Suomenlinna: A Gem of Finland
The island of Suomenlinna looks at us from the Baltic Sea, the main one of the islands that make up the Helsinki Archipelago. The Helsinki Archipelago consists of almost 330 islands that invite the traveler to enter the nature a step away from the hustle and bustle of the city. Many inhabitants of the Finnish capital spend the weekend, or the day, in one of the islands of the Helsinki Archipelago, mainly, on the island of Suomenlinna or on the island of Seurasaari. This island gives an opportunity for you to get away from the madding crowd.
We could not travel to Helsinki without spending at least a few hours on the island of Suomenlinna. And as during our intense trip to Finland, we stopped several times in Helsinki and we had a whole day to visit the island of Suomenlinna and to enjoy the short but exciting cruise through the Helsinki Archipelago.
The island of Suomenlinna attracts us because of its natural beauty, richness of its heritage and its history. The Suomenlinna fortress is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It has sights such as bastions, canyons and tunnels, which tell us of a military past closely linked to the history of Finland. It also has 6 museums, restaurants and cafes. It is an island inhabited by almost 800 people who have the privilege of living there all year round. The island is surrounded by the beauty of the Baltic Sea and the Helsinki Archipelago.
The island of Suomenlinna is only 15 minutes by ferry from Helsinki or by water bus (only from May to September). The starting point is at the Market Square (Kauppatori), where there is a waiting room to shelter from the cold or to wait for the next ferry. The cadence is good, there are ferries every 20 minutes. It is integrated to the urban transport system of Helsinki. Tickets can be purchased in advance at the dock or at a kiosk in the Market Square. We don't need to buy them as we had the Helsinki Pass.
In summer the last ferry leaves Suomenlinna at 2 in the morning, allowing the visitor to enjoy the long days of Finland's summer. And to the travelers who have not yet lived those endless hours of light and the opportunity to enjoy the Midnight sun, so typical of the Scandinavian countries.
Do not forget to wrap up in the cold Finnish autumn
We waited for the ferry to Suomenlinna that we already see arriving from a distance, but we enter the waiting room to protect ourselves from the cold as it's an autumnal day. Of course, autumn has already been installed in Finland, even when the southern Europe still enjoys that temperate climate at the end of September.
I forgot to say that we were traveling through Finland at the end of summer and that the cold can make you feel bad. I advise the travelers who visit this Nordic country to keep warm if they plan to cruise the Helsinki Archipelago and visit the island of Suomenlinna and choosing a foreclosed traveler is better off! It's better to get warm on the ferry from Helsinki to the island of Suomenlinna
At last, We embarked on a ferry that will take us from Helsinki to the island of Suomenlinna. We were excited by the illusion of going by a boat in the Baltic, between islands and islets. Instead of going inside the ferry, we climb to the top to enjoy the show: unique panoramas of the Helsinki Archipelago that remind us of the islands that we saw from a much bigger ferry when we arrived in Finland, coming from Stockholm. The beauty of the Aland islands, located between Sweden and Finland, or the spectacular cruise through the Archipelago of Turku- the largest in the Baltic. A first contact with Finland through its sea of islands, an infatuation at the first sight.
Helsinki is moving away from us as the ferry moves towards the island of Suomenlinna. The capital of Finland looks beautiful from the waters of the Baltic, a point of view that offers us another image of the city, and gives us an idea of its size and the geography of its coastline. The coastline was rugged, winding, and beautiful. The islands and islets follow each other in front of our surprised eyes.
A few weeks later, we saw the Helsinki Archipelago from the ferry that took us to Tallinn, another unforgettable trip to spend one or some days in Estonia: from Helsinki to Tallinn in just 1 hour. I still remember the image of the island of Suomenlinna from the ferry. The fortress, the submarine-museum, the cannons, the church-lighthouse e.t.c. seen from above.
