Joseph Stalin, for all his asceticism, loved fresh air. He had quite a lot of dacha residences - according to some sources, about twenty. Wherever he was, there was almost always a dacha nearby where he could relax.
Volynskaya dacha
The Volyn dacha, or neighbor, is one of the most famous residences of Joseph Vissarionovich near Moscow. It was located near the town of Kuntsevo, near the village of Volynsky. The name “neighbor” did not appear by chance. The fact is that Stalin had several dachas in the Moscow region; the house in Volynskoye was built later than the house in the village of Uspenskoye, and was located much closer to Moscow. Now the territory where Stalin’s dacha was located is part of modern Moscow; it is located on Poklonnaya Hill, very close to Victory Park. But it is almost impossible to see the residence house from the street, since it is surrounded by a dense wooden fence and, in addition, dense forest plantings.
The architect who designed the building was M. Merzhanov, who at that time was the personal architect of senior officials. The residence was built in 1934, but over the course of several more years the building was periodically rebuilt and completed at the request of Joseph Stalin. As a result of these alterations, the one-story building turned into a two-story building with a large number of verandas. On the first floor of the dacha there were seven spacious rooms, and to go up to the second floor especially for I.V. Stalin was equipped with an elevator. On the first floor there was Joseph Vissarionovich’s personal office; it even had several special sofas on which he would sleep if he worked late. It is also known that the second floor, which was added later on the orders of Stalin himself, was hardly used by him.
It is still unclear what the atmosphere inside the dacha actually was, since some talk about luxuriously decorated rooms, and others about simple rooms without frills. Interestingly, the curtains in the house were short so that no one could hide behind them.
But what is the dacha of the head of state without a bunker? It is known that this bunker was located at a depth of 20 meters and was well equipped. For example, during the Great Patriotic War, Stalin lived at his dacha in Volynskoye. There is also unconfirmed information that a special tunnel runs from the dacha to the Kremlin, through which you can even drive a car. In addition, the mysterious Metro-2 station may be located underneath it.
Dacha in Semenovsky
The dacha, which was located in the village of Semenovskoye, also had the name “distant”. This dacha of Stalin was interesting for its purpose; it was very rarely mentioned in official literature, while Joseph Vissarionovich often held official meetings and conferences nearby. The distant one was known only because top officials came there on vacation. It became a kind of country house for the entire Politburo. It was built in the 1930s and located on the territory of the modern Semyonovskaya Otrada park. In the same park there is the palace of the Orlov brothers, built according to the design of the architect Babakin.
It is known that all buildings on the territory of I.V.’s dacha. Stalin were carried out by special detachments of the NKVD construction department under the control of Lavrentiy Pavlovich Beria. The far one was located in a picturesque park, which also had a pond with two islands. There was always enough fish in the pond itself so that guests of the dacha could go fishing if they wanted. The main house of the dacha is very similar to the neighboring dacha, but there is no second floor. And the material from which the building is constructed is brick. Outsiders could not enter the territory of this residence, since it was surrounded by a 6-meter high fence, and until the 1980s, the airspace above the dacha was closed to flights.
It is known that the interior of the house was quite simple, for example, Stalin’s own office was simply lined with wood; there were no unnecessary decorations or luxury in the office. It is known that the house had a huge dining room, in the center of which there was a table at which more than 50 people could sit at the same time. There were also seven springs in the park near the house, one of which still exists.
Many prominent party figures lived at the dacha at different times and held various receptions. Spring water from far away was especially popular with President Yeltsin, who received bottles of it delivered once a week.
Dacha in New Athos
In the Caucasus, Joseph Stalin had several country houses with plots. The dacha in Abkhazia was located very close to the New Athos Monastery. Next door to Stalin’s house, a little higher, there was a house in which Beria lived; it was in this house that the abbot of the New Athos Monastery previously lived, who later transferred his home to the disposal of the party.
The dacha and the surrounding area are surrounded by a high concrete fence through which Stalin’s residence cannot be seen. According to some reports, this dacha is connected to the sea by a special tunnel that leads to a closed beach, where Joseph Stalin rested.
