Savonlinna, Finland

13 minutes read

We look at the map of Finland. Maria and I don’t know where Savonlinna is. You probably don’t know either and you are curious why exactly Savonlinna? Where is this city located? What’s there? Is it famous? What would make you end up in Savonlinna? Lots of questions, but I hope your curiosity will keep you here and read about this small but extremely Finnish and nice town somewhere in the Lakeland region of Finland.

How to reach Savonlinna?

I’m almost certain that this will not be your first choice of destination unless you ‘re an opera fan. And maybe you’ ve never heard of the city. But we should note, that in the National Geographic series “Europe from Above” you can see several shots of Savonlinna, but there the focus is on Lake Saimaa, which we also talk about.

But back to practical advice. You can fly to Savonlinna from Helsinki, there is a tiny airport nearby. The flight lasts about an hour. By car it will take you over 4 hours. And we chose to take the train from Helsinki to Parikkala (about 3 hours) and from there to Savonlinna again by train for another 1 hour – a total of 4 hours (15 – 60 euros).

4 hours north of Helsinki

Finnish trains are clean, comfortable and quite fast. It’s a pleasure to travel on them. And we ride on one with almost 200 kilometers per hour, northeast of Helsinki, and enjoy the views out the windows. We head to Savonlinna, a municipality of about 30,000 inhabitants (almost 40,000 with surrounding villages annexed ), to spend 3 days exploring Lake Saimaa and life there. And especially the culinary life.

In this part of Finland it is very difficult to determine which town or village you are in. The town of Savonlinna itself is situated on several islands connected by bridges. But within the municipality there are several other villages, which are also located on islands and everything is connected. And between the municipal centre and the peripheral villages is full of small scattered islands, mostly covered by forests. I don’t know if they all have names, it’s probably very difficult to come up with names for so many islands.

Savonlinna is easily reached by train, as well as by car, but the most typical transport for this region is on water. Almost everyone has boats, which in the warm seasons, when the lake isn’t frozen, sail between the islands. It’s often faster to move between villages by boat that by car.

A curious fact is that Lake Saimaa is extremely clean, despite the heavy water traffic. You can seeup to 6 m depth. And the nature around is very clean as well. Indeed, Finland is an sparsely populated country. And even regional centres like Savonlinna are far more peaceful and unpopulated, compared to most other urban areas across Europe.

The story of every town in Finland begins with stories of how it was during the Swedish rule of the region, then passing through the Russian Empire and only recently to the country of Finland. Thus the main attraction of Savonlinna walks us through these eras.

Savonlinna Castle – Olavinlinna

The main landmark of the town is the Castle of St. Olaf (Olavinlinna), built on an island next to the town. Our first question to our tour guide Anna from the Riihisaari City Museum is who needed a castle here, in the middle of the lake. In fact, the castle was founded in 1475 , at the time when these lands were within the Kingdom of Sweden.

Then the Swedish regent Erik Axelsson Toth decided to build a defensive fortress, to guard the Swedish dominions from raids by the neighbouring Russian provinces. The eastern part of Finland, including the capital Helsinki, was changing hands for many centuries, passing from Swedish to Russian rule and vise versa. The country of Finland gained independence in 1917. Therefore in these regions, and not only, you will find a very mixed population, people with Russian sounding names and a lot of Russian speakers. There are also many Russian immigrants.

Olavinlinna Castle survived the two Swedish-Russian Wars, one at the end of the 15th century, the other in the middle of the 16th century and was not captured during either of them. Later in history, however, the fortress has fallen into foreign hands after voluntary surrender – once in 1714 and once in 1743.

The Black Ram – Saviour of Olavinlinna

Olavinlinna has an unusual talisman – a black ram. The legend is that in 1656 the Russians besieged the fortress again and a terrible storm arose one night. A bolt of lightning struck, igniting the tar on the protective barriers and the approaches to the castle burst into flames, rising to the sky. Against this dramatic background, a black ram, in search of food, has climbed the north battery of the castle. Frightened by the storm, he began to wave his horns. The sight of an enraged black horned creature in the middle of the night, against the background of a sky engulfed in flames, greatly frightened the occupiers, who decided that the castle was protected by the devil. They quickly retreated, and the ram saved Olavinlinna. Today there is a statue of the ram on the path to the castle as well as inside the castle itself.

Life in the Castle of St. Olaf

The castle was mostly a military installation and its main inhabitants in those times were the defenders of the area. Even today, we walk around the defense towers that still guard the cannon holes, and we can see a few cannons. But life in the castle was not devoid of anything important either. Our tour guide at the castle tells us that as a Swedish possession, the castle was supposed to have a great hall where the Swedish king could feast when he came. So there is a huge hall here too, but a Swedish king only came once, most of the time the biggest hall was used by the commandant / manager of the castle and it is really impressive. Today, it is designed as a dining hall and hosts a wide variety of culinary events – themed dinners, official meetings and even weddings.

