Tallinn ARS plate from 1979/1980
Tallinn ARS plate from 1979/1980
This hand-painted and gilded plate is another fragment of the Estonian history. It's design was approved for production in the pre-olympic year, 1979, and reminds us about 1980 Olympic regatta held in Tallinn, Estonia.
Width: 20 cm
Historical context:
Almost 50 years later, you can still witness the impact of Olympic regatta taking place in Tallinn, Estonia. You can spot here the prominent reminders of developments made for the occasion, these reminders are the Tallinn Olympic Yachting Center, the TV-tower, port terminal, Hotel Olümpia and Tallinn Airport.
In five years after decision to host regatta in Tallin was made, more than 50 projects were developed in Tallinn and over 200 million rubles were spent for the development of the city infrastructure. The budget also allowed for plenty of elegant restaurants, cultural objects, and museums to be built or renovated. 436 house facades were renovated around Tallinn. Thanks to a innovative seabed collector, Tallinn bay was cleaned, and the people of Pirita and Viimsi got an adequate road home with a fortified shoreline.
Every Estonian was able to work on preparations for the Olympics, for example schoolgirls from Viljandi were assigned to clean windows in Tallinn. They were wearing their finest clothes - they got the chance to go to the capital.
In protest of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, 66 invited countries did not participate in the Olympic Games, most notably the United States after president Jimmy Carter received support from the United States Olympic Committee to boycott the Games.
Eventually, only 23 countries took part in the regatta, with representatives from Brazil, Finland, Spain, Denmark and the Soviet Union winning gold in six disciplines.