Stalin Museum: The creepy attraction in Georgia that still worships the communist leader like a god

Sign up to Simon Calder’s free travel email for expert advice and money-saving discounts Get Simon Calder’s Travel email Get Simon Calder’s Travel email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. open image in gallery Stalin’s death mask resides in the museum First opened in 1957, the museum complex sits beside the house in which Joseph Stalin was born in 1878. “The Stalin Museum is most certainly most authentic in terms of the Soviet-era feel captured by the decor, the installations and the general ambience created by the staff that are not only passionate about the subject, but in a way, also in awe of the man,” says Tinatin Japaridze, a native Georgian researching the country’s post-Soviet identity at Columbia University. open image in gallery Stalin’s last cigars Back at the museum, our guide draws our attention to a signature on a yellowing decree: Iosif Dzhugashvili. open image in gallery The Stalin Museum has a series of rooms containing encased memorabilia “Stalin’s continued popularity in his native country is not so much related to Georgia’s nostalgia for the Soviet Union but rather linked to his Georgian roots, producing an inherent sense of nationalism,” Japaridze says.