Loviisa

Loviisa, Finland, is a seaside town with a population of 7700. It is located about 90 km east of Helsinki, along the road to St. Petersburg. Loviisa (Lovisa in Swedish) is best known for its fortifications and the wooden houses in its Old Town. The present town centre dates from the 1800s. Both Finnish and Swedish (Finland´s two official languages) are traditionally spoken in the Loviisa area.

The town was founded in 1745 as a fortified settlement on the Russian-Swedish frontier - Finland at that time being a part of Sweden. The new settlement was named after the queen of Sweden. During the fortification period, the land fortifications Rosen and Ungern, as well as the island fortress of Svartholma, were built to protect the town.

Read more on Loviisa's homepage