Stalin's dacha in New Athos still exists; moreover, prominent political figures continue to visit it. The house is surrounded by a picturesque park, and the interior is truly luxurious. The walls of the dacha are decorated with various types of wood, and armored glass is inserted into the windows.
It is interesting that there was a special cinema hall in the house, where new Soviet films were watched and Stalin, together with his colleagues, made a decision to allow the film to be released on a wide screen. The park that surrounds the famous state dacha is planted with rare tropical plants, including cypress trees, various citrus trees, and an alley of palm trees. Nowadays, tourists are allowed into Stalin's dacha, the wealthiest of whom can even rent a room and relax in it.
Dacha in Sochi
I.V. Stalin loved to vacation in the southern regions of our country; a large number of his country houses are located in Georgia, Crimea and, of course, on the Black Sea coast of the city of Sochi. One of them is located just 5 kilometers from the city center and is located on the territory of the former Mikhailovsky estate, which previously belonged to the businessman M. Zenzinov.
The entire complex of buildings is surrounded by a park with many tropical plants, which gives the impression that the dacha is literally surrounded by greenery. The dacha is located at the very top of a mountain range, which is why a unique microclimate is formed on the territory of the residence, as different air currents mix. The interior of the dacha is very similar to the interior decoration of the other residences of Joseph Vissarionovich: the house is decorated with a large number of different expensive types of wood. There are also no unnecessary luxurious details here, but the simple interior, combined with its expensive decoration, certainly inspires a feeling of power and strength in the owner of the house. On the second floor there is a fairly spacious terrace, which overlooks a huge courtyard. The building is divided into two wings: the first - rooms for rest, a dining room for banquets, etc. The second wing contains Stalin's work rooms. In one of these offices there is a small single bed right next to the table. Stalin could rest on it, and when he woke up, he could immediately get down to business.
Dacha in Kholodnaya Rechka
Another Stalin dacha in Abkhazia is located in the village of Kholodnaya Rechka. This is an extremely picturesque place. The dacha itself is very difficult to discover if you don’t know about its existence. The fact is that it is located in a pine forest in which the famous Pitsunda pines grow. In addition, the country house itself is painted green, which makes it even more difficult to find.
This dacha was also built in the 1930s; the exact year of construction is unknown, since information about the residences of I.V. Stalin was classified for a long time and was not preserved in full. Stalin especially loved to relax in this country house; he visited it about 20 times. Joseph Vissarionovich visited some dachas only once.
There are still many legends about the construction of the dacha in Kholodnaya Rechka. According to one of them, the workers who built this dacha were killed and buried on its territory so that they could not divulge information about the location of Stalin’s personal residence.
The house itself is two-story, it was guarded by more than 3 thousand guards. It is worth noting that this house was used by Joseph Vissarionovich exclusively for recreation, which is why there was no office in the house. The entire territory of the dacha was guarded and fenced with ten rows of barbed wire.
In 1961, Nikita Khrushchev's personal residence was built next to the dacha, and during Brezhnev's reign, the two dachas were connected and turned into one large plot. Now the dacha serves as a park-museum, on the territory of which excursions take place daily.
Photo: Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Joseph Stalin, according to various sources, had at his disposal about 20 dachas scattered throughout the Soviet Union. Most of them were in the south - in Crimea, Sochi, Abkhazia and Georgia. Some residences were empty for years, in others he lived for a long time. Each of them was rebuilt specifically for the leader. According to eyewitnesses, it was boring, dark and gloomy inside: the leader suffered from agoraphobia - a fear of open space, so he preferred small offices. And he couldn’t stand luxury.
"Don't worry, they'll just kill you"
Joseph Stalin and Marshal Georgy Zhukov approached the armored vehicle. For the first time, Zhukov had to go somewhere with the leader. Already standing in front of his car, Stalin pointed out to the marshal a comfortable passenger seat behind the driver, while he himself rode in Spartan conditions - in an uncomfortable reclining seat. The frightened Zhukov, already regretting that he agreed, racked his brains all the way why Stalin did not sit next to the driver, giving this place to the head of his security, Nikolai Vlasik, or on the soft seat behind him.
