Aaland Islands

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Mariehamn Travel Guide

City Map

City Introduction

Mariehamn is the main city of the Åland Islands, a Swedish-speaking and autonomous part of Finland. The city is the seat of the government and parliament of the archipelago, which has around 30,000 inhabitants. Mariehamn is located on the island of Fasta Åland, which houses the majority of the island’s citizens, while the rest live on some of the Åland Islands’ over 6,000 islands and reefs. With that wealth, you are always close to the water.

It was the Russian empress Maria Aleksandrovna who gave the name to Mariehamn. Maria was on the throne of Russia when Mariehamn was founded in 1861, and at that time Finland was part of the Russian Empire. You can still see many well-preserved houses from the city’s earlier times in the 1800s, and for example along Södragatan there are many wooden houses from the period.

The whole center of Mariehamn is like Södragatan with many trees, green areas and wooden houses. This makes a walk between the low buildings a pleasant experience. The street Storagatan is the city’s central axis between the water, which lies both east and west of Mariehamn. On Storagatan you can see St. Göran’s Church, and at the eastern end of the street is Torget square, where the city’s town hall and the parliament for the Åland Islands are located.

Mariehamn is also home to the Åland Cultural History Museum, where you can experience an exciting review of the history of the Åland Islands. In the same building as the cultural history museum, you can enjoy different art at the archipelago’s art museum. You can also take a walk along the water and, for example, to the maritime museum, where you can see the company-owned barque Pommern from 1903.

Top Attractions

Storagatan

Storagatan is Mariehamn’s main street, and it stretches in an east-west direction from sea to sea. The street was already in Mariehamn’s first town plan one that marked the street network with an east-west and a north-south axis. The streets were planned as Esplanade, and the current Storagatan was also originally called Södra Esplanadgatan.

Today, Storagatan is characterized by the many linden trees that have been planned over time in the wide middle of the street. The trees were not included in the plan for the street, and a planting committee from 1887 also decided to preserve the street without trees. In the period after 1900, they started planting the linden trees, which today have become one of the city’s landmarks.

It is affordable to walk along Storagatan from one end to the other. If you start in the east, you pass Mariehamn’s central square, Torget, and the city’s administrative center, including Mariehamn’s town hall and the Åland parliament building. Halfway to the west is Sankt Jørgen’s Church/St. Göran’s Church, and if you continue, you come to the harbor in the west, where you can visit the city’s maritime museum.

 

Åland Maritime Museum
Ålands Sjöfartsmuseum

Åland Maritime Museum is one of the most interesting museums in the Åland Islands. Here you can learn about Åland’s maritime history and maritime cultural heritage. The history of the museum started in the 1920s, when Carl Holmqvist began collecting maritime effects for what opened as a museum in 1954.

At the museum you can also see the museum ship Pommern, which is a company-built barque that was built in Glasgow, Scotland in 1903. The barque first sailed for German shipping companies with saltpeter in Chile, and in 1923 Gustaf Erikson acquired the ship in 1923, after which it was deployed on routes to Australia. In 1952, the ship was donated to Mariehamn, and it has been a museum ship since 1957.

Other Attractions

St. George’s Church
S:t Göran’s Kyrka

St. George’s Church is Mariehamn’s parish church, and it literally has a central location in the city. The church was inaugurated in 1927 after a design by the Finnish-Swedish architect Lars Sonck. The church is located along Storagatan at the exact spot where the north-south axis intersects Storagatan.

The church has an interesting church room, where the skyward roof beautifully frames the altar. You can also notice the architectural details with, for example, the church’s pillars and the finely painted walls and ceilings, which are works of art on wood.

 

Mariehamn City Hall
Mariehamn Stadshus

Mariehamn Stadshus is the city’s town hall and thereby the seat of Mariehamn’s city council and administration. The town hall is located in the eastern part of Storagatan opposite the archipelago’s parliament and thus in what functions as the political center of the Åland Islands.

The town hall was designed by the Finnish-Swedish architect Lars Sonck, who also designed the nearby St. Göran’s Church. The building was built in 1939 and originally had several functions, as there was also a fire station and an ambulance depot here.

 

Åland Parliament
Ålands Lagting

Ålands Lagting is the name of the parliament of the Åland Islands, which has an interesting history with the archipelago’s cultural connection to Sweden and political connection to Finland. Åland and Finland were part of Sweden until 1809, and then both areas became the Grand Duchy of Finland, which was part of the Russian Empire.

Åland and Finland remained Russian until the aftermath of the First World War. The status of the archipelago was at stake when Finland became an independent country, and the people of Åland wanted a reunification with Sweden, while the League of Nations decided that Åland should belong to Finland, which, however, had to guarantee the Ålanders the opportunity to preserve their culture and language.

