- Själö
Själö (or "Seili" in Finnish) is a small island off the south west coast of
Finland , in theArchipelago Sea . Själö is part of the municipality ofNagu ("Nauvo" in Finnish). Anasteroid (1492 RM) has been named after the island.History
The Finnish name of the island, Seili, is a corruption of the Swedish Själö ('seal island' in English, "själ" being the old form of "säl", or seal). The name indicates that the island has been a retreat for seals and an attraction for seal hunters in early times. Actually Själö, then and at least until the 18th century, comprised two islands separated by a shallow sound, which has disappeared because of the land rising from the sea, an after-effect of glacial compression during the last
ice age .The first
hospital on Själö was established in the 1620s. Before that there were two farms on the islands belonging to the Crown and thus available when the authorities looked for a suitable island to which theleper hospital at the outskirts ofTurku could be moved.According to a Royal
Decree in 1619 by KingGustavus Adolphus of Sweden , the buildings of the hospital in Turku, with the exception of the chapel, were burned down and the inmates transported to Själö. The Själö hospital for lepers was dedicated toSt George . The last leper patient died in 1785, and the establishment on Själö became a hospital or a place of confinement for mentally afflicted people until 1962. The hospital was self-sufficient with agriculture, and fishing. The present-day buildings on the island, with the exception of the chapel (built 1733), date from the 19th and the 20th centuries, and most of them have been built for themental hospital . ("source: E-M Vilho").Currently the island hosts the Archipelago Research Institute that is a part of the
University of Turku . The research is focused on the surrounding Archipelago Sea as well as the wholeBaltic Sea .Harbours
There are two small
harbours , on the east side for the visitors (coord|60|14|36|N|21|57|54|E) and on the west side for the ferry (coord|60|14|7|N|21|57|13|E).External links
* [http://www.utu.fi/erill/saarmeri/en/historia.html History of the island]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
