Being Finland’s number one tourist attraction, the island of Suomenlinna is full of visitors in the summer – but for our series of photos below, we took a glimpse at this enchanting place on a snowy day in March. There was hardly anybody around, giving the place an even more enigmatic and epic atmosphere. Enjoy!
A Bit of History
In the mid-1700s, the powerful Swedish empire built a large fortress on an island outpost of the eastern part of their kingdom. Over the decades, a huge economy developed around the fortress, spreading not just to other islands, but the mainland itself and thus the town of Helsinki became a large city.
That eastern kingdom changed hands in 1809 when Russia invaded Sweden and then later became the independent country of Finland in 1917. The fort of Suomenlinna was still being used for military operations during the Second World War, only coming under civil administration in 1973 before being declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1991.
How to Get There
Visiting the island is a simple matter of heading to Helsinki’s Market Square and jumping on the regular ferry. Seeing as people live on the island, the fare is very low and also included in standard travel passes. The journey takes less than 15 minutes.
All photos by Adam Zulawski
