Suomenlinna is a sea fortress and one of the major tourist attraction in the city of Helsinki. It is very popular among the local people also. Suomenlinna sea fortress is one of the favorite picnic spot for many locals during the summer. During summer suomenlinna will be crowded with the people enjoying the summer sun with barbecue.
The suomenlinna sea fortress is built on the group of six islands off Helsinki. It was built during the Swedish era and extended during the Russian era. The work of building fortress was started in the mid of 18th century. This fortress was built by around 7000 men.
There are number of things that one can do in Suomenlinna apart from enjoying beautiful landscape. There are around 5 museums and one of them is Suomenlinna Museum where one can gain the knowledge about the history of Suomenlinna the timeline of events that happened during the construction of the sea fortress and the how it has been used in swedish era, russian era, and post independence finnish era. The museum also screens hourly the widescreen show, The Suomenlinna Experience, which takes the viewer on a journey through the fascinating history of the fortress.
some of the important sight seeing spots in the Suomenlinna are,
- The Kings Gate
- Great Courtyard- Main fortress square
- Naval Docks
- Suomenlinna Church
- Suomenlinna prison camp memorial
- Museums and art galleries for the art lovers
Suomenlinna is only accessible by water. Helsinki Regional Transport Authority (HSL) runs a ferry service from Kauppatori to Suomenlinna throughout the year. JT-Line operates a waterbus in the summer. A service boat runs throughout the year from Katajanokka.The two-kilometre (1.24 mile) crossing takes about 15 to 20 minutes. Ferries run from one to four times an hour, depending on the season.
More information on Suomenlinna can be found here - http://www.suomenlinna.fi/en
Visitor maps of Suomenlinna can be found here - http://www.suomenlinna.fi/en
