Estonia, 1975: the 18th Festival della Canzone (Üldlaulupidu) presso il “Campo del Canto” di Tallinn (Tallinna lauluväljak), an open–air auditorium built in 1959. In 1987, Estonians gathered here to sing patriotic hymns, in the so–called “Singing Revolution” that led to the overthrow of Soviet rule. (photo: © 1975 Novosti news agency, Moscow – personal collection)
Port of Tallinn, 1975
The port of Tallinn, capital of Estonia, in a 1975 picture. On the foreground one can see the bell tower of the St. Olaf’s Church. The tower is 124 meters tall, it is one of the tallest tower in Europe and a symbol of Tallinn. At that time (and for the whole soviet period, 1944-1991) the church was closed and the Soviet KGB used it as …
Ashgabat Hotel, early 70s
Ashgabat, capital of Turkmenistan, in a early 70s picture. A GAZ-21 Volga (1962 model) passes next to the “Ashgabat” Hotel, built in 1969 in a modernist/brutalist style by drawings of Soviet architets A. Akhmedov, F. Aliyev, V. Vysotin, V. Kutomov. (photo: © 1975 Novosti news agency, Moscow – personal collection)
Surveying in Karakum
A young Turkmen surveyor holding a level staff in 1975, during construction of the Karakum Canal, across the Karakum Desert. The level staff (aka ‘leveling rod’) is a graduated rod, used with a surveying or levelling instrument to determine distances and differences in height. Built between 1954 and 1988 under the Soviet administration, the Karakum Canal is one of the largest irrigation and water supply …
Sevan Island, Armenia 1970s
Lake Sevan is the largest body of water in Armenia and the Caucasus region. In this 1975 picture one can see the promontory where is the medieval monastery of Sevanavank: it is called “Sevan Island” because in origin this was actually an island. It became a promontory when the Soviet administration decided to artificially lower the water level by 45 meters to reduce evaporation, …
Building of Nurek dam, 1975
1975, building site of the hydroelectric power plant in Nurek, Tajikistan. Built between 1961 and 1979 on the Vakhsh river, the earth-fill embankment dam of Nurek is the second tallest dam in the world (the tallest one is Jinping-I Dam, in China). The sign on the building read “СССР”, however this is actually Cyrillic and should read “SSSR”: it is …
