Sveaborg Finland. Sveaborg (Suomenlina) - “The most famous landmark of Helsinki is the sea fortress of Sveaborg. Russian cannons, bastions, grottoes, tunnels and much more.” Memorial plate in honor of V. G. Belinsky

The ferry company Moby PSL, which operates the Princess Anastasia ferry on the line St. Petersburg - Helsinki - Tallinn - Stockholm - St. Petersburg, also organizes excursions to the sights of Finland, Estonia and Sweden. One of the most popular is an excursion to the Suomenlinna Fortress near Helsinki.

Advantages of a ferry excursion

Let us remind you that in 2017, the Princess Anastasia ferry underwent a major renovation, choosing an Italian theme for the interior design, content of services and restaurant menus. In 2018, during the off-season, certain changes were also made, in particular, the design of the restaurant was completely changed, and many Italian dishes were added to the menu.

The list of group and individual excursions in the cities to which the ship arrives. This sightseeing tours, which are in special demand, as well as thematic and individual. Important nuance: excursion groups have priority exit from the ferry.

You can purchase excursions in several ways:
— online at stpeterline.com;
— in St. Petersburg at the sales office at the Marine Station (Morskaya Glory Square, 1);
— directly on board the ferry.

Cost of excursion to Suomenlinna Fortress:
Adults: 28 euros
Children from 7 to 12 years old accompanied by adults: 16 euros.

Like ferry tickets, excursions are best purchased in advance.

Sveaborg Fortress (in Swedish), also known as Suomenlinna (in Finnish), which is included in the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Some visitors draw parallels between Sveaborg and St. Petersburg. However, the only things they have in common are bastions and casemates.

Founded at the end of the 18th century, the sea fortress of Suomenlinna is much larger, located on several islands, has its own post office, school and, of course, houses for permanent residence. There is even a dry dock on the territory of the fortress, where various vessels, including sailboats, are repaired and simply parked. The houses on the island are mostly private, but the land is state owned. In general, this is an independent district of Helsinki with a population of about 800 people.

The fortress is open to visitors all year round.
— from May 2 to September 30 it is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.;
- from October 1 to April 30 - from 10 to 16 hours.

Entrance to the fortress is free, you only need to pay when visiting museums, of which there are quite a lot:
— Suomenlinna Museum;
— Ehrensvärd Museum (founder and first commandant of the Sveaborg fortress);
— toy museum in Suomenlinna;
— military museum;
- submarine "Vesikko";
— customs museum.

How to get to Suomenlinna

Since the fortress is located on the islands, the only way there is by ferry. Tickets for it can be purchased at retail space Helsinki, at the terminal where small ferries depart to the island.

A single pass is convenient because you can use all types of transport, including ferries to the island where the fortress is located. This is a daily travel ticket that is valid on trams, metro, buses, commuter trains Helsinki and by ferry to Suomenlinna. You can also buy it for up to 7 days at R-kioski kiosks, large department stores, ticket machines and HSL service points.

During the summer season, ferries run every 15 minutes, starting at 6 am and ending at 02:20 am.

The ferry from Helsinki city center to Suomenlinna has both indoor and outdoor decks. On a fine spring or summer day, you can choose the upper, open deck, which offers wonderful views of the bay and nearby islands. To be fair, it should be noted that it can be quite chilly, so take warm clothes with you. In principle, it should be taken for any sea ​​walks, especially in windy Helsinki.
In the warm salon you can admire the views by the window open water, numerous ice floes and warm up from the stoves located along the inner side of the ferry.

Just twelve minutes after departure, the ferry docks at the pier on the island.

Tour of Suomenlinna

The tour lasts two hours. During this time you manage to go around the entire fortress, get a lot interesting information and also go to a cafe and drink coffee. In the same cafe you can buy souvenirs.

Since you need to walk a lot, including over rough terrain, loose or sports clothes and shoes are preferable. It is a little colder here than in Helsinki, there is more wind. Dress shoes and heels are strictly not recommended, because many of the paths in the fortress are paved with large pebbles. There is an easier route for people with limited mobility. Families with strollers are recommended to use this route.

