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» Stalin's dacha - an overview of all the leader's dachas
The nearby dacha is known primarily as the place of Stalin’s permanent residence after the death of his wife, Nadezhda Alliluyeva, in 1932, as well as the place of his death on March 5, 1953.
Since 1960, the territory where Stalin’s dacha was located has been part of Moscow. The building is located in the Fili-Davydkovo district, not far from Victory Park on Poklonnaya Hill. The site is limited by Starovolynskaya, Davydkovskaya and Staromozhayskoe highways. The dacha is surrounded on all sides by forest and fences; the building cannot be seen from the street.
The building was built in 1933-1934. designed by architect M. I. Merzhanov. Later it was expanded and remodeled many times. For example, in 1943 (according to other sources in 1948), a second floor was added to the initially one-story building. The building has several verandas. On the ground floor there are 7 rooms, including Stalin's personal office. He spent almost all his time in his office, which had several sofas for relaxation. An elevator was installed to reach the second floor. But Stalin almost never visited the second floor, despite the fact that it was completed on his orders.
There is probably a bomb shelter located under the dacha building. Its presence is indirectly confirmed by information that Stalin lived in the “nearby” during the war, when the city was bombed by German aircraft.
Stalin's Volyn dacha is still a high-security facility protected by the FSO. There are no excursions to the dacha.
2. Dacha “Semyonovskoe” (“distant”)
The dacha was created on the site of the English park of the Semenovskoye-Otrada estate. The owner of the estate was Count Vladimir Grigorievich Orlov, one of the five famous Orlov brothers. In terms of architecture and the layout of the interior, the building was similar to Stalin's nearby dacha. This was done on purpose so that the leader would always be in a familiar environment.
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Construction of the Dalnaya Dacha began in 1937 and lasted 2 years. The special construction department of the NKVD worked on the future residence of the leader. The dacha in Semenovskoye was immediately built from brick, unlike the Volynskaya one, which was first created from fiberboard blocks.
It was even painted the same green color as Stalin’s favorite dacha - only in the early 80s did Yuri Andropov order it to be painted in light colors.
All rooms of the dacha are lined with wooden panels and decorated with fireplaces. Fireplace in the large dining room of the Far Dacha, decorated with onyx and opal. Of the four bedrooms in the house, Stalin was assigned the darkest, plane tree: all the furniture in the room was made of this oriental wood. Near the bedroom there is a small dining room with a gray marble fireplace. Despite the presence of a spacious dining room in the other wing, Stalin preferred to dine here. He didn't like large rooms.
The distant dacha was surrounded by a fence almost 6 meters high. The airspace over Semenovsky was closed until the 1980s. True, Stalin came to the Dalnaya Dacha during the war, when it was under fire. But the Great Patriotic War, fortunately, did not cause serious damage to Semenovsky.
3. Dacha “New Matsesta” (“Green Grove”, Sochi)
Stalin's Sochi residence is located in the Khostinsky district of Sochi, next to Matsesta, at the foot of Mount Bolshoi Akhun. Currently, the Green Grove sanatorium is located in the area around it.
Stalin's dacha is located at an altitude of 160 meters above sea level. This place is unique for its climate: warm sea and cold mountain air converge here. The building was built in 1935-1937 according to Merzhanov’s design. Like Joseph Stalin's other dachas, it is painted deep green.
Initially, only the main house was two-story, and the wings adjacent to it were one-story. In 1953, they were built on to accommodate four suites for the CPSU Central Committee.
Stalin loved his Sochi dacha and visited there regularly. Members of his family also vacationed there, and other top officials of the state and members of their families came. The dachas of other high-ranking officials of the Soviet state were built nearby: Beria, Malenkov, Voroshilov, Molotov.
Nowadays there is a museum within the walls of the Sochi dacha, and excursions are conducted. Several rooms are open to the public.
4. Dacha “Cold River” (Gagra)
The Cold River dacha is located in Abkhazia, about 15 km from the resort town of Gagra. The Bagrypsta (Cold River) river flows nearby, hence the name. The dacha is located on the top of a mountain in a pine forest with the famous Pitsunda pines.
It is believed that Stalin saw this place from board a ship, he really liked the place, and he decided to build a dacha there.
Moreover, it should not have been visible from the outside. The dacha was built in 1932-1933: on a mountain, at an altitude of about 200 meters above sea level. It seems to be built into a mountain, painted green, has three floors and a huge balcony. The area of the mansion is about 500 sq. m. meters.
The dacha building is three-story. On the ground floor there is a hall, living room, dining room, and several bedrooms. The house also has a billiards room, as well as a cinema hall where Soviet-era films were first screened. Different types of wood were used in the interior decoration of each room: birch, walnut, boxwood, pine, etc.
5. Dacha on Lake Ritsa (Abkhazia)
Stalin loved Abkhazia very much. He had a dacha on Lake Ritsa, built exclusively for relaxation; there was no work room in it at all.
Stalin's residence on Lake Ritsa began its history in 1937, when a small hunting lodge was founded on this site.
