Finland - Wonderful Landscape

Finland - Savonlinna

Savonlinna, a popular spa and holiday resort, lies in the middle of the Saimaa lake system in southeastern Finland, between the Haapavesi to the north and the Pihlajavesi to the south. The town grew up around the castle of Olavinlinna and received its municipal charter in 1639. The oldest part of the town ... More > is picturesquely situated on an island between two waterways, with the newer districts on the mainland to the west. Savonlinna is one of the main centers of the boat services on Lake Saimaa.

The building of Olavinlinna, castle of St. Olaf, began in 1475. The Danish-born founder of the castle, knight Erik Axelsson Tott, decided that a powerful fortification should be build to protect the strategically important Savo region. The castle was supposed to repel Russian attacks from the east and to guarantee the control of the Savo region for the Swedish Crown. The history of Olavinlinna is a mixture of medieval arms clashing, cannons roaring and every-day chores inside the security of the castle’s thick walls.

The changes in the ownership of the castle left their mark on Olavinlinna: this can be seen in the varied architecture of the castle. These days the castle’s halls and rooms can be rented and used for all kinds of events.

Finland

THE WORLD'S CREATION AND THE BIRTH OF WAINAMOINEN

Long, long ago, before this world was made, there lived a lovely maiden called Ilmatar, the daughter of the Ether. She lived in the air—there were only air and water then—but at length she grew tired of always being in the air, and came down and floated on the surface of the water. Suddenly, as she lay there, there came a mighty storm-wind, and poor Ilmatar was tossed about helplessly on the waves, until at length the wind died down and the waves became still, and Ilmatar, worn out by the violence of the tempest, sank beneath the waters.

Then a magic spell overpowered her, and she swam on and on vainly seeking to rise above the waters, but always unable to do so. Seven hundred long weary years she swam thus, until one day she could not bear it any longer, and cried out: 'Woe is mep. 9 that I have fallen from my happy home in the air, and cannot now rise above the surface of the waters. O great Ukko, ruler of the skies, come and aid me in my sorrow!'

No sooner had she ended her appeal to Ukko than a lovely duck flew down out of the sky, and hovered over the waters looking for a place to alight; but it found none. Then Ilmatar raised her knees above the water, so that the duck might rest upon them; and no sooner did the duck spy them than it flew towards them and, without even stopping to rest, began to build a nest upon them.

When the nest was finished, the duck laid in it six golden eggs, and a seventh of iron, and sat upon them to hatch them. Three days the duck sat on the eggs, and all the while the water around Ilmatar's knees grew hotter and hotter, and her knees began to burn as if they were on fire. The pain was so great that it caused her to tremble all over, and her quivering shook the nest off her knees, and the eggs all fell to the bottom of the ocean and broke in pieces. But these pieces came together into two parts and grew to a huge size, and the upper one became the arched heavens above us, and the lower one our world itself. From the white part of the egg came the moonbeams, and from the yolk the bright sunshine.

At last the unfortunate Ilmatar was able to raise her head out of the waters, and she then began to create the land. Wherever she put her hand there arose a lovely hill, and where she stepped she made a lake. Where she dived below the surface are the deep places of the ocean, where she turned her head towards the land there grew deep bays and inlets, and where she floated on her back she made the hidden rocks and reefs where so many ships and lives have been lost. Thus the islands and the rocks and the firm land were created.

After the land was made Wainamoinen was born, but he was not born a child, but a full-grown man, full of wisdom and magic power. For seven whole years he swam about in the ocean, and in the eighth he left the water and stepped upon the dry land. Thus was the birth of Wainamoinen, the wonderful magician.

(from "Finnish Legends for English Children" by R. Eivind published in 1893)

Finland - Helsinki

The City of Helsinki is the capital of Finland. Facing the Baltic Sea, it commands busy transit on its pier, ferry boats and marina.

Helsinki was founded by Swedish King Gustav in 1550 to compete with the then, fast-growing, trading city of Reval (now Tallinn, Estonia). The king ordered dwellers to transfer to Helsinki from the neighbouring towns to maximize productivity and start-up the city.In 1809, Russia took control of Helsinki from the Swedish ruler. Due to its proximity to St. Petersburg, the then, already quite established Finnish capital Turku, lost its title to Helsinki. With a closer location to Russia for watch and control, and the defensive island of Sveaborg (now Suomenlinna), Helsinki was in the perfect position for their new planned cosmopolitan city.

In the 19th till early 20th century, Helsinki progressed in all economical aspects. Transit, construction and industrial developments emerged. More and more settlers migrated to the city fueling its rapid improvement.

Helsinki claimed global popularity when it hosted the 1952 Olympics. The city has also presented many international events from Economic conventions to the World Dog Show. It was named the 'European Capital of Culture' in the year 2000.

Finland - Suomenlinna Fortress

Suomenlinna, until 1918 Viapori (Finnish), or Sveaborg (Swedish), is an inhabited sea fortress built on six islands (Kustaanmiekka, Susisaari, Iso-Mustasaari, Pikku-Mustasaari, Länsi-Mustasaari and Långören), and which now forms part of the city of Helsinki, the capital of Finland.

In 1747 the Swedish Diet made a decision to fortify the eastern border and to establish a place d'armes on islands outside Helsinki. France, with which Sweden had a military alliance, financed a great part of the construction during the first decades.

Sveaborg was the largest construction project in Sweden in the 18th century. It was constructed under the supervision and direction of Lieutenant-Colonel Augustin Ehrensvard, assisted by the best Swedish engineering and mechanics experts. The fortress was constructed by soldiers in the regular army from all over Sweden and Finland. At its height, the construction crew totalled more than 6500. When Ehrensvard died in 1772, the fortress was virtually ready for use. The overall plan was revisecf in 1774.

European power politics also determined Sveaborg's fate. In the war of 1808-1809, which was a direct consequence of the treaties between Napoleon and Alexander I, Russia occupied Finland. Sveaborg surrendered and became a Russian garrison for the following 110 years. At the turn of the century there were about 4000 Russian soldiers in Sveaborg. The fortress remained in the state it had been under Swedish rule until the bombings during the Crimean War in 1855, when the British and French Navies ·fired on the fort. In the repairs and modernisation , undertaken after .that, some of the damaged buildings were torn down or made lower and a new coastal defence line of earth banks was constructed.

Before the First World War, Sveaborg, mainly serving as a depot area, formed part of the defence scheme, "Peter the Great's Sea Fortress". The intention was that Sveaborg, together with Tallinn, would block off the entire Gulf of Finland and guarantee the security of St Petersburg, the Capital of Russia. After Finland became independent in 1917, Sveaborg became a Finnish garrison and was renamed in Finnish as Suomenlinna. It served as a prison camp after the Civil War in 1918-1919. Suomenlinna was in military use for the last time during the Second World War when it served as one of Helsinki's air surveillance centres. It served as a garrison until 1972. Its use for tourism and recreation began on a larger scale after 1963 .