Let us note that everything on the islands will be very interesting for children: cannons, mortars, casemates and even a small tunnel with stalactites on the roof. But it’s better to go with older children, as they now say 6+.

The island has several cafes, souvenir shops and shops, and toilets. The cafe has quite a large selection, and the prices are the same as in.

Andrey Kovalev

The first stones of the fortress were laid in the mid-18th century - in 1748. The main reason for the construction was the need to strengthen the border with Russia in the context of the recently ended war. Due to the fact that at that time it was under the influence of the Swedish state, the building was called the “Swedish fortress” or Sveaborg. Some time later, in 1756, the fort began to be used not only as a defensive structure, but also as a base for warships. Later, in 1808, the Russian army captured more than 100 warships, as well as several thousand guns and prisoners, entering the fort, which had surrendered after the siege.

In 1809, Sveaborg, together with Finland, passed to the Russian Empire, which began a new page in its history. In the middle of the century, the building was damaged by the Crimean War, but after that all the damage was eliminated during restoration. New weapons and fortifications appeared in Sveaborg. By the beginning of the 20th century, the population of these islands numbered about 1,500 inhabitants, not counting the garrison stationed here.

During the First World War, new defensive fortifications were being built that would help cut off the enemy’s path to. However, in 1917, due to revolutionary events in the country, construction slowed down and then stopped altogether. In Finland, which gained independence at the same time, the building was renamed “ Finnish fortress"or Suomenlinna. Some of the fortifications of Sveaborg were abandoned, and some were damaged by raids during the Second World War.

In 1973, Sveaborg finally ceased to play the role of a defensive fortification. The garrison was recalled, and the territory of these islands began to belong to. 1991 was a landmark year - Sveaborg, as a special example of fortifications of past centuries, was included in the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

At the present stage, Sveaborg is one of the famous attractions of the capital, and also continues to be a residential area with a population of several hundred people.

How to get there

Sveaborg Fortress is located on a group of islands right in the waters Gulf of Finland 3 kilometers southeast of Helsinki. You can get to it by ferry, which departs from the Kauppatori pier, located on Market Square capital Cities. During the warmer months, from May to September, water buses also run to the fortress. You can find them on the same pier. Travel time on any type water transport is about 15-20 minutes. Tickets can be purchased from vending machines at the pier, and on water buses and on board.

17th will help you get to the pier bus route, which stops within walking distance.

Sveaborg on the map

Attractions around the castle

Sveaborg's territory includes several islands. Five of them are connected by bridges and passages, which makes it easy to move between them to inspect all the objects. So, on the peninsula called Kustaanmiekka you can see the bastions built by both the Swedes and Russian troops. Guns from the late 19th century will be interesting.

Another special place is one of the oldest dry docks in the world. Back in the mid-18th century, Swedish ships were built there, and today wooden ships of past centuries are being repaired on its territory.

It’s easy to spot another one near the shore interesting object, which often ends up in photos - the Vesikko submarine. Built just under a hundred years ago, it survived World War II. During the summer months, the submarine plays the role of a museum, where you can get acquainted with its internal structure and features of operation under diving conditions.


During the warm season, you can also find beaches on the islands around the fortress. They will allow you to take a break from long excursions and plunge into the waters of the Gulf of Finland.

What's inside the castle

Visitors have access to one of the oldest bastions of the city - Zander, as well as to the tunnels of the fortress. It is more convenient to explore them in the warm season, armed with a flashlight - there is no artificial lighting in the tunnels.

A notable element of Sveaborg is the central gate - the Royal Gate. They appeared here in 1753–1754 in the very place where the Swedish king got off his ship, who a year earlier wanted to personally monitor the progress of the construction of Sveaborg.

In the heart of the structure is the so-called Fortress Yard. It has played the role of a central square since the 60s of the 18th century. The founder of the fort, the Swedish military leader Augustin Ehrensvärd, also rests here.

The fortress complex also includes a small church. It was erected here in the mid-19th century, during the reign of the Russian Empire, and was intended for the soldiers of the garrison who served here. Later it was converted from Orthodox to Lutheran.


