Kuninkaanportti or Kungsporten (

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

and

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

respectively for "the king's gate") is the principal entrance to the fortress

Suomenlinna Suomenlinna (; until 1918 Viapori, ), or Sveaborg (), is an inhabited sea fortress the Suomenlinna district is on eight islands of which six have been fortified; it is about 4 km southeast of the city center of Helsinki, the capital of Finla ...

(Swedish: ''Sveaborg'') outside

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

. It is on the southernmost island of Suomenlinna, in front of the

Kustaanmiekka Suomenlinna (; until 1918 Viapori, ), or Sveaborg (), is an inhabited sea fortress the Suomenlinna district is on eight islands of which six have been fortified; it is about 4 km southeast of the city center of Helsinki, the capital of Finla ...

strait, and is considered the main symbol of Suomenlinna. The gate was constructed from 1753 to 1754 at the place where King

Adolf Frederick of Sweden Adolf Frederick, or Adolph Frederick ( sv, Adolf Fredrik, german: Adolf Friedrich; 14 May 171012 February 1771) was King of Sweden from 1751 until his death. He was the son of Christian August of Holstein-Gottorp, Prince of Eutin, and Albertina ...

anchored his ship when he was coming to inspect the construction of the fortress. The name "the king's gate" comes from this. The gate is a typical fortress gate with cannon openings. There are wide stairs leading to the gate, but in front of the gate is a

drawbridge A drawbridge or draw-bridge is a type of moveable bridge typically at the entrance to a castle or tower surrounded by a moat. In some forms of English, including American English, the word ''drawbridge'' commonly refers to all types of moveable ...

and a wide pit at both sides, to hinder climbing into the fortress. The gate was featured in the 1000

Finnish mark The markka ( fi, markka; sv, mark; sign: Mk; ISO code: FIM, typically known outside Finland as the Finnish mark) was the currency of Finland from 1860 until 28 February 2002, when it ceased to be legal tender. The mark was divided into 100 pe ...

note in the last series, from 1986 to 2001. As a decoration, the sides of the gate feature four stone tablets which were written by the designer of the fortress,

Augustin Ehrensvärd Field Marshal count Augustin Ehrensvärd (25 September 1710 – 4 October 1772) was a Swedish military officer, military architect, artist, creator of the Suomenlinna (Sveaborg) fortress, Svartholm fortress and the Swedish archipelago fleet. He w ...

, in

: * ''Här har konung Fredrik låtit läggs den första sten år 1748'' ("Here laid King

Frederick Frederick may refer to: People * Frederick (given name), the name Nobility Anhalt-Harzgerode *Frederick, Prince of Anhalt-Harzgerode (1613–1670) Austria * Frederick I, Duke of Austria (Babenberg), Duke of Austria from 1195 to 1198 * Frederi ...

the first stone in the year 1748") * ''Och konung Gustaf har lagt den sista sten år ..'' ("And here laid King

Gustav Gustav, Gustaf or Gustave may refer to: *Gustav (name), a male given name of Old Swedish origin Art, entertainment, and media * ''Primeval'' (film), a 2007 American horror film * ''Gustav'' (film series), a Hungarian series of animated short cart ...

the last stone in the year", the year is left unwritten, because Gustav III never arrived to lay the last stone) * ''Sveaborg som rörer hafvet på den ena sidan och stranden på den andra, giver den kloke herravälde på både haf och land'' ("Sveaborg (Suomenlinna), which touches the sea on one side and the shore on the other, gives the wise control both on sea and on land.") * ''Ifrån ödemarker äro desse Vargskiärsholmar ombytte till ett Sveaborg. Eftervard, stå här på egen botn, och lita icke på främmande hielp.'' ("From desolate lands, these Wolf Islands have been transformed into a Sveaborg (Suomenlinna). Progeny, stand here on your own foundation, and do not rely on foreign help.")

External links

Kuninkaanportti at the Suomenlinna home page

{{coord, 60.140, N, 24.990, E, display=title, source:fiwiki Suomenlinna Gates