Suomenlinna is a World Heritage Site

In 1991, the Suomenlinna fortress was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List as a unique monument of military architecture. Other World Heritage Sites include the pyramids of Giza and the Great Wall of China. Suomenlinna is one of Finland’s most popular tourist attractions. At the same time it is a suburb of Helsinki, with 850 people living in the renovated ramparts and barracks.

Suomenlinna is unique in that although it is a bastion fortress, it is irregular in shape as a result of being built on a cluster of rocky islands with highly variable terrain, requiring a very free adaptation of the theory of fortifications developed in central Europe. The Suomenlinna World Heritage Site currently includes seven islands.

Another special feature of the fortress is that in the course of its history it has served in the defence of three realms: Sweden, Russia and Finland. Moreover, it continues to be a living, tended and inhabited district of the city of Helsinki.

Suomenlinna is to a large extent historically authentic, i.e. consisting of original structures. Several significant layers of historical development in fortifications and shipyards may be seen on Suomenlinna. The dry dock at the heart of the fortress, with galley basin, lock gates and paternoster device, was the state of the art in 18th-century technology. There are also dozens of historical underwater sites around the fortress.

The Governing Body of Suomenlinna has been undertaking repairs on the fortress for three decades. The basic principle of the plan for the use of Suomenlinna is that restoration and reconstruction are to be carried out taking both antiquarian and architectural considerations into account.