MYSTERIOUS
SILLAMÄE

The opening of the exhibition “Mysterious Sillamäe” will be on March 12, 2024.

Sillamäe was a closed city in the Estonian SSR, but that’s just one of the many faces of Sillamäe. The new permanent exhibition at the Sillamäe Museum consists of two interconnected parts:

• The permanent exhibition connecting the historical layers of Sillamäe in the museum’s first-floor exhibition hall. Here, an overview of the area’s formation and development will be presented from its first mention to the present day.
• The second part of the exhibition is located in a newly established outdoor area. In a seemingly idyllic setting from the early 1950s, black boxes conceal the hidden secrets of a totalitarian regime.

All this and much more worth exploring awaits you at SASIMU!

You enter what seems to be an idyllic recreational area from the early 1950s. Here you’ll find a children’s play area called Sun City with a variety of attractions. There’s a cozy pavilion offering shade on hot summer days. From vintage vending carts, you can buy pies, lemonade, or refreshing ice cream. Amidst this idyllic scene are two black boxes, hiding the secrets of a totalitarian regime.

Educational Programme: 6 EUR per student

SASIMU offers various educational activities for children from different age groups!

• Sense of Place (adaptable for various age groups)

How are the images of countries and cities formed? What is crucial in their formation? This educational programme uses the example of the city of Sillamäe to explore how we perceive a place and its changing image over time.

• The World I Want to Live In (stage 3 of basic school, secondary school)

The educational program is based on the Virtual Reality program “Dystopia” and seeks answers to questions about how countries are governed and what ideologies and forms of governance exist.

• The World of Atoms (stage 3 of basic school, secondary school)

The educational program is based on the VR program “The World of Atoms” and introduces the secrets of the atom and its nucleus in virtual reality.

• Healthy Body, Healthy Mind (adaptable for various age groups)

With this museum lesson, we invite students to engage in outdoor activities. We explore games and exercises from the past.

To book educational programmes, please contact:

Ph.: +372 392 4168
E-mail: silmuuseum@gmail.com

Guided tour 40 EUR (60 min) + ticket price.

Guided City tour 50 EUR

Opening Week Program for the Exhibition “Mysterious Sillamäe”

The development of a new, incredibly powerful bomb began in the Soviet Union under the utmost secrecy during the days of the Second World War. This required vast amounts of uranium, and every possible opportunity promising progress in this field was seized upon. In the big black box, you will learn why Sillamäe became a closed city during the Soviet era. Here, you’ll also uncover the secrets of the atomic world. Imagine you’re standing in the world’s biggest sphere and a little fly is showing you the secrets of the nucleus. Even better, come to SASIMU and in our virtual reality programme you won’t need to imagine anything.

In SASIMU, you’re inside the atom!

In 1920, the writer Yevgeny Zamyatin completed his novel “We”. The story is set in a totalitarian future society called the One State, ruled by the Benefactor, who provides a semblance of security and well-being to the subjects, but denies them freedom. All citizens in the state are identified by a number instead of a name. In the city where people have become mere numbers, they live in strictly identical rooms with glass walls. Each person is allowed only 2 hours of personal time per day. Everything is controlled and monitored.

Come and explore the One State virtually, discovering whether this is truly a dystopia or if this way of life is already present.