Hearts of art beat strong in Suomenlinna’s island life

Photo: Tim Bird

Helsinki’s UNESCO-listed sea fortress Suomenlinna, the Finnish capital’s most beautiful and historic attraction, has never been so popular, attracting upwards of a million visitors, Finnish and foreign, annually. But visitors don’t always realise that the islands are home to a community of some 800 souls

Many members of this community, including a diverse collection of artists, musicians, historians and museum curators as well as sailors from the Finnish Naval Academy based here, are drawn by the romance of island life. When the last ferry leaves for the mainland after midnight and the last tourist has deserted for the day, that life goes on behind the windswept windows of the stone apartments and wooden villas.

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