it was one of a string of soviet run prisons that used to stretch across estonia. it has quite a grim backstory. that s all history now, right? from their arrival in 1940, the soviets used prisoners here to mine and process limestone from the quarry. when estonia regained its independence in 1991, the site was abandoned and reclaimed by rising groundwater. today, it s become popular with swimmers, divers and snorkellers. so, what can you tell me about this building and what it would have been when it was a functioning prison? prisoners were working in all positions. they were working in this building, they working in the mine, where they were they were digging out the material.
but have become popular nonetheless. this is rummu. it was one of a string of soviet run prisons that used to stretch across estonia. it s got quite a grim backstory. that s all history now, right? from their arrival in 1940, the soviets used prisoners here to mine and process limestone from the quarry. when estonia regained its independence in 1991, the site was abandoned and reclaimed by rising groundwater. today, it s become popular with swimmers, divers and snorkellers. so, what can you tell me about this building and what it would have been when it was a functioning prison? prisoners were working in all positions.
but for the rest of us, it s mainly the place we can spend summertime or enjoy the water because it s really warm and it s really good visibility here and we can see everything inside. i really love being here in the water. sigrid has genuine affection for rummu. she wants to preserve it and stop it falling into the hands of developers. this could be considered as having a very strong association with the soviet period. do you think that these sorts of places should be preserved or taken down? that depends on the place and it depends on the monument maybe, because most of them have been taken down already. maybe the ones that we can use for the future to have the place to go, to see some pieces some pieces of history, they should stay where they are. estonia is at a crossroads.
preserving the remember the history. so it is preserving the history, - remember the history. so it is preserving the history, not. preserving the history, not celebrating the ideology. absolutely right.- celebrating the ideology. absolutel riiht. , , absolutely right. these spaces are beini absolutely right. these spaces are being lovingly absolutely right. these spaces are being lovingly restored. i are being lovingly restored. money and hard work has been spent to make them attractive. some have not had the treatment but have become popular nonetheless. this is rumour, one of a string of soviet run prisons that used to stretch across estonia and has quite a grim back story, it s all his dinner, right? it s all history now. from the arrival in 1940s, the soviets used prisoners here to mine and process life cycle from the quarry rummu limestone. when estonia regained its independence in 1991 the site was abandoned and reclaimed by rising groundwater. today, it s become po
such a striking colour that some call it the blue lagoon . i think the most precious places here is the visibility. as you see today, we can see almost, like, five, six metres four, for sure and every time i go diving here, i see something new. there s a complicated legacy of this place, given its history? i think the persons that were staying in this prison, for sure, they don t want to come back here. but for the rest of us, it s mainly the place we can spend summertime or enjoy the water because it s really warm and it s really good visibility here and we can see everything inside. i really love being here in the water. sigrid has genuine affection for rummu. she wants to preserve it and stop it falling