Venäläinen kauppiaskortteli
Ryska marketentarkvarter
Russian Merchants’ Quarter

[Suomenlinna logo]

FI Venäläinen kauppiaskorttell on ainutlaatuinen puutaloalue. joka kertoo linnoituksen elamasta 1800 luvulla

SV Det ryska marketentare kvarteret är ett unikt trähus område som berättar om fastningens liv på 1800-talet

IN The Russian Merchants’ Quarter is a unique area of wooden houses that tells the story of life in the fortress in the 19th century

[The history of the region, every effort has been made to attach the text (English only), but there may be mistakes and missing words]

1808
The area (?) in the kingdom of Sweden was surrendered to the Russian army and was a Russian naval base for the next 110 years

1810
The most famous Russian merchant in the fortress was Nikolai Sinebrychoff. He moved into the fortress in 1810 and established a tavern and food shop and began construction projects. Sinebrychoff established a brewery in the mainland Helsinki which continued to grow into a larger company

1866
[probably a description of the establishment of the Russian quarter]

1868
The merchants’ Quarter started to be built and the style of the houses different from wooden houses in other parts of Finland. In line with the Russian tradition, the gable ends of the houses Other characteristics of the houses include high entry porches with pillars and wooden decorations. The families of merchants lived in courtyard buildings and attics.

1880
The fortress was a Russian garrison, with also many civilians, families of soldiers and officers as well as servants living there. In the late 19th century, the Merchants’ Quarter housed shops as well as bakery, tavern, spirits office, pharmacy and two schools

1909
After the fire of 1909, some houses in the quarter were renovated and expanded.

1918
The fortress was annexed by Finland, which gained independence in the previous year.

1931
The Suomenlinna day care center moved away from the Merchants’ Quarter. The children helped in the move.

1970
The quarter housed a Helsinki Cooperative factory shop from the 1970 to the early 1980s

1970-
The Merchants’ Quarter is the only quarter of wooden houses that is still standing on Suomenlinna. Six buildings of original quarter still remain. The quarter is still a residential district, and it houses business enterprisers too

[Map of the area]

[QR code] https://slqr.fi/1/

UNESCO logo
World Heritage Site symbol
Heritage List in 1991

The sign shows the timeline of the Russian merchant quarter in Suomenlinna

The place where the sign is placed was photographed on the same day by the same photographer Click for a larger image