Hvitträsk, Kirkkonummi, Finland - SpottingHistory.com

Hvitträsk atelier was built between 1901-1903 by architects Herman Gesellius, Armas Lindgren and Eliel Saarinen. The main building, designed in National Romantic style, built of logs and natural stone, was both a common studio and a home for Eliel Saarinen and Armas Lindgren for some years after it was completed.

Seveval famous artists, including Jean Sibelius, Axeli Gallen-Kallela and Maksim Gorki, visited in Hvitträsk. It later became the private residence of Eliel Saarinen. It’s a museum today, and within the courtyard building are a restaurant and a café. Hvitträsk and its lovely English style garden are surrounded by beautiful nature near the shore of Lake Vitträsk.

Reference: National Board of Antiques

User Reviews

K L (2 months ago)
Wonderfull view

Pernille Wichmann (3 months ago)
Take the guided tour!

Ed Mond (3 months ago)
Not to many people here, peaceful and quite, lots of berries

Maziar Mehrabi (3 months ago)
Worth the visit, whether you are into nature or architecture. The building is astonishingly beautiful. You can also get to the lakeside quickly by just walking. There is a small beach there too.

Harri Hämäläinen (3 months ago)
Not really a museum or gallery, but a great place to amaze the great architecture. If only they could have more detailed explanations about the history available.

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Photo from Flickr, copyright Makser

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Derbent is the southernmost city in Russia, occupying the narrow gateway between the Caspian Sea and the Caucasus Mountains connecting the Eurasian steppes to the north and the Iranian Plateau to the south. Derbent claims to be the oldest city in Russia with historical documentation dating to the 8th century BCE. Due to its strategic location, over the course of history, the city changed ownership many times, particularly among the Persian, Arab, Mongol, Timurid, Shirvan and Iranian kingdoms.

Derbent has archaeological structures over 5,000 years old. As a result of this geographic peculiarity, the city developed between two walls, stretching from the mountains to the sea. These fortifications were continuously employed for a millennium and a half, longer than any other extant fortress in the world.

A traditionally and historically Iranian city, the first intensive settlement in the Derbent area dates from the 8th century BC. The site was intermittently controlled by the Persian monarchs, starting from the 6th century BC. Until the 4th century AD, it was part of Caucasian Albania which was a satrap of the Achaemenid Persian Empire. In the 5th century Derbent functioned as a border fortress and the seat of Sassanid Persians. Because of its strategic position on the northern branch of the Silk Route, the fortress was contested by the Khazars in the course of the Khazar-Arab Wars. In 654, Derbent was captured by the Arabs.

The Sassanid fortress does not exist any more, as the famous Derbent fortress as it stands today was built from the 12th century onward. Derbent became a strong military outpost and harbour of the Sassanid empire. During the 5th and 6th centuries, Derbent also became an important center for spreading the Christian faith in the Caucasus.

The site continued to be of great strategic importance until the 19th century. Today the fortifications consist of two parallel defence walls and Naryn-Kala Citadel. The walls are 3.6km long, stretching from the sea up to the mountains. They were built from stone and had 73 defence towers. 9 out of the 14 original gates remain.

In Naryn-Kala Citadel most of the old buildings, including a palace and a church, are now in ruins. It also holds baths and one of the oldest mosques in the former USSR.

In 2003, UNESCO included the old part of Derbent with traditional buildings in the World Heritage List.

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