Sveåborg

Sveåborg, a fortress in Finland, sometimes called 'the Gibraltar of the North,' protects the harbour and town of Helsingfors (q.v.), from which it is 3 miles distant. The present strong fortifications, which were planned by Count Ehrensvärd in 1849, have been already described under Helsingfors. It only remains to add here that at Sveåborg there are an arsenal, docks, slips, and a monument to the 'father' of the fortress. Pop. 1000, excluding the garrison. The fortifications were betrayed into the hands of the Russians by the Swedish commandant in 1808.