RUSSIAN VIAPORI
The Russian garrison
In the 19th century, Viapori was a vibrant city within the city, and, with regard to its population, larger than Helsinki. The strength of the garrison varied between 1,000 and 2,000, and the fortress also housed civilian population and prisoners. Trading houses operated in Viapori, an active social life was led, balls were arranged, and card evenings were organised on a regular basis. The Russian speaking community in Viapori led a life separate from Helsinki. On the other hand, trade connections tied Viapori with the city, and the fortress purchased everything from foodstuffs to firewood.
While the fortress was a confined military garrison area, its reputation as a tourist attraction grew over the course of the 19th century. For example, the 1914 Baedeker guidebook referred to Viapori as one of the most important tourist attractions in Helsinki. According to Baedeker, the principal sights of the fortress were its church and Ehrensvärd’s funeral monument, which the tourists could see by paying a fee to the sentry. Ehrensvärd was a Swedish officer and military architect who designed and constructed Viapori. A visit to the fortress required that the visitor applied for a permit in advance and was well connected. Waterborne traffic to and from the fortress was functional already during the Russian era as Viapori was part of the routes of the steam ships operating in Helsinki waters. In winter, traffic to the fortress was conducted over a road staked in ice.
Officers’ group photo. Photo credits: Museovirasto
Wonderful Viapori!
Russian journalist Faddei Bulgarin visited Viapori in 1840. In his memoirs (Faddei Bulgarin Sotilaan Sydän, SKS 1996) (“Soldier’s Heart”) he describes the Gibraltar of the North where ”extensive cliffs had been reinforced with huge rocks quarried out of the bedrock and piled up to form walls by means of human intelligence and patience”. Bulgarin familiarised himself with the fortifications, veritable labyrinths in fact, and he was shown the latest innovations such as a freshwater cistern into which rain water perforated through a layer of sand. According to Bulgarin, the fortress had been developed further during the Russian era. He describes Viapori’s guns, walls, soldiers, long rows of barracks and prisons. Among them, he saw other things as well:
“Everywhere in the fortress where there is unoccupied space between houses and fortifications, small parks have been built, naturally on soil brought to the site from elsewhere. They liven up the melancholy of grey granite”.
“The house of the honourable N. I. Nybäck has an extraordinary location! It is a small wooden house by the sea. Below his window, just a few steps from the house, there is a small vegetable garden on the cliff, against which waves break. During a storm, the splatter is sure to reach the windows of the house. The view through the windows to the sea and the islands is beyond comparison.”
In winter, an ice road facilitated travel between the fortress and the mainland. The photo depicts an omnibus sleigh awaiting passengers to Viapori in 1914. Photo credits: Helsinki City Museum
The lost and visible Russian Viapori
Today, the atmosphere of the Russian garrison is still tangible in Suomenlinna. Some of the buildings from the Russian era have disappeared – they have been either pulled down, burnt or destroyed. Only the name of “Casino Park” reminds us of the Russian officers’ casino that used to be located on the site. The onion domes of the Orthodox church have been lost. On the other hand, the barracks in the “Garrison Block” and the “Jetty Barracks”, as well as the small wooden merchants’ block, have survived.
Soldiers participating in the centenary of the occupation of Viapori in April 1908. The soldiers are wearing historical uniforms dating back to the Finnish War (1808–1809. Photo credits: Museovirasto.
The Russian Viapori online exhibition
is part of the jubilee programme for
Finland’s 100 years of independence.