But at the end of the war it was dismantled, and in its place in 1947 a dacha building was built. Later, additional buildings appeared - a guard house and a sauna located in the courtyard of the residence. Then they built an even larger kitchen.
The house has several bedrooms, a reception hall, and a cinema room. All bedrooms have a similar layout and the same interior. The area of the rooms ranges from 25 to 40 square meters. Stalin slept in different bedrooms each time, and could even move from one bedchamber to another several times during the night.
Now Stalin's residence has the status of a hotel. Guests are allowed to stay in security or maid rooms. In order to live in the leader’s room, it is necessary to obtain permission from the President of Abkhazia.
6. Dacha “Mussery” (Abkhazia)
The dacha in the Abkhazian Musser became Stalin’s first southern dacha. Stalin saw Lianozov’s estate, lost in the Pitsunda-Myussersky Biosphere Reserve, by accident in 1926. Lianozov himself had already fled to Finland by that time. Stalin decided to build himself a dacha in this place. It was built by a young St. Petersburg architect, Vladimir Gelfreich. Stalin endlessly made edits; the surviving drawings are covered with his notes in red pencil.
The building itself is a two-story, asymmetrical house with a terrace. Stalin visited this dacha eight times. In 1942, along with other important government facilities, it was mined and, according to the order of Lavrentiy Beria, was subject to destruction in case of danger of capture by the Wehrmacht.
7. Dacha in Malaya Sosnovka (Crimea)
The dacha is located in the southern part of Crimea, 13 km from Yalta. It was built in a dense forest, on the slopes of the Crimean Mountains, near the village of Sosnovka, surrounded by coniferous trees that hid it from “prying eyes.”
Joseph Stalin stayed at the Livadia Palace on his infrequent trips to Crimea. He did not like the state dacha in the Massandra Palace, located in the mountains, considering it too pompous.
But I was there, and one day, as the legend says, while walking in the pine forest above the Massandra Palace, he picked up a pine cone from the ground, turned it in his hands for a long time and thoughtfully, and then said that they should build a house for him right here. This was in 1948.
At the Moscow furniture factory "Lux", which worked exclusively on government orders, they hastily made a collapsible house from pine beams and immediately sent it by rail to Crimea. The dacha appeared in the exact place indicated by the leader.
Stalin's dacha in Abkhazia on Lake Ritsa - what do you know about it?! The leaders of the Great Country of Soviets did not deny themselves comfort. Including Joseph Stalin, although compared to other leaders of the USSR he was an ascetic. An influential politician of the past loved to relax in nature, especially in Abkhazia. Today we will talk about Stalin’s dacha on the Cold River.
How Stalin's dacha was built on Lake Ritsa
Of the couple of dozen government dachas that were at the disposal of the “leader of all nations,” a residence stands out, located 50 kilometers from Gagra. This is the only Stalin's dacha in Abkhazia that tourists are allowed to visit. Having walked through the rooms and surroundings of this historical monument, they will be able to form their own opinion about the life and character of Stalin.
Initially, in 1937, a small “hunting lodge” was built on the site of the dacha for government officials. After the war, it was destroyed and a house was built, which tourists are allowed to visit. The mansion, built back in 1947, blends harmoniously into the natural landscape. Later, in 1961, another similar dacha was built nearby for N. Khrushchev, which has also survived. During his reign, L. Brezhnev united these two buildings with a gallery. The mansion, erected on the shores of Lake Ritsa, is painted green and has survived to this day in its original form. Externally, the building looks extremely modest.
The layout and interior design of the dacha for Stalin was carried out by architect Andrei Burov. Construction was carried out under the leadership of Mihran Merzhanyants, who was recommended to Stalin by K. Voroshilov.
Stalin's dacha in Abkhazia on the Kholodnaya River was a complex; a hydroelectric station was built 3 kilometers from it, providing constant electricity to this secret residence. Since Stalin was afraid of assassination attempts, the dacha was under vigilant guard, which intensified when he came to rest. Special forces officers guarded a perimeter that enclosed an area of about six dozen hectares. Several rows of barbed wire were also installed around the perimeter of the dacha.
The entire interior of the building is decorated with natural wood. Moreover, such precious species as boxwood, walnut, birch, etc. were used. The furniture was made to order for the convenience of the short general secretary.
Tour of Stalin's dacha
The cost of a tour of Stalin's dacha is 100 rubles. To better learn about the life and character of the cruel ruler of the twentieth century, it is recommended to listen to a guide. The tour is only available on the ground and first floors of the building. There is a hall, living room, dining room, three bedrooms and a bathroom.
An alarm system was installed in each room. Academician Bekhterev, who studied Stalin’s mental state, discovered symptoms of paranoia in the leader. This disease can explain the fact that all the rooms and windows at Stalin’s dacha were tightly closed and there was always twilight inside. The green paint of the external walls perfectly camouflaged the house, buried in tall linden trees. The same disease can explain the presence of many bedrooms. At the dacha, Stalin not only changed his bedrooms every night, he could also move to another bedroom during one night.
