"Tammisaari - Ekenäs" Tammisaari by AnnaLupilla

The seaside town of Ekenäs, how it is called in Swedish, 96 km southwest of Helsinki, is one of Finland's oldest - King Gustav Vasa conceived of it in 1546 as a trading port to rival Tallinn in Estonia. The idea failed, and many local business people were soon forcibly transferred to the newly founded Helsinki.

Present-day Tammisaari, with a population of about 14,600 people, is a setting, popular with Finnish and Swedish holidaymakers and families, although it lacks the elegance and charm of Hanko further west. Predominantly Swedish-speaking, it has many well-preserved old buildings, including a quaint Old Town, and parts of the adjacent archipelago - with some 1300 islands - form a national park.