Struve Geodetic Arc

Norway

Finland

Ukraine

Russia

Belarus

The Struve Arc is a chain of survey triangulations stretching from Hammerfest in Norway to the Black Sea, through 10 countries and over 2,820 km. These are points of a survey, carried out between 1816 and 1855 by the astronomer Friedrich Georg Wilhelm Struve, which represented the first accurate measuring of a long segment of a meridian. This helped to establish the exact size and shape of the planet and marked an important step in the development of earth sciences and topographic mapping. It is an extraordinary example of scientific collaboration among scientists from different countries, and of collaboration between monarchs for a scientific cause. The original arc consisted of 258 main triangles with 265 main station points. The listed site includes 34 of the original station points, with different markings, i.e. a drilled hole in rock, iron cross, cairns, or built obelisks.

Belarus

Estonia

Finland

Latvia

Lithuania

Moldova, Republic of

Norway

Russian Federation

Sweden

Ukraine

N59 3 28 E26 20 16

Date of Inscription: 2005

Criteria: (ii)(iii)(vi)

Ref: 1187

Source: http://whc.unesco.org

Petäjävesi Old Church

 Petäjävesi Old Church

Petäjävesi Old Church, in central Finland, was built of logs between 1763 and 1765. This Lutheran country church is a typical example of an architectural tradition that is unique to eastern Scandinavia. It combines the Renaissance conception of a centrally planned church with older forms deriving from Gothic groin vaults.

Finland

Petäjävesi, Region of Central Finland, Province of Western Finland

N62 15 0 E25 10 59.988

Date of Inscription: 1994

Criteria: (iv)

Ref: 584

Source: http://whc.unesco.org

Bronze Age Burial Site of Sammallahdenmäki

 This Bronze Age burial site features more than 30 granite burial cairns, providing a unique insight into the funerary practices and social and religious structures of northern Europe more than three millennia ago.

Finland

Region of Satakunta, Province of Western Finland

N61 7 14.016 E21 46 39

Date of Inscription: 1999

Criteria: (iii)(iv)

Ref: 579rev

Source: http://whc.unesco.org

Verla Groundwood and Board Mill

The Verla groundwood and board mill and its associated residential area is an outstanding, remarkably well-preserved example of the small-scale rural industrial settlements associated with pulp, paper and board production that flourished in northern Europe and North America in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Only a handful of such settlements survive to the present day.

Finland

Municipalities of Jaala and Valkeala, Region of Kymenlaakso, Province of Southern Finland

N61 3 42.984 E26 38 26.988

Date of Inscription: 1996

Criteria: (iv)

Property : 23 ha

Buffer zone: 80 ha

Ref: 751

Source: http://whc.unesco.org

Old Rauma

Brief Description

Situated on the Gulf of Botnia, Rauma is one of the oldest harbours in Finland. Built around a Franciscan monastery, where the mid-15th-century Holy Cross Church still stands, it is an outstanding example of an old Nordic city constructed in wood. Although ravaged by fire in the late 17th century, it has preserved its ancient vernacular architectural heritage.

Finland

Region of Satakunta, Province of Western Finland (formerly Province of Turku-Pori)

N61 7 41.016 E21 30 42.012

Date of Inscription: 1991

Minor modification inscribed year: 2009

Criteria: (iv)(v)

Property : 29 ha

Buffer zone: 142 ha

Ref: 582bis
Source:  http://whc.unesco.org

High Coast / Kvarken Archipelago

Kvarken Archipelago of Finland
A Postcard from my Postcard Penpal Miia
Thank you very Much:: 

Brief Description

The Kvarken Archipelago (Finland) and the High Coast (Sweden) are situated in the Gulf of Bothnia, a northern extension of the Baltic Sea. The 5,600 islands of the Kvarken Archipelago feature unusual ridged washboard moraines, ‘De Geer moraines’, formed by the melting of the continental ice sheet, 10,000 to 24,000 years ago. The Archipelago is continuously rising from the sea in a process of rapid glacio-isostatic uplift, whereby the land, previously weighed down under the weight of a glacier, lifts at rates that are among the highest in the world. As a consequence islands appear and unite, peninsulas expand, and lakes evolve from bays and develop into marshes and peat fens. The High Coast has also been largely shaped by the combined processes of glaciation, glacial retreat and the emergence of new land from the sea. Since the last retreat of the ice from the High Coast 9,600 years ago, the uplift has been in the order of 285 m which is the highest known ''rebound''. The site affords outstanding opportunities for the understanding of the important processes that formed the glaciated and land uplift areas of the Earth''s surface.

Finland

Sweden

N63 17 60 E21 18 0

Date of Inscription: 2000

Extension: 2006

Criteria: (viii)

Property : 336,900 ha

Ref: 898bis

Source: http://whc.unesco.org

Fortress of Suomenlinna

Brief Description

Built in the second half of the 18th century by Sweden on a group of islands located at the entrance of Helsinki's harbour, this fortress is an especially interesting example of European military architecture of the time.

  Finland
Helsinki Harbour, Region of Uusimaa, Province of Southern Finland
N60 8 49.992 E24 59 13.992
Date of Inscription: 1991
Criteria: (iv)
Property : 210 ha
Buffer zone: 2,641 ha
Ref: 583

Source: http://whc.unesco.org