Estonian Open Air Museum, Tallinn (must see)

The Estonian Open Air Museum is essentially a full-scale recreation of a rural and fishing village that existed during the 18th and 19th centuries. This reconstruction encompasses various structures like a church, tavern, schoolhouse, several mills, a fire station, twelve farmyards, and net sheds. Additionally, it includes a relatively new apartment building from the 20th century, which was designed in the Soviet kolkhoz style, and a modern prefabricated wooden house built in 2019. The entire site covers an expansive 72 hectares (equivalent to 180 acres) of land. The arrangement of farmyards and historical public buildings on the premises provides visitors with a comprehensive view of Estonian architectural traditions spanning the past two centuries from various regions of Estonia.

You can find this museum approximately 8 kilometers (about 5.0 miles) west of the Tallinn city center in a place called Rocca al Mare. Interestingly, the concept of establishing this museum dates back to 1913 when Estonian intellectuals, inspired by similar open-air museums in Scandinavia, began discussing the idea of creating one in Estonia. However, it took several decades for this vision to become a reality, and the museum was officially founded in 1957, opening its doors to the public in 1964.

Among its diverse exhibits, the Sutlepa Chapel from the Noarootsi Swedish church stands as the oldest, with records dating back to 1670. On the other end of the spectrum, the most contemporary exhibit is a prefabricated wooden house constructed on-site in 2019. Additionally, in 2021, the museum introduced its latest exhibit, a kolkhoz apartment building from the 1960s that was transported from Southern Estonia, originally used by a former collective farm.