Bomarsund

East of Kastelholm are the ruins of the Russian fortress at Bomarsund. After the war of 1809, Russian troops began to build Bomarsund as a defence against the Swedes. Construction took decades, and the mammoth building was operational but not wholly complete by the time the Crimean War (1854) came around. Twenty-five British and French ships bombarded it heavily from the sea; after two days it capitulated and was demolished by the victors. The evocative honeycomb ruins can be seen on both sides of the main road at the eastern end of Sund, by the bridge leading across a beautiful sound to Prästö island.