At his dacha, Stalin preferred a state-owned, ascetic style to luxury, so everything inside seems modest but well-built, except for the bathrooms. They are decorated with chic, and the bathroom is made of earthenware, which has the ability to maintain temperature for hours. The windows with crystal glass were also luxurious. Decorating walls and floors from precious woods can also be called hidden luxury.
A telephone that Stalin most likely used.
Game room with wooden pool table, floor-to-ceiling windows and huge sofa.
Tiled bathroom with unique decor.
Stalin came to this dacha in Abkhazia only five times, but he never worked at Ritsa; this dacha was used strictly for recreation. Therefore, there was no office in the house.
N. Khrushchev came to the dacha more often; it is known that he met Fidel Castro at this residence.
A security building for 300 people was built next to the central house. It is used as a hotel where tourists stay. The Secretary General's boat is at the pier. There is a helipad at the dacha.
Now part of the dacha is the country residence of the president of the unrecognized republic of Abkhazia. If you want to spend the night in Sam’s bedroom, you’ll have to work hard. This requires permission from the President of Abkhazia, and, of course, a considerable amount of money.
A trip to Stalin's dacha in Abkhazia - what you should know
*Remember that according to Georgian legislation, Abkhazia and South Ossetia are considered occupied territories. Accordingly, by visiting these territories from the Russian side, you are breaking the law.
To get to Stalin’s residence on Lake Ritsa, motorist tourists should stick to the M-27, SH-11 highways, which run along the bed of the Bzyb River.
Since Georgia considers Abkhazia an indivisible part of the country, visiting it is possible only from the Enguri checkpoint. Any other method is considered a violation of the border. When visiting the territory of Abkhazia, you must have international identification documents with you. Also required to present a document is a permit to visit the autonomous region, issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Abkhazia.
You can book a tour with the Viva-Georgia company, whose offices are located in Moscow and Georgia. Experienced guides will show and talk about many other man-made and natural attractions of this beautiful corner of Georgia. To do this, call the phone numbers and order an unforgettable tour into the history of the twentieth century.
If you decide to visit Stalin's dacha on Lake Ritsa, don't forget to take your camera with you. Beautiful landscapes will not leave anyone indifferent and you will be happy to capture them more than once.
Photo: The mansion on New Athos was built by German prisoners of war
I have been to New Athos many times, but I only heard about Stalin’s dacha on my current visit. It happened like this. Walking up the cobblestone path to the monastery, I stopped near a counter made of smooth boards, on which stood several bottles.
The sign above the counter read “Original Abkhazian cognac.” I already knew that this was no cognac, but real moonshine, to which the seller gave a very distant smell of a noble drink.
— Divine gift of the Caucasus! - the seller, a squat Abkhazian with a solid belly and a burgundy fleshy nose, praised his goods. - Divine! Aging - seven and a half years!
He, of course, poured it: the drink was made not seven and a half years ago, but at most seven and a half hours. The customers - a man of about fifty in a short-sleeved shirt, tall, stocky, strong, like a Siberian cedar, and his wife, a slender blonde in a luxurious turquoise Panama hat - perceived the salesman's rantings as local folklore. And I, a collector of different stories, even more so.
- What kind of fortress? - asked the “cedar”.
“At least sixty,” the Abkhazian said proudly. - Yes, try it.
He poured two metal glasses and served them to the customers.
“You called yourself a milk mushroom, get into the back,” said the “cedar,” pouring the contents of the glass into his mouth.
An experienced man, he immediately realized that there was no smell of cognac here.
“It’s a little short of sixty,” he concluded, putting the glass on the counter.
The blonde followed his example, barely touching the contents of the glass with her lips.
“It’s immediately obvious that you understand strong drinks,” the Abkhazian praised the man. —You are probably a northerner?
- From Tyumen. We are extracting oil,” responded the “cedar”.
- You are doing a good job! — Meanwhile, Abkhaz put a bottle of his potion in a plastic bag with a wonderful view of Lake Ritsa. — Siberia is a cold country, but with Abkhazian cognac you won’t freeze. - And with these words he handed the package to “cedar”.
- What can you see here? - he asked, having paid the seller and generously tipped him.
— Have you already been to the monastery?
- Yes, we got acquainted yesterday.
“Now go to Stalin’s dacha,” the Abkhaz advised.
- Is there really such a landmark here?
- Yes. But few people know about her.
“I’m a big fan of Stalin,” the oilman said confidentially, “and I won’t miss this opportunity.”
- And you will do the right thing! — Abkhaz was in a great mood. — The dacha is located next to the monastery, two hundred meters to the right, immediately behind the boarding house.
When I heard the information about Stalin’s dacha, I was no less delighted than the Siberian hero.
“If you don’t mind, let’s take a tour together,” I turned to the oilman and his wife.
“The proposal is accepted,” the Siberian agreed without hesitation.
And we immediately went to the specified address.
