Kalamaja ( Estonian for ''Fish House''; german: Fischermay) is a subdistrict of the district of

Põhja-Tallinn Põhja-Tallinn (Estonian for ''"Northern Tallinn"'') is one of the 8 administrative districts ( et, linnaosa) of Tallinn, the capital of Estonia. Subdistricts Põhja-Tallinn is divided into 9 subdistricts ( et, asum): Kalamaja, Karjamaa, Kelm ...

(Northern Tallinn) in

Tallinn Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju ' ...

, the capital of

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

. It is located just northwest of the historical town centre, on the coast of the

Tallinn Bay Tallinn Bay ( et, Tallinna laht) is a bay in Estonia on the southern coast of the Gulf of Finland. The Estonian capital city Tallinn is located on the southern coast of the bay. Tallinn Bay itself is divided into several parts: Tallinn Roadste ...

. Kalamaja has a population of 9,820 (). Kalamaja is one of the best preserved wooden architecture areas in Tallinn and Estonia. The quiet neighbourhood has long been known for its colourful hodgepodge of old fashioned, working class houses. Throughout most of Tallinn's history Kalamaja served as the city's main fishing harbour. Starting from the 14th century the area was traditionally dominated by fishermen, fishmongers and boat wrights. A new era began in 1870, when Tallinn was connected to

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

by railroad. The Tallinn railway station (

Balti jaam Baltic Station ( et, Balti jaam) is the main railway station in Tallinn, Estonia. All local commuter, long-distance and international trains depart from the station. The station has seven platforms, of which two are situated apart from the res ...

), was built between Kalamaja and the city centre. Suddenly enormous factories started to sprout up in this part of town, and they brought with them an influx of thousands of new workers. The wooden houses, which have become Kalamaja's architectural legacy, were built to accommodate these workers. Most of the Kalamaja's main sightseeings are located on the coast of Kalamaja. In 2011 a former railway embankment was converted into a walking trail called "Culture Kilometre" (''Kultuurikilomeeter''). The walk-way starts next to the Tallinn harbour passes the Creative Hub (''Kultuurikatel''), continues past the historic

Patarei Prison Patarei Prison ( Estonian: ''Patarei vangla''), also known as Patarei Sea Fortress and Tallinn Central Prison (''Tallinna Keskvangla''), commonly known as The Battery (''Patarei''), is a building complex in Kalamaja district of Tallinn, Estonia. ...

and Sea Fortress, the region's biggest sea centre Seaplane Harbour (''Lennusadam'') and ends at the end of Kalamaja park on Tööstuse street. In 2015, the former ''Kultuurikilomeeter'' was converted into a street, which quickly became one of the defining streets of the neighbourhood.

Kalamaja cemetery

Kalamaja was the location of the oldest

cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a buri ...

in Tallinn, known as Kalamaja cemetery ( et, Kalamaja kalmistu, german: Fischermay Kirchhof) which was founded in the 15th or 16th century. The cemetery was flattened in 1964, during the second

occupation of the Baltic states The Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania were invaded and occupied in June 1940 by the Soviet Union, under the leadership of Stalin and auspices of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact that had been signed between Nazi Germany and the Soviet ...

, by

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

authorities who used the area of Kalamaja as a base for the

Soviet Armed Forces The Soviet Armed Forces, the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union and as the Red Army (, Вооружённые Силы Советского Союза), were the armed forces of the Russian SFSR (1917–1922), the Soviet Union (1922–1991), and th ...

.Rein Taagepera, ''Estonia: Return to Independence'', Westview Press 1993, , page 189

Gallery

File:Patarei Prison, Tallinn.jpg, Former Patarei Prison File:Tallinn airplane hangars2.JPG, Seaplane hangars from 1916–1917, part of Peter the Great's Naval Fortress, now housing the Estonian Maritime Museum. File:Tallinn, baptistide Kalju-koguduse palvela.jpg, The baptist prayer-house on Kalju street. File:Tallinn, Kalamaja kalmistu värav-kellatorn, 1780 (2).jpg, A gate-belltower on the Kalamaja cemetery. File:Ilmarise kvartal.jpg, Newer apartment buildings in the Ilmarise quarter near the Vanalinn, Old town. File:Tallinn-kalamaja-linda-2009-07-16.JPG, File:Near_Tallinn_train_station.jpg, File:Adam Johann von Krusensterni väljak (vaade rannast) -20190327.jpg, Adam Johann von Krusenstern Square

External links

Kalamaja Information Page
*[http://www.estonianfreepress.com/2010/06/a-different-saturday-discovering-tallinn-fish-market Discovering Tallinn Fish Market]
Kalamaja blog

Patarei Prison - Culture Park

References

{{Authority control Subdistricts of Tallinn

Kalamaja cemetery

Gallery

See also

External links

References