| Mariehamn | |||
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| — Town — | |||
| Mariehamns stad | |||
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| Coordinates: 60°06′N 019°56′E / 60.1°N 19.933°ECoordinates: 60°06′N 019°56′E / 60.1°N 19.933°E | |||
| Country | Finland | ||
| Region | Ă…land | ||
| Sub-region | Mariehamn | ||
| Charter | 1861 | ||
| Government | |||
| - Town manager | Ritva Sarin-Grufberg | ||
| Area (2009-01-01)[1] | |||
| - Total | 20.75 km2 (8 sq mi) | ||
| - Land | 11.79 km2 (4.6 sq mi) | ||
| - Water | 17.92 km2 (6.9 sq mi) | ||
| Area rank | 347th largest in Finland | ||
| Population (2009-12-31)[2] | |||
| - Total | 11,140 | ||
| - Density | 944.87/km2 (2,447.2/sq mi) | ||
| Population rank | 90th largest in Finland | ||
| Population by native language [3] | |||
| - Swedish | 87.7% (official) | ||
| - Finnish | 5.8% | ||
| - Others | 6.5% | ||
| Population by age [4] | |||
| - 0 to 14 | 14.8% | ||
| - 15 to 64 | 67.8% | ||
| - 65 or older | 17.4% | ||
| Time zone | EET (UTC+2) | ||
| - Summer (DST) | EEST (UTC+3) | ||
| Municipal tax rate[5] | 16.5% | ||
| Website | www.mariehamn.ax | ||
Mariehamn (Finnish: Maarianhamina) is the capital of Ă…land, an autonomous territory under Finnish sovereignty. Mariehamn is the seat of the Government and Parliament of Ă…land, and 40% of the population of Ă…land live in the city. Like all of Ă…land, Mariehamn is unilingually Swedish-speaking and around 88% of the inhabitants speak it as their native language.[3]
The town was named after Maria Alexandrovna, the Empress consort of Alexander II of Russia. Mariehamn was founded in 1861, around the village of Övernäs, in what was at the time part of the municipality of Jomala. The city has since expanded and incorporated more of Jomala territory. The city is located on a peninsula, and has two important harbours, one located on the western shore and one on the eastern shore. The Western Harbour is an important international harbour with daily traffic to Sweden and mainland Finland. A powerful incentive for Baltic ferries to stop at Mariehamn is that, with respect to indirect taxation, Åland is not part of the EU customs zone and so duty-free goods can be sold aboard. Mariehamn Airport is located in the neighbouring municipality of Jomala, some 3 kilometres (2 mi) north-west of Mariehamn city centre.
Ă…land and Mariehamn have a reputable heritage in shipping. The Flying P-Liner Pommern museum ship is anchored in the Western Harbour. The Eastern Harbour features one of the largest marinas in Scandinavia. The famous Dutch steamer Jan Nieveen (now called F.P. von Knorring, after Ă…land teacher and vicar Frans Peter von Knorring) can also be found here.
The city is an important centre for Ă…land media; both of the local newspapers (Ă…landstidningen and Nya Ă…land), several radio stations and the local TV channel (TV Ă…land) operate out of the city.
Mariehamn features several buildings drawn by Finnish architect Lars Sonck, who moved to Ă…land as a child. Buildings drawn by him include the church of Mariehamn (1927), the main building of the Ă…land Maritime College (1927) and the town hall (1939). Hilda Hongell has also designed several buildings, although only a few are still standing.
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A chart on population growth.
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Mariehamn is twinned with:[6]
KĂłpavogur, Iceland
Kragerø, Norway
Kuressaare, Estonia
Lomonosov,
Russia
Slagelse, Denmark
TĂłrshavn, Faroe Islands
Valkeakoski, Finland
Visby, Sweden
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Mariehamn (Finnish: Maarianhamina) is in Ă…land.
A youthful town, Mariehamn was founded in 1861 while Ă…land and Finland formed part of the mighty Russian Empire. Maria, consort of Tsar Alexander II of Russia gave the town her name.
