Old Soviet Monuments Behind The Tallinn Maarjamäe Palace History Museum

Unlike its neighbor to the south, Lithuania, Estonia has yet to establish a permanent home for its old Soviet monuments. One thing was certain, they couldn't stay in the plazas and squares after independence.

Welcome to the monument graveyard, a small area behind Tallinn's city history museum. Somehow the random array of discarded monuments is particularly pleasing in its present, scattered state. A trash heap of history, come alive.

A peek through a back fence.

Always the star, a dominant Lenin.

Getting the Communist story in bits and pieces.

The "Social Realist" sculptures are fantastic, idealized workers, more like cubist comic book heroes.

Lenin head. Or is there a giant body buried?

No doubt, some monuments come packing. Lying (lying) Stalin.

Which allows for a poignant portrait.

Tallinn In Monochrome

There's something about the light in Northern Europe that brings out the black and white in everything. The places get grey and deserted. When you find a spot of color, it's noticeable.

Or the reverse.

Maarjamäe War Memorial In Tallinn, Estonia

You want somber? Call in the Russians. During the Soviet-era/occupation of Estonia, The Soviets erected a serene war memorial to the dead - those they lost during a war with Estonia back in 1918. How about that gesture as an ultimate insult, a memorial on your soil against you?

Independence arrived again for Estonia in the early 1990s. The memorial remains, now a grim relic. And a good example of Soviet Brutalist architecture.

The site includes an obelisk.

And a plaza overlooking the Gulf of Finland.

There are also avenues ending in sculptural protrusions, this time a memorial to Soviet soldiers lost fighting the Nazis. Indented hands in the plaza.

Down another avenue.

Completing the trilogy of death, the whole complex is built next to an old German memorial and cemetery, which they dedicated to their soldiers lost during WWII. Got your scorecard right?

Reflecting On The Paintings At Tallinn's Kadriorg Palace

There's a nice historic museum for paintings in Tallinn, Estonia, full of old oils of old people. Sometimes, the lighting conditions make you "reflect" on both the paintings and their environment.

Heaven and Hell, accented by the light.

The mystery man at the table.

Portraits Obscura.

Adding divine light.

Linnahall, A Soviet Curiosity In Tallinn, Estonia

There's a bizarre building that occupies a good chunk of harbor front real estate in Tallinn called Linnahall. The Soviets built the thing in the late 70s, in time to host the sailing events of the 1980 Moscow Summer Olympics. Linnahall looks like a giant pier made with concrete stacked blocks. It's also a concert venue. You can see some interior photos here, appropriately a site titled "Failed Architecture."

Today, the building wheezes along, partly as a dock for a shuttle to Helsinki, partly for concerts and a nightclub. Hurry and visit before a concrete chunk of Soviet history disappears (based on sheer tonnage, not likely anytime soon).

The, ahem, grand promenade entrance. The harbor is on the other side of the hump.

Plenty of disuse. A nightclub, maybe still used. At least the name is right - Poseidon.

Another angle of the promenade, juxtaposing an energy plant and Old Town in the distance.

Of course, graffiti has moved in. Rough box office.

The other end of the complex, at the harbor.

Tallinn Festival Grounds

For some reason, the Baltic states are big on belting out a song. They'll get together by the tens of thousands every few years or so and have multiple-day song festivals. Imagine a medieval Woodstock, a Game Of Thrones Idol show.

Equally iconic, at least in Estonia and Lithuania, are the locations for such events, Soviet-era bandshells. The first shell, constructed in Tallinn, was designed by Alar Kotli. It was later copied in Vilnius, Lithuania.

Approaching the entrance, from the back.

Think jumbo clam, with seats inside the shell.

There's an inside part on the back, with restaurants. Who's in the audience?  Why, it's the composer and father of the songfest, Gustav Ernesaks.

He's got a good seat.

In the fall, the bandshell looms like a spaceship.

The Golden Time Of Fall In Estonia

James doesn't "do" nature photography. It's just not in him. But faced with the onslaught of fall color on a recent visit to Tallin, he was compelled to record the flora in all its glorious, transient beauty.

Witnessing the change of the season, whether in a mysterious park, the carpet of dead leaves, screaming yellow in a corporate parking lot, staircases in solitude or the march of regimented trees.

Tallinn In Details

What's happening in the nooks and crannies of Tallinn, Estonia? Sly stuff.

Mysterious billboard.

Graffiti, always graffiti in Europe.

Roped-off museum.

Window details.

Road and the Gulf of Finland.