Aerial view of Suomenlinna fortress island in Helsinki. Suomenlinna church visible in the background, Helsinki city way in the back.
This is Suomenlinna fortress island during sunset in Helsinki, Finland. The building on the foreground is the island church which also doubles as a fully functional lighthouse. In the background you?ll see 2 smaller islands belonging to it. They have residential buildings (yes, people actually live there!) and some buildings belonging to the Finnish Defence Forces. Also Finnish Navy and Coast Guard are present in there: sometimes you can see large Coast Guard helicopters landing just behind the trees? you can see in the far end of this island.
Brief history of Suomenlinna
Suomenlinna is a UNESCO World Heritage site. Construction of the fortress was initiated by Sweden in 1748 when Finland was firmly under Swedish rule. It was inteded as a guardpost against Russian expansionism in Baltic Sea. However eventually Russia did take over Finland from Sweden and continued improving the fortress.
Suomenlinna has seen plenty of action: During the Crimean war, France and England sent their fleet to Baltic sea attacked the then Russian fortress. Battles related to Crimean war went on 2 summers, but Anglo-French troops never set foot on the island.
Later Russians built up Suomenlinna as a part of “Peter The Great?s naval fortresses”, a chain of fortifications on both sides of Baltic Sea, intended to protect St. Petersburg.
When Finland became independent in 1918 the fortress became under Finnish rule where it remains today.
You can get to Suomenlinna from Helsinki market square by a ferry that runs back-and-forth throughout the day, around the year.
This photo is shot with my Mavic Pro -drone.
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