The Church Tower

The castle once had its own church, in one of the towers. On its walls you can still see some of the old frescoes, although now worn. There is a small window at one end of the hall and a tiny room behind it. In it stood the inhabitants of the castle, who for some reason, usually a contagious disease, were not allowed to the service. Something like isolation room. But going to church, of course, was compulsory.

In the niches of the towers we see recreations of the bedrooms of the guardians of the castle. Judging by the beds, they were quite tiny. Other curious facilities are the two toilets. They are niches projecting outwards from the wall near the sleeping quarters, with an opening in the floor. If you look down at the rocks, you’ll see they were used for just that. There was also a kitchen in one of the castle courtyards.

Savonlinna opera festival / Savonlinnan oopperajuhlat/

Today the castle is a museum and a venue for exhibitions, concerts and other cultural events. The most significant of these is the Savonlinna Opera Festival, which takes place every year in July. The tents and stage for the performances are located in the large courtyard of the castle and only we can imagine what a great atmosphere there is here during the festival. We are visiting in September so many restaurants and cafes are already closed.

In 1907, during a nationalist meeting at Olavinlina Castle, Finnish soprano Aino Acte, already established on the world’s opera stages and an ardent patriot, recognises the potential of the castle as an ideal venue for an opera festival. The first festival took place in 1912, Acte directed it for five years, during which she staged four Finnish operas. The only foreign opera was Charles Gounod ‘s Faust, in which Acte performed the role of Marguerite.

In 1917. The festival was interrupted due to World War I, Finland ‘s declaration of independence and the ensuing Civil War. After a fifty-year hiatus, in 1967 the Music Days in Savonlinna organized an opera course for young singers, culminating in a performance of Beethoven’s Fidelioin the castle. This year is considered the beginning of the contemporary festival which has been one of the most prestigious cultural events in Finland since.

The municipality of Savonlinna is working hard to support and develop this event. And to make sure that guests of the city are taken care of and enjoy their stay. One of the great ideas we understood, is a special opera-themed menu developed in collaboration with local restaurants for the festival. It included dishes like ” Verdi plate” the ” Traviata” sandwich.

The Ships of Savonlinna

If you look at the fleet in Lake Saimaa, you will be amazed at the scale of the vessels in it. The feeling is like being at sea, large ships pass everywhere, passengers and cargo move between islands hundreds of kilometers apart. Shipping in this part of Finland has been highly developed for centuries. We also see it during the walk in the museum, at whose pier three ships are anchored, one of which is a legendary steamer from the 19th century. We are told that there was another steamer during the summer, but it sailed away. Here is the time to clarify that if you are in Savonlinna in the summer, you can enjoy many water entertainments, among which a ride on a real working steamboat.

Salama

The most curious ship at the pier is the SALAMA, built in 1874. It was the flagship in the area at that time, one of the most modern and luxurious ships. Most often it traveled on the route Joensuu – Savonlinna – Vyborg – St. Petersburg and carried passengers and cargo. At that time, tourism was not so affordable and only the very wealthy could afford leisure travel. The super luxurious SALAMA very often carried just such people, carrying up to 60 passengers and 110 tons of cargo. On board the restored ship today, we see parts of the kitchen, dining room and passenger lounge. It is hard for us to imagine how 60 people fitted here, but at that time the criteria were different. But really, the ship’s amenities are excellent for the late 19th century.

Salama has an interesting fate with both tragic and positive elements. On a dark night in September 1898, the ship was struck by another ship while passing through a narrow section in Lake Saimaa and sank within an hour. A third ship nearby (you can feel how busy was the traffic in the area) came to the rescue and all passengers and crew were saved. But everyone’s favorite ship sank in an hour and remained at the bottom of the lake for over 70 years. In 1971, the ship was taken out of the waters of the lake and to everyone’s great surprise, it was extremely well preserved. Due to the clear waters of the lake, the lack of salt and oxygen, the hull was almost intact. The ship was then restored and is now part of the Riihisaari Museum.

Mikko

Mikko is another historic ship, the last of over 200 tar steamers that cruised Lake Saimaa in the early 20th century. It was built around 1920 and its main task was to transport timber and other cargo. After becoming obsolete, it served as a cruise ship in the 1970s. Its deteriorated condition since then required many and expensive repairs. Nowadays Mikko is still working and in the summer is a scene of events, cruises etc.

On the pier of the museum you can see other historic ships, as well as the harbor in the city. A ride on one of the many cruise ships that await you there is absolutely worth it.

