The ghost town of Viivikonna

Recently I spent some time in the North-Eastern part of Estonia with @raili, which gave us the opportunity to visit the most famous ghost town of Estonia - Viivikonna.

While there are many smaller ghost towns in Estonia, Viivakonna is the most prominent one. The village of Viivikonna is mentioned as early as in the 18th century in the Atlas von Liefland (The Atlas of Livonia).

Built up in 1950's by German POWs as a mining town to the oil shale mines north-west of the town, according to some sources, nearly 9000 people called Viivakonna a home at the peak of the mining boom. In the mid 70's, when the mine closed, people started finding better life elsewhere, and the population has been reduced to less than a hundred. To be honest, I noticed only one or two men and maybe 4 cars in the whole town, but we did see the bus doing a quick round.

We're driving into the town from the main road. It's a crisp cold outside, with tempretures lower than -10 degrees Celsius, so we don't want to stop often. The houses pictured are all deserted.

This time though, we will be left wondering, whether the people left their furniture behind or are these houses completely empty. We see some collapsed roofs here and there...

Driving around the town, one prominent thing sticks out - there is a tower rising above the buildings and probably giving an excellent overview of entire Viivikonna. So that's where we're headed.

No door? What's this, a Rapunzel tower? Oh wait, the door is on the other side. The climb to the top doesn't look too safe and easy though.

_{A view from the bottom of the tower towards the top}

Nevertheless, it seems doable. As my girlfriend stays behind to catch me, in case I fall, i start the ascent. The first few meters have to be climbed using an old firehose, tied to a metal beam above. The landings between the rusted metal stairs higher above feel rotten so I skip over them like a fox.

After a tiring climb, I reach almost the top, yet I don't feel the safety of concrete below my feet, as it is riddled with giant holes and cracks. It feels like it's a matter of time when the tower collapses.

A few more acrobatics and I'm at the top floor. There's a metal balcony, which I am afraid to step on, but I manage to snag a few photos of the town. On the second photo, one can see 3 cars and a man chopping wood. Guess there's no central heating then...

I could climb to the roof from the balcony, but not with this cold. My clothes are already dirty with rust, I have ripped my sleeve somehow and the ladder seems... slippery. Maybe next time. Let's see what's become of this place in 2 years and in summer.

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_{Title image from pixabay}

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