FINLAND 2006 - JONIT ISSUE FINLAND - SWEDEN

 Suomenlinna – a unique attraction and World Heritage site

Suomenlinna is one of the world’s largest sea fortresses. It is located approximately 1 km outside of Helsinki and is one of Finland’s most prominent attractions. It has been on UNESCO’s list of World Heritage Sites since 1991. Today, Suomenlinna is a particularly lively part of the city and an important cultural center that is visited annually by approximately 650,000 people and has around 900 residents.

After the war with Russia during the 1700s, Sweden had lost all of the fortresses along its eastern frontier. A strong defensive post was needed and it was decided in 1747 to build a large central fortress along the channel that led into Helsinki. At that time it was the largest construction project of its kind in the Swedish kingdom and, thanks to its positioning and ingeniously constructed defense system, the fortress was supposed to be all but impenetrable.

Despite its strong fortification, Suomenlinna was only under Swedish rule for a few years. Russia captured the defensive post as early as 1808 and Suomenlinna remained a Russian garrison for just over one hundred years. The Finnish flag was finally raised in 1918. Suomenlinna was transferred from military to civil administration in 1973 at the same time as a systematic renovation and restoration project began. During the renovation, as little as possible of the construction was changed and, whenever possible, original material and working methods were used. Suomenlinna includes eight islands and 290 buildings and is home to both private residences and businesses. Many people also visit the area for its beautiful nature, which is a mixture of landscape from the Finnish archipelago and plants that were brought to the fortress over the centuries.

The Finnish booklet – Suomenlinna

Suomenlinna is an architectural memorial and a unique environment with well-preserved buildings from the 1700s and 1800s. The fortress was built by Sweden during the middle of the 1700s, but the Russians gained power in 1808. After 1918, Suomenlinna became a Finnish garrison. During the 1952 Olympic Games that were held in Helsinki, the island Långörn was a base for the Olympic sailers and the ferry M/S Suomenlinna started to run between the city and the fortress. In 1991, Suomenlinna was identifi ed as a unique memorial to military architecture and placed on UNESCO’s list of World Heritage Sites. The Finnish booklet in the joint issue is available for purchase in this edition of Bulletin.