dark actions, you won't find it here. The eeriest part of the museum though is one of only a handfull of death masks that were molded from his face. Total shrine!But the museum, as cool as it is, isn't the only thing worth checking out in town. Right smack in 
the middle of the whole town is a hill with a citadel perched on top. It's an easy walk up along a new cobbled path. The site supposedly dates back as far as 65 B.C. although the current fort is more like 300 years-old. The views from the top are good, even if there isn't really much to view. Local youth like to sit up there, drinking, singing and making out, mostly because there really isn't much else to do in town. Other than that... well... OK that's it. But it's more than enough to fill at least half a day, maybe even a lazy full day as a trip from Tbilisi.
the middle of the whole town is a hill with a citadel perched on top. It's an easy walk up along a new cobbled path. The site supposedly dates back as far as 65 B.C. although the current fort is more like 300 years-old. The views from the top are good, even if there isn't really much to view. Local youth like to sit up there, drinking, singing and making out, mostly because there really isn't much else to do in town. Other than that... well... OK that's it. But it's more than enough to fill at least half a day, maybe even a lazy full day as a trip from Tbilisi.From Didube metro/bus station in Tbilisi, mini-buses and buses leave when full to the right of the metro exit. Mini-buses are only 4 Lari and mine took only an hour. Buses are 3.50 but take a fair bit longer.
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