Skip to main content

Suomen Salpa - Finland's Latch

The huge war time effort called Salpalinja [Finland's Latch] is a bunker /defence line that was built during 1940-41 and 1944. It is a 1200 km long construction made of hundreds of kilometers of 3 ton boulders, 728 stone bunkers and 3000 wooden ones. It runs near the whole length of our eastern border towards Russia.

Salpalinja was never used in the wars as the enemy was stopped before they got that far.

Syyspohja Salpa station

In Ruokolahti Syyspohja you can see fortifications belonging to Salpalinja: finished, unfinished and collapsed dugouts and water-filled dugout trenches. You can also walk between the 3-ton boulders that make up the tank barrier. Parking near-by, on Salpalinjantie.

Route from Ruokolahti library to Syyspohja Salpa station

 

Salpalinja