11/09/2023

We drove though, and then had a wander through a town that didn’t exit. During the Russian occupation, since WWII, it was a secret town.  It didn’t even appear on maps.  Sillamae (Silly Me) had long since been a mining town.  The Swedes had extracted ores and then oil shale. The Russians discovered that the oil shale contained small amounts of uranium.  It was developed to become USSR’s 3rd largest uranium mine and processing plant. But they needed a workforce.  5000 Russian political prisoners built the mine and 3800 Baltic Prioners of War (they’d served in the German army) built the accommodation. Blocks of apartments for workers and villas for management. All was designed by Russia in the Stalinist Neo classisist style in the 1940s and 50s. Wide boulevards with decorated facades. As the town grew, further apartment blocks in later Russian architectural styles were built. A Kulturhaus was built. The town hall was built with a spire to make the centre look more like a normal Estonian village. No churches as Communist Russia saw religion as a threat. Sillamae was described as a gilded cage for its residents. They couldn’t leave and people couldn’t visit. A large portion of the population was Russian, moved in to work at the mine. And it still feels very Russian.

When Estonia gained independence in 1991 the uranium extraction and processing stopped. Other precious metals are now mined by an America company. But the EU has had to step in to contain the uranium radio active waste … radiation levels are within acceptable levels … for now!

We wandered in from our parking and had a few drinks. Hard to find bars or restaurants in the centre. Even the shops seemed camouflaged.

The next morning we wandered back into the centre to visit the museum, housed in the nuclear bunker under the Kulturhaus. It was shut, but the Kulturhaus was open. A Russian speaking member of staff showed me around using Google translate. After independence, the director of the building protected the building from the de-Russianising that was prevalent.

Sillamae is trying to reinvent itself as a seaside / tourist destination. A lot of money has been spent recently on the sea front promenade.