These Photos Show Lithuania's Strange Theme Park Dedicated to Stalin

Get your Stalin selfie at Stalinworld.

Known by its unofficial nicknames Stalinworld, Stalin’s World, and Stalinland, Grūtas Park in southern Lithuania has sometimes been compared to a Communist Disneyland.

Grūtas was founded by mushroom tycoon Viliumas Malinauskas in 2001. The two-mile park is landscaped in the style of a mock gulag and boasts a sculpture exhibition featuring 86 Soviet statues rented by the Lithuanian government, a mini-zoo, a playground, museum and restaurant. The park sees 200,000 visitors annually.

According to its website, Grūtas aims to “provide an opportunity for Lithuanian people, visitors coming to our country, as well as future generations to see the naked Soviet ideology which suppressed and hurt the spirit of our nation for decades.”

Take a look inside this unique park, and the way its visitors participate in the reframing of their tumultuous Soviet past.

A family awkwardly poses for a photo by a large Soviet soldier statue.
A family awkwardly poses for a photo by a large Soviet soldier statue.
Riley Arthur
The snack bar is fitted out off an old Soviet train.
The snack bar is fitted out off an old Soviet train.
Riley Arthur
One of the many watch towers decorating the perimeter of the park.
One of the many watch towers decorating the perimeter of the park.
Riley Arthur
Lighters with famous Soviet propaganda imagery are popular items in the gift shop.
Lighters with famous Soviet propaganda imagery are popular items in the gift shop.
Riley Arthur
This bear symbolized the Soviet Union during WWII. There are three bears living at the park.
This bear symbolized the Soviet Union during WWII. There are three bears living at the park.
Riley Arthur
Mother and daughter playfully pose atop Lenin's head.
Mother and daughter playfully pose atop Lenin's head.
Riley Arthur

Take a look at more photos of the park:

Stalinworld'

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