Visit to sea fortress of Svartholm
Been wanting to see the sea fortress of Svartholm ever since i visited Suomenlinna in Helsinki, a similar construct and era of history. Svartholm is located some 10km from Loviisa in a small island which guards the entrance to the town. We took a boat with a friend hHp from the harbour and stayed in the island during 4th of July.
Weather was more than we had hoped for, it had risen since friday and was peaking around 29C in shadow, slight windbreeze made things more bareable during the day.
The sea fortress itself was designed by the same person who did Suomenlinna and some others, Augustin Ehrensvärd, a swedish army colonel. Contruction began 1748 and continued until 1764, most of the bastilles were finished in 8 years. In the end the main buildings were blew up by a british naval captain Hastings Yelverton during Crimean war on July 7th 1855. If you're interested on the history side, check Wikipedia article.
At midday we had a break from sightseeing and ate at the local restaurant establishment, which offered decent food and drinks, a bit on the expensive side, but understandable due to location.
Overview of the island by VisitLoviisa.
Few pictures from the day and some scenery around the fortress.
Harbour view from the nearby rockpile, some old walls have collapsed and only a pile of the rocks remains. It would be quite a puzzle to put it back together again.
The panorama of the inner courtyard showing the remains of the buildings. There used to the 4 three-story buildings forming a square, but only two of them have something left of them.
The layers of the fortress shown from the sea level south side of the island. Some of walls have crumbled down over the years but some are still in quite good shape.
Some trails were going on the top of the walls zigzagging around the island.
A view from the top of the wall towards east.
Shoreline towards west.
Building walls inside the outer lines. Vegetation has been taking hold of the surroundings over the years.
Bastion walls on the east side.
Walking trail going on the side of the outer wall.
Boat on the harbour, another entrance to the fortress.
Weather was more than we had hoped for, it had risen since friday and was peaking around 29C in shadow, slight windbreeze made things more bareable during the day.
The sea fortress itself was designed by the same person who did Suomenlinna and some others, Augustin Ehrensvärd, a swedish army colonel. Contruction began 1748 and continued until 1764, most of the bastilles were finished in 8 years. In the end the main buildings were blew up by a british naval captain Hastings Yelverton during Crimean war on July 7th 1855. If you're interested on the history side, check Wikipedia article.
At midday we had a break from sightseeing and ate at the local restaurant establishment, which offered decent food and drinks, a bit on the expensive side, but understandable due to location.
Overview of the island by VisitLoviisa.
Few pictures from the day and some scenery around the fortress.
Harbour view from the nearby rockpile, some old walls have collapsed and only a pile of the rocks remains. It would be quite a puzzle to put it back together again.
The panorama of the inner courtyard showing the remains of the buildings. There used to the 4 three-story buildings forming a square, but only two of them have something left of them.
The layers of the fortress shown from the sea level south side of the island. Some of walls have crumbled down over the years but some are still in quite good shape.
Some trails were going on the top of the walls zigzagging around the island.
A view from the top of the wall towards east.
Shoreline towards west.
Building walls inside the outer lines. Vegetation has been taking hold of the surroundings over the years.
Bastion walls on the east side.
Walking trail going on the side of the outer wall.
Boat on the harbour, another entrance to the fortress.
