Gorki Leninskie

The Bolshie Gorki estate was built on the bank of the Pakhra River in the 19th century, but it changed owners many times and gained fame during the Soviet era. The estate served as a residence of Vladimir Lenin beginning in 1918: he regularly visited Gorki and lived on the estate for the last two years before his death in 1924. A quarter of a century later, a memorial house museum in his honor opened at Gorki: a rectilinear stone building stands out against the background of the estate palace built in the classicist style. The museum exhibition consists of several thousand of Lenin’s personal belongings, including manuscripts and books, a collection of neoclassical furniture, and even a car converted into a snowmobile. It also holds a collection of Soviet sculptures. 

In addition to Lenin’s memorials, there are other interesting sights in Gorki. A cinema city, where iconic historical movies of the Soviet era were shot, operates on the territory of the estate, while one of the estate huts (it is believed that it was there where the first plan for the electrification of the country was approved) houses a Museum of Peasant Life. The buildings are also surrounded by a spacious hilly park, where visitors can find a grotto from the 19th century, hidden among the trees at its far end.

Photo: Wikimedia