Protected area
The gates to the dacha territory were open. There was a guard booth nearby, but there was no one in it. We entered the protected area without hindrance. The asphalt road ran forward, making a smooth bend. To the right of the road, on a gentle slope, lies a vast tangerine garden; behind it there was a magnificent view of the sea. On the left, the slope was much steeper; tangerine, fig, and orange trees grew here.
Around the bend the road went uphill. At the side of the road, on an iron tripod, we saw an old sign, lopsided with time. It read: “Stop! They're shooting!" The letters were even, clear, bright, as if they had been written just yesterday.
- Oh! - exclaimed the oilman's wife. - Afraid! What if they really start shooting!
- Don’t believe what is written, Nadyusha! — her husband reassured her. - This horror story has outlived itself!
- Seryozha, what if? — The blonde widened her eyes.
““Suddenly” is no longer suddenly,” Sergei assured her.
The asphalt road made a sharp turn to the left (always on the rise), and Stalin’s dacha opened before us. It was a large, solid, two-story house with a gallery on the second floor facing the sea. Near the house there was a fairly large area for transport. She was surrounded by tall, unsightly eucalyptus trees. The trees were bare: some of the pale green bark had fallen to the ground, and some hung on the branches, looking like a beggar's rags hanging to dry. Here and there brown stains were visible on the white alabaster trunks. Between the eucalyptus trees grew a low but lush palm tree and two cypress trees, one old and dark, the other young and green.
The sun was at its zenith; it was very quiet.
Sergei looked around the gallery, the porch with the entrance door, and the tall, bright windows.
“Not a house, but a royal palace,” he said. - I would like to live and live in it.
“And not only in summer, but also in winter,” Nadezhda added.
At the top of the platform was a large fig tree; it was half enclosed by two rows of cut stones; Apparently, once upon a time, in ancient times, there was a semi-bed of flowers. On the nearest semicircle sat two young Abkhaz guys: one was reddish, with colorless eyes, with small bright freckles; the other is lean, flexible, with a large nose that looks like a splitting axe.
— Can I get acquainted with the dacha? - I asked them.
“Nat the tour guide,” the red-haired man answered lazily.
- When will it be?
- In an hour and a half.
- I'll wait. And you? - I turned to my companions.
“We too,” Sergei readily agreed. - An hour and a half is not time.
The Abkhaz guys (they were watchmen) got up and moved away towards another house, which was visible among the trees about seventy meters from the dacha.
“They are protecting not the dacha, but themselves,” Sergei nodded in their direction. - Like, we’ll go and relax, and you do as you wish.
“That’s all we need,” I said. — First, let's examine the dacha from the outside.
The house inspired respect. And not so much for its elegant architectural design and careful finishing of any detail, but primarily because it was not inhabited by an ordinary person, but by the head of a powerful state, who, like Tsar Ivan the Terrible, terrified all enemies - both internal and external ; a personality who made a strong impression on any person who came into contact with him, be it a compatriot or a foreigner, a mere mortal or a royal person, a diplomat or a bishop.
In the part of the house that faced the courtyard, we did not find anything interesting, since almost all the windows were curtained.
He turned out to be right. Most of the first floor, the windows of which looked towards the sea, was occupied by a billiard room: a large table with green cloth, two cues against the wall, white balls on two shelves. Holes were visible in the upper part of all the nets crowning the pockets.
“After Stalin’s death, billiards did not remain idle,” Sergei concluded.
“In an hour and a half, we could get a batch or two together,” I daydreamed. - What did it take for the guards to give us the key to this establishment?
“It’s okay, we’ll get over it,” said Sergei. — There are still a lot of interesting things here.
On the right side of the hall there was a screen, and on the left, on the wall, there were several holes for showing films; On a small dais, against the wall, there were several comfortable chairs.
“Stalin didn’t watch nonsense,” I said, “he had excellent taste, and he selected only the best films that were created in the film studios of the world.”
“And the tapes are without obscenities,” confirmed Sergei. - Let's move on.
The next room was occupied by a film control room: pieces of film films were lying on the floor, on the table, just like sixty-odd years ago, there were devices for rewinding films - as if they were expecting an experienced projectionist to come up to them, insert a tape and begin to quickly turn the handle. Next to the film control room there was a rest room for the projectionists: a sofa, several chairs, a low table with a decanter and glasses.
At the end of the house there was a staircase to the second floor, but, unfortunately, the path to it was blocked by an openwork extension.
— I wonder whether the guide will let us into the gallery or not? - Nadezhda asked the question and answered it herself: “She will probably say: “Stalin walked along it, but no one else has walked on it and will not walk on it”...
“...except for herself and the director of the museum,” Sergei finished.
“And you can admire the panorama from here,” I said.
The panorama that opened before us was truly amazing. A green slope, planted with fruit trees and a vineyard, ran smoothly down, and behind it stretched the vast, alluring, magical expanse of the sea. It sparkled with myriads of dazzling sparks. A few miles offshore, a snow-white ocean liner with two funnels tilted toward the stern glided smoothly. Looking at him, I couldn’t help but think about distant and hot countries.