Lake Saimaa

We mislead you a bit at the beginning. The biggest attraction of Savonlinna is neither the castle nor the ships. The biggest attraction is the lake and the wonderful nature. We can talk a lot about Lake Saimaa, and we do so in another article. But just imagine that we are staying at the Hospitz Hotel on the shore of the lake, right in front of us is a small beach, on which there is a sign saying that the water is wonderful for swimming and bathing. A boat passes from time to time, and many ducks quack in the water and walk along the small sandbar. The ships we wrote about a while ago are also in front of us. We stay in the sauna of the hotel and then quickly jump into the cold waters of the lake and so every day.

Saimaa is the real treasure of Savonlinna and definitely worth seeing.

The hotel in Savonlinna where we stayed

The Hospitz Hotel also turned out to be an interesting find. Designed in 1929-30. by Olivia Mathilda “Wivi” Lönn, who is the first female architect in Finland to have her own architecture company. The building was originally built as a boarding house and premises for the Young Women’s Christian Association and is in Scandinavian classicism, characterized by an asymmetrical plan and facade. During the wars, the hotel was used by the military. The military telephone center was also housed in the basement. Since 1992 the building is back in business as a hotel and we almost accidentally ended up in it. We even had a formal dinner at the restaurant, almost like a ball. Now, let’s explore the food of Savonlinna.

Lönn’s project has won the design competition for the volunteer fire department building in Tampere. But she was not allowed to proceed with the design because it was a “men’s building”. In 1902, Lönn caused public anger by cycling to the town of Joutsa, wearing trousers. It is also interesting that she was involved in the design of theEstonia Theatre, a historic building in Tallinn, Estonia, which houses the Estonian National Opera and the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra.

Other hotels in Savonlinna, if you are heading there:

Booking.com

Muikku, Lortsy and what to eat in Savonlinna

Traditional food in this part of the world is directly linked to the products available, which here are rye, oats, fish, berries and mushrooms. Meat, of course, is also available, there are many farms, maybe more beef, less pork, but there’s more of both. When you go to Savonlinna, it is important to try at least two local specialties.

Muikku

The most famous product, and the most liked by us, is muikku. It is a small fish that lives in abundance in Lake Saimaa and is popular throughout Finland and beyond. In English the species is vendace. Muikku in local restaurants is served fried, rolled in rye flour, and is crazy tasty. Here it is time to leave the prejudice against small fish.

If you want to take Muikku home, you can buy one of the many types of canned Muikku prepared in different ways. Popular is smoked muyikku, preserved together with salt and rapeseed oil. In fact, rapeseed oil is quite common here. Smoked muikku may surprise you, because the aroma is strong, smoky, real wood smoke. It is nothing like the smoked sausages and fish we are used to eating across Europe.

Puruveden muikku is a product with a Protected Geographical Indication (PGI), PGI) because of its excellent taste and purity . Puruvesi lake is part of the Saimaa lake complex and is considered to be the cleanest part of the entire lake.

If you want to buy a genuine local product, you can also look for products with a D.O.Saimaa label.This is the regional quality certificate and is reliable.

Lörtsy

Almost every region of the world we’ve been to has some traditional pastry product that everyone loves. Here it is Lörtsy. Lörtsy is something like a big fried doughnut stuffed with different things. The most popular is with minced meat. The surprise for us was that the filling is actually minced meat and rice. So, imagine a dough product, fried, stuffed with minced meat and rice. Fried like this, Lörtsy can be eaten directly or folded in half and onions, pickles, ketchup, mustard added. If you like pasta and that type of sandwich, you’ll probably like it.

Mushrooms and berries

In Finland, there is a law that gives all residents and visitors to the country, including tourists, the right to freely pick from the gifts of nature, including mushrooms, berries, nuts, herbs, flowers and whatever else they find useful. This includes fishing. Also, everyone has the right to walk, cycle or ski and stay for a short time (eg a few days in a tent) anywhere that this is not prohibited (eg not private property and not agricultural land). Therefore, and quite expectedly, these products are abundant everywhere and an indispensable part of the cuisine in Savonlinna and all of Finland.

When to visit Savonlinna?

Savonlinna and Lake Saimaa are popular destinations in summer. The opera festival is in July, but if you’re going to visit, plan ahead. In the summer everyone loves to swim in the lake, boating, other water sports, go hiking on the many eco-trails in the forests of Finland.

Autumn starts here in early September and quickly everything covers in beautiful warm colors. By October, however, the cold has already started to arrive and it is gloomy and rainy, and the days are getting shorter, locals say.

When winter comes, however, things return to normal and everyone goes into winter mode. The lake freezes with a cover of up to 60 cm and becomes suitable for walking on the ice and even for driving between the islands. A short day, lasting from about 10am to 3pm, isn’t that intimidating, or at least for those used to it. In addition , the white snow creates a feeling of light, which makes winter almost pleasant. Or at least for the locals, who can always beat the cold with a hot sauna.

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