List of World Heritage Sites in Finland

Sammallahdenmäki

Suomenlinna

Kvarken

Old Rauma

Petäjävesi Old Church

Verla

Struve Geodetic Arc

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Location of World Heritage Sites in Finland. The green dot indicates the natural site while the blue dots indicate the sites of the Struve Geodetic Arc.

TheUnited Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization(UNESCO)World Heritage Sitesare places of importance toculturalornatural heritageas described in the UNESCO World Heritage Convention, established in 1972.Finlandaccepted the convention on 4 March 1987, making its historical sites eligible for inclusion on the list. The first two sites added to the list wereOld Raumaand theFortress of Suomenlinna,both in 1991, at the 15th Session of theWorld Heritage Committee,held inCarthage,Tunisia.Further sites were added in 1994, 1996, 1999, 2005, and 2006.

There are seven World Heritage Sites inFinland,six of which are classified as cultural sites according to the UNESCO criteria, and one natural site, theHigh Coast/Kvarken Archipelago.This is a transnational site and is shared with Sweden. The Swedish part, the High Coast, was listed individually in 2000; the Kvarken Archipelago was added in 2006. There is another transnational site in Finland, theStruve Geodetic Arc,a cultural site listed in 2005, which is shared with nine other countries.In addition to its World Heritage Sites, Finland also maintains three properties on its tentative list.

World Heritage Sites

UNESCO lists sites underten criteria;each entry must meet at least one of the criteria. Criteria i through vi are cultural, and vii through x are natural.

* Transnational site

Site	Image	Location	Year listed	UNESCO data	Description
Old Rauma		Rauma	1991	582; iv, v (cultural)	Old Rauma is the medieval central part of the town of Rauma at theGulf of Bothnia.It consists of around 600 wooden houses which are now used both for residential and commercial purposes. TheChurch of the Holy Crossdates to the 16th century while the rest of the urban area has been rebuilt after fires and dates to the 17th to 19th centuries. Minor boundary modifications took place in 2009.
Fortress of Suomenlinna		Helsinki	1991	583; iv (cultural)	The fortress, which is built on six islands at the entrance to the port ofHelsinki,was built by Sweden in the 18th century to defend against theRussian Empire.There are 200 buildings and the defensive walls stretch over 6 kilometres (3.7 mi). AfterWorld War II,the military role of the fortress declined. It was repurposed for public use and is now a popular tourist destination.
Petäjävesi Old Church		Petäjävesi,Central Finland	1994	584; iv (cultural)	This church is a typical example of the architectural tradition of wooden churches in northern Europe. It was built between 1763 and 1765 and demonstrates the masterful application of European architectural influences to a structure made of logs. The centrally planned church shows Renaissance influences while the steep roof recalls the Gothic tradition. The bell tower was added in 1821. The church is well preserved due to the fact that it was abandoned in the late 19th century, as the new parish church was built, and did not suffer from major alterations such as the installation of heating systems. It was carefully restored after 1920. The church still holds services regularly in summer.
Verla Groundwood and Board Mill		Kouvola(Jaala),Kymenlaakso	1996	751; iv (cultural)	The mill and the surrounding residential area represent a type of small-scale rural industrial settlement common in the 19th and early 20th centuries, associated withpulp,paper, and board production. These types of settlements flourished in northern Europe and North America, where the raw materials were abundant. The Verla Mill operated until 1964, after which it was converted into a museum.
Bronze Age Burial Site of Sammallahdenmäki		Rauma	1999	579; iii, iv (cultural)	This burial site dates back to theBronze Ageand the earlyIron Age,from 1500 to 500 BCE. The site includes 33 burialcairnsin several clusters. The cairns are connected tosun worship,a religion that spread to Finland from Scandinavia. Originally, they were built near the coast but are now further inland due to the rising land.
Struve Geodetic Arc*		Enontekiö,Ylitornio,Tornio,Korpilahti,Lapinjärvi,Pyhtää	2005	1187, ii, iii, vi (cultural)	The Struve Geodetic Arc is a series oftriangulationpoints, stretching over a distance of 2,820 kilometres (1,750 mi) fromHammerfestin Norway to theBlack Sea.The points were set up in a survey by the astronomerFriedrich Georg Wilhelm Struvewho first carried out an accurate measurement of a long segment of a meridian, which helped to establish the size and shape of the Earth. Originally, there were 265 station points. The World Heritage Site includes 34 points in ten countries (north to south: Norway, Sweden, Finland, Russia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Belarus, Moldova, Ukraine), six of which are in Finland.AlatornioChurch, one of the station points in Finland, is pictured.
High Coast/Kvarken Archipelago*		Kvarken	2006	898bis; viii (natural)	This is an extension of the High Coast site in Sweden, originally listed in 2000. Both the High Coast and the Kvarken Archipelago are situated in the Gulf of Bothnia and include thousands of islands. The area shows prominent effects of thepost-glacial rebound,the rising of the land following the melting of the continentalice sheetafter theLast Glacial Maximum(thus removing the weight of the glaciers), 10,000 to 24,000 years ago. The rising, in some places up to almost 300 metres (980 ft), is constantly changing the landscape.

Tentative list

In addition to sites inscribed on the World Heritage List, member states can maintain a list of tentative sites that they may consider for nomination. Nominations for the World Heritage List are only accepted if the site was previously listed on the tentative list.As of 2021, Finland lists two properties on its tentative list.

Site	Image	Location	Year listed	UNESCO criteria	Description
The Architectural Works of Alvar Aalto - a Human Dimension to the Modern Movement		Paimio,Helsinki,Kotka,Pori,Säynätsalo,Muuratsalo,Imatra,Jyväskylä,Seinäjoki	2021	ii (cultural)	This nomination comprises works by prominent FinnishModernistarchitectAlvar Aalto:thePaimio Sanatorium,Aalto House, the Sunila Pulp Mill Housing Area, Villa Mairea,SäynätsaloTown Hall, the Experimental House, Muuratsalo, Studio Aalto, the Church of Three Crosses, Vuoksenniska, the House of Culture, theUniversity of Jyväskylä,Aalto Campus, the Social Insurance Institution Main Office, theSeinäjokiCivic Centre, andFinlandia Hall
TheRinged SealArchipelagos ofLake Saimaa*		Ristiina	2021	ix, x (natural)	Lake Saimaa, located in south-eastern Finland, the largest lake in Finland at 4,400 square kilometres (1,700 sq mi), is the only habitat of theSaimaa ringed seal(Phoca hispida saimensis). This seal subspecies has become landlocked and has adapted to the freshwated environment following theend of the last glaciation.

See also

• Tourism in Finland