The history of Rocca al Mares began in 1863, when the Tallinn Mayor Baron Arthur Girard de Soucanton (1813-1884) had a summer house built in 1863. The Italian friend called the property after a lying off the Baltic Sea coast rocks Rocca al Mare. Around his summer villa he set up a large park.
From May 1957, the Tallinn City Council had Rocca al Mare create a large open-air museum for Estonian land culture. In 1964, the Estonian Open Air Museum was officially opened. Today it has an area of 84 hectares. The open-air museum presents old Estonian manors, farmhouses, fishermen's lodgings and windmills from all regions of Estonia. The 79 buildings show rural everyday life and the Estonian rural culture from 1750 to the beginning of the 20th century with numerous equipment and inventory.
Main attractions are the court of Sassi-Jaani with the typical Estonian Riegenwohnung (rehielamu) from 1766/67, several historic windmills, the fishing yard of Aarte from the end of the 19th century and the tavern of Kõlu (Kõlu kõrts, 1842-46).
In addition to many other original preserved houses and some exhibition rooms are a wooden chapel from the western Sutlepa (Sutlepa cable), a school (Kuie koolimaja, 1887), traditional Estonian country swings (kiigud), smoke saunas and a spray house (pritsikuur, 1928) issued.
Wikipedia