explore georgia museums

GORI-BORJOMI-AKHALTSIKHE MUSEUMS

STALIN MEMORIAL HOUSE - MUSEUM

In the very center of the town like a bright spot n the background of old structure stands a huge palace built in the original Gothic style. This is Stalin Memorial Museum which was constructed in the 1950s.The Museum stands around the house where on December 21, 1879 the great “Kremlin Highlander” was born into the family of shoemaker Vissarion Dzhugashvili. The house as a part of the Museum complex is a high-ceilinged stone structure.

Back then this house stood in Gori outskirt; the first floor was occupied by the family, and on the ground floor was the shoe workshop where Stalin’s father worked. Joseph had lived in this small house until he was four. Stalin Museum is dedicated to all aspects of the well-known leader’s life. It consists of three sections displaying rare exhibits: the originals of letters and notes, photos, military annals, maps, schemes of battles, Stalin’s personal things – photos of his sons Jacob and Vasily, letters, the generalissimo’s uniform, the death mask.

There are also the archives of the chief with his childhood and teenage verses. The separate hall has the collection of gifts to Stalin. Everywhere stand stone, wooden and plaster Stalin’s busts. The special showpiece is Stalin’s personal armored railroad carriage with splendid for that times interior, which displays Venetian glass mirrors, carved furniture.

The carriage has been recently placed next to the museum as transferred from North-Caucasian railway in 1985. Wagon remained practically in the same form as Stalin used during trips to the Yalta and the Tehran Conference. The car interior has been neither altered nor restored. Everything is as it was during Stalin’s lifetime an office with a table, phone and sofa, a bathroom and guardians coupe.

 Location: 32 Stalin Ave, Gori

 Opening hours: 10 Am-5 Pm (Always open)

ART HOUSE GORI

The Art house opened in 2020 by Gori Photographers Club members. Series of educational projects and exhibitions have been implemented, with the help of different institutions and local governments. Within this year, Space implemented a number of international and local projects, in the frame of educational and exhibition programs, Permanent exhibitions of local and international artists are held at the Art House

The main aim of the space is to support the development of photography, Contemporary Art and culture in general, within the region and country itself. It conducts the role of the regional platform and supports the professional development of many artists.

The multisectoral direction is one of the priorities of the Space, thus supporting the engagement of the wider audience and various fields within the process, that helps to reflect the challenges within the global process

 Location: 5 Davit Guramishvili St, Gori

 Opening hours: 12 Am-7 Pm (Always open)

BORJOMI LOCAL LORE MUSEUM

The museum occupies the building initially designed as the chancellery of the Imperial House of Romanovs. Pseudo-gothic in style, the construction was built in 1890 by the German architect-designer V. Shveyer. As a structural unit Borjomi Local History Museum has got four departments that are as follows: archaeological, historical-ethnographical, applied art and local landscape and nature departments. The visitor will see: Unique samples of bronze weaponry and adornment (II-I Millennia BC), large numismatic collection (V c BC –XX c AD), personal belongings of members of the House of Romanovs: basically European and oriental crockery, armory, painting and graphic works, coupled with several samples of natural wonder – a fossilized tree from Goderdzi Pass, etc.

 Location: 5, Saint Nino str., Borjomi

 Opening hours: 10 Am-6 Pm (except Monday)

SAMTSKHE-JAVAKHETI HISTORICAL MUSEUM

This newly designed, contemporary museum’s exhibition starts out from the prehistoric era, where the visitors can see 14 million years old frog fossil, furthermore, archeological and ethnographic materials that clearly reflect the rich history of the people living in the Samtskhe-Javakheti and Mestkheti region with significant connections to the Middle East.

Through the diversity of the various historical artifacts, visitors can receive comprehensive information on the ancient history, landscape and environment of the region, metalwork, culture, rituals, the rule of burial, the foundation of the social hierarchy, paganism and Christianity. The museum houses one of the oldest versions (XVI c.) of Georgian epic poem “Night in the Panther’s Skin” by Shota Rustaveli. The ethnographic division of Samtskhe-Javakheti History Museum tells the stories of wars and battles by displaying various Georgian, Ottoman and European weaponry.

 Location: 1, Kharischirashvili str., Akhaltsikhe

 Opening hours: 10 Am-6 Pm (except Monday)

AKHALTSIKHE (RABATI) CASTLE

Rabati Fortress is located in Samtskhe-Javakheti administrative center in the historic district of city Akhaltsikhe – “Rabati”. It is located on the bank of river Potskhovi. Rabati Fortress is currently renovated, it consists of several buildings dated back to different periods of middle age. The castle was the most important defensive object in the region, so its walls remember many hard battles. It also served as a residence for rulers of Akhaltsikhe. Fortress had three layers of walls and was connected to its surroundings by an underground tunnel.

 Location: Atoneli Str. , Akhaltsikhe

 Opening hours: 9 Am-8 Pm (Always open)