Finland ratified the Convention concerning the Protection of World Cultural and Natural Heritage (the UNESCO World Heritage Convention, 1972) in 1987. At present the World Heritage List contains six Finnish World Heritage sites and one Natural Heritage Site:

• Verla Groundwood and Board Mill
• Fortress of Suomenlinna
• Petäjävesi Old Church
• Old Rauma
• Bronze Age Burial Site at Sammallahdenmäki
• Struve Geodetic Arc
• the Kvarken Archipelago

Verla Groundwood and Board Mill

The Verla Groundwood and Board Mill is a unique, small-scale industrial complex dating from the early years of the Finnish wood processing industry. Situated in a rural setting, the complex includes mills, power plants and workers' housing. Verla was inscribed in the World Heritage List in 1996.

The Verla Mill was founded in 1872 by engineer Hugo Neuman. It was built in the Mäntyharju area, which was rich in unexploited forest resources.

After only four years, the wooden mill burnt down. Operations restarted soon when a new company was established in 1882 by two master papermakers, the Austrian Gottlieb Kreidl and the German Louis Haenel, in partnership with a businessman from Viipuri, Wilhelm Dippell. The new groundwood and board mill was also built of wood, but after its drying loft was destroyed by fire in 1892, it was replaced by the present four-storey, ornamental red-brick building. This was designed by Dippell's brother, architect Carl Eduard Dippell. The ever-present danger of fire led to brick walls being erected around the wooden mill building in 1895.

The single-storey mill-owner's residence was built in 1885; its tower-like annex was added some years later. The other buildings on the grounds include a skittle-alley with round wooden pavilions, a fire equipment shed, a bale warehouse and a storehouse. The hydro-electric power plants date from the 1950s and 1990s.

Communities sprang up on both sides of the Verla Rapids as the mill expanded. These include workers' tenements, a communal sauna, a flour mill, a village hall and a shop.

Verla's main product, white mechanical pulp board, had a good name on the market. Mainly used for making boxes and book covers, it was exported to Russia, continental Europe and the United States. The annual output of some 2000 tons was modest by present-day standards.

At its peak, the mill employed some 140 workers. Most of them were women, working as machine operators, sheet handlers and packers.

In 1922 the mill was taken over by the Kymi Company and closed down in 1964. The buildings, with their machines and fixtures, were left intact. Kymi's PR manager Veikko Talvi realised Verla's historical value and in 1972, a century after its establishment, it was opened as a museum.

On a rock face above the rapids is a prehistoric painting depicting the life of settlers in the Mäntyharju valley some 6000 years ago.

Fortress of Suomenlinna

Historically, Suomenlinna has played an important part in Baltic power politics and is a superb example of military architecture. The fortress was built with French aid as Sweden's bastion against the Russians. In the Russian era it served as a defence against the West. Since Finland's independence it has been an important part of the country's defence. At one time the fortress was considered such a powerful military stronghold that it was called the Gibraltar of the North. Suomenlinna was inscribed in the World Heritage List in 1991.

In 1747 the Swedish parliament decided to fortify its border with Russia. Two fortresses were built in Loviisa, one in town and another on Svartholma island at the entrance to the inlet. Suomenlinna was built on six islands off the coast of Helsinki as a fortress and naval base to control shipping routes and provide a safe harbour and winter quarters for the Swedish fleet.

Lt. Col. Augustin Ehrensvärd was responsible for the fortification plans and construction. Contemporary fortification techniques were flexibly adapted to northern conditions. Similarly, the shape and terrain of the islands called for exceptional solutions. Soldiers were ordered to construction work, and at times there were up to 6000 soldiers at work on the fortress. According to plans, the fortress was supposed to be operative within a few years, but the funds ran out and at the time of Ehrensvärd's death in 1772 the fortress was still unfinished.

When Russia attacked Sweden in 1808, Suomenlinna was blockaded and surrendered before the end of the winter. For the next 110 years, when Finland was a Grand Duchy of Russia, Suomenlinna served as a Russian garrison. In 1855, during the Crimean War, it was bombarded by the Anglo-French fleet. Hopelessly outdated, the fortress was unable to retaliate and was severely damaged.

