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.

http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/579

The Bronze Age Burial Site of Sammallahdenmäki consists of 33 stone cairns, dating mainly from the Bronze Age (1500-500 B.C.). It is an extraordinary example of Finland's Bronze Age culture because it presents the ancient monuments in a well preserved natural environment. 

Two of the most spectacular cairns are the quadrangular "Chuch Floor" and the dike-like "Long Ruin of Huilu".

In 2002, eight cairns were excavated, revealing burnt human bone. This indicates that the cairns contained cremation burials. 

http://www.worldheritagesite.org/sites/site.php?id=579

High Coast / Kvarken Archipelago

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.

http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/898

The High Coast and the Kvarken Archipelago are outstanding examples of glaciation processes.

Both sites, on either side of the Gulf of Bothnia, hold numerous islands and islets. The High Coast is important for research on isostacy, in which the land rises as the weight of the glaciers melts off of it. This phenomenon was first recognised and studied here.

Kvarken features unusual ridged washboard moraines, "De Greer moraines", formed by the melting of the continental ice sheet, 10,000 to 24,000 years ago. 

http://www.worldheritagesite.org/sites/site.php?id=898

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.

http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/751

The Verla Groundwood and Board Mill is a well preserved 19th century mill village. It consists of a number of buildings in a rural setting, including the mill, board-drying plant, storehouses and the owner's residence. The mill produced mainly (paper)board for export to Russia, Europe and the USA.

The first groundwood mill at Verla was founded in 1872 by Hugo Nauman but was destroyed by fire in 1876. A larger groundwood and board mill, founded in 1882 by Gottlieb Kreidl and Louis Haenel, continued to operate until 1964. Wood-processing mills were common in the Nordic countries, but Verla represents the best-preserved example that remains from the 19th century.

http://www.worldheritagesite.org/sites/verlamill.html

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.

http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/584

Petäjävesi Old Church is an 18th century wooden church that exemplifies Scandinavian Lutheran church architecture and the long tradition of log building in Scandinavia. The design was influenced by European architectural trends such as Renaissance and Gothic, which were combined with the vernacular technique of log jointing.

The church was constructed between 1763 and 1765 as a small village church, because the trip to the parish church in Jämsä took too long. Petäjävesi church was built on a peninsula, where two lakes meet: so the congregation would reach it by boat (or over the ice in the winter). The bell tower was added in 1821. 

The church was abandoned in 1879 for a new church. In the 1920s the Austrian art historian Josef Strzygowski noticed the architectural and historical value of the church and since 1929 it has been restored several times. 

http://www.worldheritagesite.org/sites/petajavesi.html

Old Rauma

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.

http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/582

Old Rauma is an outstanding example of a traditional Nordic city constructed in wood. The town was built in the 15th century around a Franciscan monastery. It is a harbour town at the Gulf of Bothnia.

There are about 600 original wooden houses left. The oldest date from the 18th century when Rauma was rebuilt after a ravaging fire. Most of them though are from the 1890s, as a result of prosperity brought on by seafaring. 

http://www.worldheritagesite.org/sites/oldrauma.html

Fortress of Suomenlinna

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.

http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/583

The Fortress of Suomenlinna are military fortifications built on six islands to guard the entrance to Helsinki's harbour.


The old name for Suomenlinna (which means Finnish castle) is Sveaborg (Swedish castle). It was built in a time that Finland was part of Sweden, hence the original name.


The Swedish architect Ehrensvärd started the construction in 1748. The Fortress was meant to be a stronghold for the Swedes against the Russians. The task was so enormous that large parts of the army were dedicated to help build the site. They transformed a few little islands off the coast of Helsinki into a city with more inhabitants than Helsinki itself.


All the effort didn't hinder the Russians taking over in 1808. They also used it as a fortress, and added their own constructions.


Finally in 1918 the Fortress became Finnish. Nowadays it is a popular park with museums, interesting flora and beaches.

http://www.worldheritagesite.org/sites/suomenlinna.html

Struve Geodetic Arc

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.

http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1187

The Struve Geodetic Arc is a chain of survey triangulations stretching from Hammerfest in Norway to the Black Sea. The chain was established and used by the German-born Russian scientist Friedrich Georg Wilhelm von Struve in the years 1816 to 1855 to establish the exact size and shape of the earth. 

The area of the Arc designated as a WHS consists of 34 stations, spanning 10 countries and over 2,820 km. Originally there were 265 stations, in only 2 countries (the Russian Empire and the Union between Sweden & Norway). 

http://www.worldheritagesite.org/sites/struvegeodeticarc.html