Suvisaaristo
Encyclopedia
Suvisaaristo or Sommaröarna (Swedish
) is a maritime district in Espoo
, Finland
, districts number 451 and 452, and an archipelago
in the Gulf of Finland
, directly in front of a peninsula
in Soukka
, in the southwestern corner of Espoo.
Inhabitants of Suvisaaristo have always been an active people, and there are nine registered communities on the islands, the most numerous of which are the yacht club
ESF, the canoe
club Canoa, the youth club
SViE, the local free fire brigade, and the district inhabitant community Sommarö Society, whose work resulted in Suvisaaristo getting its own water cooperative
in 1999, after the city of Espoo refused to pay the costs of a water network, because of the expenses resulting from such a loosely populated district. The network was implemented with a new technology, a pressurised sewer, which is more ecological than the traditional solution.
The Uusimaa
region council chose Suvisaaristo as the Uusimaa Village of the Year in 2007.
The YTV
regional bus line 145 goes to the end of Suvisaaristontie one or two times every hour. A local shop can be found a hundred metres after the Suvisaaristo bridge on the right-hand side, and on the way in Skatan there is a gas station for boaters in summertime.
In summertime, there are Espoo tour boats between Suvisaaristo and the continental strait of Suinonsalmi (Swedish Svinösund).
s each. Moisö had five cows, one calf
and one horse. These animals outnumbered any of those of the peasant
s in Matinkylä
. An explanation for the wealth is that the Suvisaaristo farms were traditionally allowed to pay their tax
es in seal
fat and their land rent to the King's manor in salted herring
.
The peasants in the islands bought their farms as their own in 1825, and in the early 1920s the farms were combined as one. The islands, without a bridge at that point, had about ten fishing houses, and for a certain reason, during prohibition
they could afford to buy the houses as their own and build spacious villa
s to rent to Helsinki
ans. In the 1920s, the islands were accessed with island steam boats and motorised passenger boats. One steam ship, the SS Sommaröarna, was registered to the islands, but it was soon sold away as unprofitable. In the 1930s, the islands got electricity
and telephone
connections, and in 1936, bridges were built to Svinö and Ramsö, which started regular bus
traffic. The bridges were renewed and widened to two lanes in 1976.
, hunting
, and small-scale farming, and the islands hosted many well-reputed carpenter
s, rock sculptors
and axe
workers. The host of Stor-Svinö in the 1880s was also a boat captain
. Previously, the farms had on occasion a duty to act as pilots, and were obliged to host a few waterway markers
. In the 1950s, Suvisaaristo had six boat yards
, three of which built boats, and all of which serviced and repaired boats and engines. On the islands that were still without a bridge at that point, six families had fishing as their main source of income, and on the islands that had bridges, three families, all of which depended upon service of boats. The last professional fisher retired in the 1980s, and there are still two boat yards in operation, one of which is owned by a native archipelagan. In the premises of one boat yard was a plastic
factory in the 1950s through the 1970s. The last horse of Moisö, Frelinde, was put to pastures beyond in 1952, and the cows, Utta and Popsi, received a grace period of 5 to 10 years. Until the 1960s, there was a rental farmer in the Lill-Svinö farm house, who kept a couple of cows. A few of the axe workers also had had their own horse to help in the transport. For a few years, the Svinö farm kept sheep in summertime as shareowner
activity, and Moisö had an active henhouse until the end of the 1970s. At their most, there were three shop
s, and the islands got their own post office
in the 1970s, but it was closed down after a few years, when the post was in troubled times.
) remained on a reasonable scale, although for example there are only a couple of the buildings built in the 19th century left, including the Pentala fishing stead's shore storage house, the Munkholmen villa and the Moisö cow house. In the 1990s, prices of lots climbed very high, and new buildings are today also similarly expensive. On the main islands, there is scarcely any summer population any more, but on the outer islands, there are a few summer cabin
s still in use. In 2008, only one family still lives all year round on an island without a road connection.
Swedish language
Swedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along its coast and on the Åland islands. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish...
