Hamina  is a town and a municipality of Finland. It is located approximately 145 km (90 mi) east of the country’s capital Helsinki, in the Kymenlaakso region, and formerly the province of Southern Finland. The population of the central town is approximately 10,000. Hamina is unilingually Finnish speaking.

Hamina is also one of the most important harbors of Finland, the Port of Hamina-Kotka. The port specializes in forest products and the transit of cargo to Russia. One of Google‘s five European data centers is situated in Hamina.

Sights

The center of Hamina’s circular center is the octagonal Town Hall Square, from which there are eight radial streets. These are intersected by two concentric nested circular streets, Pikkuympyräkatu and Isoympyräkatu. Of these, only Pikkuympyräkatu makes a full tour around Raatihuoneentori, Isoympyräkatu an incomplete tour. Outside the main roundabout there is a fortress chain that surrounds the center. Most of Hamina’s oldest building stock is located inside the fortress chain.

Buildings 

Churches

• St. John’s Church , or former Hamina Church, is located along the Town Hall Square. It is aneoclassical Lutheran churchdesigned by CL Engel andcompletedin 1843 . 
• St. Peter and Paul Church , or Hamina Orthodox Church, is aByzantine- style round church completedin 1837 along the Town Hall Square.
• Maria Church , or the former Vehkalahti Church, is located on Isoympyräkatu. Built in the 15th century, the medieval stone church is the oldest building in Kymenlaakso. 

Manors 

• Reitkalli Manor is located along the Summanjoki River.
• Summa Manor is located on the banks of the Summanjoki River. The current main building of the manor dates from 1893, but it includes parts of the main building built in the 18th century. 
• Poitsila Manor , which dates back to the 16th century, has historically belonged to the Poitz, Bruun and Aladin families. Since 1949, Jamilahti Folk High School has operated on the manor’s premises.
• Vilniemi Manor is located in the village of Vilniemi . The main building of the manor dates from 1836 . 
• Brakila Manor is locatedin the village of Rakila . The main building, built in the 18th century, was destroyed in a fire in 2008 . 

Other buildings 

• The town hall is located on the town hall square in the center of the circular city. Completed in 1798 , the building was thoroughly renovated according to the plans of Carl Ludvig Engel in 1840 , when it received its neoclassical appearance and tower.
• The City Museum is located in the Town Hall Square in a wooden building called the Palace of Catherine II, where King Gustav III of Sweden and Empress Catherine II the Great of Russianegotiated in 1783 .
• The Flag Tower is a tower on the edge of the Market Square ( 1790 ). It is part of the Helsinki bastion destroyed from the market square.
• The neoclassical main building of the Reserve Officers’ School , the former Cadet School, is in the center of the circle on Kadettikoulunkatu. In the park of the Reserve Officers’ School there is a monument to the Fallen Officers ( Kalervo Kallio , 1957 ).
• The newer mill architecture is represented by the former Stora Enso Summa paper mill from 1955 (architect Alvar Aalto ).

Fortress 

Built in the 18th century, the Hamina city fortress is well preserved. Of the seven bastions that surround the circular center, six are still left: the central bastion and the bastions of Savonlinna, Hamina, Turku, Lappeenranta and Hämeenlinna. The Helsinki bastion on the site of the market square has been demolished. My central bastion has been restored and has taken over the largest tent canopy in Europe, under which the main concerts of Hamina Tattoo will be held . Some of the original ramparts and front equipment have also been left and restored.

Parks 

• The summer park is located in the Lappeenranta bastion of the Hamina fortress between the market square and Mannerheimintie. The park was founded in the 1850s. The park has a memorial to the coastal battles of 1939-44 and a memorial to the military boys. In the part on the Mannerheimintie side, there is Ankkalampi, next to which is the Myllynkivi monument erected in 1974. 
• The Reserve Officers’ School park is located next to RUK’s main building. The park has a brick well building built in the 1860s and a Finnish flag road belonging to Hamina’s Flag World . Next to the park, on the edge of the RUK field, is a statue of the Fallen Officers, completed in 1957 . 
• Church of St John’s Church in the park is a hero graves in addition to the Peace of Hamina , civil war , as well as the Winter and Continuation War fallen and the survivors in Karelia monuments. 

Cemeteries 

• Hietakylä Cemetery was founded in 1773. There is an urn burial area completed in 1965, designed by architect Bey Heng. 
• Hamina’s Husula Cemetery is located in Husula , south of Highway 7 . It was founded in 1876 and was used as the main cemetery of the city parish before the completion of Ristiniemi Cemetery. 
• Vehkalahti Husula Cemetery is located in Husula , north of Highway 7 . It was founded in 1750 and was once the cemetery of the former Vehkalahti parish. In connection with the main gate, there is a passageway building through which the deceased was once brought by horseback. 
• Myllykylä Cemetery is located in Myllykylä on the west side of Highway 26 . It was introduced in 1910 and expanded in the 1950s. Next to the Blessing Chapel is a heroes’ cemetery and a monument made by sculptor Sulo Mäkelä. 
• Leirikangas Cemetery is located in Myllykylä, east of Highway 26 . It was introduced in the 1980s after the old Myllykylä cemetery became too cramped. The Blessing Chapel was designed by Timo and Tuomo Suomalainen and completed in 1989. 
• Ristiniemi Cemetery was opened in 1951 and renovated in 1967. The cemetery has a blessing chapel designed by Timo and Tuomo Suomalainen, which was completed in 1965. 
• Kuorsalo Cemetery is located on Kuorsalo Island. The inhabitants of the archipelago have been buried there. The right to be buried in Kuorsalo requires the right of burial entered in the land register. 
• Hamina Orthodox Cemetery was founded in the 18th century and houses a small church building . In connection with the cemetery are also the graves of Jewish soldiers who served in the army of Emperor Nicholas I.

Hamina in culture 

• Author Laila Hietamiehi’s book Everyone’s Longing for Life ( Otava 1978 ) tells about Hamina. 
• According to the saying, the head can be on a bike or confused like the city of Hamina . The saying has its roots in the city’s historic downtown town plan. In the past, Hamina was meant to be a city of Hamina, ie a port city. 

Food culture 

In the 1980s , Hamina’s soup dishes were sauerkraut soup, oven lingonberry porridge and lard .