Bomarsund is a fortress that the Russians started building in 1832.
The Russians started building the fortress after Aland and Finland had become part of Russia in the peace treaty of 1809. The peace treaty, which was signed by Sweden and Russia, was the end of the Finnish war of 1808-1809. And thereby Aland became the westernmost outpost of the Russian Empire.
The location of a fortess at Bomarsund was very strategically chosen, as there was control over ship traffic and it helped to increase the defense of Saint Petersburg.
The fortress itself was built in a semicircle of 290 meters. It was to be two and three storeys high and the walls consisted of large granit blocks. It was planned for a garrison of 5,000 men and was to be armed with 500 guns.
Construction began in 1830 and continued until 1854 when it was still only half finished. It turned out that it was difficult to transport material via the many archipelagos and construction stopped in 1854 when Russia went to war with France and Great Britain. (Crimean War).
The half-finished fortress was attacked by a British fleet, which brought on board the French division Baraguay-d'Hilliers. On 8 August 1854, the troops landed in three places and immediately surrounded the fortress. Bomarsund was attacked from the land side by 12,000 French soldiers and from the sea side by 80 French and English warships.
Bomarsund was conquered on 16 August and the conquerors blew up the fortress itself on 2 September 1854.
Subsequently, many of the large granite blocks from which the fort was built were used for building material around the island.
Even though it is only ruins, it gives a good insight into how big the fortress was.
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