The Russians made major improvements and modernisations, including a sea defence line complete with massive earth ramparts. Wooden houses were built for the growing civilian, largely Russian, population of tradesmen, craftsmen and officials. During the Russian era, Suomenlinna was inhabited by some 6000 soldiers and civilians.

In 1918, some months after independence, a Finnish garrison took over Suomenlinna. After the Civil War it served as a prison camp, and during World War II it was vital to the air defence of Helsinki. Since then it has been used for civilian purposes, but is still home to the Naval Academy.

Nowadays Suomenlinna is a popular tourist and recreation centre. It has a population of over 850 and provides jobs for some 400 people. The upkeep of the 200 or so buildings and over six kilometres of ramparts is the responsibility of the Governing Body of Suomenlinna, which is subordinate to the Ministry of Education.

Petäjävesi Old Church

The old church of Petäjävesi is an impressive example of northern wooden architecture. It exemplifies Scandinavian Lutheran church architecture and the long tradition of log building in Scandinavia. The church epitomises the way in which local master builders skilfully adapted the styles of European ecclesiastical architecture to the vernacular technique of log jointing. Petäjävesi church was inscribed in the World Heritage List in 1994.

The church, located on a lake shore in Central Finland, was built in 1763-65 by master builder Jaakko Klementinpoika Leppänen. Some 60 years later his grandson Erkki Jaakonpoika Leppänen built the bell-tower. A new chancel was built at the east end of the church and the windows were enlarged.

Since the new parish church was built in 1879, the old one has not been used for regular services. It was decided, however, not to tear it down. The bells were left in the old belfry and the graveyard is still in use. Repairs have been made since the 1920s on a regular basis. The structures have been reinforced, the shingle roof replaced and the surrounds improved. The new wall around the churchyard dates from 1997. The church is occasionally used in summer.

In appearance, Petäjävesi church resembles many other cruciform churches, although it has not been weather-boarded. The church is entered via the bell-tower. This has a cross-shaped ground floor with the points tapering upwards. In the middle, under the lift hole for the bells, there is a blue circular design illustrating the firmament. Above the middle of the church is a polygonal cupola and a barrel vault over the transept. There is a red decoration on the vault ribs and tie-beams on the otherwise unpainted ceiling and walls. Long use has given the wooden pews a beautiful silvery sheen. The floor is made of boards removed from an earlier church on the same site. These are short so they can be removed for interments.

The polygonal pulpit, which is as old as the church, is supported by a stern-faced St. Christopher, "Christ Carrier". The rustic carvings depict four apostles and angels. Opposite is the stand on which the cantor stood to lead hymn singing. The Holy Confirmation altarpiece is from 1843 and the portraits of Luther and Moses are the work of Carl Fredrik Blom, one of the last artisan painters.

Old Rauma

Old Rauma is a typical Scandinavian wood-built town. It forms a uniform area of historical, single-storey buildings, a street network partly dating from medieval times and a viable urban community, complete with dwellings, shops and services. Old Rauma was inscribed in the World Heritage List in 1991.

Rauma is one of Finland's six medieval towns. All that remain from the Middle Ages are the Church of the Holy Cross, originally built for a Franciscan Monastery, and the ruins of the Church of the Holy Trinity. In the 16th century the town was destroyed by fire at least three times.

In the 17th century the town expanded from around the Holy Trinity to where the market square is today. In the 1620s the town was surrounded by a toll wall. Old Rauma is the area within these walls, the new town having grown beyond them.

The last time the town was completely consumed by fire was in 1682. The oldest surviving town plan, which dates back to 1698-1710, shows the structure of the town rebuilt on the ruins. After the fire, it was possible to widen and straighten the streets. The town's main administrative building, and the symbol of Rauma, is the stone town hall from 1776, designed by architect C. Fr. Schröder. Wealthy burghers and shipbuilders lived close to the town hall and the square, the less wealthy in smaller houses on the outskirts. All but one building were built of wood.