The uneven coastline ran away towards Sukhumi; unexpectedly she turned sharply towards the open sea, as if to intercept an ocean liner. Seeing the futility of her efforts, she also turned sharply to the left and continued her way south.
The spurs of the Caucasian ridge, like dashing horses, competed with each other in strength, courage and prowess, trying to reach lush coastal pastures as quickly as possible.
“Not one and a half, but two whole hours have passed,” Sergei noted, looking at his watch, “and the guide was still not there.” What do we do?
“Let’s go see the guards,” I suggested.
The house in which the watchmen took refuge was surrounded by greenery; it had suffered quite badly over time, which could not be said about the dacha. We went inside and saw our friends in a small room. They were reclining on the sofa. I got the impression that they were not only too lazy to sit, but also to lie down.
— Will the guide come today? - I asked.
“We don’t know that,” the lean man answered without changing his position.
- Who knows?
“Nyk,” answered the red-haired one, also without changing his position and without moving a single member.
-Can we take a look at this house? - I asked.
- Nat.
“They don’t know and don’t want to know anything,” Nadezhda said when we left the inhospitable house. - If we asked what their names were, they would probably find it difficult to answer this question.
“They’re too lazy to even move their tongue.”
- Why did they say that the guide would be there in an hour and a half?
“They said the first thing that came to mind.”
- The trouble is with them.
“I’ll come to the dacha tomorrow,” I said. - And how are you?
“We do too,” Sergei assured me. “I really want to see how our leader rested.”
Watchman Philosopher
The next day was Sunday. In the afternoon I went to the dacha. Sergei and Nadezhda were waiting for me near the tangerine garden.
— Shall we continue our acquaintance with the leader? — Sergei shook my hand. - That is, I wanted to say, with his dacha?
“More likely, with his habits and inclinations,” I clarified.
Just like yesterday, there were two guards, but completely different: in the same place, under the tree, sat elderly elders. One of them was wearing a national cap and a long, smoky mustache; the other - without a national cap and without a mustache, but with a homemade boxwood cane with intricate patterns.
I turned to the first one, considering him older, but not by age, but by some kind of inner solidity.
—Can I see the tour guide?
The aksakal slowly ran his hand over one mustache, then over the other, straightened his national cap, looked at me, at my companions, and only after that said:
- She's not there. She has Saturday and Sunday days off.
The information that today's watchmen had put them several steps higher than yesterday's.
The aksakal again stroked his mustache, which, without a doubt, was the source of his male pride.
“Come tomorrow,” he continued, “she will definitely be there.”
- And the director?
- Same.
- Is he a man or a woman?
- Man. Very fat. — The elder showed its thickness with his hands; Apparently, it seemed insufficient to him, and he spread his hands even more. - A very real man. But it only happens... - the elder looked at the sky -... when the sun approaches this eucalyptus tree. And when the sun illuminates the grenades... on this tree... and the grenades become... well, as if they were set on fire... then he leaves for home. He has a very beautiful wife. With eyes like a gazelle.
“Come, dears,” the guard with a cane joined the conversation. - Stalin will be waiting for you.
“These watchmen, compared to yesterday’s ones, can be called real encyclopedists,” I thought.
On our way back we discovered two shaded courts; they hid behind a wire mesh fence overgrown with thick vines. Stone steps led up to them. The courts were overgrown with grass so that it was possible to graze not only goats, but also cows.
“They play billiards, but not tennis,” said Nadezhda, walking around the court. - Seryozha, why do you think?
“We need to move here, but what kind of movement is there?” “Lie down with your belly on the side of the table and hit the balls,” Sergei clarified.
We agreed to meet tomorrow and parted ways.
At the head of the table
“Well, maybe we’ll be lucky the third time,” I said as we approached Stalin’s dacha.
“If the director deigns to part with his beautiful wife and if the guide does not go to visit his beloved aunt,” added Sergei.
“And if today they don’t make it a sanitary day,” Nadezhda laughed.
There were three cars parked on the site in front of the house: a GAZ, a Zhiguli and a Toyota.
- Life abounds! - Sergei rubbed his hands. — The director probably arrived in a Toyota, a tour guide in a Zhiguli, and a supply manager in a GAZ.
“Or maybe it’s the other way around,” I suggested.
We entered the house and found ourselves in the reception room; it was a large room with an elaborate yellowish coat rack, a comfortable sofa, a low tea table and several chairs around it; on the wall hung a painting by Mikhail Nesterov “Vision to the Youth Bartholomew.” An elderly woman in a dark dress was sitting at the desk, next to her on the sofa was a middle-aged woman in a tight-fitting sweater and trousers, and on a chair was a young girl in a dress the color of a ripe apricot.
-Can I see the director? — I turned to the woman at the table.
“Come in, Daur Beslanovich Agrba is in his office,” the woman answered in a low, chesty voice.
A fat, overweight Abkhazian in an unbuttoned jacket and a bright colored shirt rose from the table to meet us, not without difficulty. He shook hands with me and Sergei in turn, and placed Nadezhda’s hand in his large warm palms and made a small bow to her.
— How can I be of assistance, dear guests? - he inquired.
