You can’t say you’ve explored Georgia until you’ve taken a brief step into the darker side of its history.

The Stalin Museum includes the memorial house where Joseph Stalin was born in 1878 and spent his first four years, a six-hall museum building dedicated to Stalin in 1957, and Stalin’s personal train carriage- the very one he used to visit Tehran, Yalta and Potsdam. Check out Stalin’s personal belongings and a collection of paintings, photos, films and documentary material related to the Soviet leader. Be sure not to miss the eerie Death Mask, one of 12 copies made after his death in 1953.

The museum is seen by many as an inappropriate shrine-like setting for a man who saw to the deaths of so many. Whatever feeling you are left with, it is a must-see stop on your visit to Georgia.

Main photo: thebravedame.com