Often called "The Court of the Red Tsar", this is a closely guarded, fully-intact house of Joseph Stalin, in which he lived continuously after the death of his second wife (suicide, no less). It's located smack in the middle of Moscow, only ten minutes from Kremlin, perhaps connected to it by an underground railroad (more info).

This somber structure must be swarming with ghosts and unpleasant memories to such a degree... that even KGB is reluctant to visit: nobody is allowed inside. The place is still considered "top secret", "off limits" and "under wraps", some 57 years later after Stalin died there.



According to memoirs of Stalin's daughter, Svetlana Alliluyeva, this house was full of Stalin's comrades and party bosses night and day - mostly during the night: incredibly long meals stretched till four in the morning, and during these strange "feasts" most of the political and security issues were discussed (and surely dreaded by all involved).

Note the rich carpet there - an Iranian custom job which took 10 years to complete. According to some sources, it now costs more than a million dollars; perhaps the most expensive carpet ever made:







There were almost no mirrors in the house... (vampires? living dead, anyone? Just kidding, but it's a well-known fact that Stalin disliked mirrors). Also, a strange habit: Stalin liked to live in "room capsules" - all-purpose furnished rooms where he slept, dined and worked, all in the same space. He would occupy these small enclosures willingly, and after a week or so there will move to the next, similar one... This is why his house is full of almost identical rooms with identical sets of furniture (talk about "modular" and "scaled-down" living!).


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