I said that we are great admirers of Joseph Vissarionovich and want to get to know his dacha.
“A very good intention,” Daur Beslanovich praised us. - Gunda! - he called in a sonorous voice.
A middle-aged woman entered the office.
“Give a tour for our guests,” the director ordered. —Tell about Stalin so that they imagine him as alive.
The woman nodded and motioned for us to follow her. We entered a spacious room with several large, bright windows; in the middle of it there was a long table, on both sides of which there were chairs of excellent workmanship with soft backs and seats.
“This is a banquet hall,” Gunda explained. — It is decorated with expensive types of wood: ash, hornbeam, Karelian birch. All the furniture - table, chairs, mirrors - are trophy, taken from Germany.
- What a beauty! - Nadezhda exclaimed, turning first to the right, then to the left and looking at the amazing hall. - And what wonderful mirrors! “She came closer to one of the mirrors set into the wall, admiring not so much the mirror as her reflection in it; With light, fluttering movements of both hands, she straightened her hair: it was beyond her strength to look in such an amazing mirror and not straighten her hair, although the latter did not need it at all. Then she moved to another mirror and, unable to resist, admired herself in the third.
“If it were up to you, dear, you would have stayed in this room for two to three hours,” Sergei joked.
- Do not say! - Nadezhda responded, moving away from the mirrors with great reluctance.
I ran my hand along the table - it seemed to me that I had touched the satin fur of a sable or fox.
“Stalin dined in this room,” Gunda continued. “He never dined alone; five or six people sat at the table: his guests or those close to him. Food was brought from the kitchen, which was located in a house nearby; you probably noticed him.
— Who chose the place for the dacha? - I asked.
“Stalin himself,” Gunda answered. “He came here specifically, looked at several places and settled on this one.
- Who built it?
— German prisoners of war. Those who owned the construction business were selected.
— Was it built quickly?
- In one year.
“It’s obvious that they tried.”
“If Stalin were here now, he would invite you to share a meal with him,” Gunda said, smiling. - I think you wouldn’t refuse.
“In such cases it is not customary to refuse,” confirmed Sergei.
“You would sit on this side,” Gunda pointed to the right side of the table, “and the rest of the guests would sit on that side.”
- And Stalin himself?
- At the head of the table, by the window.
— Did lunch last long?
- Depending on who was sitting at the table and what topics the conversation was about. He would probably have asked you about your homeland, what you do, what conditions you live in - he never missed an opportunity to find out more about his people.
“He would have received comprehensive answers.”
— Let’s assume that the meal has already ended, and Stalin invited you and the rest of the guests to the rest room, which is located nearby. We will go there now. You can be sure that this room is in no way inferior to the banquet hall in its beauty and magnificent decoration. Stalin would have invited you to take these cozy chairs. Of course you would...
“... thanked him for his kindness,” Sergei picked up.
Ending in the next issue
Abkhazia, Gagra district
Joseph Stalin had about twenty dachas scattered throughout the former USSR. In the south alone, several country mansions were built for him in Sochi and Abkhazia. In some he rested for a long time, and in others he came extremely rarely. But one dacha was his favorite. It was located a few kilometers from the resort of Gagra. Unlike many other secret state dachas, Stalin's dacha on Ritsa is now available for viewing.
The dacha was built in 1947 on the shores of the most picturesque lake in Abkhazia - Lake Ritsa. Not far from Stalin's country residence there is another similar building - Khrushchev's dacha, built in 1961. Stalin's mansion fits perfectly into the surrounding landscape and has remained almost unchanged to this day. The dacha was built on a hill surrounded by centuries-old pine trees. Mansion with a total area of 500 sq. meters painted green.
It is interesting that the construction of the dacha was carried out by a man completely unknown to Stalin, Miran Oganesovich Merzhanyants, who was recommended by the Soviet military leader K.E. Voroshilov. The architect Andrei Konstantinovich Burov was responsible for the layout of the dacha and its interior decoration.
By order of Stalin, a hydroelectric power station was built in a short time about 3 km from the dacha in order to uninterruptedly supply the secret facility with electricity. Stalin was always afraid of assassination attempts, so all his dachas were strictly guarded. Thus, the dacha on Ritsa was guarded along a perimeter of about 60 hectares by several dozen officers. When the Soviet leader personally came to rest in Abkhazia, security was strengthened several times.
In appearance, Stalin's dacha on Lake Ritsa is unremarkable and by modern standards looks very modest. However, only natural materials were used in the interior decoration of all premises, mainly wood of various species: boxwood, pine, walnut, birch, etc. All furniture was made according to a special order for the short stature of the Secretary General.
On the ground floor of the Stalinist dacha there is a hall, a living room, a dining room, several bedrooms and a bathroom. For security purposes, “panic buttons” were provided in each room, which are still working.
Joseph Vissarionovich dined at a large table that stood in the center of the dining room. The table was always fully set, since no one could know what place the owner of the dacha would sit at. The windows at Stalin's dacha are made of thick crystal so that heat does not pass through them on hot days, and on cold days - on the contrary, so that the heat is retained inside the room.