As soon as the opportunity presented itself, he ran up to Vlasik and asked: “Why did he put me there?” “Don’t worry,” answered the head of security. - He always does this. It’s just that if they shoot from the front, they will hit me, and if from behind, they will hit you.” Stalin was very afraid of an assassination attempt, so he tried to protect himself as much as possible. This was felt literally in everything.
Mysterious dacha
15 kilometers from the resort town of Gagra, on the top of a mountain in a pine forest with the famous Pitsunda pines, there is Stalin’s former dacha “Cold River”, which is called the most mysterious residence of the leader. According to legend, Stalin once saw this picturesque place from board a ship, and he liked it so much that he decided to build a mansion here, despite the desperate protests of the architects. They believed that the building would stand for at most five years, but they were mistaken. The result was a three-story mansion with a huge balcony.
They say that this dacha corresponded to a maniacally suspicious person: it is impossible to see it from land, climbing to such a height unnoticed is impossible. Even the deep green color in which all of Joseph Vissarionovich’s dachas are painted is not accidental: the building blended in with the forest and was more difficult to detect from the air. The height of the lanterns that illuminated the paths and garden does not reach half a meter in height, so that at night the territory of the mansion was not visible from the road and it was impossible to see the figure of a person walking.
The mansion had a billiard room; thermal bath, where sea water was supplied; cinema hall where the first screenings of Soviet-era films took place. Inside, everything was quite simple: the walls and ceiling were made of wood, no decorations or gilding - Stalin did not like luxury. There are simple official chandeliers on the ceiling, a giant table in the center of the room, and the windows behind thick curtains.
When building each dacha, the architects were given a condition: the house should have two, or preferably three, bedrooms. The Secretary General went to bed late at night, got up in the morning and went to another room: if killers suddenly sailed from the sea, they should not find the leader in bed.
The Cold River residence, like the rest of the dachas, was painted emerald.
Photo: Alexey Solodov / Alamy / Diomedia
Dacha on Lake Ritsa in Abkhazia
Photo: Sputnik / RIA Novosti
One of the rooms in the dacha of the Soviet leader on Lake Ritsa in Abkhazia
Photo: Sputnik / RIA Novosti
The “Father of Nations” asked that each residence be equipped with a billiard room
Photo: Thomas Thaitsuk / RIA Novosti
There is another legend: while the leader was resting at the dacha, several thousand NKVD employees were guarding him, and when Stalin was driving to the dacha, he did not want to see guards on the road, so everyone had to be on duty at his numbered tree and on the ladder on time climb on it so as not to fall into the eyes of the “father of nations.”
On Lake Ritsa
If Stalin constantly worked at the “Cold River” dacha, then another Abkhaz residence, located on Lake Ritsa, was built exclusively for recreation, it did not even have a work office. In the yard there was a guard house and a sauna. The mansion had several bedrooms, a cinema room and a reception hall. They said that Stalin's dachas had a similar layout - the leader did not like variety in the decor.
Moreover, all residences were equipped with the latest technology. This setting would seem quite modern even now. For example, at this dacha in Abkhazia, two earthenware bathtubs were installed, the water in which did not cool down for several hours.
In addition, there were always service personnel at the dacha: maids, a cook, waiters, a hairdresser, a nurse, drivers, gardeners - about 50 people in total. A toxicologist occupied a special place - he had to check all the food that was prepared for the leader.
Unlike the “Cold River”, where Stalin often visited, he visited Lianozov’s estate, located in the Pitsunda-Mussersky Biosphere Reserve, only eight times. He saw this place in the 1920s and immediately became interested in acquiring a dacha here. As a result, a two-story asymmetrical green house with a terrace grew there.
