Photos

This photo shows part of the Suomenlinna fortress just outside Helsinki harbour. It was taken from a passenger ship leaving Helsinki in the evening just before it passed the narrow strait of Kustaanmiekka.

Located on islands off Helsinki, Suomenlinna is a unique historical monument and one of the largest maritime fortresses in the world. Its history is closely entwined with that of Finland and the Baltic region. Helsinki can also thank Suomenlinna for its early growth and prosperity.

The construction of the sea fortress on the islands just off Helsinki in the middle of the 18th century was the most extensive building project during Swedish rule. When it was complete, its military shipyard was one of the biggest dry docks in the world and centres of know-how at that time. At the end of Swedish rule the fortress was being compared with the maritime fortifications at Gibraltar.

Suomenlinna comprises 8 islands: Kustaanmiekka, Susisaari, Iso Mustasaari, Pikku Mustasaari, Länsi-Mustasaari, Särkkä, Pormestarinluodot and Lonna. The first two are connected to eacch other by a narrow istmus.
Length of walls is about 8 km. There are 290 byuildings on the islands.

The Swedish crown commenced the construction of the fortress in 1748 as protection against Russian expansionism. The general responsibility for the fortification work was given to Augustin Ehrensvärd. The original plan of the bastion fortress was strongly influenced by the ideas of Vauban, the foremost military engineer of the time, and the principles of Star Fort style of fortification, albeit adapted to a group of rocky islands.

In addition to the island fortress itself, seafacing fortifications on the mainland would ensure that an enemy would not acquire a beach-head from which to stage attacks. The plan was also to stock munitions for the whole Finnish contingent of the Swedish Army and Royal Swedish Navy there. In the Finnish War the fortress surrendered to Russia on May 3 1808, paving the way for the occupation of Finland by Russian forces in 1809.

In 1855 during the Crimean War the Anglo-French fleet bombards the fortress, which was badly damaged. The fortress became part of an independent Finland in 1917, following the Russian Revolution and next year the fortress was given the name Suomenlinna (Finland’s Fortress). In 1919 Suomenlinna becomes a Finnish garrison. No longer very practical as a military base, Suomenlinna was turned over to civilian administration in 1973. The presence of the military on the islands has been drastically scaled down in recent decades. The Suomenlinna garrison houses the Naval Academy (Finnish: Merisotakoulu) of the Finnish Navy.

Suomenlinna is now one of the most popular tourist attractions in Helsinki as well as a popular picnicking spot for the city's inhabitants, and on a sunny summer day the islands, and in particular the ferries, can get quite crowded. A number of museums exist on the island, as well as the last surviving Finnish submarine VesikkoVesikko, which you can see on the left in the photo. Suomenlinna is also a suburb of Helsinki, with 850 people living in the renovated ramparts and barracks.

The 250-year-old fortress, which has been preserved intact because of its military use, is today part of the world heritage. In 1991 it was included in UNESCO’s World Heritage List.

In WS you can see the southernmost part of the fortrest, when tha ferry passed the narrow Kustaanmiekka strait.

Sources:
http://www.suomenlinna.fi/index.php?menuid=3〈=eng
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suomenlinna

Geocode: 60.142039,24.994669