VIDEOS: Stalin’s Underground Secret Printing House Museum, Tbilisi, Georgia. #ReiseKnowHowGeorgien

The secret room where early Bolsheviks cranked out propaganda fliers on a smuggled printing press.

A nondescript, crumbling house in Georgia’s capital hides a series of tunnels where in 1904, a young communist printed magazines, pamphlets, and newspapers calling for the removal of the Tsar. At the time, Georgia was still part of the Russian Empire, and that young communist went by his given name, Iosif Djugashvili. The world would later come to know him as Joseph Stalin.

Hidden beneath the house, a printing press—old even by the standards of 1906—was smuggled into Tbilisi in pieces by a network of Bolshevik supporters. For three years, the press clandestinely cranked out thousands of pamphlets written in Georgian, Russian, and Armenian.

On the porch, lookouts—mostly women—would ring a bell if police were passing the house, a signal to those below silence the noisy press. A series of tunnels led from the from subterranean room to a nearby well, an escape route in anticipation of raids by Russian officials.

By the time Stalin began working at the printing press, he was already robbing banks and running protection rackets to raise money to support the Bolsheviks. Some of that money went toward printing and distributing the materials from the press around the region.

In 1906, three years after it printed its first pamphlet, the press was destroyed when the underground room was discovered.

Thirty-one years later, Stalin had consolidated power in what had become the USSR. Under his government, the press was restored and the building turned into a museum that included a movie theatre that screened Soviet films. But in 1991, after the fall of the Soviet Union, the museum was abandoned.

Today, the museum is operated by the Communist Party of Georgia, but it receives no money from the state. The printing press is caked in rust and the museum itself is largely in disrepair. But in recent years, the story of Stalin’s printing press has found a new audience: Chinese tourists.

Know Before You Go

The printing press is located within the Georgian Communist Party headquarters. You will need to speak at least a basic level of Russian or Georgian (or bring your own translator), as it is only possible to visit the "museum" by guided tour. While there is no official entrance fee, whomever shows you around will also expect a tip at the end of your visit.

Source: Stalin’s Underground Printing House [atlasobscura.com]

More links:
Indulge your Soviet curiosity in Stalin’s secret printing house in Tbilisi, Georgia. By Angelo Zinna [matadornetwork.com]
Joseph Stalins Underground Printing House [edfedoradiary.com]
Georgia’s Communists, With Chinese Help, Fight to Preserve Stalin’s Press. By Bradley Jardine [eurasianet.org]
Stalin’s Cave Beneath the capital of Georgia, a tyrant’s legacy slumbers. By Paul Salopek [nationalgeographic.org]
Stalin's Underground Printiung Press [latitudewattitude.com]
Inside Stalin's Secret Print House in Tbilisi, Georgia. By Angelo Zinna [medium.com]
Tbilisi’s Bolshevikian Word Fabrique. By Irma Kakhurashvili [georgiatosee.com]
Uncle Joe’s Underground Printshop. [derwombat.net]


Stalin's Underground Printing House – Feel the spirit of Soviet Georgia. By Anano Chikhradze

The period of the Soviet Union has already passed a long time ago. However, people are still interested in stories of this time. Lenin, Stalin, Trotsky, Kamo… they are all the famous people who left their marks on history. You can find several places in Georgia, where you can recall the Soviet Union times. For example, the Stalin Museum, that is located in Gori. There you can see his private things and listen to the stories about the way he lived there. In addition to that, there are many other interesting places connected to him. In this article, I am going to tell you about Stalin's Underground Printing House Museum, where you can still feel the spirit of Soviet Georgia.

A story of the Printing House

The Printing House is located in the Avlabari district in Tbilisi. You can travel thanks to the "time machine" while visiting this museum and go back to the time when young revolutionary Stalin lived and worked.

The construction process of this Printing House was arranged by Mr Mikheil Bochoridze. He chose a suitable area in the Avlabari district. Mr Rostomashvili owned the land in this place. He was a worker in the workshops of the railway. After Mr Bochoridze and Mr Rostomashvili got a consent on the construction, they started building an illegal underground Printing House below the building. In a short period of time, they built a house that had only two rooms. In the years 1904-05, the Printing House started working.

There were 15-meter deep underground tunnels as well. From 1904-06, Stalin was secretly printing different newspapers and brochures in Georgian, Russian, and Azerbaijan language, and the revolutionaries were spreading them in these countries. 24-year-old Stalin escaped from the resettlement and started living in this Printing House from 1904. Many articles published here are actually written by Stalin, and that is why nowadays the Printing House is connected to his name.

How they discovered the Printing House?

The location of the Printing House was secret. However, in 1906, the police accidentally found it while they were checking the building. One of the police officers threw a burning paper in the dry water well to check its depth. A tunnel that was leading to the Printing House was at the bottom of this well, so this paper flew in the tunnel. A police officer realized that there was something under the building. They burned the house and the owner Mr Rostomashvili was sent into exile forever.

Underground Printing House today

Nowadays, you can see the same building in the Avlabari district. The Georgians reconstructed this place. They tried to keep its first appearance. The Printing House has many visitors today. People are interested in how this place worked, what were its secrets, etc. So, if you are a history lover, don’t miss the Stalin’s Underground Printing House Museum, where you can really feel the spirit of Soviet Georgia.

Source: Stalin's Underground Printing House – Feel the spirit of Soviet Georgia. By Anano Chikhradze [itinari.com]


These are a few images from inside the odd Joseph Stalin Underground Printing House Museum. It's like a real time warp into the Soviet past. And Zhuli the guide still believes. This video was made to accompany a more extensive essay which can be found at The Anadromous Life.

Source: Georgian Lessons #7: The Red Stain [theanadromist.wordpress.com]