The Saimaa Canal (Finnish: Saimaan kanava; Swedish: Saima kanal; Russian: Сайменский канал) is a transportationcanal that connects lake Saimaa with the Gulf of Finland near Vyborg, Russia. The canal was built from 1845 to 1856 and opened on 7 September [O.S. 26 August] 1856. It was overhauled and widened in 1963–1968.
A system of inland waterways and canals in the 120 interconnected lakes of the south-central and south-east part of Finland (Finnish Lakeland) are reached through the canal. The network of deep channels in Lake Saimaa with at least a draught of 4.2 m (14 ft) covers 814 km (506 mi). The deep channels extend all the way to Kuopio in Central Finland. The canal is closed in the winter.
Vyborg was founded as a medieval fortress in Finland under Swedish rule during the Third Swedish Crusade. After numerous wars between the Russians and Swedes, the Treaty of Nöteborg in 1323 defined the border of eastern Finland, and would separate the two cultures. Vyborg remained under Swedish rule until it was captured by the Russians during the Great Northern War. Under Russian rule, Vyborg was the seat of Vyborg Governorate until it was incorporated into the newly established Grand Duchy of Finland, an autonomous part of the Russian Empire. Finland declared its independence from Russia in 1917, after which Vyborg became its second-most significant city after Helsinki, and represented internationally as its most multicultural city. During World War II, Vyborg's population was evacuated and the town was ceded to the Soviet Union. In 2010, Vyborg was conferred the status of "City of Military Glory" by Russian president Dmitry Medvedev.
Vyborg Bay (Russian: Выборгский залив; Finnish: Viipurinlahti; Swedish: Viborgska viken) is a deep inlet running northeastward near the eastern end of Gulf of Finland in the Baltic Sea. The Russian city of Vyborg is located near the head of the gulf.
Since the mid-19th century, the bay has been connected by the Saimaa Canal to the lake Saimaa in Finland.
Salpausselkä (Finnish:[ˈsɑlpɑu̯sˌselkæ]; "Bar Ridge") is an extensive ridge system left by the ice age in Southern Finland. It is a large terminal moraine formation that formed in front of the Baltic ice lake during the Younger Dryas period about 12,250–10,400 years ago. All together the formation is close to 500 km (310 mi) from end to end, and the ridges can be as tall as 80 m (260 ft) in some places.
Saimaa Canal in the context of Port of Lappeenranta
The Port of Lappeenranta (Finnish: Lappeenrannan satama, Swedish: Villmanstrands hamn) is an inland harbour in the city of Lappeenranta, Finland, on the southern shore of Lake Saimaa. It is located in the city centre on the Kaupunginlahti bay, and is therefore also known as the Kaupunginlahti harbour.
Scheduled international passenger services run from Lappeenranta to the Russian city of Vyborg (Finnish: Viipuri) on the Gulf of Finland, and wider afield, via the Saimaa Canal, which starts some 6.5 kilometres (4.0 mi; 3.5 nmi) east of the harbour. The total number of international passengers (departures and arrivals) was c. 16,400 in 2018.
