Surely one of the creepiest buildings in all of Estonia, this former sea fortress and prison has a chilling history as a place of incarceration, brutality and oppression. Part of it is now open as a kind of eccentric art project, with graffiti and installations in some of the mouldering cells. Guided tours can also be booked which explore other sections of the 4-hectare complex.
Built as a sea fortress in 1840 under the Russian tsars (the name means 'battery'), Paterei initially served as an army barracks – although from the outset it was a damp, uncomfortable place to be stationed. It was first used as a prison in 1920 following Estonian independence, but it gained its notoriety during the Soviet and German occupations. Numerous people were brutally interrogated and executed here, including 250 French Jews killed by the Nazis who are remembered by a simple memorial stone near the southern entrance.
At the other end of the complex a sign points to the 'hanging room', where a hook in the ceiling and trapdoor in the floor are the only explanations necessary. The last execution took place in Patarei in 1991, right at the end of Soviet rule, although the prison remained operational until 2002. Since then it's been left to languish and it's quickly deteriorating.
The current 'cultural park' is perhaps the least offensive attempt thus far to put Patarei to a new use – although one has to question whether the beach bar behind the barbed wire is in good taste.