On the territory of Sveaborg you can visit several museums at once. Some of them are open only in summer, some can be accessed in winter. One of the main ones is the exhibition of the Suomenlinna Museum. Here you can get acquainted with the history of the fortress and watch thematic short films all year round.


The premises previously reserved for the commandant's residence now house the Ehrensvärd Museum. It is named after the Swedish field marshal and shows the setting of the time when the fortress was under the influence of. This exhibition is only open in summer.

Also included in the summer are the exhibitions of the Customs Museum, the Manege Military Museum and the Toy Museum. An exhibition dedicated to customs today occupies premises previously used as prison cells.


Excursions

The fortress offers systematic guided tours, which do not need to be booked in advance. Their schedule can be found at. These walks last about an hour and include historical places Suisaari and Kustaanmiekka islands. During the summer months, excursion support is provided in several languages: Swedish, Finnish, English and Russian. From September to May, only English-speaking excursions are available.

Personal excursions for organized groups are available all year round by prior arrangement. In this case, you can also discuss the language of excursion support. You can also book such an excursion at.


Sveaborg is not just a historical building, but a whole complex of interesting buildings and objects, each of which can tell something of its own. They bear the consequences of the rule of three different countries: Sweden, Russian Empire and Finland. In addition, many conflicts and events of particular significance in history have left their mark on these islands: the Crimean War, the First and Second World Wars, the Russian revolutions. All these prints, accumulated by Sveaborg, add up to a variety of exhibitions and a special atmosphere in which the past collides with the present.

Suomenlinna Fortress or Sveaborg- these are 4 islands off the coast of the city of Helsinki, previously also called Suomenlinna, this is a bright symbol of the city of Helsinki. Built by the French and intended to become the “Gibraltar of the North.” Now Suomenlinna is a functioning open-air museum.

History of origin.

Under the Swedes, the fortress was called Sveaborg - i.e. Swedish fortress. The Finns called it Viapori. The history of Suomenlinna Fortress is closely connected with the history of Finland, Helsinki and the Baltic Sea. Suomenlinna Fortress appeared on the map of Finland in the nineteenth century. An important defensive line from the east, the fortress passed to Russia in the early 19th century and, in addition to naval bases in Tallinn and Kronstadt, it was used to guard the fairways leading to St. Petersburg.

Architecture.

Suomenlinna Fortress is a complex of chaotically located bastions built on small rocky islands. From the very beginning, defensive structures and fortress buildings were also used for utilitarian needs. Suomenlinna is largely authentic, that is, a historically original structure. Dozens of underwater historical sites have been discovered near the Suomenlinna fortress.

Neighborhood.

In the immediate vicinity is the Suomenlinna Fortress Museum (Suomenlinna-museo). The museum contains unique examples of pre-revolutionary artillery of Imperial Russia - for example, a 6-inch siege gun of the 1904 model and other guns. In the collection of the Toy Museum you will find thousands of objects and things for children, the oldest of which were made at the very beginning of the nineteenth century. In addition, the museum has a separate room with military toys. The Ehrensvärd Museum displays miniature ship models, antique furniture, weapons and paintings by Sveaborg artist Elias Martin. Here you can also visit the Military Museum in Manezh, which is located in a building that was previously used by the Russian army as an artillery depot. Nowadays, Finnish military equipment is exhibited there.
You can also see the Vesikko submarine, which was used during World War II. Almost all rooms inside the boat are open to the public.

Note to tourists.

Suomenlinna Museum is open all year round, from May to October it is open from 10:00 to 18:00, at other times it opens half an hour later and closes at 16:30.
The Ehrensvärd Museum is open throughout the summer season from 11:00 to 18:00, and in spring and autumn only on weekends, from 11:00 to 16:00.
The Toy Museum is open to visitors only from March to October, from 11:00 to 17:00.
The Military Museum is open from mid-May to September, from 11:00 to 18:00, entrance tickets for adults cost 4 euros, for children under 17 years old - 2 euros.
Entrance to the submarine is also open from mid-May to September, from 11:00 to 18:00, cost entrance ticket for adults - 4 euros, for children under 17 years old - 2 euros.
Hostel Suomenlinna is located on the territory of the fortress on the island of Iso Mustasaari.
You can have a snack at Café Vanille, where you will be offered excellent desserts, or at Café Piper, in summer time Here you can dine in the English-style garden. The Toy Museum Café will be interesting - you can drink tea and desserts inside a real toy museum. And for true gourmets, the Walhalla restaurant is open in Sveaborg, which will offer you a large selection of dishes and a rich wine list.

