On Saturday, my last day in Estonia, I went on a day trip to Narva on the Russian border, visiting some of the Soviet towns en route. In 1940, Estonia was invaded by the Russians and became part of the Soviet Union. During the war they were invaded by Germany and then recaptured by the Russians - a time of great suffering to all the population. After the war, intensive industralisation took place in Estonia with the mining of oil rich shale and some uranium. In the late 1980s Communism began to unravel as Estonia fought for its independence. Russia recognized Estonian independence on 6 September 1991 and the last Russian troops left the country in 1994. In 2005, Estonia joined the EU.
It wasn't a photographic tour and the minibus had tinted and very dirty windows so I couldn't get any photos of the impressive factory complex and ash hills of Kohtla-Järve though we did stop to look at the 1952 Cultural centre (images 1 and 2). We had time to explore the amazing Stalinist architecture in Sillamäe (images 3,4,5,and 6) and a very brief visit to a nearby ghost town (images 7 and 8). We looked at the 19th century Kreenholm factory complex in Narva before exploring the Russian border and Narva Castle.
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