At the end of the 19th century, the Rauma fleet was the largest in the country and its wealth was a great boon to building. An unsuccessful attempt was made to introduce a spacious grid plan for Old Rauma. It was never realised. As anyone building a new house would have had to follow the new grid plan, people decided to repair the old houses instead. Interiors were modernised to make the houses more habitable, and some two-thirds of the houses were given contemporary exteriors, which adds to the characteristic look of Old Rauma.

Old Rauma's uniqueness as a historic town quarter was gradually recognised at the beginning of the 20th century. As the town expanded outwards, Old Rauma was saved from modernisation. Strong protectionist action in the 1960s influenced the 1981 town plan, which preserved the valuable environment and building stock of Old Rauma.

Today Old Rauma is a thriving residential and working community. Most of the old wooden buildings have been restored and refurbished in the past three decades and their interiors have been modernised. Old Rauma has become a highly desirable residential area. Householders maintain their properties under the guidance of the town authorities.

The Bronze Age Burial Site at Sammallahdenmäki

The Bronze Age Burial Site at Sammallahdenmäki was inscribed in the World Heritage List in 1999. The Bronze Age cemetery at Sammallahdenmäki is an exceptional testimony to the funerary practices and social and religious structures in northern Europe over three millennia ago. It comprises more than thirty granite burial cairns.

The archaeological site of Sammallahdenmäki, which is located in the Lappi parish in Lower Satakunta, is an exceptionally valuable monument from the Bronze Age.

The site consists of 33 stone burial cairns forming a kilometre-long chain of clusters along a sizable outcrop of bedrock. The complex is a representative sample of the different kinds of burial cairns used during the Bronze Age: low and round small cairns, large mound-like cairns, and round cairns with stone circles. Towards the west, one can catch a glimpse of reedy Lake Saarnijärvi, which used to be an arm of the sea in the Bronze Age.

The best-known archaeological features of Sammallahdenmäki are the wall-like "Long Ruin of Huilu" and the quadrangular "Church Floor". The "Long Ruin" is one of the most imposing and majestic burial monuments in Satakunta, measuring some 24 metres long by 8 metres wide. The "Church Floor" is unique in Finland and in all of Scandinavia. It is a stone structure that resembles a flat floor and measures roughly 19 x 18 metres square.

The Struve Geodetic Arc

The Struve Geodetic Arc was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2005. The Struve Arc is one of the foremost scientific and technical achievements of its time and has truly universal importance.

The Struve Geodetic Arc is a chain of triangulation survey stretching more or less down the 26° E line of longitude from near Hammerfest in northern Norway over 2,820 km south near Izmail on the Black Sea. This survey was carried out between 1816 and 1855 under the guidance of F.G.W. Struve, a German astronomer, with the aim of determining the size and shape of the Earth.

The scheme included 258 main triangles with 265 main and over 60 subsidiary station points. In today's geography, the Arc passes through ten countries, viz. Norway, Sweden, Finland, the Russian Federation, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Belarus, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine.

The ten countries through which the Arc passes have cooperated for the recovery, verification and monumentation of the survey sites of the Arc. The selection of points involves a total of 34 sites of the Struve Geodetic Arc. The number of points in each country varies from one to six, depending on the original number of points and the survival of the points to the present day. In each country, only the most prominent sites have been selected. Both terminals of the Arc, i.e. Fuglenaes at the Arctic Ocean and Staro-Nekrassowka near the Black Sea, are included.

Kvarken Archipelago

In July 2006, the Kvarken Archipelago was included on UNESCO World Heritage List. The area is the first Natural Heritage Site in Finland. The Kvarken Archipelago is an extension of Sweden's "High Coast", another world natural heritage site. Together, these two areas form a complementary geological complex featuring land uplift unlike anything found elsewhere in the world.

The Kvarken Archipelago is largely low-lying moraine archipelago which, at its highest point, rises only about 20 metres above sea level. Particularly impressive are the De Geer moraines formed by the continental ice sheet on the plains of Ostrobothnia.

Land uplift in the Kvarken is very intense and the archipelago is constantly changing shape. New islands emerge from the sea, bays are transformed into lakes and shipping lanes become shallower. Since the land surface increases by a hundred hectares a year, these changes can be noticed during one generation.