Suomenlinna Fortress (Sveaborg)

The sea fortress Suomenlinna (translated from Finnish as Finnish Fortress) is perhaps the only popular attraction in Helsinki, which was built even before Finland joined Russia - at a time when it was part of Sweden, in 1748. In addition, Suomenlinna Fortress is the only building in Helsinki World Heritage UNESCO (and one of 7 throughout Finland).

The sea fortress was built to protect the Swedish coast and the Russian-Swedish border and for half a century successfully fulfilled this role until it was conquered by the Russian army in 1808. After that, together with all of Finland, the fortress became the property of the Russian Empire for more than 100 years.

The fortress is located on an island, not far from the city, so you can only get there by water, on the city ferry, in 15-20 minutes. These ferries are part of the city's public transport system and can be used with a single Helsinki transport ticket. These ferries depart at least every hour (depending on the season) from Kauppatori Market Square. The first ferry leaves at 9 am, the last one back at 6 pm. The cost of a one-way ticket is 4 euros. You can purchase tickets at the river station.

On the island you can wander along the walls of the fortress, examine its ancient guns, military premises, etc. There are also several museums of various subjects here. Entrance to the territory of the Sveaborg fortress itself is free. There will be a fee (from 3 to 6 euros) only for entrance to various museums on the island. In addition to museums, there are several restaurants and cafes, and there is even one hostel - Hostel Suomenlinna (see map).

Of course, the best time to visit Sveaborg is in the warm season.

Museums in Sveaborg:

Suomenlinna Museum. It has a large and varied exhibition reflecting the entire history of the fortress.

Ehrensvärd Museum. In the museum you can see a collection of miniature models of ships, as well as weapons, paintings, and furniture.

Toy Museum. Hundreds of different antique dolls, children's games, cars, etc. are exhibited here.

Military Museum Manege. Finnish military equipment is presented here.

Customs Museum. The museum's exhibition is dedicated to Finnish customs and its history.

Submarine Vesikko. On the grounds of Suomenlinna Fortress you can also visit a submarine from World War II.

Suomenlinna (Sveaborg) Map

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Excursions

The best way to get to know a new city are excursions from local residents. To do this, many travelers use services such as Sputnik8.

Although the fortress Suomenlinna and is one of the main attractions of Helsinki, not every tourist from Russia who comes to the capital of Finland visits it. Some limit themselves to the view from the embankment, others sail past on the Silja Line motor ship heading to Stockholm. But in vain! You should definitely visit, at least out of respect for the history of your own country.


Swedish fortress

The famously twisted biography of the fortress should begin not even with its birth, but with a slightly earlier time. In 1703, Peter the Great founded St. Petersburg in the east of the Gulf of Finland, and, to paraphrase the classic, from there we began to threaten the Swede. It is not surprising that Sweden is thinking about retaliatory actions. We thought for a long time. During this time, Russia managed to win two wars against its formidable neighbor.

During the Northern War of 1700-1721, Helsingfors (the future Helsinki) came under the control of the Russian army and burned to the ground. By Russian version- as a result of a fierce artillery duel between our fleet and the Swedish coastal artillery, according to the Swedish - it was burned by the retreating troops so that nothing would fall to the enemy. According to the Peace of Nystad in 1721, Peter I annexed only part of the Finnish lands (Ingria, Kegsholm district,). Helsingfors was returned to Sweden.

In the post-war years, the political life of Sweden consisted of a struggle between supporters of peaceful relations with Russia (the "caps" party) and supporters of revenge (the "hats" party). The revanchists gained the upper hand, but during the Russian-Swedish war of 1741-1743 they again received a blow.