Sochi residence
Near Matsesta, at the foot of Mount Bolshoy Akhun, there was Stalin’s Sochi residence. It was located at an altitude of 160 meters above sea level. Dachas of other high-ranking Soviet officials appeared in the neighborhood: Beria, Malenkov, Molotov, Voroshilov.
"Green Grove" was one of the leader's favorite residences
Photo: Danita Delimont RM / Walter Bibikow / Diomedia
On the advice of Anastas Mikoyan, Stalin in the late 1930s began to go to treat his dry hands (this was the result of an injury he suffered in childhood, when a horse-drawn carriage ran over him, damaging his left arm and ear) with hydrogen sulfide water in Matsesta, and not in the Caucasian Mineral Waters, as done this before. That helped.
This is how the dacha appeared, built at an altitude of 160 meters above sea level, where warm sea and cold mountain air flows meet. Here everything was designed for the leader - even the steps on the stairs were low, so that it would be easier for Joseph Vissarionovich, who suffered from attacks of rheumatism, to climb.
At the end of the 1940s, the building of “New Matsesta” was completed, the architects proposed to Stalin to erect a fountain in the center. However, the leader did not like this idea because of the loud noise, so it was decided to plant a flowerbed in the middle of the courtyard.
Massandra Palace of Stalin in Crimea
Photo: Danita Delimont RM / Diomedia
Inside the Massandra Palace
Photo: Danita Delimont RM/Cindy Miller Hopkins/Diomedia
Those around Stalin said that he did not like the luxury of the Massandra Palace
Photo: Danita Delimont RM / Diomedia
Another residence was located in the south of Crimea, 13 kilometers from Yalta, near the village of Sosnovka. Initially, Stalin rested at the state dacha in the Massandra Palace. However, the mansion with handmade chandeliers and a fireplace made from a single piece of marble, built under Emperor Alexander III, is rumored to have not really pleased Stalin. He, of course, came here, but he considered this dacha too pompous, so he ordered another one built for himself - from pine beams.
By the way, Stalin was quite ascetic in everyday life. However, when it came to state interests, he sought to demonstrate sovereign luxury. He wanted to impress foreign guests with the luxury of decoration of the apartments in which official ceremonies were held.
Bananas for Comrade Stalin
Most often, Stalin came to the so-called “near” or Kuntsevskaya dacha. This residence was located near Victory Park on Poklonnaya Hill. Stalin lived there permanently after the death of his wife Nadezhda Alliluyeva in 1932. The leader died there on March 5, 1953.
The building of Joseph Stalin's nearby dacha in Kuntsevo in Moscow
Large living room at Joseph Stalin's nearby dacha in Kuntsevo
Photo: Press service of the FSO of Russia / RIA Novosti
Joseph Stalin's office at a nearby dacha
Photo: Press service of the FSO of Russia / RIA Novosti
Summer “White Veranda” at a nearby dacha
Photo: Press service of the FSO of Russia / RIA Novosti
Built in the 1930s, this residence has been rebuilt several times. Thus, a second floor appeared above the initially one-story building, to which an elevator was built. There was the leader's office with several sofas for relaxation, in which he spent quite a lot of time. Traditionally, the office and bedroom were small, but the dining rooms were quite impressive; heads of other states could easily be received here.
Stalin preferred Georgian dishes. There certainly had to be Georgian wine, chakhokhbili and green lobio on the table. Traditional Russian dishes were also served: suckling pig, jellied meat, kebabs. For dessert there are pastries and cakes. It is known for certain that the “father of nations” loved bananas. The Ministry of Trade was even ordered to organize regular supplies of these fruits to the Soviet Union.
In one of the halls of the “nearby dacha” there was a radio set trimmed with mahogany. It was given to Stalin as a gift from British Prime Minister Winston Churchill in 1941. They said that the Soviet leader liked the gift - he loved music. The house has preserved a collection of more than three thousand records, many of which contain Joseph Vissarionovich’s notes. The rating was formed by the number of crosses - the more there are, the more the leader liked this or that record.
Currently, the “near dacha” is a strategic protected site of the FSB and the Federal Security Service of Russia; tourists are not allowed here. We only know that the entire situation has been preserved exactly.
