Rocca al Mare – Old Estonia, Folk Estonia

Rocca al Mare, a Western sub-district of Tallinn, is mostly covered by the Estonian Open Air Museum. The museum is a complete reconstruction of an 18th-century village with farmyards, church, school, mills, fire station and of course an inn 🙂 Over the area of 79 hectares of land Rocca al Mare showcases 68 farmhouses assembled into twelve farms from all the Estonia. Like in many other European countries, an inspiration to establish Rocca al Mare came from Swedish „Skansen” – a first open-air museum of this type, built on Djurgården near Stockholm.

Museum represents an overview of Estonian traditional architecture of the past two centuries. The Estonian farmhouse has a unique architectural style that differs from similar buildings in neighboring countries. The buildings were often divided into three sections: the threshing floor room, the kiln room and the dwelling chamber. The last one was used as s residence during the winter. During summer season people often slept in hay lofts and store rooms. The kiln room was the only heated room and all indoor activities were carried out there. During the autumn it was used to dry grain.

In Italian „rocca al mare” means „rock (cliff) by the sea”. The name was given by the owner of the place, who purchased it in 1863.

And of course photos from the inn. How could I forget?! 😉

Rocca al Mare is easily accessible from the main train station by bus no. 21 and 21B. Besides exposition, this open air museum offers horse rides, bicycle rent, nature trail and more. It also does not sleep during the Winter. It just lives in a slightly more peaceful rhythm. A list of winter season events can be found here.