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Linnahall

Shutterstock / kavalenkau

Tallinn, Estonia - 18 October, 2015: The old Soviet sports and cultural complex Linnahall on the shores of the Baltic Sea in Tallinn. A sample of the monumental building in the Soviet Union.; Shutterstock ID 332348396; Your name (First / Last): Gemma Graham; GL account no.: 65050; Netsuite department name: Online Editorial; Full Product or Project name including edition: BiT Destination Page Images

Resembling a cross between a nuclear bunker, a WWII sea-fort and some inscrutable temple to a vanished god, the Linnahall is in fact a covered concrete arena built for the 1980 Olympics. Originally the Lenin Palace of Culture and Sport, it's an extraordinary structure – rotting, barred, weed-strewn and comprehensively graffitied. Heritage-listed and badly decayed as it is, it's now earmarked for restoration as a concert and convention venue, and has been recently fenced off to keep out the curious.

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