The Maritime Quarter

On Mariehamn's eastern harbour, the Sjokvarteret keeps the sailing islands' crafts in working order: boatbuilders plank traditional hulls in the sheds, the smithy rings, galleries and workshops sell maritime craft from the makers, and the quay moors wooden vessels - island-built galeasses among them - that summer sailings take to sea. The quarter's museum tells the archipelago's boatbuilding story, the chapel raises its ship-model votives in island tradition, and the whole ensemble answers the Pommern's grand museum-ship across town with the intimate, sawdust-scented version of the same heritage.

The main sights

• The building sheds - traditional hulls taking shape.
• The wooden quay - island-built vessels at their moorings.
• The craft workshops - smithy, galleries and makers' stalls.
• The votive chapel - ship models in the seafarers' tradition.

When to go

May to September for working sheds and open workshops; sailing days send the quay's vessels out photogenically. Winter keeps the sawdust indoors.

Before you go

It is an intimate, working quarter - charm over spectacle, with activity varying by day; the cafe's archipelago views subsidise any lulls.

Nearby

The Pommern and maritime museum across town, and Mariehamn's leafy avenues.

Key facts