Tallinn is a charming Baltic town that absolutely caught my heart. After gigantic Moscow, it seemed to me like a little fairy tale – its old town, the Estonian language that sounds so extremely difficult to learn… I visited my family there, and I did not photograph much, but I have realized how much I have yet to explore in the Baltic States in general. Tallinn is a little hidden nordic gem on the European continent. Not suffocating from mass tourism, it has much fresh air to breathe… The air is actually one of the purest in Europe!
Kalamaja is the most gentrified and most talked about urban area in Tallinn. Starting from the 14th century it was traditionally dominated by fishermen, fishmongers, and boat wrights. A new era began in 1870 when Tallinn was connected to Saint Petersburg by railroad, and enormous factories started to grow in this part of town. Now iconic houses, these two or three-storeyed wooden houses were built to accommodate numerous workers in the booming 20s and 30s. From the 40s Kalamaja began to fall into decline and was not a safe area, but since the 90s the area has become a hub for hipsters, designers, and artists. Many of these charming houses painted in different colors are still in urgent need of renovation, whereas others have already been gentrified.
Ira Golenkova Ferrero 