Mariehamn grew up round the farming village of Övernäs, situated on a peninsula. The harbours built in sheltered bays came to be of great importance. The streets of Mariehamn are wide and straight. Housing sites were large from the beginning, but today they have been divided to provide space for several houses. A distinctive feature is the Esplanade, an avenue of lime trees stretching from west to east, from harbour to harbour.
The russian heritage is mainly responsible for the layout of the town. It follows the same basic guidelines as can be found in many russian cities, with large avenues with promenades in the middle of the street. Apart from that, the only russian signs left from that era is the multitude of tombstones in the graveyards in Ă…land.
There are regular flights from Helsinki, Turku and Stockholm. They are mainly used by business travellers.
Least expensive are flights from Helsinki (Air Ă…land). Rates vary.
Flights from Stockholm-Arlanda (Air Åland) do not run on weekends or vacation periods. They are more expensive (149 €), but sometimes there are reduced rates (19 €!).
Flights from Turku (Turku Air) do not run on weekends. They are the most expensive at 180 €.
The airport is just 3 km north of the city centre. There is a restaurant in the building, usually open every day. There is no airport bus.
Viking Line and Silja Line ships travelling between Finland (Helsinki, Turku) and Sweden (Stockholm) dock briefly at Mariehamn or Långnäs (in the night) for tax reasons. If the stop is at Långnäs, there is usually a bus or taxi connection to Mariehamn, costing as much as the boat ticket.
There are also a service from Kapellskär with connecting bus from Stockholm, which takes less time than the Stockholm boat.
This is by far the quickest and easiest way to get to Mariehamn by boat. Book your trip at www.vikingline.ax (ax being the top level domain for Ă…land), and check the bus option. The bus leaves about 1.5 hours beforehand fron Cityterminalen in Stockholm, and from there you'll be herded all the way off the bus, through the (mostly non-existent) customs, aboard the passenger ferry and off again when in Mariehamn.
Tallink runs daily from Tallinn.
Birka Cruises runs daily from Stockholm, using their own terminal in the Western port, facing the Adlon hotell and pizza restaurant.
Viking, Silja and Tallink all use the same terminal in the Western port. The terminal is open 24 h. Tickets can be bought when a boat is due to leave. Facilities are limited. There are several lockers, a money exchange machine (EUR-SEK), toilets and a customs office. Just outside, there is a café and a small kebab restaurant.
Please note that the sea can get pretty rough in the autumn. The Ă…lands hav (the part of the Baltic you'll be travelling through) is infamous for its nauxeating rolling dunes.
There are four city bus lines (A-D) and they are free (no tickets). Services are reduced in summer with two lines only. No city buses run on Saturday evenings or Sundays.
On the other hand, you'll easily walk from one end of town to the other in less than 15 minutes.
Nightlife in Mariehamn is sparse and centers around the two restaurants "Dino's" and "Indigo" - although heavily frequented by locals they don't compare well to establishments in larger cities.
At 12-02 AM those restaurants close, and almost everybody migrate to nearby nightclub "Arken". Considering Ă…lands history (a Swedish archipelago until 1809, then Russian and later Finnish since 1918 - Ă…landers speak Swedish, they use some russian expressions and they drink like Finns) the later hours are dominated by the occasional bar-brawl, heavily intoxicated teens and vomiting.
That's about it. The "Arken" closes at 4 AM, and then it's all over.
The shopping street is the northern part of Torggatan.
Shops usually close at 17:00 or 17:30 on weekdays and at 14:00 on Saturdays. Some close at 20:00 on Thursdays.
Most shops accept Visa and MasterCard, but some of them do not accept Visa Electron.
ATM's ("OTTO") are thin on the ground. There are some in the city centre, outside the four bank offices along Torggatan. Another one is situated in Strandnäs, at the Ålandsbanken bank office.
Almost everything is more than 20 % more expensive in the Ă…land Islands than anywhere else in northern Europe. Despite this, stores occasionally lacks goods to sell. Mariehamn is without a doubt the worst place for shopping within a 1.000 mile radius.
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