There are several bedrooms in the Stalinist mansion. Fearing for his life, Comrade Stalin constantly changed his place of sleep at night. In the evening he could fall asleep in one room and wake up in another in the morning. And no one from his entourage knew where exactly the leader of all nations was. All bedrooms are small in size. The beds are also small in accordance with the height of the leader. Stalin slept on mattresses made of seaweed and medicinal herbs.
Joseph Vissarionovich suffered from agoraphobia (fear of open doors, open space), so in the rooms of the dacha the doors were always closed and there was twilight so that the leader felt comfortable. There are several bathrooms at Stalin's dacha. The leader bathed in a special small thermal bath into which sea water was poured.
Stalin's dacha on Lake Ritsa in Abkhazia also has a cinema hall. It was there that the verdict was given on new Soviet films. The Secretary General himself preferred to watch comedies. He especially liked films with Charlie Chaplin. While watching films, he liked to surround himself with children, since children are not capable of deception and their reactions are natural. If the children liked the film, he gave permission to release the film.
Food for Comrade Stalin was prepared in the kitchen in a separate room. It was equipped with German electric stoves, which in those days was an incredible luxury and curiosity. The products were delivered from Moscow and before shipment underwent a toxicological examination at the Kremlin Medical and Sanatorium Administration, for which a document was drawn up with a seal and an inscription was placed that no toxic substances were found. At the dacha, next to the kitchen, there was a laboratory where a toxicologist checked the quality of food intended for the leader and his associates. In the same laboratory, another toxicologist checked the quality of the air that Stalin breathed.
In 1933, Comrade Stalin gave the order to build a staircase in the forest from the dacha to the beach. Two years later the staircase was ready. It has 870 steps.
Who owns Stalin's dacha today?
It is not known exactly who now owns Stalin’s dacha on Ritsa. In 2005, the media reported that Russian businessman and billionaire Oleg Deripaska allegedly wanted to buy the dacha. And the Abkhazian authorities even announced the amount of the deal - $10 million. However, the vice-speaker of the People's Assembly of the unrecognized republic, K.K. Ozgan, later stated that the dacha is a national treasure and cannot be sold into private hands. At the same time, an interview with the Prime Minister of Abkhazia D. Khadzhimba appeared in one of the local newspapers, in which he said that Stalin’s dacha would be sold to someone who could invest in it and bring it to its proper appearance.
State dachas during the reign of I.V. Stalin is part of the history of the USSR. Stalin’s state dacha in Abkhazia “Cold River” does not particularly stand out in importance from the 75 state dachas of I.V. Stalin, scattered throughout the territory of the former USSR. Stalin visited some dachas many times, while others never received his attention. Almost all of Stalin's summer residences were designed in the same style: green facades, interior decoration with precious wood, modest furnishings and everyday life.
Stalin's Dacha No. 1 was built in the capital of the Russian Federation - in the city of Moscow in Kuntsevo.
Stalin's dacha "Cold River" in Abkhazia is the second of a whole list of state dachas of the "leader of the peoples".
Abkhazia notifies about the presence of five summer dachas of Stalin. “Cold River” is one of Stalin’s favorite dachas in Abkhazia. He has been here more than 20 times. Stalin’s dacha “Cold River” in Abkhazia was built for the leader as a “health complex”, because it is in this area that three microclimates occur: alpine, Black Sea and river. According to the idea of Stalin's personal architect Miron Merzhanov, the country's generalissimo steered his ship along the course. The “Cold River” dacha in its plan represented a liner, the cinema hall was the deck of a ship, and the “Tea House” served as the captain’s bridge. Many of the windows at this Stalin's dacha in Abkhazia are shaped like portholes.
Stalin's summer residence "Cold River" is located on a cliff and on one side it drops to the Black Sea from a height of 330 meters. Stalin's dacha occupies an area of 4 hectares. However, this strategic object was not visible either from the sea or from land. Short flat lanterns are a sign of security at Stalin’s dacha.
Stalin's dacha "Cold River" in Abkhazia was built in the 30s of the 20th century (1928 - 1936) and there was never even a cosmetic renovation there. This is especially noticeable on the Ground Floor. A coniferous forest of relict Pitsunda pines surrounds the entire territory of the mountain into which Stalin’s dacha is built. Separate from the main building, on a site down the mountain, there is a small house, specially equipped for Stalin’s daughter, Svetlana Alliluyeva. 850 steps with a flat parapet - stone benches where you could relax while walking through the park - lead past the house to the Black Sea.
Of all Stalin’s state dachas, only at the Cold River dacha was a working fountain left. Stalin believed that on vacation you should listen to the sound of the sea, and not the murmur of a fountain. A lemon tree planted by Stalin grows in the yard. To avoid odors, the kitchen was not located on the territory of the dacha and food was brought from there.
Stalin's dacha in Abkhazia "Cold River" consists of a ground floor and two additional floors. Entering the front door, visitors find themselves in the rooms of the first floor (entrance hall, office, living room, dining room, billiard room with fireplace, bedrooms, bath). The second floor is closed to tourists.
