Hidden gems of the Baltic Sea: Bomarsund on Åland – where Russia’s Tsar gambled away his fortune

It is easy to overlook Bomarsund: well hidden and surrounded by woodland, it lies at the easternmost tip of the main island of Åland, on the strait of the same name. Yet what is now just one of many straits in the area was once of such great strategic importance that the Russian Tsar – to whose empire Åland belonged in the mid-19th century – had a huge fortress built in the middle of nowhere.

• Name: Bomarsund, Fasta Island, Åland (an autonomous region of Finland)
• Location: the Sea of Åland, between the northern Baltic Sea and the Bothnian Sea
• Position: 60°13'07"N, 020°13'56"E
• Distance from Kiel Lighthouse: 530 nautical miles

Highlights: Fortress and museum

The fact that, of all things, a military conflict over a completely different, far-off peninsula was what scuppered these grand plans turned out, despite all the tragedy, to be a stroke of luck for Åland. This is what happened: the Crimean War, which began in 1853, had also had repercussions in the Baltic Sea. The climax of the fighting, during which Russia found itself increasingly on the defensive, was the attack by a British-French squadron carrying ten thousand soldiers in 1856.

​The south was the direction from which the enemy ships were expected. The semi-circular defensive wall, bristling with dozens of heavy guns, faced that way. The fact that the enemy then arrived overland from the rear, from the unprotected side, can be described as an irony. The fortress was forced to surrender quickly. Information boards on the site illustrate the absurd scale of the complex. Following the defeat, it was razed to the ground and the construction of a new fortress was prohibited.

Since then, Åland has been completely demilitarised, a status which has been maintained to this day – now long since an autonomous part of an independent Finland – through all subsequent wars and conflicts. A modern visitor centre presents the historical context through multimedia. The sections of the wall that remain following its systematic destruction rise up like rocks from the meadow landscape, still imposing.

For visiting boats: Bomarsund Guest Harbour

The natural harbour for visitors is situated at the southern end of Notviken Bay in a beautiful setting. It consists of a wooden jetty on the eastern rocky shore, in front of which there are a good dozen stern buoys. Water and electricity are available. The path to the fortress leads south via a natural campsite; the visitor centre is about 800 metres from the harbour.

More tips for the Baltic Sea

• Poland: Gdynia on the Bay of Gdańsk – home to a legend
• Sweden: Åhus in Scania – world-famous, wouldn’t you say?
• Germany: Warnemünde – between the Teepott and the regatta