Gift from the American President
The “father of nations” traveled to his vacation destinations by train or car. He especially loved American cars. Knowing about this affection of the leader, the American ambassador gave the Soviet leader a gift from the US President - an armored Packard Twelve 14-series limousine. Joseph Vissarionovich really liked the car, painted white; weighing six tons, the limousine accelerated to 130 kilometers per hour. After arriving in Moscow, the car was painted in government color - black. Stalin used this car to attend conferences of the anti-Hitler coalition in Tehran, Yalta and Potsdam.
The car that Stalin gave to North Korean leader Kim Il Sung in 1948
Photo: Denisov Roman / TASS
The armored Packard driven by Joseph Stalin
At the same time, the leader believed that the use of foreign cars by the Soviet elite “undermines the prestige of the Soviet state,” so in the early 30s the development of domestic limousines for the party elite began. The first experience was not very successful. The Leningrad-1 (L-1) car, produced in 1933 at the Krasny Putilovets plant, did not justify itself. Then the creation of limousines was entrusted to the Moscow ZIS plant. Buick was chosen as the prototype.
This was a real breakthrough for the domestic automobile industry: a partition that can be lowered behind the driver’s seat, a radio receiver and an interior heater. Subsequently, it was this model that became the main official car for the party elite. Stalin himself, however, still preferred cars from the USA.
Car "Leningrad-1" (L-1)
ZiS-110
Stalin had about 20 dachas at his disposal, scattered throughout the Soviet Union. Most of them were in the south: in Sochi, Abkhazia, Georgia, Crimea. Stalin especially loved some dachas and spent a lot of time there, and visited some only once. In this material we will talk about the most significant dachas for the leader.
Near Dacha is one of the most famous residences of Joseph Stalin. It was located near the town of Kuntsevo, near the village of Volynsky. The “Near” dacha began to be called in comparison with Stalin’s previous dacha, located in Uspenskoye (at 14 km along Rublevskoye Highway). 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.
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 well-being cannot be considered separately from the wealth of the entire country as a whole. The Generalissimo was fully supported by the state. They paid for the maintenance of numerous dachas, houses and apartments, as well as the services of doctors, cooks and governesses. Stalin did not even know exactly how much was being spent from the state treasury on all of the above.
Moreover, Stalin never carried even small money with him. So, one day, while at a dacha in Borjomi, Joseph Vissarionovich met his Georgian friends. During the conversation they mentioned that they were experiencing some financial difficulties. Stalin threw his hat among his subordinates, including security officers. We collected 300 rubles.
Due to the fact that Stalin lived on everything ready-made, he sometimes did not even know what it cost. According to his daughter Svetlana Alliluyeva, her father thought that 100 rubles, as before the revolution, was a huge amount. “That’s why when he gave me 2-3 thousand, he believed that he was giving me a million,” admitted Svetlana.
There is no ideology or politics in my reasoning, therefore I ask those who are particularly nervous not to worry, I will not write anything bad or anything good about Stalin now. I am writing only for the sake of interest.
And the impetus for the appearance of this article was the remark of one New Year's dinner party about excellent sauerkraut. Immediately I remembered the old story of my brother’s mother-in-law, who worked as a maid at Stalin’s nearby dacha. This is the area of Kuntsev, Davydkov, those regions.
It’s a pity that I didn’t write down Aunt Olya Sidorenkova’s story then; many interesting details disappeared from my memory. Only some scraps remained. Stalin, seeing the new maid, spoke to her, asked about her parents and something else. Then Stalin turned to the cook: “Show the young lady how to choose meat. She will need advice at home.” And Stalin left. And the cook pointed to a large piece of meat: “Do you know what this is? This cut is called a curl. The meat is cut in such a way that there are bone, cartilage and meat compounds in one piece. Then you get an excellent broth for soup.” The cook also said that cabbage is fermented from white heads only from two regions near Moscow - Kolomna and Serpukhov. In other places in the Moscow region, white heads of cabbage are not cultivated.