Åland’s Lagting was established as Åland’s self-governing parliament with Åland as part of Finland. The Lagting, which was initially called the Landstinget, convened for the first time on 9 June 1922, and therefore 9 June is still celebrated as Self-Government Day. In Mariehamn, you can see the Lagting building as one of the city’s large public buildings.

 

Åland Cultural History Museum
Ålands Kulturhistoriska Museum

The Åland Museum of Cultural History is one of the most important museums on the Åland Islands, and it can be compared to a national museum for the archipelago. At the museum, you can follow the Åland Islands from prehistoric times to the present day, and thereby the place gives a good insight into the cultural development of the islands.

There are many themes and aspects in the exhibitions at the museum, which opened in 1963. They span history and culture related to, among other things, daily life, music, seafaring and the nature of the Åland Islands.

 

Åland Art Museum
Ålands Konstmuseum

Åland Art Museum is a museum located in central Mariehamn, which shares a building with the Åland Cultural History Museum. At the art museum, you can experience a number of works by local artists such as Joel Pettersson and Karl Emanuel Jansson, and changing exhibitions are also arranged.

The history of the museum started in 1955, when the Åland Islands Art Association proposed the establishment of an art museum. After a few years of preparation, the Åland Art Museum was opened in 1963, and it is run by the government of the archipelago.

Day Trips

Kastelholm Castle
Kastelholms Slott

Kastelholms Slott is a well-preserved castle ruin, located northeast of the Åland capital Mariehamn. The castle is known to be mentioned from 1388, and it is the only medieval castle on the Åland Islands. Kastelholm was built at a time when Åland was in the middle of the Swedish kingdom, which also consisted of the area between the Gulf of Bothnia and the then Kingdom of Novgorod.

With its central location, Kastelholm Castle was besieged on several occasions; e.g. during the Engelbrekt Rebellion, which took place in Sweden 1434-1436. The castle was also taken by the Danish King Hans’ troops in 1510, and Denmark maintained control of Kastelholm until 1521, when Gustav Vasa retook the castle for the Swedes. Vasa visited the castle in 1530, and it then became a royal hunting lodge.

Kastelholms Castle burned in 1619, after which an attempt was made to build it in a more representative version. However, the castle’s function as Åland’s administrative center disappeared in 1634, when Åland was politically transferred to Turku and Björneborgs Län in Finland. The castle lost importance, and in 1745 a fire ravaged the buildings, leaving most of the complex in ruins.

At the end of the 19th century, a restoration of the castle ruins began, and it has been continued in recent years, so that Kastelholms Castle once again stands and gives an impression of the facility in its former glory. After the restoration, the castle is open as a living ruin, and at the castle you can also visit the open-air museum Jan Karlsgården, which is a typical Åland farm from the 1850s, and the prison museum Vita Björn.

 

Bomarsund’s Fortress
Bomarsunds Fästning

Bomarsunds Fästning was a fortification that was established from Russia in 1832 as the country’s westernmost defense facility of this type. It happened after the Åland Islands had become part of the Russian Empire in 1809 with the Peace of Fredrikshamn. Bomarsunds Fästning was built with a semicircular main fortress with a length of 290 meters, and to this were added six cannon towers and other buildings.

In 1854, the fortress was attacked by a French and British fleet with a French division on board. The fleet had unsuccessfully attempted to sink the Russian fleet at Kronstadt and instead attacked Åland in what became known as the Battle of Bomarsund. 12,000 French soldiers and 80 warships attacked the fortress, which was defended by just over 2,000 soldiers, who ultimately had to surrender after about a week of fighting. A few weeks later, the attackers blew up Bomarsund’s Fästning, and at the later peace treaty, Åland was demilitarized.

After the explosion in 1854, Bomarsund’s Fästning lay in ruins, and this is still how you can experience the historic and quite large fortress today. You can take a walk in the area, where you can clearly see the preserved remains of Bomarshus Fästning, and they give a good impression of the construction and location of the facility on the banks of Bomarsund.

From Bomarsund Fästning itself, you can walk a short kilometer to the north, where the ruins of Notvikstornet are located. It was a Russian fortress tower that, together with the Prästötornet on the opposite bank of Bomarsund, was supposed to protect Bomarsund’s Fästning from attacks coming from the northern sea route. The Notvik tower is partially preserved, while there are no remains of the Prästötornet.

 

Kobba Klintar

Kobba Klintar are some rocky islands located south of Mariehamn. They are part of the countless islands that collectively make up the Åland Islands, and Kobba Klintar is a popular excursion destination where you can experience nature up close. It is possible to sail here in the summer season from the harbor in Mariehamn.

At Kobba Klintar you can walk around and enjoy the islands and the view of the sea. Close to the harbor there is a café here, and it is open during the visiting season. At the café there is also a pyramid-shaped building, the Båken, which is a rebuilt sea mark. The original seamark from 1862-1863 was torn down in the 1950s.

