Vallisaari Island

Hunt the Valley of Death on Vallisaari

Vallisaari was sealed from the public for over 200 years — a military fortress island where a catastrophic 1906 ammunition explosion killed dozens and left a scar called the Valley of Death. Alexander II's granite road still runs through the forest. Bat tunnels pierce the fortifications. In summer, over 1,000 butterfly species colonize the wildflower meadows that grew where soldiers once drilled. The military left; nature reclaimed.