SURROUNDINGS. To the SE of the city (motor-boats from Market Square) is the Suomenlinna (Swedish Sveaborg) group of islands, with the remains of the 18th c. fortress. One of the fortress walls houses the Walhalla Restaurant. To the S (boats from Merisatamaranta, to the W of Kaivopuisto) lies the island of Pihlajasaari (Swedish Ronnskar), with a beautiful sandy beach and expanses of woodland.
To the E (by Itavayla, the Porvoo road) is the suburb of Herttoniemie (7-5 km 4miles), with the Topeius Museum, commemorating the poet Zachris Topelius (1818-98). On the island of Korkeasaari (Swedish Hogholmem motorboats from North Harbour in
10 minutes, footbridge from Mustikkamaa recreation area) are the Zoo and a summer restaurant.
Tothe W of the city, linked to it by a footbridge, lies the island of Seurasaari (Swedish Foliso), where can be seen an open-air museum with old peasant houses, the church of Karuna (1686) and other timber buildings. It can be reached by way of Mannerheimintie, then left along Linnankoskenkatu, right along Paciuksenkatu for a short distance, then left into Seurasaarentie, which leads to the bridge. Nearby, at 7 Meilahti, is an old timber house now occupied by the Friends of Finnish Handicrafts, with an exhibition of Rya carpets and other textiles and where visitors can watch weaving and knotting. At 6 Tamminiementie (the continuation of Seurasaarentie) is the Municipal Art Collection. On the other side of the bay, 6 km (4 miles) from the middle ofthe city on the road to Hanko (Lansivayla), is the garden city of Tapiola (Swedish Hagalund), part of Espoo. Although dating from the 1950s, this is still an exemplary piece of modern town planning (pop. c. 16,000). To the NE, on the Otaniemi peninsula, stands the Helsinki College of Technology, with the striking Students’ House, Dipoli (by A. Ruusuvuori and R. Paatelainen, 1966).
Helsinki to Hanko (135 km 84 miles). Leave Helsinki on the western Lansivayla, in a SW direction, and in 3 km (2 miles) cross a 500 m (550 yd) long bridge to the island of Lauttasaari (camp site); then in another 3 km (2 miles) return to the mainland on a further bridge and continue past the garden city of TapiolatoStensvik (14 km 9 miles). 5 km (3 miles) beyond this, Road 50 bears right to Espoo (8 km 5 miles), now the midpoint of an urban region with a population of over 120,000 (old church). 7 km (44 miles): Kyrksatt (1 km (§ mile) on right) has a stone church dating from the 14th c. (restored 1958-9) and the attractively situated Hvittrask, a complex of buildings of architectural interest, including thestudio of the architect Eliel Saarinen (museum; restaurant). To the S of the main road we come to the Porkkala peninsula, part of which was a Soviet base until 1956.
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