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Kartanonmetsä (Helsinki)

Finland / Uusimaa / Helsinki
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NB! Railroad tracks run underneath the forest in a tunnel where Malminkartano station is also located.

Rocky high-elevation forest that rises up to 55 meters over sea level making it one of the highest natural points in Helsinki. Near the peak is a small spring-fed pond. There are also old-growth pine trees, some well over 150 years old since they have developed a thick shielding bark around their trunks which would enable them to survive even the most destructive forest fires.

An ancient pathway runs along the east-west axis of the forest which may have functioned as a route from the rapids of Vantaa river - when the riverbed followed a different route than today - to a near-by place of worship.

The first residents of Kartanonmetsä - who were also the first Helsinkians - arrived in this area some 8000 years ago. The cliff's summit emerged from the Ancylus Lake as an islet after the last glacial period some 9000 years ago. From the south-facing slope in approx. 32 meter elevation one can clearly observe the contours of the ancient seabed of Littorina Sea - that succeeded Ancylus Lake - and the way it shaped these seashores for one full millenium.


en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancylus_Lake
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Littorina_Sea
kaupunginosat.net/malminkartano/index.php/kotikaupunkip... (in Finnish)
Nearby cities:
Coordinates:   60°14'57"N   24°51'36"E
This article was last modified 3 years ago