Suomenlinna: Helsinki’s World Heritage Site

Suomenlinna Basics

Suomenlinna is an 18th-Century fortress and UNESCO World Heritage Site built on six of Helsinki’s 315 islands. Five of the six islands are interconnected by a footbridge, but Suomenlinna can only be reached from the mainland by ferry or water taxi.

The ferry runs year-round and will be how most people travel to the fortress. The Suomenlinna ferry is part of the Helsinki public transit system and the same passes that will get you onto the trams, buses, and metro will work here too; the ferry is included on the Helsinki Card as well and wins my recommendation if you’re staying in the city for more than a few days. You can also purchase individual tickets from machines on the dock or the nearby ticket kiosk.

The water taxis only run during the summer months and they can whisk you away to several of the smaller islands, but note that they are run by a private company and require special tickets that can be purchased onboard. If you plan on doing a significant amount of island-hopping, go to the Helsinki tourist office and ask them about the most efficient and cost-effective ways to get around.

It is possible to stay on Suomenlinna; there’s even a hostel in a former barracks turned Russian primary school, but most of the lodging options are on the pricey side, even for Helsinki. The ferry only takes 15-20 minutes to reach the mainland and it runs fairly frequently during the day, but it doesn’t run 24 hours, so keep that in mind if you choose to stay here or even visit the fortress in the evening. In the 1980’s, tunnels were burrowed out to the islands, bringing electricity, filtered water, and steam heat to the properties there.

Food on the islands is extremely overpriced. There are several restaurants and a grocery store, but it’s a much better idea to bring some food over with you on the ferry. Suomenlinna is a popular picnic spot for locals on the weekend, so follow their lead and grab some grub at the waterfront market before making the journey over.

You hear some visitors erroneously refer to the islands themselves as Suomenlinna, but that’s only the name of the fortress; there’s a lot more to the individual islands than the historical site. Nearly 800 people still live on the islands and another 350 commute there for work each day. There are several residential areas that tourists are requested not to visit. Also, respect these areas by not photographing them without permission from the locals. It’s great to come to enjoy the fortress, but make sure you’re also mindful of the inhabitants who dwell there too.

Suomenlinna can become very crowded, very quickly. The six museums on the islands don’t open until between 10-11:00, but the bastions of the fortress are free and open 24/7. There’s no need to head over on a 6:00 ferry, but arriving by 8:00 will ensure that you have the place almost to yourself for an hour or two before the masses descend. By the time I hopped a ferry back from the mainland after lunch, the streets were packed and impossible to navigate.

Suomenlinna’s History

In the early 18th Century, tensions between Russia and Sweden, the latter of which Finland was a part, began to increase. The Swedish Navy wanted an outpost near St. Petersburg and in 1748 construction of the fortress, known as Sveaborg in Swedish, began. A town sprung up around the military installation and Sveaborg became one of the largest settlements in Helsinki.

In 1808, Sweden and Russia went to war and Russia emerged victorious, annexing Finland as a Grand Duchy and claiming Sveaborg as a military base that they would utilize for the next 110 years. During the Crimean War in 1855, the French and British Navies heavily bombarded the fortress. Though the Russian base was never seized, immense damage was sustained and had to later be repaired.

Finland declared independence in 1917 and in one year’s time they were in control of the islands and had renamed Sveaborg, Suomenlinna, meaning “Finnish Castle.” After the Finnish Civil War, Suomenlinna was used as a prison, and even today there is a minimum security penal colony whose members are tasked with keeping the islands clean and restoring the historic landmark. The site has been UNESCO-listed since 1991.

The Museums of Suomenlinna

If you’ve been reading my posts you know that I’m a self-proclaimed museum junkie, so it rather pains me to say that of the six museums within Suomenlinna, only two are worth visiting. The Vesikko Submarine was actually used by the Finnish Navy during WWII when the fortress acted as an impromptu submarine base. The submarine has been refurbished and turned into a museum. The interior makes for a quick visit and is definitely not for the claustrophobic, but kids seemed pretty into it.

The real gem is the Suomenlinna Museum, which details the history of the islands, fortress, and people who built it. There are a series of stunning aerial photographs of the islands taken throughout the seasons. They help put Suomenlinna’s location in geographic perspective to mainland Helsinki. It was wild for this summer-time visitor to see Helsinki’s waterways covered with snow and ice.

Kustaanmiekka

Kustaanmiekka, the southern most island of Suomenlinna, is home to the original bastions of the fortress. Cannons line the pathways that provide stunning views of the mainland and surrounding islands of Helsinki. The ramparts lead down to King’s Gate, the original entrance to the fortress and a stop on the water taxi route. The original ramparts were built during the Crimean War, but the post-war reconstruction dates the current ramparts to the 1880s.

Although the bastions seemingly appear to be a roam-around-free-for-all, it’s important to stick to designated pathways. Overtourism has wrecked havoc on the World Heritage site and emergency renovation and stabilization efforts are underway. According to signs around Kustaanmiekka, the weight of so many footsteps has caused the ground to crack and water has leaked into the sand layers of the ramparts. It’s a reminder that we always need to be aware of the toll human’s take on this planet.

Even though Suomenlinna has not been used as a military facility since 1973 when the fortress was officially turned over to the Ministry of Culture, it still flies the military flag rather than the national flag to honor its heritage.

I brought my journal out to the islands with me, and the benches along the rampart pathway are the perfect spot for some morning meditation and writing. Despite living on the island of Manhattan myself, the sound of water lapping against the piers is drowned out by the traffic and helicopters above. The tranquility of Suomenlinna allows your senses to take in all the sounds of the sea, so I’ll leave you with these images that stretch from the shore to mainland Helsinki…