) is a maritime district in Espoo
Espoo
Espoo is the second largest city and municipality in Finland. The population of the city of Espoo is . It is part of the Helsinki Metropolitan Area along with the cities of Helsinki, Vantaa, and Kauniainen. Espoo shares its eastern border with Helsinki and Vantaa, while enclosing Kauniainen....
, Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
, districts number 451 and 452, and an archipelago
Archipelago
An archipelago , sometimes called an island group, is a chain or cluster of islands. The word archipelago is derived from the Greek ἄρχι- – arkhi- and πέλαγος – pélagos through the Italian arcipelago...
in the Gulf of Finland
Gulf of Finland
The Gulf of Finland is the easternmost arm of the Baltic Sea. It extends between Finland and Estonia all the way to Saint Petersburg in Russia, where the river Neva drains into it. Other major cities around the gulf include Helsinki and Tallinn...
, directly in front of a peninsula
Peninsula
A peninsula is a piece of land that is bordered by water on three sides but connected to mainland. In many Germanic and Celtic languages and also in Baltic, Slavic and Hungarian, peninsulas are called "half-islands"....
in Soukka
Soukka
Soukka or Sökö is district number 33 of Espoo, Finland, located in southwestern Espoo in the main district of Suur-Espoonlahti.-Early history:...
, in the southwestern corner of Espoo.
Inhabitants of Suvisaaristo have always been an active people, and there are nine registered communities on the islands, the most numerous of which are the yacht club
Yacht club
A yacht club is a sports club specifically related to sailing and yachting.-Description:Yacht Clubs are mostly located by the sea, although there are some that have been established at a lake or riverside locations...
ESF, the canoe
Canoe
A canoe or Canadian canoe is a small narrow boat, typically human-powered, though it may also be powered by sails or small electric or gas motors. Canoes are usually pointed at both bow and stern and are normally open on top, but can be decked over A canoe (North American English) or Canadian...
club Canoa, the youth club
Youth club
A youth club or youth social club is a place where young people can meet and enjoy activities such as football, soccer, basketball, table tennis, or video games, and other religious, sports activities are frequently sponsored by a community center....
SViE, the local free fire brigade, and the district inhabitant community Sommarö Society, whose work resulted in Suvisaaristo getting its own water cooperative
Cooperative
A cooperative is a business organization owned and operated by a group of individuals for their mutual benefit...
in 1999, after the city of Espoo refused to pay the costs of a water network, because of the expenses resulting from such a loosely populated district. The network was implemented with a new technology, a pressurised sewer, which is more ecological than the traditional solution.
The Uusimaa
Uusimaa
Uusimaa, or Nyland in Swedish, is a region in Finland. It borders the regions Finland Proper, Tavastia Proper, Päijänne Tavastia and Kymenlaakso...
region council chose Suvisaaristo as the Uusimaa Village of the Year in 2007.
The YTV
Helsinki Metropolitan Area Council
The Helsinki Metropolitan Area Council was a co-operation agency operating in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area, now replaced by HSL and HSY. The organisation had a few responsibilities, most notably regional public transport and waste management. It was subordinated to the city councils of the four...
regional bus line 145 goes to the end of Suvisaaristontie one or two times every hour. A local shop can be found a hundred metres after the Suvisaaristo bridge on the right-hand side, and on the way in Skatan there is a gas station for boaters in summertime.
In summertime, there are Espoo tour boats between Suvisaaristo and the continental strait of Suinonsalmi (Swedish Svinösund).
History
Originally, Suvisaaristo consisted of three farms, Stor-Svinö, Lill-Svinö and Moisö. At times in history, they have been abandoned because of poverty or uncertain times, but at times they have been relatively wealthy. In the 1571 census, both Svinö farms had six cows and two horseHorse
The horse is one of two extant subspecies of Equus ferus, or the wild horse. It is a single-hooved mammal belonging to the taxonomic family Equidae. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, single-toed animal of today...
s each. Moisö had five cows, one calf
Calf
Calves are the young of domestic cattle. Calves are reared to become adult cattle, or are slaughtered for their meat, called veal.-Terminology:...
and one horse. These animals outnumbered any of those of the peasant
Peasant
A peasant is an agricultural worker who generally tend to be poor and homeless-Etymology:The word is derived from 15th century French païsant meaning one from the pays, or countryside, ultimately from the Latin pagus, or outlying administrative district.- Position in society :Peasants typically...
s in Matinkylä
Matinkylä
Matinkylä or Mattby is one of the major urban areas of Espoo, a city on the southern coast of Finland. Matinkylä is understood as the area between the Helsinki-Hanko highway and the coast of the Gulf of Finland, between the areas of Haukilahti and Iivisniemi.About 30 000 people live in the...