In August 1742, Russian ground troops under the command of Field Marshal P. P. Lasi, with the assistance of a squadron under the command of Vice Admiral Z. D. Mishukov, blocked Helsingfors and forced the Swedish army to capitulate without a fight. The peace in Abo, concluded in 1743, was successful for Russia. The Baltic border continued to move towards Stockholm.

In 1747, the outstanding Swedish military engineer, artillery and fortification specialist Augustin Ehrensvärd (a “hat” in political views) convinced King Fredrik I to accept a plan for the construction of new fortresses to counter the Russian fleet in the Baltic (albeit in a truncated form and with a reduced budget).

On a group of islands that represent a natural barrier to the Helsingfors roadstead, the name of which is translated into Russian very romantically - “Wolf Skerries”, construction of a fortress began. It received the simple name Sveaborg (that is, “Swedish castle”, “Swedish fortress”). True, almost immediately local residents began to pronounce the name with a Finnish accent - Viapori.

It was a real construction project of the century. Nothing of this scale was built anywhere in Europe in the second half of the 18th century. The defensive structures were erected by 6 thousand people. The main construction phase lasted for four decades, and minor improvements continued later. The “father of Sveaborg” and the first commandant of the fortress, Count Ehrensvärd, did not live to see the completion of construction. And although he died on the family estate, the count was reburied in the fortress. Ehrensvärd's grave, with its luxurious headstone, is one of Sveaborg's most photographed attractions.

Sveaborg, built according to the most advanced French models, received the proud nickname “northern Gibraltar”, which was supposed to symbolize its inaccessibility. A powerful military garrison was stationed in the fortress, which turned Sveaborg into the second largest after locality Finland.

In 1806, there were 4,600 people living on the islands, and 4,200 on the shore. The future Helsinki was, by and large, a village, in which the first stone house, owned by commerce councilor Johann Söderholm. This is the same small two-story house on Senate Square that all tourists photograph as soon as they photograph the cathedral and the monument to Alexander II.

In 1807, at a meeting between Russian Emperor Alexander I and his French counterpart Napoleon Bonaparte in Tilsit, an agreement was reached that Russia could annex Finland to its territory. On February 9, 1808, Russian troops under the command of infantry general Count F. F. Buxhoeveden crossed the border, and already on February 18 entered Helsingfors. Soon Sveaborg found itself under siege, remaining the only settlement in southern Finland that did not surrender.

The fortress housed approximately a third of all Swedish troops stationed in Finland: 7,500 soldiers and officers, 1,500 civilians, 354 convicts and six Russian prisoners of war; 110 warships, more than 2 thousand guns, 100 tons of gunpowder. The defense was commanded by the commandant of the fortress, Vice Admiral Karl-Olaf Kronstedt.

There were fewer besiegers of “northern Gibraltar”; they had only 59 guns at their disposal, and they also did not have huge reserves of gunpowder. But soon the commandant of the fortress signed a truce for a month, deciding to capitulate at the end of this period if he did not receive reinforcements from Stockholm. The messengers sent to Stockholm did not manage to reach their goal this month.

On the third of May Sveaborg capitulated. Once again we are faced with two conflicting versions as to why this happened. According to the first, the fault lies with the poorly trained Finnish peasant soldiers and the Swedish officers who did not want to die for no reason, the malfunction of most guns, the quickly consumed gunpowder, the lack of food supplies in the fortress and the lack of experience of Kronstedt, who had previously won victories only at sea. The second version, which military historians call “golden gunpowder,” is based on rumors that the Russian military command allegedly gave the commandant a large bribe. This fact has never been documented.

After the conclusion of the Treaty of Friedrichsham, in which all of Finland was transferred to Russia, Vice Admiral Kronstedt was made in Sweden almost the main culprit of the national catastrophe. He was sentenced to death penalty, but was pardoned at the request of the Russian Emperor. The vice admiral retired, but refused to enlist in the Russian army, wore Swedish orders, but did not disdain to receive a Russian military pension, his son became a Finnish senator, and his relatives remaining in Sweden changed their surnames.