Remembering this, I decided to write something about Stalin’s dachas. After searching the Internet, I found the following information:
Moscow.
1. Dacha “Volynskoe” (“nearby”) - 2 floors, approx. 1000 sq. m.
2. Dacha “Semenovskoe” (“distant”) - 1st floor, approx. 800 sq. m.
3. Dacha “Zubalovo” is located on the 14th km along Rublevskoye Highway, 2 floors, about 500 sq. m. m, 12 rooms.
Caucasus.
4. Dacha “New Matsesta” (“Green Grove”, Sochi) - 2 floors, approx. 200 sq. m.
5. Dacha “Puzanovka” (Sochi) - 1st floor, approx. 100 sq. m.
6. Dacha "Riviera" (Sochi) - not preserved.
7. Dacha “Blinovka” (Sochi) - 2 floors, approx. 200 sq. m (Stalin rested here once, then gave the dacha to Voroshilov).
8. Dacha “Cold River” (Gagra) - 2 floors, approx. 500 sq. m.
9. Dacha “Ritsa” (Abkhazia) – four rooms (burned down in Soviet times). “Ritsa”, near Lake Ritsa, one-story dacha with an area of 200 sq. m. m.
10. Dacha “New Athos” (Abkhazia) - 2 floors, approx. 200 sq. m. "New Athos" - two-story dacha, 200 sq. m, six rooms (Stalin visited here only once, but refused to live here). Guides tell visitors “that there is a secret passage to the sea from this dacha”
11. Dacha “Sukhumi” (Abkhazia) - the dacha is located on the territory of the Sukhumi Botanical Garden of the Georgian Academy of Sciences, the building is two-story, occupies more than 600 square meters. m, up to 20 rooms (preserved to this day).
12. Dacha “Mussery” (Abkhazia) - one-story dacha, about 300 sq. m, six rooms (Stalin rested here several times, starting in 1933, it has survived to this day).
13. Dacha “Borjomi” (Georgia) - built at the end of the 19th century, two-story building, 300 sq. m. m, nine rooms (Stalin was here in 1951. This was his last rest. The building has survived to this day).
14. Dacha “Tskaltubo” (Georgia) - two-story building, more than 200 sq. m. m, five rooms (preserved to this day).
Crimea.
15. Dacha “Koreiz” - 2 floors, approx. 600 sq. m. Stalin lived here during the Yalta Conference in 1945.
16. Dacha “Golovinka” - 1st floor, approx. 150 sq. m. Stalin was here twice.
17. Dacha “Trapeznikovo” - 2 floors, approx. 300 sq. m. Stalin rested here in the late 20s - early 30s, then handed it over to E. Yaroslavsky.
18. Dacha “Yaveynaya” - 1st floor, approx. 150 sq. m. Stalin never visited it, although it was built for him.
Stalin also visited dachas near Moscow in Lipki on Dmitrovskoe Shosse (it was blown up in October 1941, then restored), at Gorki-10 (35th kilometer from Moscow along Rublevskoe Shosse), as well as at a dacha in Kislovodsk
My uncle served after the war near Omsk, he was a regiment commander. And once I was at some gala dinner. And one of the high regional officials turned to the first secretary of the regional committee: “What if Comrade Stalin himself unexpectedly appears tomorrow without warning? Where will we meet him?” They started talking and offered something. . And one said: “The place is excellent. But what about the food?” And supposedly from then on it became customary: every day fresh food was delivered to the chosen place at the expense of the regional party committee. Yesterday's products were sold through the canteen of the regional committee of the CPSU (b).
And I thought the same thing. Our country is huge. And no one knows: what if the gates open in some Blagoveshchensk and Comrade Stalin himself appears in person. There is an excellent room for such a distinguished guest, but what about the rest? Food?
That’s when I had an idea: in order not to get into trouble, in every region of the huge Soviet Union there could be places for the unexpected appearance of a leader. If my assumption is correct, then there should have been such allocated places - a huge number! Just in case! Is my assumption correct?
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