Seaplane Harbour (Estonian Maritime Museum)
Maritime museum inside 1917 seaplane hangars with pioneering thin-shell concrete domes.
Seaplane Harbour occupies three linked hangars built in 1916-1917 for the Russian Empire's naval air arm as part of the Peter the Great Naval Fortress. The Danish contractor Christiani & Nielsen erected them with reinforced concrete shell domes that carry their loads without internal columns, an early and much-studied example of thin-shell construction. The hangars stood derelict for decades before a restoration and conversion by KOKO arhitektid opened them as a branch of the Estonian Maritime Museum in May 2012.
The column-free interior allows exhibits to be hung at three levels, in the air, at ground level and below a simulated waterline. Centrepieces include the submarine Lembit, built in Britain in 1936 for the Estonian navy, a replica of a Short Type 184 seaplane and a century-old steam icebreaker moored outside. Displays cover navigation, mine warfare, diving and everyday seafaring, with interactive simulators. The adjoining harbour basin holds historic vessels, and the museum's second site is the Fat Margaret tower in the Old Town.
Highlights
- 1917 hangars with column-free reinforced concrete shell domes
- Submarine Lembit, built in 1936 for the Estonian navy
- Exhibits displayed in the air, at ground level and below the waterline
- Historic vessels moored in the harbour basin outside
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