- Aavasaksa
Aavasaksa is a sharp-edgedhill inYlitornio municipality inFinnish Lapland . It has anelevation of 242metres . Aavasaksa is famous for its sights both towards Finland and Sweden and it is included to the list of theNational Views of Finland . The emperorAlexander II of Russia visited the site at1876 . Decorative hunting cabin "Keisarinmaja" is one of the buildigs on top of the hill and working as acafe .Due to its distinctive altitude above other hills around, it was first used by
Pierre Louis Maupertuis in theFrench Geodesic Mission (1736 –1737 ), and later became part of theStruve Geodetic Arc . As a result of this,UNESCO named Aavasaksa aWorld Heritage Site , along with the 33 other sites used in the Struve Geodetic Arc.Aavasaksa is often considered as the southernmost point in Finland where the
midnight sun is literally visible. The hill is surrounded by rivers running next to it:Torne River in the west and smallerTengeliö river in east and north.Asteroid 2678 Aavasaksa is named after the hill.Photos
* [http://www.gtk.fi/domestic/lehtiin/2007/Aavasaksa.jpgAavasaksa and Tengeliö river]
* [http://www.elisanet.fi/matti.bjorninen/k-v/Isot/L143-2.jpgTorne river and bridge to Sweden seen from the top]References
* [http://www.maanmittauslaitos.fi/default.asp?id=831&docid=3174 Struve Arc in Finland]
* [http://www.ylitornio.fi/nahtav/nahtav.htm Sights at Ylitornio] fi
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