. An explanation for the wealth is that the Suvisaaristo farms were traditionally allowed to pay their tax
Tax
To tax is to impose a financial charge or other levy upon a taxpayer by a state or the functional equivalent of a state such that failure to pay is punishable by law. Taxes are also imposed by many subnational entities...
es in seal
Pinniped
Pinnipeds or fin-footed mammals are a widely distributed and diverse group of semiaquatic marine mammals comprising the families Odobenidae , Otariidae , and Phocidae .-Overview: Pinnipeds are typically sleek-bodied and barrel-shaped...
fat and their land rent to the King's manor in salted herring
Herring
Herring is an oily fish of the genus Clupea, found in the shallow, temperate waters of the North Pacific and the North Atlantic oceans, including the Baltic Sea. Three species of Clupea are recognized. The main taxa, the Atlantic herring and the Pacific herring may each be divided into subspecies...
.
The peasants in the islands bought their farms as their own in 1825, and in the early 1920s the farms were combined as one. The islands, without a bridge at that point, had about ten fishing houses, and for a certain reason, during prohibition
Prohibition
Prohibition of alcohol, often referred to simply as prohibition, is the practice of prohibiting the manufacture, transportation, import, export, sale, and consumption of alcohol and alcoholic beverages. The term can also apply to the periods in the histories of the countries during which the...
they could afford to buy the houses as their own and build spacious villa
Villa
A villa was originally an ancient Roman upper-class country house. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the fall of the Roman Republic, villas became small farming compounds, which were increasingly fortified in Late Antiquity,...
s to rent to Helsinki
Helsinki
Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...
ans. In the 1920s, the islands were accessed with island steam boats and motorised passenger boats. One steam ship, the SS Sommaröarna, was registered to the islands, but it was soon sold away as unprofitable. In the 1930s, the islands got electricity
Electricity
Electricity is a general term encompassing a variety of phenomena resulting from the presence and flow of electric charge. These include many easily recognizable phenomena, such as lightning, static electricity, and the flow of electrical current in an electrical wire...
and telephone
Telephone
The telephone , colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that transmits and receives sounds, usually the human voice. Telephones are a point-to-point communication system whose most basic function is to allow two people separated by large distances to talk to each other...
connections, and in 1936, bridges were built to Svinö and Ramsö, which started regular bus
Bus
A bus is a road vehicle designed to carry passengers. Buses can have a capacity as high as 300 passengers. The most common type of bus is the single-decker bus, with larger loads carried by double-decker buses and articulated buses, and smaller loads carried by midibuses and minibuses; coaches are...
traffic. The bridges were renewed and widened to two lanes in 1976.
Income
The main sources of income on the islands have traditionally been island hobbies, fishingFishing
Fishing is the activity of trying to catch wild fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild. Techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping....
, hunting
Hunting
Hunting is the practice of pursuing any living thing, usually wildlife, for food, recreation, or trade. In present-day use, the term refers to lawful hunting, as distinguished from poaching, which is the killing, trapping or capture of the hunted species contrary to applicable law...
, and small-scale farming, and the islands hosted many well-reputed carpenter
Carpenter
A carpenter is a skilled craftsperson who works with timber to construct, install and maintain buildings, furniture, and other objects. The work, known as carpentry, may involve manual labor and work outdoors....
s, rock sculptors
Stone sculpture
Stone sculpture is the result of forming 3-dimensional visually interesting objects from stone.Carving stone into sculpture is an activity older than civilization itself, beginning perhaps with incised images on cave walls. Prehistoric sculptures were usually human forms, such as the Venus of...
and axe
Axe
The axe, or ax, is an implement that has been used for millennia to shape, split and cut wood; to harvest timber; as a weapon; and as a ceremonial or heraldic symbol...
workers. The host of Stor-Svinö in the 1880s was also a boat captain
Captain (nautical)
A sea captain is a licensed mariner in ultimate command of the vessel. The captain is responsible for its safe and efficient operation, including cargo operations, navigation, crew management and ensuring that the vessel complies with local and international laws, as well as company and flag...
