Do you think that the remains of Viking settlements and restored villages can only be found in Norway or Ireland? It’s far from that and the amazing is just around the corner. It turns out that there is a whole archipelago of the Vikings in Finland, and some islands are still inhabited by their ‘descendants’! The eastern route of the Vikings passed through the southern islands of Finland. Remains of settlements have been found here, and even a Viking village on the island of Rosala has been reconstructed.
- ROSSALA ISLAND AND THE VIKING VILLAGE
According to the few surviving sources, one of the Viking routes was eastwards, and the route lay along the Finnish coast. According to legends and, later, finds, some Viking families settled here on islands. On one of these islands the Vikings established a major port, Aarsund. Today the place is a tourist attraction in Finland, the reconstructed Viking village of Rosala.
Viking Village Rosala is located 25 km west of Hanko, in the middle of the world-famous archipelago, on the island of Rosala. Neighboring islands Rosala and Hitis, which are connected by a bridge, are part of the Turku archipelago and are located 18 km north of the southernmost inhabited point of Finland, Bengtskar lighthouse.
For those who have seen the TV series Vikings, for fans of the Scandinavian sagas, and for those interested in history and the Viking period, the village is undoubtedly of great interest. In the Viking village you can immerse yourself in the past, touch the history of the Vikings living in Finland on the south-west coast. The village contains archaeological finds from the Orsund site. There is a historical trail through the village with historical remains and reconstructed Viking houses.
The main building in the Viking settlement was the chief’s house. While the Vikings were raiding and conquering wealth, the women stayed on their land and took care of the household. The wife of the chief Viking of the settlement had the keys to the house and all the buildings and wore them around her waist as a symbol of her status.
The Vikings spent most of their time in the house in winter. There was always a hearth burning in the middle of the great hall. Bread was baked on the fire, meat was smoked, and porridge was cooked. The hearth provided warmth and light. All the villagers gathered in the chief’s house. On the sides of the main room were sleeping niches, which served as sleeping places behind screens at night and as benches during the day. Nowadays, in the chief’s house you can stay overnight and feel a little bit like a soldier of the Viking army. And if you want to feel like a chieftain, you can rent a separate room in the building for 2 people. Lovers of unusual corporate parties this place will also like. During the event, you can find out which of the employees – a real Viking.
- ISLAND AND THE LIGHTHOUSE BENGTSKAR
For Finns, visiting the lighthouse BENGTSKAR is a kind of cult event. Everyone should come here at least once in their life.
BENGTSKAR lighthouse is the southernmost residential point and a landmark in Finland. The lighthouse is located on a small bare rocky island without a single tree. It is the highest lighthouse in Scandinavia. The lighthouse was built in 1906 and until the Winter War of 1939-1940 on the island lived all year round with 5 families. In 1968 the mechanism of the lighthouse was replaced by an automatic. For many years the lighthouse stood empty. But by the end of the 90s, the lighthouse underwent extensive reconstruction, and since then has been a popular tourist attraction in Finland. It is still a working lighthouse and there is one family living here for the past 16 years – the lighthouse keepers. They also maintain a small hotel on the island, open to tourists from June to September.
Special romantics can rent an apartment in the lighthouse and spend a couple of nights on the farthest point of Finnish land, listening to the sounds of the sea, the wind and the cries of seagulls, meeting sunrise and sunset in the middle of the sea.
You can get to the island from the town of Kasnas on a small boat (in summer go every day). By the way, Kasnas is a very beautiful place, and there is a cozy little spa hotel with a small water park. A great place to stop for a few days in Finland on the Viking trail.
By the way, the island and the lighthouse BENGTSKAR is considered one of the prototypes of the lighthouse from the book by Tove Jansson ‘Moomin and the sea’ and is recommended to those who follow the Moomin route in Finland.
- HELSINGHOLMEN ISLAND
A unique place in the Turku archipelago, a real Viking island. This is not a stylized village and not a tourist attraction. Helsingholmen Island is an inhabited island where only one family lives year-round. Also on the island walks a white horse and other pets (cats, chickens, sheep, dogs and calves).
The owner of the island – well, just a copy of the main character Ragnar TV series Vikings (Vikings), and his son’s haircut will be exactly the same as the Viking children. These people as if descended from the screen, and without posing, live their measured Viking life on the island.
There is a hiking trail through the island, great beaches for bathing, the possibility of ordering a sauna.