Many tourist attractions in Russia can become part of Russia tour programs. That is especially true in the two major tourist destinations in Russia, Moscow, and St. Petersburg. Moscow, the capital of Russia, is one of Russia's main tourist destinations, which receives millions of tourists annually. Although most of Moscow's tourist attractions are historical landmarks and museums that explore and retell Russia's history, there are other tourist attractions, such as art museums, Russian ballet halls, entertainment programs, and interests in Moscow that can be part of your Moscow tour program. Of course, we should not forget that Moscow's historical landmarks and museums are of particular importance, and tourists should not miss the opportunity to visit the top museums of this city. These include the State Historical Museum, the Alexander Pushkin Fine Art Museum, and the Kremlin Armoury Museum. Of course, many other museums in Moscow are usually less noticed by travel agencies and tour operators in Russia due to the short time tourists have on their trip to Moscow. Although in most cases, the extended distance from the Moscow Tourist Center is the main reason for travel agencies to leave some attractions out of the Moscow tour programs. However, some of these museums are not far from the Moscow Tourist. Still, they're not included in the Moscow tour program because of the number of significant attractions that tourists should not miss the opportunity to visit during their travel to Moscow. One of these museums is the Gulag History State Museum.
To better understand the Gulag, we need to look at the Soviet era, especially under the leadership of Joseph Stalin. Although at the beginning of the Soviet period, there was more unity between the heads of state and the people, this alliance was reduced to a minimum during the leadership of Joseph Stalin to the point that many former heads of state were accused of treason by Stalin. In the meantime, many people have been imprisoned or executed on false or baseless charges. Although there are many tourist attractions from the Stalin era that you can visit today during your tour to Russia, including Stalinist architecture, the Soviet memory of Joseph Stalin's leadership is not very bright. One of the darkest spots in Joseph Stalin's career as the leader of the Soviet government is the Gulag, where many Soviet citizens endured much oppression.
After the October Revolution, on the orders of Lenin, the then leader of the Soviet government, forced labor camps were set up for prisoners so that the Soviet government could use free labor in addition to punishing the perpetrators. The name of the organization responsible for setting up and running these forced labor camps was the Gulag. Although the Gulag was initially considered a strange organization, it worsened under Joseph Stalin. Nearly 18 million Soviet citizens were imprisoned in these concentration camps, including almost 2 million who have lost their lives. The agency also detained many of those who worked in these concentration camps on trumped-up charges and false accusations. In the Soviet Union, of course, concentration camps were also informally referred to as Gulags. One of Russia's tourist attractions during the Moscow tour program is a museum that explains the history of the organization and depicts the suffering of Soviet citizens at the time in those camps.
Suppose we want to study the Gulag History Museum in terms of meaning, purpose, and history. In that case, we can say that this museum is formed from a collection of painful events in the Soviet Union that are beyond tolerance. This museum is in the category of memory museums. Its primary purpose is to tell the story of people who suffered a lot during a dark historical period in the Soviet Union. Of course, learning this history is also essential to tourists who visit this museum on their tour to Moscow. They become acquainted with these events, exploring an important part of Soviet history.
The Gulag History Museum was founded in 2001 by Anton Vladimirovich Antonov-Ovseenko, imprisoned in a Soviet Gulag. Of course, this museum operates under the auspices of the Moscow Department of Culture. Tourists planning to visit the museum during their travel to Moscow can find it inside a formerly shared house on the Samotechny 1st street. The building, designed in 1906 by Nikolai Zherikhov, was renovated in 2014 to accommodate the museum. The interior design of this museum is done in the style of the dreadful Soviet prisons to evoke the museum's targeted atmosphere.
The most important exhibits of the Gulag History Museum include items left by prisoners, authentic documents and photographs, manuscripts and letters of prisoners, sculptures made by them, clothes left in these prisons, and works of art related to this historical period, which has been donated to this museum. The primary purpose of the Gulag History Museum is to tell the story of the organization's prisoners. A documentary film about this organization during the Stalin era is being shown non-stop on a great wall in the museum's main hall. Do not forget that the Gulag History Museum is interactive, and in each of the rooms of this museum, you can find a theme of interest. We strongly recommend tourists visit this museum during their Moscow tour if they want to learn about this organization and how it treated Soviet citizens under the leadership of Joseph Stalin.
Of course, there are other ways to get acquainted with the history of the Soviet era. For example, during your trip to Russia, you can visit the Museum of Political History in St. Petersburg, which is one of the best and most authoritative sources on the history of Russian and Soviet politics. To get acquainted with this museum and other tourist attractions in Russia, you can visit our weblog at the Star Travel Group website. You can also learn about Moscow's top attractions, the best shopping centers in Moscow, and the best restaurants that you can visit during your stay in Russia.
