Georgia's Many (Other) Stalin Monuments
- By Amos Chapple
Amid uproar over a depiction of Stalin inside Tbilisi's main cathedral, several prominent monuments to the notorious Soviet dictator are on display throughout Georgia.
1
An Icon of St. Matrona of Moscow inside Tbilisi's Holy Trinity Cathedral that features a panel at lower left depicting notorious Soviet dictator Josef Stalin. News of the donated artwork caused a furor in Georgia and the icon was defaced soon after this January 8 photo was taken.
The icon panel is one of many depictions of Stalin seen today across Georgia, the country of his birth.
The icon panel is one of many depictions of Stalin seen today across Georgia, the country of his birth.
2
A propaganda relief of Stalin being greeted by Soviet citizens on the restored facade of a bathhouse in Tskaltubo, near Kutaisi. The photo was made in January 2020.
3
A September 2022 photo of a Stalin statue hidden in a private factory courtyard in Gori. The statue once stood on a prominent square in the city but was removed in June 2010. Debate has raged ever since in Gori -- where Stalin was born in 1878 -- over whether the monument should be resurrected.
4
A monument to Stalin in the yard of a private building in Zestafoni, western Georgia, in September 2020. Quotes on the plinth include the incongruous phrase, "If Europe is free today, it is because of Stalin."
5
A mosaic made from riverstones depicting Vladimir Lenin and Josef Stalin above the entrance to a cable-car station in Chiatura, central Georgia, seen in September 2022.
6
A relief of Stalin seen at the entrance to a private home in Gori in September 2022.
7
A statue to Stalin inside Gori's train station. The photo was taken through the glass of a locked door to the apparently unused waiting room in September 2022.
8
A relief showing Stalin above the entrance to a public building in Chiatura in September 2022.
9
A statue to Stalin seen through the entrance to Gori's Museum to the Soviet Union's most notorious dictator in June 2016.
10
People gather to mark the anniversary of the death of Stalin at his statue in Gori in March 2016.
11
A monument to Stalin above a war memorial in Zemo Alvani being unveiled in December 2012. The monument in the town, northeast of Tbilisi, had been torn down under the rule of Mikheil Saakashvili a year earlier.
12
A silhouette of Stalin seen above the village of Zikilia, in southwest Georgia, in February 2020.
