What!? Pretty Soviet Architecture!?
Trip Start
Aug 31, 2007
1
6
90
Trip End
Apr 19, 2008
Sillamae,
Estonia
Monday, September 3, 2007
Sillamae, with a population of 17,000 and proudly proclaiming itself Estonia's 7th largest city, was built post-WWII when the Soviets discovered local oil shale contained small, extractable amounts of uranium. Five thousand Russian political prisoners built the uranium processing and nuclear chemicals factory while 3800 Baltic POWs built the town centre. By 1946, the town was off limits to civilians and off Soviet maps, going by code names such as Leningrad 1 and Moscow 400.
If all this secrecy brings up dark, forboding images in your head, you're not alone
Leafy Boulevards
. My mental picture of Sillamae would not have been out of place in 1984, and to be honest, the secret Soviet city image is half the reason I visited, but how wrong that picture was! The town is built in a neoclassical, fin de siecle style, with moderately ornate buildings, beautiful parks, and lovely, leafy boulevards. Quelle suprise! I was also pleased to find a large map on a board by the bus station and signs in English and Estonia (I had been expecting cyrillic). Though virtually none come here, Sillamae is quite tourist friendly.I spent the afternoon wandering the central and industrial parts of town. The industrial is not so nice, but what do you expect from a rotting uranium plant? (production was shut down in '91) I went for a stroll along the beach and Baltic Sea and admired the architecture of the town hall and cultural centre. The sun even agreed to come out for the first time since I've been in this country.
There is, of course, a Soviet and Russian side to town. There was a charge to use the washrooms at the bus station and no one around to take your money or unlock the doors for you. Also, at dinner tonight, the menu was such that you ordered and paid for everything separately. I ordered and entree, a side of mashed potatoes, two slices of bread, a side of vegetables, and butter. Who charges separately for butter? At least they don't charge you for the silveware. They're ahead of the Italians.
I am staying at the best (and only, I believe) hotel in town, the Krunk-much nicer than it sounds, I assure you, but also much harder on the budget. $50 for a single room, compared to the $17 I was paying in Tallinn. Oh well.
