page_title: Suomenlinna
section_title: Construction
hierarchical_section_title: Suomenlinna / History / The Swedish era / Construction
caption_attribution_description: English: Suomenlinna
context_page_description: Suomenlinna, or Sveaborg, is an inhabited sea fortress built on eight islands about 4 km southeast of the city center of Helsinki, the capital of Finland. Suomenlinna is a UNESCO World Heritage site that is popular with tourists and locals, who enjoy it as a picturesque picnic site. Originally named Sveaborg, or Viapori as referred to by Finnish-speaking Finns, it was renamed in Finnish to Suomenlinna in 1918 for patriotic and nationalistic reasons, though it is still known by its original name in Sweden and by Swedish-speaking Finns.
  The Swedish crown commenced the construction of the fortress in 1748 as protection against Russian expansionism. The general responsibility for the fortification work was given to Augustin Ehrensvärd. The original plan of the bastion fortress was strongly influenced by the ideas of Vauban, the foremost military engineer of the time, and the principles of the star fort style of fortification, albeit adapted to a group of rocky islands.
context_section_description: Sweden started building the fortresses in January 1748.  Ehrensvärd's plan contained two fortifications: a sea fortress at Svartholm near the small town of Lovisa, and a larger sea fortress and naval base (Sveaborg) at Helsingfors. There were two main aspects to Ehrensvärd's design for Sveaborg: a series of independent fortifications across several linked islands and, at the very heart of the complex, a navy dockyard. In addition to the island fortress itself, seafacing fortifications on the mainland would ensure that an enemy could not acquire a beach-head from which to stage attacks on the sea fort. The plan was also to stock munitions for the whole Finnish contingent of the Swedish Army and Royal Swedish Navy there. Additional plans were made for fortifying the Hanko Peninsula, but these were postponed.
  Construction started in early 1748 kept expanding, and by September there were around 2,500 men building the fortresses. 
  Initially the soldiers were housed in the vaults of the fortifications, while the officers had specially built quarters integrated into the baroque cityscape composition of the overall plan. The most ambitious plan was left only half completed: a baroque square on Iso Mustasaari partly based on the model of Place Vendôme in Paris. As the construction work progressed, more residential buildings were built, many following the shape of the fortification lines. Ehrensvärd and some of the other officers were keen artists who made oil paintings presenting a view of life in the fortress during its construction, and giving the impression of a lively "fortress town" community.
  Due to repeated Russian threats in 1749 and 1750, more effort was placed on the island fortifications at the expense of those on the mainland, so that a safe base of operations could be secured for the Swedish naval units along the Finnish coast. Using the military garrisoned in Finland as the workforce, construction continued with over 6,000 workers in 1750. Fortifications at Gustavssvärd were completed in 1751 and the main fortifications on Vargö were ready in 1754. The fortress was fully operational though unfinished. These accomplishments did not reduce the pace of construction and in 1755 there were 7,000 workers constructing the fortifications outside of Helsingfors which at the time had around 2,000 residents. The substantial fortification work on the islands south of the town brought it a new and unexpected importance. Swedish participation to the Seven Years' War halted the construction efforts in 1757, which also marked the end of the rapid construction phase of Sveaborg.
  This period in Swedish history was known as the Age of Liberty, during which the kingdom was under increased parliamentary control, divided into two political parties, the Hats and the Caps. Ehrensvärd had been supported by the Hats, so when the Caps rose to power in 1766 he was relieved of his post and replaced with ardent Caps supporter Christopher Falkengréen. However, after 1769 when the Hats regained power, Ehrensvärd was again placed in command of the Swedish archipelago fleet in Finland, officially the arméens flotta ("fleet of the army"), and returned to Sveaborg. But additional progress had not been made on the fortifications when Ehrensvärd died in 1772. Efforts to improve the fortress continued under Jacob Magnus Sprengtporten, but his tenure was cut short by disagreements with King Gustav III. Once again efforts slowed down as garrisons were reduced, and in 1776 Sveaborg's commander reported that he couldn't even man one-tenth of the artillery placed in the fort. Even at the start of the Russo-Swedish War in 1788 Sveaborg remained in an incomplete state.
  Facilities for constructing ships for the Swedish archipelago fleet were built at Sveaborg in the 1760s. In 1764 the first three archipelago frigates were launched from there. In addition to the construction of the fortifications and ships, naval officer training was started by Ehrensvärd at his own expense at Sveaborg in 1770. It took until 1779 before a naval military school was formally founde
caption: Kuninkaanportti, The king's gate
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