40 types of wood were used to decorate the house. A single type of wood was used in each room (walnut, birch, yew from Africa, boxwood, chestnut, white beech). In one of the bedrooms, the windows face east and, when the sun rises from behind the mountains, the walls made of expensive Karelian birch shimmer with fiery flashes like amber. Only the living room has varnish on the walls.
The reception room is a square where the wall panels reflect a certain pattern of walnut wood and the doors are disguised. Cabinetmakers needed to cut down 300 trees to find the right wood pattern! Here in the corners there is a black rare grand piano and a coffee table with a photograph of Stalin.
The dining room displays a folding (up to 30 people) elongated oak table with 14 seats. He always served several people, even when the “leader of the peoples” ate alone. Stalin occupied different places at the table. The wood trim of the dining room walls is made in the form of a mosaic without nails. All furniture in the house is numbered. There is an “overturned chair” on the dining table and the guides importantly show an iron tag with the engraving “Stalin’s Dacha 2 Commandant’s Office No. 7.”
The billiard room is unique in that a “big” game was played here and even life could be the bet. The billiard room with a bay window with three windows facing the sea, a fireplace and a billiard table weighing three tons from 1905 surprises with a separate bathroom with a glass door. Through a curtained glass door, players monitored to ensure that no one was rolling the balls.
There are five bedrooms at Stalin's dacha in Abkhazia. Even his guards did not know which of them the leader would rest in and with whom. In one night, Stalin could change several bedrooms due to the danger of assassination attempts. The beds are short, stylized to resemble Stalin's height, and the mattresses in the bedrooms are filled with fragrant herbs and healing algae. All lamps in the bedrooms are covered with a thin metallized net to prevent shrapnel from falling on a person if a light bulb explodes.
The guides say that all the upholstered furniture at the Kholodnaya Rechka state dacha has no springs, is filled with densely structured horsehair and is bulletproof. The panoramic mirrors at Stalin’s dacha “Cold River” in Abkhazia were specially designed by Soviet scientists and have a peculiarity: no matter how you approach them, you will always see yourself in full height. At Stalin's dacha in Abkhazia, bronze chandeliers from the St. Petersburg palace (late 19th century) are impressive, where candles were replaced with lamps. Glass made of thin crystal creates coolness in the rooms and is an air conditioner of those years. The massive handles on all the doors of Dacha No. 2 were made to order at the Tula arms factory.
The ground floor is the main recreation room at the dacha, where there is a cinema with a wide screen and a row of soft armchairs for watching the favorite films of Stalin and his guests. The ground floor floor deserves special attention. The floor of the Stalin cinema hall serves as a shaft ventilation system and is covered with deck boards with gaps through which fresh air from the sea always passes into the room. Below the ground floor, along the seaward slope of the mountain, an extension was built in the form of a “Tea House”, which resembled a captain’s bridge, but in 1995 it burned down and today only ruins remain in the form of a foundation.
Stalin's Dacha "Cold River" in Abkhazia was serviced by 2,500 NKVD officers. When the Generalissimo planned to come on vacation, 3 human cordon circles were built and the road below was blocked. All the guards dispersed throughout the forest so that Stalin would not see them. The head of Stalin's personal guard was Lieutenant General Vlasik. The guards in the house are of at least the rank of major. Security call buttons were located in each room next to the light switch.
Time passes, but interest in the history of the USSR and the personality of Stalin always remains.
You can visit Stalin’s dacha “Cold River” in Abkhazia with a tour or on your own. Entrance to Stalin's state dacha is through its entrance for 250 rubles (2016 prices).
Address: Republic of Abkhazia, Gagra district, Kholodnaya Rechka village, Solnechny boarding house stop.
How to get to Stalin’s dacha “Cold River” on your own
Independent travelers should go to the Solnechny boarding house. Having passed through his watch for free, tourists head through the territory of the boarding house along the river, lined with concrete banks, to the tunnel. After going through the tunnel, you will find yourself right at the elevator, the shaft of which is carved into the rock to a height of 100 meters. Through observation platforms with stunning panoramic views of Old Gagra and the Black Sea, the asphalt will further lead to the main entrance of the snow-white high-rise boarding house “Solnechny”. Take the elevator to the 10th floor. Turn right behind the elevator and enter the landing between the 10th and 11th floors. There is a “Service Passage” door that will lead out onto the asphalt behind the boarding house on the mountain. Most of the road to Stalin’s dacha in Abkhazia “Cold River” passes behind the building of the “Solnechny” boarding house, almost at the level of its roof. The asphalt road up to the entrance of the state dacha goes along a winding mountain serpentine for about 900 meters. Sightseeing buses stop a little short of the entrance to the dacha. Two cars on the highway will not pass each other. There is an asphalt path for pedestrians above the highway.
The entire path from the minibus stop “Pansionat Solnechny” to the checkpoint “Stalin’s Dacha “Cold River”, as the poster says, will take 2000 meters.
