UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Finland

The northern European country of Finland has more to offer than the world-famous Northern Lights. That's because the country is home to seven UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Six of them are World Heritage Sites and the seventh is a World Natural Heritage Site.

Suomenlinna Fortress

Suomenlinna Fortress was the very first UNESCO World Heritage Site of Finland. It was added to the list in 1991. The fortress was built in 1748 on a group of islands off Helsinki and is considered one of the country's cultural treasures. It is also a particularly interesting example of European military architecture of that time. Suomenlinna was built by the Swedes to better protect themselves from Russia.

The ancient city of Rauma

The city of Rauma was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the same year as Suomenlinna Fortress. It is a real historical jewel with its well-preserved buildings and medieval arrangement of alleys. Rauma is located on the Gulf of Bothnia and is one of the oldest ports in the country. It was built around a Franciscan monastery, where the Holy Cross Church from the mid-15th century still stands.

Petäjävesi Old Church

Petäjävesi Old Church, built between 1763 and 1765, has been a part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1994. The church in central Finland was built from tree trunks. It combines Central European architectural styles with ancient wooden construction methods. It is located between the lakes Jämsänvesi and Petäjävesi. The church has elements of Gothic, Renaissance and Finnish wooden architecture. The interior has been preserved practically in its original state. In the past, the church was reached by boat and in winter over the ice.

Groundwood and board mill Verla

In 1996, the Verla groundwood and board mill was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The World Heritage Site is located in the southeast of the Nordic country and shows the beginnings of Finnish industry. In 1971, it opened its doors to visitors as the country's first industrial museum. It is a good example of a small rural industrial settlement related to pulp, paper and cardboard production. These flourished in the 19th and 20th centuries and today only a few remain.

Bronze Age burial sites at Sammallahdenmäki

In 1999, the Bronze Age burial site at Sammallahdenmäki was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List. The Bronze Age burial site has more than 30 granite burial mounds. They show a unique insight into the practices of burial and social, religious structures in Northern Europe more than three millennia ago. They are characteristic of the societies that lived in the western part of the country during the Nordic Bronze Age and the early Iron Age (from 1600 to 50 BC). The burial site was the first archaeological site in the Nordic country.

The Kvarken archipelago

This UNESCO World Heritage Site is a transboundary World Heritage Site. Since 2000, the Kvarken Archipelago and Sweden's Höga Kusten (High Coast) have formed a joint World Heritage Site. Together, the two are a unique example of geological processes in action. The area includes 5,600 islands, with most of the area under water. It is the best place to experience land uplift after the last ice age. The land mass grows by about one square kilometer per year, and in 2,000 years it will probably have increased so much that Sweden and Finland will merge there.

The Struve Arch: Oraviuori Triangulation Tower

The Struve Geodesic Arc has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2005. It is also a transboundary World Heritage Site of Finland and nine other countries. The arc consists of a network of 265 geodetic survey points over 2,820 kilometers long. The initial arc consisted of 258 main triangles with 265 main station points. From 1816 to 1855, measurements were made along the meridian arc. Approximately 1,00 kilometers of the arc run through the Nordic country.

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