Hanko is Finland’s southernmost city. Formerly an important fishing port and seaside resort, it was a regular haunt of the Russian aristocracy during the period when Finland was an autonomous Grand Duchy of the Russian Empire. Hanko was also under Russian occupation and has been a naval base. The walls of Matti Remes’ century-old wooden villa still bear the scars of naval bombardment.
Marshal Mannerheim, Finland’s national hero, had a villa in the city – and his own restaurant, a place visited on a regular basis by Ruben Waara, hero of the novels.
Hanko is a picturesque location, known for its austere but beautiful natural surroundings, surrounded by open sea on all sides. Even though it is located in the outer reaches of the Finnish archipelago, it is easy to get there is by train or car and is only a 90-minute drive from Helsinki.
Photos: Tomi Parkkonen
A special feature of the city is its boarding house culture, which has now almost vanished elsewhere in Finland. Travellers can rent rooms for just one night or many in privately-owned wooden villas built more than a hundred years ago.
Both Finnish and Swedish are spoken in Hanko. The two languages give the city its unique flavour and can lead to situations where two people are unable to understand each other, even though both are Finnish and Hanko-born.
“A hidden jewel, Hanko is the most special and most beautiful of Finland’s smaller cities. Its location has meant it has been able to slumber peacefully, unnoticed by the floods of summer tourists. It has everything a writer needs – beauty, ugliness, peace and the savagery of nature. Very human, just a seaside village.”