Gori
გორი
Stalin's birth house
August 8, 2004
We were greeted to Gori by a statue of Josef Stalin standing in front of what seemed
to be the largest building in the city. We walked around the back to find a train
car, the one and same that Stalin traveled in to various places including the Potsdam
Conference. It sported a green jacket, a couple Cyrillic letters and little else
other than a supposedly bullet proof frame.
We then saw his birth house, which is extremely small and is now covered with a
canopy decorated with a couple hammers and sickles. The cover protecting the building
is a mausoleum of sorts with classical pillars.
We then moved on to the museum itself, basically consisting of pictures of Stalin
along with some of his poetry written while in monastery.
The first two rooms were pictures of his early years in life and in power. The next
room was spectacular: a round wall with photos of him as a war victor and hero.
Finally, we reached the climax of the museum, which is truly a mausoleum or some
sort of altar dedicated to Stalin. There were white square pillars rising up, encircling
a white pillow on a pedestal holding one simple object: Stalin’s burial mask. The
light was low and the feeling surreal.
After this the following hallway of pictures mattered not and we had nothing else
to see that could compare, so headed down the stairs guarded by another Stalin statue,
hit the bathroom, and walked around the gardens. The complex truly is a mausoleum;
there is no other explanation, for in death, here he is still very much alive.
On the ride back to Tbilisi we had a quick stop for some fried bread with meat in
it, which was pretty good.