What Stalin's dacha looks like on Lake Ritsa in Abkhazia
The next Abkhazian residence of Joseph Stalin, painted green, is securely hidden by a dense forest, so you can't see it from a helicopter. It is difficult to notice it from the side of the lake on which the house is located — because of the violently growing lime trees. The house was built in 1947 and served as a refuge for the leader's family and Stalin himself during the warm summer months.
26-year-old Greek photographer Ioanna Sakellaraki during a trip to Abkhazia could not help but visit the state dacha of the Soviet leader.
(16 photos in total)
Buying this dacha, Stalin did everything to make the place a reliable shelter for quiet vacation days. In total, he had five summer residences on the territory of Abkhazia, where he often came, while not telling his deputies which dacha he was leaving for. All five houses were always ready for his unexpected arrival.
The interior is designed in a modest and simple style.
The house has several bedrooms, a cinema room, a reception hall, a library, a game room with billiard tables. Everything is furnished quite simply.
The phone, which, quite likely, was still used by Stalin.
In many bedrooms, you can notice not a large single bed, but two beds pushed together.
The place can be reached by a single mountain road that winds through a dense forest.
The residence is located on the shore of the picturesque Lake Ritsa. The pier offers stunning views of the lake, the surrounding mountains and dense forest.
The corridor leads to a door opening onto the patio.
By the way, the interior of the Abkhazian residence on Lake Ritsa was preserved in the same form as it was during Stalin's lifetime. So you can admire the carpets and furniture of those times.
A game room with a wooden billiard table, ceiling-to-floor windows and a huge sofa.
300 people were responsible for the security, for whom a separate house was built.
There is also a playground, a marina, a park and a decorative stone bridge stretching over a stream.
A tiled bathroom with a unique decor.
A closet in one of the rooms.
Later, in 1961, Nikita Khrushchev built himself a dacha next door, and already Brezhnev combined houses similar in style.