Valsörarna
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Valsörarna (in Swedish) or Valassaaret (in Finnish) is a small
archipelago An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands. An archipelago may be in an ocean, a sea, or a smaller body of water. Example archipelagos include the Aegean Islands (the o ...
in
Korsholm Korsholm (; ) is a municipality in Finland, located on the west coast of the country. Korsholm is situated in Ostrobothnia (administrative region), Ostrobothnia, along the Gulf of Bothnia. The population of Korsholm is approximately , while the Va ...
,
Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...
, located in the
Kvarken Kvarken ( (as opposed to South Kvarken); ) is the narrow region of the Gulf of Bothnia separating the Bothnian Bay (the inner part of the gulf) from the Bothnian Sea. The distance from the Sweden, Swedish mainland to the Mainland Finland, Finnish ...
region of the
Gulf of Bothnia The Gulf of Bothnia (; ; ) is divided into the Bothnian Bay and the Bothnian Sea, and it is the northernmost arm of the Baltic Sea, between Finland's west coast ( East Bothnia) and the northern part of Sweden's east coast ( West Bothnia an ...
. The islands are the last you see when going by boat or ferry from
Vaasa Vaasa (; , ), formerly (1855-1917) known as Nikolaistad (; ),Umeå Umeå ( , , , locally ; ; ; ; ) is a city in northeast Sweden. It is the seat of Umeå Municipality and the capital of Västerbotten County. Situated on the Ume River, Umeå is the largest Urban areas in Sweden, locality in Norrland and the t ...
,
Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...
. The archipelago is detached from Korsholm's main Replot- Björkö archipelago. They are uninhabited and there is no road access. However, they are an important
bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...
sanctuary, frequented by birdwatchers and ornithologists. They are included in the
UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...
World Heritage List World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural heritag ...
along with the
High Coast The High Coast () is a part of the coast of Sweden on the Gulf of Bothnia, in the Ångermanland province of northeast Sweden, centered in the area of the municipalities of Kramfors, Härnösand and Örnsköldsvik. It is notable as an area for ...
of Sweden and the archipelago of
Kvarken Kvarken ( (as opposed to South Kvarken); ) is the narrow region of the Gulf of Bothnia separating the Bothnian Bay (the inner part of the gulf) from the Bothnian Sea. The distance from the Sweden, Swedish mainland to the Mainland Finland, Finnish ...
, for exhibiting the effects of land rise due to
post-glacial rebound Post-glacial rebound (also called isostatic rebound or crustal rebound) is the rise of land masses after the removal of the huge weight of ice sheets during the last glacial period, which had caused isostatic depression. Post-glacial rebound an ...
.


History


The name

The name Valsörarna is of Swedish origin. It is believed that the name was derived from the stone-clad shores and the
moraine A moraine is any accumulation of unconsolidated debris (regolith and Rock (geology), rock), sometimes referred to as glacial till, that occurs in both currently and formerly glaciated regions, and that has been previously carried along by a gla ...
which resembles a
whale Whales are a widely distributed and diverse group of fully Aquatic animal, aquatic placental mammal, placental marine mammals. As an informal and Colloquialism, colloquial grouping, they correspond to large members of the infraorder Cetacea ...
. The Finnish name Valassaaret is believed to have been derived from the Swedish word.


An old route between Finland and Sweden

The Valsörarna is the shortest route to the Swedish island Holmsö only away. During winter, the waters of Kvarken are completely iced and it was possible to walk over to the neighbouring country that way. Today, this is not possible because of active ferry traffic and lanes that are kept open by
icebreaker An icebreaker is a special-purpose ship or boat designed to move and navigate through ice-covered waters, and provide safe waterways for other boats and ships. Although the term usually refers to ice-breaking ships, it may also refer to smaller ...
s for commercial shipping. This fact was used during the
Finnish War The Finnish War (; ; ) was fought between the Gustavian era, Kingdom of Sweden and the Russian Empire from 21 February 1808 to 17 September 1809 as part of the Napoleonic Wars. As a result of the war, the eastern third of Sweden was established a ...
by Russian general Barclay de Tolly who used this route in November 1809 when marching over to Umeå. The march to Sweden with about 3700 soldiers was successful but failed on the return trip. The severe cold of the spring and the lack of food took their toll on the men and it is estimated that 400 died from the cold alone. The remains of these soldiers were still present around Valsörarna in the 1900s. In memory of the fallen men, there is now a memorial mound of stones raised on Äbbskär. A saying tells the tale that the inhabitants of Valsörarna grew tired upon always finding skeletons everywhere around the islands and collected them all in one place, which today is the mound of stones.


The lighthouse is built

There was a sailmark made out of a tree on the island in the 1850s, but that became inefficient for use in the dangerous waters of Kvarken as traffic increased. The long thought-of lighthouse became reality after five boats ran aground on the same night in 1879. The lighthouse was designed by Henry Lepaute who worked for
Gustave Eiffel Alexandre Gustave Eiffel ( , ; Bonickhausen dit Eiffel; 15 December 1832 – 27 December 1923) was a French civil engineer. A graduate of École Centrale des Arts et Manufactures, he made his name with various bridges for the French railway net ...
s engineering company and built by the same company in
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
that manufactured the components for the
Eiffel Tower The Eiffel Tower ( ; ) is a wrought-iron lattice tower on the Champ de Mars in Paris, France. It is named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the tower from 1887 to 1889. Locally nicknamed "''La dame de fe ...
. The lighthouse was initially intended to be placed on Äbbskär. However, after digging and ground analysis, it was concluded that Äbbskär had no suitable ground for the lighthouse and it was decided that it should be moved to Storskär. The hole that was dug on Äbbskär is still there today with a coast guard station as a neighbour. For the move over to Storskär, a bridge of stone was built between it and Äbbskär. The road also built in connection to the bridge got the name ''Kärleksstigen'' (" the love path"). The lighthouse was securely fastened on the mountain on Storskär in 1886, and still stands there today, fire-red, high and with 175 steps inside. The lighthouse amazed and even scared people with its fire-red color fuelling rumors. The best known rumor was that if you touched the lighthouse, you got seriously burned from it. This rumor was so widespread that it lived long until the 1950s. In 1963 the lighthouse was first automated and later, in the 1980s, electrified. The
lens A lens is a transmissive optical device that focuses or disperses a light beam by means of refraction. A simple lens consists of a single piece of transparent material, while a compound lens consists of several simple lenses (''elements'') ...
system was removed in conjunction with the electrification and is now on display in Vaasa Seamuseum. The lighthouse was closed from the public in 2013. It was found that it was impossible to repair or reconstruct the lighthouse to fulfill modern safety and accessibility standards without substantially modifying the architecture.


Climate

Valsörarna has a
subarctic climate The subarctic climate (also called subpolar climate, or boreal climate) is a continental climate with long, cold (often very cold) winters, and short, warm to cool summers. It is found on large landmasses, often away from the moderating effects of ...
(''Dfc'') with strong moderation from the
Kvarken Kvarken ( (as opposed to South Kvarken); ) is the narrow region of the Gulf of Bothnia separating the Bothnian Bay (the inner part of the gulf) from the Bothnian Sea. The distance from the Sweden, Swedish mainland to the Mainland Finland, Finnish ...
.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Valsorarna Finnish islands in the Baltic Landforms of Ostrobothnia (administrative region)