. Previously, the farms had on occasion a duty to act as pilots, and were obliged to host a few waterway markers
Sea mark
A sea mark, also seamark and navigation mark, is a form of aid to navigation and pilotage aid which identifies the approximate position of a maritime channel, hazard and administrative area to allow boats, ships and seaplanes to navigate safely....
. In the 1950s, Suvisaaristo had six boat yards
Shipyard
Shipyards and dockyards are places which repair and build ships. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Dockyards are sometimes more associated with maintenance and basing activities than shipyards, which are sometimes associated more with initial...
, three of which built boats, and all of which serviced and repaired boats and engines. On the islands that were still without a bridge at that point, six families had fishing as their main source of income, and on the islands that had bridges, three families, all of which depended upon service of boats. The last professional fisher retired in the 1980s, and there are still two boat yards in operation, one of which is owned by a native archipelagan. In the premises of one boat yard was a plastic
Plastic
A plastic material is any of a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic organic solids used in the manufacture of industrial products. Plastics are typically polymers of high molecular mass, and may contain other substances to improve performance and/or reduce production costs...
factory in the 1950s through the 1970s. The last horse of Moisö, Frelinde, was put to pastures beyond in 1952, and the cows, Utta and Popsi, received a grace period of 5 to 10 years. Until the 1960s, there was a rental farmer in the Lill-Svinö farm house, who kept a couple of cows. A few of the axe workers also had had their own horse to help in the transport. For a few years, the Svinö farm kept sheep in summertime as shareowner
Fractional Ownership
In business, fractional ownership is a percentage share of an expensive asset. Shares are sold to individual owners. A fractional owner enjoys priorities and privileges, such as reduced rates, priority access on holidays and income sharing. Typically, a company manages the asset on behalf of the...
activity, and Moisö had an active henhouse until the end of the 1970s. At their most, there were three shop
Retailing
Retail consists of the sale of physical goods or merchandise from a fixed location, such as a department store, boutique or kiosk, or by mail, in small or individual lots for direct consumption by the purchaser. Retailing may include subordinated services, such as delivery. Purchasers may be...
s, and the islands got their own post office
Post office
A post office is a facility forming part of a postal system for the posting, receipt, sorting, handling, transmission or delivery of mail.Post offices offer mail-related services such as post office boxes, postage and packaging supplies...
in the 1970s, but it was closed down after a few years, when the post was in troubled times.
Population, buildings and infrastructure
In the 1950s, the all-year population of Suvisaaristo numbered fifty households, and except for two people, the entire population was native Swedish-speaking. Today, Suvisaaristo is home to three hundred households (445 people in 1995), of which less than 40% are native Swedish-speaking. The buildings have, because of a long-time ban on new construction (in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, because of incomplete urban planningUrban planning
Urban planning incorporates areas such as economics, design, ecology, sociology, geography, law, political science, and statistics to guide and ensure the orderly development of settlements and communities....
) remained on a reasonable scale, although for example there are only a couple of the buildings built in the 19th century left, including the Pentala fishing stead's shore storage house, the Munkholmen villa and the Moisö cow house. In the 1990s, prices of lots climbed very high, and new buildings are today also similarly expensive. On the main islands, there is scarcely any summer population any more, but on the outer islands, there are a few summer cabin
Cottage
__toc__In modern usage, a cottage is usually a modest, often cozy dwelling, typically in a rural or semi-rural location. However there are cottage-style dwellings in cities, and in places such as Canada the term exists with no connotations of size at all...
s still in use. In 2008, only one family still lives all year round on an island without a road connection.
Islands with a road connection
- Bergö
- Furuholm
- Moisö
- Ramsö
- Skataholmen
- Svartholm
- Suino (Svinö)