Legend
The pirates' inn at Sillamäe
Sillamäe mereröövlite kõrts
The first news of Sillamäe dates from 1502, when Danish knights landed on the shore of Narva Bay and visited the Thor Bruggen inn, which stood with its bridge over the Sõtke river on the trade road to Narva; old documents often called the place simply 'the bridge', and the name later became Sillamäggi, Bridge Hill. Legend says the inn by the river mouth, where merchant ships landed, had been founded by Scandinavian pirates. Peter I later had the shore surveyed as a possible harbour, and in Soviet times the town vanished from maps as a closed uranium-industry site.
Open it on the map See the spot on the old maps and as it is today
Eesti keeles
Esimesed teated Sillamäest pärinevad 1502. aastast, mil Taani rüütlid maabusid Narva lahe kaldal ja külastasid Thor Bruggeni kõrtsi, mis seisis koos sillaga üle Sõtke jõe Narva kaubateel; vanades ürikutes nimetati kohta sageli lihtsalt sillaks ja hiljem sai sellest Sillamäggi. Legendi järgi rajasid kõrtsi kaubalaevade maabumiskohta jõesuudmesse skandinaavia mereröövlid. Peeter I laskis hiljem randa uurida kui võimalikku sadamakohta ning nõukogude ajal kadus linn kinnise uraanitööstuse paigana kaardilt.