When the town of Hanko was founded in 1874, its three cornerstones were the port, the railway and the spa. The spa quickly attracted summer guests from as far away as St. Petersburg, and the development of villa culture followed. At first, villas were built mainly for upper-class spa guests, and the Kylpyläpuisto area was largely inaccessible to ordinary residents. World War I brought spa tourism to a halt, after which visitors were mainly Finnish. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, people arrived by train, steamboat or sailboat spend the summer in Hanko. In the 1930s, it
was even possible to fly to Hanko from Helsinki.
Most villas represented architectural styles such as Classicism and Neo-Renaissance, characterised by richly detailed wooden façades. In Hanko, villas can vary greatly from one another. The most impressive villas rose along Bulevardi, and fine wooden building ensembles can still be seen on Ranta- and Korkeavuorenkatu, as well as Rata-, Puisto-, Tarha- and Koulukatu. Homes for craftsmen and the working class were mainly built on
the north side of the railway
Extensive research into villa history
The villas of Hanko are of great cultural and historical significance within Finland’s architectural heritage. Their history and the lives of their residents have been extensively documented by researchers.
Art historian Dr. Katja Weiland-Särmälä has traced numerous archival sources while studying the villas and writing a villa-themed book together with Kari-Otso Nevaluoma and photographer Vanessa Forstén.
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