Ryssänsaari

Ryssänsaari
overall view
Waters	Baltic Sea ( Gulf of Finland )
Geographical location	60 ° 9 '34.5 "  N , 24 ° 58' 18.8"  E Coordinates: 60 ° 9 '34.5 "  N , 24 ° 58' 18.8"  E
length	135 m
width	65 m
surface	0.88 ha
Highest elevation	4  m

Ryssänsaari [ ˈrysːænsɑːri ] ( Swedish Ryssholmen ) is a small inhabited Finnish island in the Baltic Sea between the capital Helsinki and the Suomenlinna archipelago . On the island there is a wooden house as a residential house, a smaller wooden building, a shed and jetties. The island is supplied with electricity via a submarine cable and a flagpole for the Siniristilippu (blue cross flag), which is hoisted on flag days, has been erected on it.

Ryssänsaari is about 135 meters long (in the southeast-northwest extension) and 65 meters wide. The island used to be inhabited by fishermen, the house was built at the end of the 19th century.

etymology

The name Ryssänsaari probably goes back to the old Finnish word "Ryssä", which means something like "Russian", but is now a dirty word. Today's neutral term for "Russian" is venäläinen . At the time of the naming and settlement by the fishermen, however, the country was part of the Russian Empire as the Grand Duchy of Finland , and the meaning of the word did not yet correspond to its current meaning. The most suitable translation into German would be Russian Island , "Saari" is the Finnish word for island.

location

HKL ferry and tourist ferry in front of Ryssänsaari, Suomenlinna in the background

Detail shot

Ryssänsaari is surrounded by other islands at a distance of a few hundred meters: Valkosaari in the northwest, Katajanokanluoto in the east, Puolimatkansaari in the southeast and Luoto in the west. The closest mainland is the Katajanokka Peninsula , which is also a district of Helsinki, 400 meters to the north.

The city ferries operated by the Helsinki City Transport Authority transport around 1.6 million passengers to Suomenlinna every year, including many tourists. These ferries go right past Ryssänsaari, which makes the island a popular photo object. The large ferries to Tallinn, Sweden and Russia, which moor in the south harbor (Eteläsatama), also pass the island.

Flora and fauna

Ryssänsaari as a typical archipelago island consists of rock. The island is only sparsely overgrown, apart from a few trees, only low shrubs, grass and moss can be found.

Web link

Commons : Ryssänsaari  - collection of images

Footnotes

1. ↑ Helsinkipuiston historia - History of the parks of Helsinki (Finnish)
2. ↑ HSL Annual Report 2010 ( Memento of the original dated February 3, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Finnish, PDF; 4.1 MB)