Suomenlinna is actually a maritime fortress built between 1748 and 1798 by the Swedes to protect Helsinki from the Russian threat. At that time the island was called Sveaborg. Then in 1809, when Russia incorporated Finland into its empire, the works continue and the fortress develops further. Essential for the protection of the new capital of the Duchy of Finland. The fortress changed its name in 1917, becoming Suomenlinna after the independence of Finland in 1917.
We disembarked in this unique historical monument, one of the largest military fortresses in the world. It was declared as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1991, It has lost its military condition - it was a military base and prison - and it is currently one of the most visited in Finland.
Actually, Suonmelinna is an archipelago of six islands separated by bridges. We started to follow the Blue Route, which could take us to reach the most interesting points of the island and that runs from north to south. One of the most striking view upon arrival is the church of Suonmelinna, which is also a lighthouse. The steeple was at the service of air and sea traffic, and is still active.
It is true that the morning is very cold and rainy at times, and we assumed that the 800 residents of this archipelago prefer shelter in their homes. We can find Suomenlinna with the colors of autumn, even though it is still summer. As in all of Finland, a different country can be seen in each season of the year. I imagine the winter here, the ferry from Helsinki sailing through the sea of ice to Suomenlinna, and the archipelago covered in snow. I also imagine Suonmelinna in summer, with people enjoying the islands from the beach until 2 o'clock in the morning. The midnight sun of summer, or the sunset over the frozen sea in winter, pure magic! The cold condition on the ferry invites us to take the shelter in the Museum of Suomenlinna, where we will learn more about history and life in the fortress.
We have already entered into a little warm area. We launched to see the Vesikko Submarine which impresses by its size from the outside. It was built in the 1930s and served during the Second World War. We are lucky, because it is still open, although it does not look like summer, this time is still considered as summer in Finland and it only opens at this time. The interior is not very large - especially when compared to the impressive submarine we recently visited in Tallinn - but it allows us to imagine what it would be like to dive into the Baltic waters at the time.
We went through the old dike of Suomenlinna, one of the oldest dry docks in the world and still working. It was built for the ships of the Swedish coastal fleet in the eighteenth century and is currently intended for the restoration of old ships. It would be interesting to see the workers at work, but it was not the day is to enjoy this visit.
And we get to the beach , yes, the beach!, where the Finns enjoy. It's actually a small cove, but it has its stairs and everything to go down. We are enjoying the views that there are of Helsinki, facing the Gulf of Finland and the immensity of the Baltic Sea.
We are almost in Kustaanmiekka, where you can see the original fortress of bastions, where there is a defensive line of cannons built by the Russians. We played for a while with the cannons and watched from the promenade that borders the sea, the views are fantastic, despite the gray day. We ventured through the tunnels of the bastions of the fortress, quite dark, with windows through which the sea can be seen, but the cold does not allow us to continue. It is a good day to visit a museum, this is also interesting because it tells us the history of the Finnish army both in times of war and in times of peace: the Military Museum of Suomenlinna. We spent a good time going through the very complete exhibition of the pavilion, through the different battles in which the Finnish army was immersed. We put together the pieces of the military history of Finland with other visits to museums and conversations we had during the trip, in order to build our historical map of the many wars that were experienced in this territory.
We left impressed of the Military Museum of Suonmelinna. This impressive maritime fortress is really a good place for a museum of these characteristics. We still have one of the most impressive monuments of Suonmelinna, a symbol of the archipelago: the Puerta del Rey, with its drawbridge. We then crossed the Great Courtyard, the parade ground designed by the founder of the fortress Augustin Ehrensvärd, the main square of Suonmelinna.
Our ferry back to Helsinki is about to arrive, visitors get under cover at the Visitor Center or wait outside for the arrival of the ferry. Despite the cold, we feel fortunate to have visited one of the islands of the Hensinki Archipelago, the fantastic island fortress of Suonmelinna. As we embarked on the ferry and started sailing through the Helsinki Archipelago, we looked back and imagined the sound of the ferry crossing a sea of ice in winter and also the Midnight sun in summer on Suomenlinna.