The Fortress of Suomenlinna occupies a group of islands at the entrance to Helsinki harbor in Finland, begun in 1748 under the direction of the Swedish officer Augustin Ehrensvard, when Finland was still part of the Swedish kingdom, and originally named Sveaborg, meaning the Fortress of Sweden. Built to defend against Russian naval expansion in the Baltic, its massive stone bastions and gun batteries were constructed across several linked islands rather than a single site, an arrangement suited to controlling multiple channels of approach to the harbor. The fortress passed to Russian control after the Finnish War of 1808 to 1809 and was renamed Suomenlinna, meaning the Fortress of Finland, after Finnish independence in 1917. It was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1991 and today combines its historic bastions and tunnels with a residential community, museums and a still-active Finnish naval base.
Facts
Building Type Completed YearSourced to the subject's own account Classification
Standing Status Building Type
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Uses Element
Source UNESCO World Heritage Centre: Fortress of Suomenlinna
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Source Wikipedia: SuomenlinnaLead paragraph of the cited Wikipedia articleQuote, Lead paragraph of the cited Wikipedia article
Located about four kilometres (2.5 mi) southeast of the city center of Helsinki, Finland, Suomenlinna is a popular destination for both tourists and locals, who enjoy it as a picturesque picnic site.
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Suomenlinna
Lead paragraph 1, sentence 1
a sea fortress
Infobox, location
Helsinki, Finland
Entity description and the lead/infobox of the Wikipedia article
Suomenlinna (Finnish: [ˈsuo̯menˌlinːɑ]), or Sveaborg (Swedish: [ˈsvɛːɑˈborj]), is a sea fortress composed of eight islands, of which six have been fortified. Located about four kilometres (2.5 mi) southeast of the city center of Helsinki, Finland, Suomenlinna is a popular destination for both tourists and locals, who enjoy it as a picturesque picnic site.
Construction of the fortress began in 1748 under the Swedish Crown as a defense against Russia. The general responsibility for the fortificati
View the Source2. Fortress of Suomenlinna (Wikidata)
Wikimedia FoundationWikidata date-of-opening/inception statement (1748)Quote, Wikidata date-of-opening/inception statement (1748)
Wikidata item Q1292442, property P571: 1748
UNESCO World Heritage Centre: Fortress of Suomenlinna
UNESCO World Heritage CentreUses Element: Stone, Justification for inscriptionQuote, Uses Element: Stone, Justification for inscription
The original fortress was built using local rock and fortified with a system of bastions over varied terrain.
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