Russian fortress

After the Russian-Swedish war of 1808-1809, the Sveaborg fortress became Russian. The new owners did not rename the “Swedish castle” in the Russian way. But the islands on which the fortress is located were renamed, although not immediately. At first they used Swedish names, which were written with a Nizhny Novgorod accent.

The Finns, of course, pronounced all the names in their own way, so that each island had a whole bunch of names. Here are some examples: Gustavsvard (Gustav-Svärde), aka Kustaanmieka, aka Artillery; Stora-Ostersvarto (Sture-Ostersvarte), aka Iso-Mustasaari, aka Komendantsky; Vargon (Vargen), aka Susisaari, aka Engineer.

Although Sveaborg soon had twice as many Russian soldiers stationed as there had once been Swedish and Finnish soldiers, the island fortress began to slowly lose its importance, and the settlement on the shore became increasingly important. The reason for this was the announcement of Helsingfors in 1812 new capital the newly formed Grand Duchy of Finland (as part of the Russian Empire). The former village at the fortress gradually began to turn into a city with a fortress on the sea outskirts.

Yes, by the way, in 1811, in the fortress, a son was born into the family of the garrison doctor Grigory Belinsky, who received the name Vissarion at baptism.

The interval between the first and second siege of Sveaborg was almost half a century. In the summer of 1855, during the Crimean War (which, contrary to its name, was not fought only in the Black Sea), the Russian Baltic Fleet was blocked in Sveaborg by a superior Anglo-French fleet.

On July 28 (from the point of view of the attackers) or August 9 (from the point of view of the defenders), the shelling of the fortress began. The temporary commandant of Sveaborg, Lieutenant General A.F. Sorokin, apparently did not need a French military pension and did not dream of a place in the House of Lords for his son, and therefore managed to remarkably organize the defense of the fortress.

During two days and two nights of constant bombardment, more than 20 thousand shells were fired at the fortress and other islands near Helsingfors, “according to an approximate and most moderate estimate.” In the Finnish capital, from where the shelling was clearly visible, panic began - residents feared that the enemy would start shooting at the city.

Despite the force of the bombardment, the material damage caused to the fortress was negligible. The losses of the defenders amounted to 63 people killed, about 200 wounded and shell-shocked. The enemy lost 33 people. After several days of calm, the Allied fleet left the Baltic Sea. English and French newspapers wrote that Helsingfors and the Sveaborg fortress had been wiped off the face of the earth.

The next time the fortress became the scene of battles was in the summer of 1906. This time there was no external enemy. The commandant of the fortress, General V. A. Liming, received information about the impending general uprising in the Baltic Fleet and gave the order to mine the approaches to the fortress. Some of the sailors-miners refused to carry out the order.

There is, however, as always, another version. Since the times of Peter the Great, a sailor who stood watch in cold weather was entitled to a glass of vodka or compensation for its cost in money. For some reason, the sailors in the fortress did not get either one or the other, which caused discontent. One way or another, the commandant gave a new order - to arrest the troublemakers.

And then the uprising broke out. The forces were divided approximately equally. About 2 thousand people took part in the rebellion, to which the Socialist-Revolutionaries and Bolsheviks had a hand, who took possession of the islands of Aleksandrovsky, Artillery, Mikhailovsky and Inzhenerny. There were approximately the same number of servicemen loyal to the oath; they fortified themselves on Komendantsky and Lagerny Islands.

The rebellion was suppressed in two days. 28 organizers and most active participants were shot, more than a thousand were sentenced to various terms of imprisonment or sent to prison companies. About 600 people died in the battle. During the Brezhnev era in the USSR, a feature film “Sveaborg” was made about these events, which, of course, is very far from a truthful depiction of history.

Finnish fortress

In 1918, shortly after the declaration of Finnish independence, Sveaborg Fortress was renamed Suomenlinna (Finnish Fortress). It housed a concentration camp for a short time, in which those who participated in the civil war in Finland on the side of the Reds. Of the 8,500 prisoners a year later, after the camp was closed, 7,500 were released. The rest were killed by hunger and infectious diseases.

After the closure of the concentration camp, Suomenlinna became a military facility and remained so until 1973, when it came under the control of the civil administration and turned into one of the districts of Helsinki.

