Suomenlinna Fortress: Impressive ‘Castle Of Finland’ Has Rich History

Ellen Lloyd - AncientPages.com - The Suomenlinna fortress is just as impressive as rich in history. Built in 1747 by Sweden on a group of islands located at the entrance of Helsinki's harbor, the fortress's original name of the fortress was Sveaborg.

Several historic events have shaped the landscape and the architecture of the fortress. The fortress stretches over six separate islands, covering an area of 210 ha, consisting of 200 buildings and 6 km of defensive walls.  The construction of the fortress was supervised by the Swedish Admiral Augustin Eherensvärd (1710-1772).

It has served to defend three different sovereign states over the years: the Kingdom of Sweden, the Russian Empire, and most recently, the Republic of Finland.

Suomenlinna Fortress was also known as Viapori, the Finnish translation, until 1918 when it became Finnish property and its name was changed to the present one.

During the Swedish period, Viapori was considered vital in terms of defence, especially with Sweden’s declining power and in an atmosphere of increased Russian imperialism.

The purpose of the fortress was originally to defend the Kingdom of Sweden against the Russian Empire and to serve as a fortified army base, complete with a dry dock.

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