The principal feature of the dispersed Estonian History Museum's Maarjamäe History Centre is the restored 19th-century Maarjamäe Palace, now a museum. An ornate, neo-Gothic limestone palace built in1874 for a Russian count, it's been sensitively restored, and houses the permanent exhibition 'My Free Country', focusing on Estonia in the 20th century and celebrating its 2018 centenary. More fun and interactive is the 'Children's Republic'. The other two components of the complex are the Film Museum and Maarjamäe Stables.
A particularly beautiful Socialist realist mural entitled Friendship of Nations covers the walls of the palace's banqueting hall, featuring triumphant factory workers, peasants, cosmonauts and an apparition of Lenin’s face among the red flags. When this was unveiled in 1987, it’s clear that nobody foresaw the dramatic events of the subsequent few years.