In 1991, the fortress was included in the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites. True, the island of Piku-Mustasaari (Hospital) is still at the disposal of the Finnish army. There is another attraction not far from Suomenlinna, which, alas, cannot be visited for the same reason.

On the island of Sandhamn-Santahamina-Lagerny, southeast of the fortress, in 1857 a monument was erected to “the 63 sailors and soldiers killed during the bombardment of Sveaborg by the Anglo-French fleet on July 28 and 29, 1855.” The design of the monument was carried out by Professor Baron P. Klodt (the same one who cast the horses for the Anichkov Bridge in St. Petersburg). But these are small exceptions, but they are almost universally intelligent, right? Wolf skerries are at the disposal of tourists.

You can safely set aside a whole day to visit Suomenlinna, but you won’t be able to see everything that is in the fortress.

But not only those who like to remember past victories of Russian weapons make sense to go to Volchi Skerries. A fortress is a fortress, but it is also a place where you can just take a walk, admire nature, and besides, various events are constantly organized there - open-air concerts, sailing regattas, exhibitions.

Most local residents prefer to eat food they thoughtfully brought with them. And this is not a stupid decision. Although in order to find an establishment Catering, there are no special problems. The most popular restaurant among tourists, Walhalla, however, is open to ordinary visitors only for dinner from Monday to Saturday, and on Sunday and lunchtime only organized groups are allowed there.

We can recommend pizzeria Nikolai to Russian patriots. It was named in honor of the merchant Nikolai Petrovich Sinebryukhov, who in 1819 received the exclusive right to produce and sell beer in Finland and almost immediately after receiving the patent, opened a tavern in Sveaborg. The brewing company Oy Sinebryhoff AB that bears his name still exists (though it belongs to the Swedish Carlsberg).

Ferries, marked "Suomenlinna Sveaborg", depart from the Helsinki fish market (Kauppatori) from 6 am to 2:20 am at intervals of 40 minutes to one hour. Travel time is 15 minutes. The price of a round-trip ticket is €3.80. In summer, water buses also depart from almost the neighboring pier. Helsinki card holders can use the ferry and visit all museums in the fortress for free. You can park your own yacht at the guest port on the island of Suisaari only if there is space available.

Suomenlinna can be visited all year round; the fortress is open 365 days a year, but it is better to do it in the summer. 900 people permanently live on the islands, and about 400 more work on them. Many houses on the islands are used as art studios. On the territory of the Suomenlinna Fortress there is a prison for those convicted of minor crimes. Prisoners are mainly engaged in maintaining fortifications in proper condition.

Entrance to the fortress itself is free; you only have to pay when visiting museums. The fortress houses the Suomenlinna Museum, the Ehrensvärd Museum, the Manege (museum of the Soviet-Finnish and Second World Wars), the Vessico submarine, and the customs museum, which is free to visit. It’s hard not to notice that most of the cannons in the fortress have inscriptions in Russian. I think it will be especially pleasant for natives of Perm to study them.

The local church was once the garrison church of the Russian limited contingent in Sveaborg and was called the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral. The cathedral was built according to the design of the architect Konstantin Ton. And although not only Lutheran, but also Orthodox services have been held here since 2000, the external appearance of the building was irreparably damaged back in 1928 by the architect Frans Sjoström. Instead of a small copy of the Moscow Cathedral of Christ the Savior, we now see an unremarkable Lutheran church.

While in the fortress, somewhere around 17:20-17:30 you can take part in the daily ritual - together with other tourists, wave your hand to the Silja Line ferry passing by, towards Stockholm. If for any reason you were late and didn’t wave, it’s okay. After half an hour, you will be given a second attempt - to escort the Viking ferry to the Swedish capital.

Thanks to the Schengen Agreement, these days you can travel from Helsinki to Stockholm for a day or two without any visas. And the mentioned ferries are attractions in themselves of both Scandinavian capitals. And if you are sailing on board one of them, do not miss the island with a fortress at the very beginning of the journey, from the shore of which strangers wave to you.

ALEXEY ALEXEEV
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