Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Since 1988, when locals sang patriotic songs here in defiance of Soviet rule, these
grounds have taken on a symbolic importance to the nation. Locals vividly recall putting
on folk costumes knitted by their grandmothers (some of whom later died in Siberia) and
coming here with masses of Estonians to sing. Overlooking the grounds from the cheap
seats is a statue of Gustav Ernesaks, who directed the Estonian National Male Choir for 50
years through the darkest times of Soviet rule. He was a power in the drive for independ-
ence, and lived to see it happen.
Cost and Hours:
Free, open long hours, bus #1A, #5, #8, #34A, or #38 to Lauluväljak
stop.
Lasnamäe Neighborhood
—In its attempt to bring Estonia into the Soviet fold, Moscow
moved tens of thousands of Russian workers into Tallinn, using the promise of new apart-
ments as an incentive. Today, two generations later, Tallinn has a huge Russian minor-
ity (about 40 percent of the city's population) and three huge, charmless suburbs of ugly,
Soviet-built apartments: Mustamäe, Õismäe, and Lasnamäe. Today, about one of every two
Tallinners lives in one of these Brezhnev-era suburbs of massive, cookie-cutter apartment
blocks (many now privatized). Seventy percent of the residents who live in Lasnamäe are
Russian-speaking. Some parts are poor, rough, and edgy (not comfortable after dark), with
blue lights in the public toilets so that junkies can't see their veins. Other sections are nicer,
and by day, you can visit here without fear.
