Short History

Suomenlinna was designed to protect Sweden’s interests³ in the Baltic Sea against Russian expansion towards the west. Work began in 1748 and was led by Augustin Ehrensvärd. By the end of the century Suomenlinna had more inhabitants than Helsinki itself at that time. In the year 1808 Suomenlinna was surrounded by Russian troops as part of a war between Sweden and Russia. The fortress quickly surrendered without a proper fight. This surrender lowered the morale of the other groups and the whole of Finland was occupied by Russians.

During the Russian period the fortress also experienced it’s only proper battle: during 1855 a large Anglo-French fleet bombed Suomenlinna for several days as part of the Crimean War. Heavy damage was caused, but this time the defenders didn’t surrender.

After Finnish independence in 1918 the area was handed over to new nation’s army. After the civil war the fortress was used for a year as a prison camp and later as a garrison. Technical development quickly reduced the fortresses military importance and in the year 1973 Suomenlinna was handed over to civil government.

What Suomenlinna is today?

Suomenlinna consists of 8 islands with land area of 80 hectares. The fortress’ wall length is about 8 kilometres and there are 290 buildings within the fortress. Today Suomenlinna is a home for 850 and workplace for 400 people year round. It hosts several cafes, restaurants, museums, a shop and even a summer theatre. To put it shortly, at a same time Suomenlinna is all of these: a home, a major tourist attraction, work place and one of the most popular recreational areas among the people living in Helsinki.

How to get there

Its an island so most of the time⁴ you’ll have to use the boat that leaves from the market square. During winter it runs once or twice every hour and during summer it runs twice an hour from early morning until late in the evening.

Suomenlinna, all you need for a summer day in Helsinki

Helsinki, like any other capital, has numerous “have to see” places. If your time is limited just remember that everything else can dropped from your list, but not Suomenlinna. Simply head to buy picnic accessories, food shop at the ground floor of Stockman department store is a good choice. Don’t worry, it is not as expensive as it looks and you can get practically anything from there. Then head for the market square and have a cup of coffee, tea or anything while watching both the tourists and locals do their shopping. Then simply board the ferry to Suomenlinna.

After docking in Suomenlinna, just start walking, but please remember that if something looks like a private home it probably is. Locals are proud of their home island and generally like tourists as long as these don’t pop in from their backdoor. Visit the museums, exhibitions or simply admire one of the few spots in Helsinki that architects haven’t managed to destroy. Walls and cannons form an excellent playground for kids. If you like wooden boats and ships the Suomenlinna shipyard is the place for you.

When you start feeling hungry just start picnicking, if the day is warm and you choose to sit on the shores, just remember that very large ships go through the narrow strait of Kustaanmiekka and if you’re not alert you and your meal can be washed into the sea by the waves. Same goes for swimming, basically it is ok as long as you don’t swim in the fairway of Kustaanmiekka. If the day is windier you can still find good spots protected by the walls. Current Finnish law allows outdoor drinking if its not disturbing anyone⁵.

After you have had enough outdoor life, why not head for “Kotiharjun sauna”⁶ , the last wood heated public sauna left in Helsinki. District of Kallio has also the largest concentration of small pubs and bars in Finland. Most of them are by no means trendy, but they work as an excellent starting point for a pub crawl back to the city centre.