Every design for Ekenäs

Ekenäs is known for its archipelago, part of it protected as the Ekenäs Archipelago National Park, and for an old wooden town centre so carefully preserved that even renovating a home there is strictly controlled. Tammisaari in Finnish, it is one of the oldest towns in the country, granted its charter by King Gustav Vasa, and today it is the largest community and the administrative centre of Raseborg, with Swedish spoken by most of its people.

What gives it its character is the way old and new sit together. The Neoclassical church was reshaped by Charles Bassi after a great fire, Alvar Aalto designed two buildings here, and Bio Forum, in a small Art Nouveau building in the old town, is the oldest cinema still running in Finland. Helene Schjerfbeck made her home in Ekenäs for years, and Chappe, an award-winning art house by the sea, keeps that artistic streak alive alongside small museums such as Tryckerimuséet.

Every Christmas the market fills Kungsgatan and the square, and for anyone who grew up here, the map of Ekenäs is that walk between the wooden houses and the sea.