Sompasaari

Sompasaari (Swedish: ''Sumparn'') is an island on the Kruunuvuorenselkä water area in the Sörnäinen district in Helsinki, Finland. On the southern side of the Nihdinkanava channel built in the middle of Sompasaari is the former island of Nihti.

The island was originally connected to the continent with reclaimed land and the Sörnäinen Harbour was built on top of it. Because of this, the entire harbour has been referred to as Sompasaari. Signs on roads leading to the harbour used the name Sompasaari exclusively, with an icon representing a cargo harbour. Harbour facilities in Sörnäinen ended in late 2008 when they moved to the new Vuosaari Harbour. In 2016 the island was converted to a residential area and it was separated from nearby Kalasatama by digging a new channel called Sompasaarenkanava between them.

History

Etymology

The oldest privilege books of Helsinki dating back to 1569 show the name of the island as ''Sompeholmen'', and later names include ''Sompareholmen'' in maps from the 17th century, ''Sumparen'' in 1775 and ''Sumpörn'' in 1779. Finnish names have included ''Sumparni'' and ''Sumppari'' in the late 19th century. In the early 19th century the island was also called ''Lowiseholm'' after its tenant, Kristina Lovisa, wife of marine captain Gustaf Wilhelm Sundman. The names ''Sumppari'' - ''Sumparn'' were made official in 1909 and the island got its current Finnish name in 1928. The Swedish name means a corf and refers to old fish trade; "''sump''" is originally a Low German word. Thus a more proper Finnish name would be *''Sumppusaari''.

In recreational use

Sompasaari originally served as a recreational retreat for Helsinkians, accessed by steamship.Paastela, Kaisa
Helsingissä sijaitsi saari, jonka näkötorni oli suosittu retkikohde ja jonka puuhuviloissa asuttiin – "Luontoparatiiseja joissa virkistäydyttiin"
''Helsingin Uutiset'' 27 April 2021. Accessed on 28 June 2021. Almost 30 people lived in the wooden villas on the island in the early 20th century. In the 1920s the island was transferred into the ownership of Elanto.

The flora on the island was exceptionally diverse; it was estimated to contain at least three hundred different species. This was partly because of a garden founded on the island in the 1840s.Perustietoa / Historia
''Uutta Helsinkiä''. Accessed on 15 July 2013.

In harbour use

The high cliffs of Sompasaari were blasted away, ground flat and connected to the mainlandJärvenpää, Eeva

''Helsingin Sanomat'' 27 January 2007. Accessed on 28 June 2021. when the Sörnäinen Harbour was expanded seaward from 1958 to 1962.Huotari, Päivi
Työläiset rentoutuivat Sörnäisten saarissa
''Helsingin Sanomat'' 18 September 2012. Accessed on 10 April 2021. At the same time all the old wooden houses on the island were dismantled. In the 1960s the island of Nihti to the south of Sompasaari was also connected to the mainland, first connected to Sompasaari through an isthmus. Land reclamation use in the area had already been started in the 1950s when two islands, Hanasaari and Kana were combined as the foundation of the new power plant. As well as Nihti, the neighbouring islands of Mustikkamaa and Korkeasaari remain to this day.

In residential use

Since 2010 the Sompasaari area has been converted to residential use similarly to the neighbouring area of Kalasatama. The first apartments were built in 2018,Näin Kalasatamaa rakennetaan
''Uutta Helsinkiä'', city of Helsinki. Accessed on 7 July 2021. and the area is intended to be fully completed in 2026. The city of Helsinki has predicted that there will be 3901 people living in the area by 2029.

A park called Loviseholminpuisto will be located in the centre of Sompasaari. The shores of the island contain lots for restaurant ships.

Traffic in the area has been improved in the 2000s. The Kalasatama metro station, opened in 2007, is within walking distance from Sompasaari. The light traffic bridge Isoisänsilta ("grandfather's bridge") over the Sompasaarensalmi sound to Mustikkamaa was built in 2016. Two perpendicular new bridges are being built in Nihti on the southern part of Sompasaari, the Merihaansilta bridge to Merihaka and the Finkensilta bridge to Korkeasaari, which will become a part of the Crown Bridges tram network between the city centre and Laajasalo. Also the new Kalasatama-Pasila tram line currently under construction is planned to go from Nihti through Sompasaari to the Kalasatama metro station and thereafter through Hermanni to Pasila.Traffic department of the city of Helsinki
Kalasatamasta Pasilaan -hanke
YouTube 3 June 2020. Accessed on 9 April 2021.

Sompasaari.jpg, Converting the area for residential use required cleaning the soil, revealing the old coastal cliffs.
Kalasatama dokumentointi - G35429 - hkm.HKMS000005-km0000nbsn.jpg, Finland's first and largest urban farm was temporarily located in the area under construction in the early 2010s.
New residential construction in Sompasaari, Sörnäinen, Helsinki, Finland, 2021 July.jpg, New apartment buildings have been built since 2018.
Construction of Nihdinkanava canal in Sompasaari, Helsinki, Finland, 2019 September - 2.jpg, The Nihdinkanava channel separates Nihti and Sompasaari.

Nomenclature

Similar to Kalasatama, many of the streets in Sompasaari are named after the district's harbour history. Gustaf Wilhelm Sundman, who rented the island from the city in the early 19th century, owned several ships, whose names have been passed to the blocks and streets in Sompasaari: Flöitti Diana, Fregatti Dygden, Kaljaasi Aurora, Priki Johanna and Priki Venus.Capella, Täkkäri ja Vinsentti – Kalasataman nimistöä
''Uutta Helsinkiä'' 30 January 2018. Accessed on 7 July 2021. The Loviseholminpuisto park and the alleys Loviseholminkuja and Loviseholminpolku surrounding it are named after Sundman's wife. The streets Aallonhalkoja, Vinsentinaukio and Vinsentinkatu are named after the character Vinsentti Aallonhalkoja in Zachris Topelius's short story collection ''Talvi-iltain tarinoita''. The collection has a reference to Sompasaari and the observation tower previously located on the island.

References

External links

*

{{Helsinki

Islands of Helsinki
Sörnäinen