Shopping

Maxinge

maxinge.ax

 

Sittkoff Gallerian

sittkoffs.ax

 

Shopping streets

Torggatan

With Kids

Water park

Badhuset Mariebad
Österleden 68
facebook.com/BadhusetMariebad

 

Fire trucks

Brandkårsmuseet
Mörbyvägen 121, Hammarland
facebook.com/alandsbrandkarsmuseum

 

Family park with activities

Smart Park
Eckerövägen 388
smartpark.ax

 

Maritime museum

Ålands Sjöfartsmuseum
Hamngatan 2
sjofartsmuseum.ax

Geolocation

In short

Mariehamn, Aaland Islands, Finland

Mariehamn, Aaland Islands, Finland

Overview of Mariehamn, Aaland Islands, Finland

Mariehamn is the main city of the Åland Islands, a Swedish-speaking and autonomous part of Finland. The city is the seat of the government and parliament of the archipelago, which has around 30,000 inhabitants. Mariehamn is located on the island of Fasta Åland, which houses the majority of the island’s citizens, while the rest live on some of the Åland Islands’ over 6,000 islands and reefs. With that wealth, you are always close to the water.

It was the Russian empress Maria Aleksandrovna who gave the name to Mariehamn. Maria was on the throne of Russia when Mariehamn was founded in 1861, and at that time Finland was part of the Russian Empire. You can still see many well-preserved houses from the city’s earlier times in the 1800s, and for example along Södragatan there are many wooden houses from the period.

The whole center of Mariehamn is like Södragatan with many trees, green areas and wooden houses. This makes a walk between the low buildings a pleasant experience. The street Storagatan is the city’s central axis between the water, which lies both east and west of Mariehamn. On Storagatan you can see St. Göran’s Church, and at the eastern end of the street is Torget square, where the city’s town hall and the parliament for the Åland Islands are located.

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Gallery

Gallery

Other Attractions

St. George’s Church
S:t Göran’s Kyrka

St. George’s Church is Mariehamn’s parish church, and it literally has a central location in the city. The church was inaugurated in 1927 after a design by the Finnish-Swedish architect Lars Sonck. The church is located along Storagatan at the exact spot where the north-south axis intersects Storagatan.

The church has an interesting church room, where the skyward roof beautifully frames the altar. You can also notice the architectural details with, for example, the church’s pillars and the finely painted walls and ceilings, which are works of art on wood.

 

Mariehamn City Hall
Mariehamn Stadshus

Mariehamn Stadshus is the city’s town hall and thereby the seat of Mariehamn’s city council and administration. The town hall is located in the eastern part of Storagatan opposite the archipelago’s parliament and thus in what functions as the political center of the Åland Islands.

The town hall was designed by the Finnish-Swedish architect Lars Sonck, who also designed the nearby St. Göran’s Church. The building was built in 1939 and originally had several functions, as there was also a fire station and an ambulance depot here.

 

Åland Parliament
Ålands Lagting

Ålands Lagting is the name of the parliament of the Åland Islands, which has an interesting history with the archipelago’s cultural connection to Sweden and political connection to Finland. Åland and Finland were part of Sweden until 1809, and then both areas became the Grand Duchy of Finland, which was part of the Russian Empire.

Åland and Finland remained Russian until the aftermath of the First World War. The status of the archipelago was at stake when Finland became an independent country, and the people of Åland wanted a reunification with Sweden, while the League of Nations decided that Åland should belong to Finland, which, however, had to guarantee the Ålanders the opportunity to preserve their culture and language.

Åland’s Lagting was established as Åland’s self-governing parliament with Åland as part of Finland. The Lagting, which was initially called the Landstinget, convened for the first time on 9 June 1922, and therefore 9 June is still celebrated as Self-Government Day. In Mariehamn, you can see the Lagting building as one of the city’s large public buildings.

 

Åland Cultural History Museum
Ålands Kulturhistoriska Museum

The Åland Museum of Cultural History is one of the most important museums on the Åland Islands, and it can be compared to a national museum for the archipelago. At the museum, you can follow the Åland Islands from prehistoric times to the present day, and thereby the place gives a good insight into the cultural development of the islands.

There are many themes and aspects in the exhibitions at the museum, which opened in 1963. They span history and culture related to, among other things, daily life, music, seafaring and the nature of the Åland Islands.

 

Åland Art Museum
Ålands Konstmuseum

Åland Art Museum is a museum located in central Mariehamn, which shares a building with the Åland Cultural History Museum. At the art museum, you can experience a number of works by local artists such as Joel Pettersson and Karl Emanuel Jansson, and changing exhibitions are also arranged.

The history of the museum started in 1955, when the Åland Islands Art Association proposed the establishment of an art museum. After a few years of preparation, the Åland Art Museum was opened in 1963, and it is run by the government of the archipelago.

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