In the Gulf of Finland 10 kilometres south of Helsinki
there is a fortress in the sea –
Sveaborg(Suomenlinna).
You can get there with motor-launch or
ferry that departure from the wharf near Market Square (Torgovaya).
Remember the photograph of the Trade Square I took in Helsinki 4 years ago? The sea gull is
still there. May be it’s a chick of old one?
In a beginning I thought that this bird
is a fat sea gull (it is huge and takes food from the hands of
people). But later I learned that it is a cormorant.
It’s going to bite the sea gull! :)
Those Finnish girls are waiting for the
ferry.
Or, may be – they are not Finnish.
Here is a small island in the gulf. I’m
wondering how people who live there manage it in wintertime?.
It’s only 15 minutes of sailing.
As soon as ferry arrives to Artillery
Bay, passengers scatter, looking for points of interests.
Each one has his own interests. Here you
see children’s playground. Tiles on the ground are made of rubber – to
protect kids from injuries when fall. It looks as a very interesting
idea though.
Those are ropes that connected with metal
clamps. Each one has name of the manufacturer on it. I believe it’s done
for case if some child falls down and injures himself.
There is one thing that I didn’t understand about this structure: why
these ropes are flimsy in the bottom and thick on the top? Rationally
thinking you would assume that it suppose to be opposite, otherwise
children will not be able to climb onto it.
Garbage cans! And you know what’s
interesting? In wintertime city gravels streets. And in summertime, as far as I know, they
put gravel back to the box that stands near here.
Lutheran Church.
Its tower is used as a lighthouse.
The church was built in 1854 as a Russian
orthodox (it had 5 towers) and was intended to serve garrison’s needs.
In 1920th after Finland gained its independency the church was
reconstructed.
This is old Russian bell.
It has an electromechanical device attached on the bottom and tolls
automatically.
This is submarine “Vesikko” which serves
as museum (it was closed during our visit though).
A little information about fortress.
It was founded by Swedish in 1747 and meant to defend Helsinki from
the sea side. The fortress was named Sveaborg. Russian finished its
construction after 1809 (at this time Finland was included into Russian
Empire)
Russian Empire governed Finland more that
100 years and during that period many new buildings were build here.
In Russian-Turkish war in 1855, British-French fleet heavily
bombarded the fortress
In 1918 after Finland got its
independence, fortress was renamed and called Suomenlinna. Until 1972
the military base was located on the islands.
This is a statue of Augustin Ehrensvaerd (1710-1772). He was a head of construction works in the fortress.
Somewhere in the town there is a museum dedicated to him.
This is a domestic (Russian) cannon.
We've seen a lot of this kind here. Label says "N6663, Ñ.Ï.ÁÓÐÃÚ.,
Ø.Î.Ò."
In next album you will see the fortress,
concealed with fog. :)
