Isosaari is a fortified island in the Gulf of Finland - a 40 minute sail from Helsinki harbour. At 2km long by 1 km wide, it is roughly the same size as its more touristy sister Suomenlinna. However Isosaari was an active military base and training ground until very recently, and there's plenty of remains of this military presence to explore. Massive naval gun batteries, concrete observation posts, dugouts and tunnel systems carved into the rocks, a torpedo testing station, several mysterious bunkers and houses dot the landscape, and nearly every corner hides a secret, waiting to be explored.
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The history of the island goes back to the Crimean War, with one notable British casualty buried in the island. In World War I, the island was used as a prison camp for Finnish and Russian Red Guards and political prisoners. The massive fortified coastal gun batteries on the island can check anything that floats within a 30km range and were part of Finland's coastal defense system
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I have explored the island extensively, and this is a short video of some of the sights - but there's so much more than the video shows ! We will spend an entire night on the mystery island of Isosaari as part of my A Lion Rampant : Expedition to Finland tour. With several departures each year, this is the definitive history, architecture and exploration tour of the country you know you want to know better !! PM me or follow the link below for more details
explorabilia.co.uk/tours/a-li...
Music : The Climb by Scott Buckley